Three bored sailors in a fake boat
By: usermattw
Tags: antiques, photography, sailor, vintage photography
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Perhaps they’re affecting an air of casual coolness, but if they’re bothering to get their photo taken, it’s funny that they can’t manage to show some enthusiasm. It seems odd that the flotation device is labeled “submarine”, but then, the seam in the backdrop gives the whole operation the feel of something temporary and slapdash, like a booth at a fair. It’s too bad I can’t quite make out the lettering on their hats. This is a real photo postcard, and while I don’t know the who or the where of this picture, the manufacturer’s markings on the back (“PMO”) narrow the when of it to the years 1907-1915.
Pics of Then 
The backdrop would be nice, or at least unobtrusive, if not for that seam. Definitely low-rent, and the guys know it. Still a good photo!
Agreed. The clearness of the image shows the cheapness of the setting. But it’s a fun image.
I got interested and looked up some stuff about the middle one’s arm patches. Apparently he was a gun pointer, first class, and did well at target practice. It appears he was “rated,” but the rating system is too complicated for me to work out quickly, so maybe someone else can explain it.
Gun-pointer mark (fig. 5): An enlisted man who has qualified as a gun pointer, second class, shall wear this mark on the other arm than that on which the watch mark or rating badge is worn, midway between the shoulder and elbow. For a gun pointer first class, the mark to be the same, with a star (fig. 2) 1 inch above it, one ray pointing up.
The Navy E: To be worn by members of turret, gun, and torpedo crews that make exceptionally high scores on record target practice, as designated by the Bureau of Navigation.
The letter “E” embroidered in block-letter style five-eighth inch high, one-half inch wide, lines of the letter one-eighth inch wide. Worn on the arm; by rated men, 1 inch below the point of the chevron or 1 inch below the seaman gunner’s mark; by men not rated, on the right arm in place of rating badge.
https://archive.org/details/1905UniformRegulationsOfTheUnitedStatesNavy/page/n81/mode/1up
Oh, wow, thanks for looking all that up! And no apologies for not researching further. I was too lazy to do even that much. LOL