WWI USAS Eisenstadt Made & Sweeney Sold Pilot Wing Presented to Major Hume Peabody Eberts Field AR

ARTIFACT:

What we have here is a beautiful example of a WWI U.S. Air Service Pilot / Junior Military Aviator Wing manufactured by the Leopold Eisenstadt Jewelry Company of St. Louis Missouri. The wing bears the S Shield Cartouche mark of the J. J. Sweeney Jewelry Company of Houston Texas. Sweeney did not manufacture wings, but they were a large and important enough jewelry store to warrant having the wings they sold in their store and catalog produced with their own "maker mark" by actual manufacturers, usually Eisenstadt.

 

Constructed of three separate pieces of silver. The wings are attached to the shield by six silver hoops. The wings, shield, and applied 14K US are profusely engraved and the epitome of Eisenstadt's work.

 

Aside from the exquisite beauty of this wing, it is also a Historical presentation piece, and was presented to, then Major, and eventually General, Hume Peabody

 

The reverse of the shield is engraved:

 

FROM

E.W. McCOLLUM

AND CREW

TO

MAJOR PEABODY

U.S.A.

 

 

This wing was originally in the Duncan Campbell Collection, and, true to form, Duncan polished this wing to look as it would have been worn by then-Major Hume, and lacquered it to maintain the state of polish. As he did with all of the wings in his collection.

 

The wing is pictured and written up in Campbell's book: Aviation Badges and Insignia of the United Stats Army 1913-1946, by J. Duncan Campbell, page 87-88, plate 33C. "When General Hume Peabody sent me the wing, he explained that he was ordered to Lonoke, Arkansas, to establish Ebert Field. When a crated Burgess training airplane arrived by rail, McCollum and his crew assembled it, local farmers cut down the high grass where Eberts Field would later grow, and after most all townspeople had gathered at the edge of the field Major Peabody gave the crowd (many never had seen an airplane before) a demonstration of low level flying and simple aerobatics. Everyone was so impressed that McCollum and his crew secretly ordered the wing badge and later presented it to their commanding officer. A West Point Graduate, General Peabody lived a long life after his retirement from the USAF, but his West Point son and namesake, also a pilot, was killed in action in the European theater".

 

This wing is also written about on page 26, and pictured on plate number WB-48, United States Army Air Service Wing Badges - Uniforms and Insignia, 1913-1918, by Terry R. Morris.

 

Biography of General Hume Peabody:

Hume Peabody was born in Shinglehouse, Pa., in 1893. Following graduation from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., he was appointed a second lieutenant of Cavalry on June 12, 1915.

 

He first was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry at Brownsville, Texas, on border patrol duty. He had a skirmish with bandits at Tahuachal, and at Villa Verd Ranges, Mexico, in June 1916. He was stationed at Brownsville until March 1917, then moved to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he remained until 1917. 

 

He was detailed in the Flying School, San Diego, Calif., thereafter until December 1917, and following graduation remained on duty at that station until February 1918. He then moved to Ellington Field, Texas, until March 1918, and to Eberts Field, Ark., until the following May. He was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., until September 1918, when he was assigned to Washington, D.C., with the Training Section of the Air Service for one month. 

 

He sailed for France for duty with the American Expeditionary Forces in October 1918. Returning to the United States in December 1918, he was assigned to March Field, Calif., until June 1922. For the next five months he served at Luke Field, Hawaii, then returned to the United States for duty at Crissy Field, Calif., until May 1923. 

 

For the next five years he was assigned as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the University of California, Berkeley, Calif. He then enrolled in the Air Corps Tactical School, Langley Field, Va., from which he graduated in June 1929. He enrolled in the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and graduated from the two-year course In June 1931. 

 

He then was assigned as assistant commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School, Maxwell Field, Ala., and remained in this capacity until July 1934, when he enrolled at the Army War College, Washington D.C. Following graduation in June 1935 he was assigned to the 13th Composite Wing Fort Shafter, Hawaii. He returned to the United States in September 1937, then became a member of the Air Corps Board at Maxwell Field, Ala., serving until November 1938. 

 

His next assignment was as assistant to the chief of the Plans Division in the Office of the Air Corps Washington, D.C. In September 1939 he became G-4, General Headquarters Air Force at Langley Field, Va., and transferred to Bolling Field, D.C., in June 1941. In September 1941 he was assigned to the 2nd Air Support Command. 

 

He became intelligence officer, A-2, of the Air Staff in Washington, D.C., in 1942, and in June of that same year was designated director, War Organization and Movement, Headquarters Army Air Forces, Washington, D.C. He served in this capacity until the following November when he became commandant, Air Forces School of Applied Tactics, Orlando, F1a. On Nov. 1, 1943, the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics was redesignated Army Air Forces Tactical Center. In March 1945 he was announced as commanding general of the Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command with station at Maxwell Field, Ala. He retired in 1946.

 

Date of Passing: January 01, 1984      

Location of Interment: Arlington National Cemetery - Arlington, Virginia    

Wall/Plot Coordinates: Plot: Section 6, Site 8745-B-1

VINTAGE: World War I.

SIZE: Approximately: 13/16" in height x 3-3/16" in width.

MATERIALS / CONSTRUCTION: Sterling Silver & 14K Gold.

ATTACHMENT: Vertical pin with drop in locking catch.

MARKINGS:

ITEM NOTES: This is from a small collection of WWI Pilot Wings which we will be listing more of over the next few months. CON-TCH-25-24  LDGIEX07/30/24   RET08/26/24

CONDITION: 9- (Excellent+)