Sailor out back
Click here to view it larger.
There’s a bookstore near me that has bins of unsorted vintage photos that I enjoy going through. Given what a jumble they are, it excites me to find photos that are obviously related. These three photos, each found in a different bin, are examples. (They are 3 x 4.75-inch photos, with no identifying information.) I doubt I would have bought one on its own, let alone posted one here, but they somehow tell more of a story together than they do individually, which intrigued me. I suppose my purchase was also somewhat influenced by the delight I felt at having connected them at all, and feeling they should remain together. I assume these are the same guy, and not two or three men who bear an astonishing resemblance to each other. Below is another one that I think is the same guy, though he’s dressed slightly differently. [Click to enlarge.] I actually bought a fifth, but after enlarging them and really examining his face and other details, I think the fifth one is a different guy, so I haven’t included it here.
Pics of Then 
ha–I have a sailor suit a lot like this, and I was wondering about the shape of the darker berets, so you unwittingly helped. It’s also fun to see that he really is wearing the regular white cover (as the little cap is called by sailors) on the back of his head, and not on top (I’m not sure that’s regulation!). Having the front and side view of the same person is really ideal from a costuming perspective. I wonder what the real person’s experience of his service was. He seems so relaxed, it’s hard to believe he might ever have been involved in any war. I was thinking these photos could be from the 40’s or 50’s, but he doesn’t have the chevron-shaped seam on the jumper that’s pictured on this website, so maybe these pix are older? I haven’t been able to find out yet, and I need to climb out of this rabbit hole, but it’s very interesting. http://www.usww2uniforms.com/USN_UniformProfile_DressBlueEnlisted.html.
I didn’t know you have a sailor suit! I actually have a real Air Force uniform that I ended up with as a costume, though it doesn’t fit anymore. Glad the pictures were useful from a costuming perspective. But yes, that’s always the question when you see vintage photos of military people, and you wonder what, if any, action they saw. I suppose that’s true of anybody in a vintage photo, really.