“Happy Days!” A Humorous Narrative in Drawings of the Progress of American Arms 1917–1919

by Museum, The First Division; Jr., Alban B. Butler

• ISBN13: 9781849086295
• ISBN10: 184908629X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-11-22
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

Originally published on the ten-year anniversary of the Armistice, "Happy Days!" features a collection of more than 100 original cartoons drawn by noted illustrator Cpt. Alban B. Butler, Jr., who served as aide-de-camp for Major General Charles Pelot Summerall in 1918. Butler chronicled his tour of duty by creating scores of cartoons that capture life in the trenches of World War I. Butler donated his drawings and sketches to the Society of the First Division AEF (now The First Division Museum), which published them in 1928. These images, at once humorous and touching, saucy and direct, capture the events of France in spring 1918. Today, many of these images might well seem politically incorrect. Some even might call them offensive. But, taken in context, Butler's cartoons reveal the stress, struggles, and situations that grunts dealt with every day. From dealing with language barriers, foreign foods, and alien customs to waiting for the German offensive and fighting in the trenches, Butler captures the tenor of life for American GI's during the Great War. Descriptive captions accompany each of Butler's panels, helping to put the images into context. The book features an original foreword by Major General Summerall and an original introduction by the SFD. This edition also will feature a new preface from the First Division Museum. It will make a perfect gift for collectors and humorists alike.