1929 USS Whitney AD-4 Haiti Subway Show Program Dinty Moore Archive Paper
Navy shipboard entertainment program from the U. Whitney AD-4, a Dobbin-class destroyer tender. The program is titled “Engineers and Communications in their Subway Show” and is dated Easter Sunday, March 31, 1929, Gonaïves, Haiti. The printed program lists ten entertainment numbers with engineering, radio, and communications-themed titles, including Dot One, Dash Two, Spark Five, Static Six, Vacuum Seven, and Full Power Ten. The acts include playful Jazz Age and vaudeville references to Paul Whiteman, George M. Cohan/Cohen, Weber and Fields, orchestral numbers, comic skits, and a finale by the assembly. This piece comes from the Robert “Dinty” Moore naval archive. Moore’s handwritten service log places him aboard U. USS Whitney’s documented interwar service included winter operations from Caribbean ports including Gonaïves, Haiti, making this a well-contextualized artifact of shipboard life during the U. Navy’s Haiti occupation-era presence. A scarce and highly displayable piece of interwar U. Navy ephemera documenting morale entertainment, shipboard humor, communications/engineering culture, and USS Whitney AD-4’s 1929 Haiti operations. Original single-sheet printed program, approximately 6 1/2 x 9 inches by ruler. Printed text remains bold and very readable. Please review photos closely for condition. Type: Shipboard entertainment program. Date: March 31, 1929. Event: Engineers and Communications “Subway Show”. Theme: Navy, Haiti, shipboard entertainment, radio/communications, engineering, Jazz Age. Provenance: Robert “Dinty” Moore USS Whitney / USS Concord / USS Dobbin naval archive. Condition: Used antique paper with toning, spotting, album residue, and edge wear.
