Who knew that Babar the Elephant would have a science fiction adventure? I picked this up the other day at a library sale. Interestingly, Babar and family are abducted by aliens.
Considering that Babar has been translated (from the French) into some 17 languages and has been published world-wide from about 1931 on, is it any wonder that abductee stories are so similar?
My wife and I picked up about a dozen books and she found a gem: “Tanks are MIghty Fine Things”
I’m an armored vehicle nut (my favorite all-time tank is the Grant/Lee, forerunner of the WWII Sherman) and this little book strokes that interest.
It was published by Chrysler Corp in 1946 and lauds Chrysler’s participation in the war effort during WWII. The title comes from the intro:
Pfc Frank Upton, writing (in 1944) to his old sergeant who is recruiting in Detroit says “If you should go to the Chrysler tank arsenal, I want you to find the head man and kiss him on the forehead for me.”
Upton was wounded while in the Pacific and despairing of rescue until nighttime when a tank rolled up. The driver had Upton crawl a bit to solider ground, whereupon he drove the tank OVER Upton and the crew pulled him into the tank through the escape hatch in its belly. Upton concludes: “Tanks are mighty fine things – mighty fine!”
The book was written by Wesley W. Stout and has some pictures of the Detroit tank factory and production information of historical interest. What I found most fascinating was the fact that I haven’t seen some of these images anywhere else.
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