My collection includes a Season's Greetings card from Antarctica, from the days of the IGY. At least when "wintering over" in Antarctica (according to the Northern hemisphere winter season, that is, which just began two days ago), it is summertime in Antarctica. The typical average daily temperature in Antarctica during the December season is just about freezing (32°F), although this past February, Antarctica recorded its highest ever temperature of 65°F. Coughs, global warming.
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| Front and back of the greeting card |
In case you can not decode the seal, there is a map of Antarctica, a Seabee exhaling and carrying some tools, a penguin, a naval insignia, and the texts "U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (Special)," "Deep Freeze II," "IGY 1957-58," and "Detachment Bravo." Deep Freeze II was actually in 1956-57 (see my earlier blog post). United States Naval Construction Battalions are better known as the Navy Seabees; the term Seabee is a riff on the first letters "C B" from the words Construction Battalion. According to the Seabee Combat Handbook, volume 1, chapter 1, "one large group of Seabees, called Naval Construction Battalions, Special, functioned as stevedores, loading and off-loading cargo ships." Such battalions were critical in setting up the Antarctic IGY stations.
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| Inside left and right of the greeting card |
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| Stationary letterhead |
And finally, a personal message for my readers (reader?):
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My holiday greeting to you (scribbling is digitally added to the original)
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