| National Museum of American History

The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.

The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.

Physical DescriptionPacket of blue-gray paper with a red border bearing the "V-mail" logo and information.General HistoryDuring World War II, V-Mail became a popular way for soldiers and their loved ones at home to correspond.

Description: Physical Description; Packet of blue-gray paper with a red border bearing the "V-mail" logo and information.; General History; During World War II, V-Mail became a popular way for soldiers and their loved ones at home to correspond. V-mail was written on specially designed sheets— a combination letter and envelope. These sheets were sent to the government where they were reduced to thumbnail size on microfilm. The microfilm was flown overseas and then developed at a lab close to the recipient's position. The V-mail letter-sheets, now about one-quarter of their original size, were mailed and delivered to the soldiers or their families back home. The development of the V-Mail system reduced the time it took a soldier to receive a letter by a month— from six weeks by boat to twelve days or less by air.; However, the main advantage of V-Mail was its compact nature. Reduction in the size and weight of the letters translated into more space for crucial military supplies on cargo planes. One roll of film weighing about seven ounces could hold over 1,500 letters. Putting that another way, two pounds of microfilm replaced 100 pounds of letters! Over a billion letters were sent via V-Mail between 1942 and 1945. In all, about 556.5 million pieces of V-Mail were sent from the United States to military post offices and over 510 million pieces were received from military personnel abroad. Think of it as the earliest form of e-mail.

maker: Stanley Wessel & Company

ID Number: 1992.3030.18
catalog number: 1992.3030.18
nonaccession number: 1992.3030

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Military

Victory-Mail Packet