Original 1970s family correspondence archive found in an estate. Roughly 30-50 handwritten letters in their original stamped and postmarked envelopes, plus loose color snapshots, photo negatives, a period Kmart film developing envelope, a small black-and-white service portrait, and one large WWII-era studio photograph.
WHO AND WHERE
Nearly all letters were sent to Mr. and Mrs. H.F. Bartoo of Spokane, Washington. The primary sender signs as Brett C. Baldwin, GMT2, with a return address of N.A.W.F., FPO New York 09515. Several are signed jointly by Brett and Peggy. An earlier 1973 envelope carries a Norfolk, Virginia return address, and a 1976 envelope carries a San Pedro, California return address with a Long Beach postmark — a typical Navy career progression.
GMT2 is Gunner’s Mate Technician, Second Class. GMT was the U.S. Navy rating responsible for nuclear and special weapons; it was disestablished in 1995 when tactical nuclear weapons were withdrawn from the fleet.
N.A.W.F. stands for Naval Aviation Weapons Facility. The U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command holds an official insignia record for the Naval Aviation Weapons Facility at Machrihanish, Scotland, which opened in March 1968 as a U.S. and NATO weapons storage site. One envelope in this lot carries a handwritten “Scotland” notation.
Please read this carefully: I have NOT been able to document that FPO New York 09515 or Navy postal branch 17087 specifically corresponds to Machrihanish or to the companion facility at St. Mawgan, England. That identification is my reasoned inference based on the N.A.W.F. return address, the Scotland notation, the sender’s nuclear-weapons rating, and where 09515 falls among the confirmed FPO New York codes. A specialist may be able to confirm or correct it. I would rather tell you that up front than overstate it.
POSTMARKS AND STAMPS
Postmarks run from September 1973 through April 1976, the great majority reading U.S. NAVY 17087 BR. Legible dates include Oct 1973, Nov 20 1973, Dec 21 1973, Mar 11 1974, Jun 6 1974, Jun 13 1974, Jul 26 1974, Feb 28 1975, May 13 1975, Jun 18 1975, Jul 28 1975, and Aug 13 1975. One cover carries a “Remember Our POW-MIA” slogan cancellation. One carries a POSTAGE DUE handstamp.
Franking includes 8c Tom Sawyer, 8c Eisenhower, 3c Francis Parkman, 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt, 8c Thomas Jefferson, 10c Jefferson Memorial “We hold these Truths,” 10c Mariner 10 Venus/Mercury, 10c Bicentennial Lexington and Concord, 10c Andrew Jackson, and 13c Eagle and Shield.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Color snapshots show an arid landscape with a chain-link security perimeter and cracked concrete hardstand, a cinder-block office interior, and roughly eight to ten men in olive-drab utilities around a briefing table, several in red ordnance-style ball caps, one marked 116. I cannot identify the location of these photographs, and the arid terrain does not match Scotland — they may be from a Mediterranean deployment or port visit. I am not representing them as images of the NAWF site.
This collection came out of an estate sale. I made an effort to locate and contact family members and was not able to find anyone. I am listing it so it can go somewhere it will be kept together and appreciated rather than discarded. If you are a documented descendant of the Baldwin or Bartoo family, please message me — I will gladly return personal items to family at no charge.
Sold as a single intact lot. I would prefer not to break it up.
