Offered here is a section of fuselage fabric from a U.S. Navy Reserve Martin T4M-1 torpedo bomber painted with a depiction of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse riding a flying goose grasping a trident and torpedo and in the background is the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty. The circular section of fabric measures about 18 inches in diameter and is adhered to canvas for preservation and display. Per consignor, “St. Patrick’s Day/March 17, 1935/Floyd Bennett Airport/Removed From Martin T4M-1 Torpedo Bomber, U.S.N.” is hand marked on the reverse. According to the U.S. Naval Air Museum, this depiction of Mickey Mouse is the earliest known insignia of any U.S. aviation squadron to adopt a Disney character. By the end of World War II Disney artists had drawn some 1,200 insignias for the U.S. military with the bulk of those illustrations used by the Navy. While not officially sanctioned by Disney, this pre-World War II Mickey riding the goose insignia was at the forefront of this highly popularized trend. As one observer wrote, “As incongruous as Disney characters are to the horrors of war, these cartoon military patches embodied pop culture, innocence, American values, and everything the troops loved about home—a much more fitting emblem than a heraldic pompous symbol with no sentimental significance.” The T4M was the U.S. Navy’s primary carrier borne torpedo bomber for much of the 1930s until it was replaced by the Douglas TBD Devastator. The T4M was the last biplane torpedo bomber flown by the Navy. The fabric offered here is from a U.S. Navy Reserve T4M-1 stationed at Floyd Bennett Field, New York in the 1930s. Hollywood used the same Mickey flying a goose insignia in the most famous scene to the 1933 film “King Kong” as it appears on the fuselage of Curtiss F8C Helldivers attacking Kong on top of the Empire State Building. Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection

Very fine as mounted to canvas. Most of the paint remains to this wonderful depiction of Mickey Mouse. A must have for your aviation or Disneyana collection.