Postwar Berlin Tempelhof kids airlift candy 1948 - Original Press Photo

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Postwar Berlin Tempelhof kids airlift candy 1948 - Original Press Photo:
$175.00

An original (not modern reprint) 7x9" vintage photo from a rare archive of post war / Cold War Berlin press photographs that we acquired from an sale house in Berlin. This photo is from perhaps the most fascinating collection of press photos we have ever had the pleasure to deal with. Professionally packaged in a rigid mailer for safe delivery.

Photo Overview

Postwar Berlin children crowd together at the edge of Tempelhof Airfield on October 6, 1948, eagerly holding strings for tiny parachutes and handkerchief “canopies” as they wait for American pilot Lt. Gail Halvorsen’s candy drop during Operation Little Vittles, the famous Berlin Airlift candy?bombing effort photographed by Acme staff correspondent Erich Engel.

Lt. Gail Halvorsen became world?famous as the “Candy Bomber” or “Lollipop Flier,” winning the hearts of Berlin’s children by wiggling his aircraft’s wings before dropping chocolate and gum attached to homemade parachutes during the 1948?49 Berlin Airlift. Operation Little Vittles was a powerful symbol of American goodwill in the early Cold War, helping to turn former enemies into allies and shaping West Berlin’s gratitude toward the United States for generations. Add this emotionally charged, historically important Cold War Berlin original to your collection today before it disappears into another serious archive.

Text Present

Back side, purple mimeograph stamp (partial, top center):
ACME NEWSPICTURES
DIVISION OF NEA SERVICE, Inc.
THE BURRITT TOWER CHICAGO, ILL.

Back side, brown paper caption (typed, center):
OPERATION "LITTLE VITTLES"
BERLIN: CHILDREN WAIT AT THE EDGE OF TEMPELHOF
AIRFIELD, OCT. 6, FOR THE ARRIVAL OF LT. GALE
HALVORSEN, KNOWN AS THE "LOLLIPOP FLIER."
HALVORSEN HAS BEEN OPERATING HIS OWN "OPERATION
LITTLE VITTLES" SUPPLYING THE YOUNGSTERS WITH
AMERICAN CANDY AND HANDKERCHIEF PARACHUTES.
HE SHOWED UP ON SCHEDULE.
NY-A MCS
CREDIT LINE (ACME PHOTO BY ERICH ENGEL,
STAFF CORRESPONDENT) 10/8/48 (EG)

Print analysis:
Acme Newspictures credit stamp and original typed paper caption dated 10/8/48 firmly indicate this is an original contemporaneous press photograph made for newspaper use, not a later reproduction. The fiber?based paper, period typeface, and aging of the glue-backed caption are consistent with late?1940s press prints. Given the two?day gap between the 10/6/48 event and the 10/8/48 caption date, this is a Type 1 original press photo printed within days of exposure, c1948.

Condition: Photo is in good to excellent vintage condition. Please see images for exact details.