320

The earliest issues of "The Gator News" or "Gator," the newsletter of the Amphibious Force Base, plus the extensive papers of its first editor.

Little Creek, VA, 1942-1945
Several hundred items (2.3 linear feet) including the first 100 issues of the Gator newsletter bound, 39 other different unbound issues, numerous duplicates, printed ephemera, and extensive working files of the editor; generally minor to moderate wear.

  • Notes: The Amphibious Force Base in Little Creek, VA was established in June 1942 by the United States Navy, and trained Navy, Army and Marines personnel in amphibious landing techniques. It remains in use today as Joint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek. 

    The newsletter boasted of being "Of the Men, By the Men, and For the Men." Many issues feature original cartoon art, in addition to base gossip, worldwide military news, sports scores, and more.

    This lot includes the complete run of the first 100 issues (individual issues not collated) from Vol. I, Issue #1 on 14 October 1942, punched in inner margin and bound in 6 binders, with many duplicates going back to the beginning. They continue with an incomplete run of 39 different unbound issues from 14 October 1944 to 21 July 1945 (with at least 4 missing issues in this run).  
    We have traced no other early runs of The Gator News approaching this magnitude. OCLC lists holdings of Gator at 6 libraries, none of them with any pre-1944 issues, with the largest early holdings being approximately 10 1944-1945 issues at Virginia Beach Public Library and 16 1945 issues at the Pritzker Military Library.

    Also included are the extensive working papers of the Gator's editor Irving Charlip (1921-2014) of Trenton, NJ, a Navy Specialist Second Class. We have not reorganized or catalogued them, but they cover editorial, personnel and technical matters, and fill a box (1 linear foot). Perhaps most interesting is a folder of 24 photographs, various sizes up to 8 x 10 inches. Some are stamped as Gator staff photos, others show Charlip and other members of the production team in action.  Two show comic actor Red Skelton's visit to the Gator offices, and our favorite shows editor Charlip at his desk prepared for an all-nighter with six cups of coffee, a pile of sandwiches, and his note: "The Gator must be out on time, or else." 
  • Condition:
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
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