Deep Freeze: 1918

On another Shorpy photo from the same period we see a District of Columbia National Guard medical officer wearing spurs while riding herd on medical exams. Spurs were part of an officer's uniform, harking back to the day when most officers were mounted. Traditions die hard. I've seen a photo of Dwight Eisenhower wearing boots and spurs early in WWII.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/5697

Fort Meyer, just across the river from Washington D.C. was an Army cavalry post. Another tip that the officer (he had boots not leggings like the three enlisted men behind him) was a cavalry "trooper' is that the rear flap in his overcoat is unbuttoned. I was in the First Cavalry Division during and after WW II. We were required to keep the flap buttoned as we were "dismounted" cavalry. It could only be unbuttoned if you were mounted cavalry - tradition.

Bill

At the time of this photo, my parents were ten and six years old, growing up in Michigan and Wisconsin. Later, while in the Army, my dad was sent to Santa Barbara, CA, on the Pacific coast less than 100 miles north of LA.

In February, they needed only a light jacket to fend off winter. My dad penned a letter to mom stating emphatically, "When I'm discharged from the Army, we're moving to California." We arrived when I was about 7 months old (1945).

Scenes such as this keep me here.

They protected the headlight from flying road debris. Shatterproof glass was some time in the future, as was the use of headlights in the daytime.

OK, I know they covered the radiators in cold weather to keep the engine warm but does anyone know why the second car back has the headlights covered?

Through my eyelashes, I'd swear I see the Verizon Center!

Probably not to many people walking around D.C. with spurs these days. Army Cavalry, I guess.