Fred Keip Jr. with "40 et 8" locomotive

Date

• ca. 1940-ca. 1941

Summary

• Small snapshot of a young boy wearing a summer shirt and shorts, standing in front of a replica "locomotive" on wheels that is parked in front of his home at 2008 25th Street in Two Rivers, Wisconsin in 1940 or 1941. Other children can be seen in the open "tender" at the back of the "locomotive." The "locomotive" bears the numbers 40 over 8 and the American Legion name and insignia on its door. Lettering on the side of the "tender" reads "Voiture No. 1130 40/8 Manitowoc County." The boy is Fred Keip Jr., who had been born in 1930. His father, Fred Keip Sr., was readying the "locomotive" for a Fourth of July parade. This "40 & 8 Locomotive" was maintained by the local chapter of "Forty and Eight," an honor society within the American Legion. Nationally, "La Societe des Quarente Hommes et Huit Chevaux" (The Society of Forty Men and Eight Horses) had been established after World War I as a new and elite level of membership within the American Legion, limited to white males. Because American troops had been transported in French railroad boxcars labeled "40/8" to designate a cargo capacity of 40 men or 8 horses, the organization adopted the "40 et 8" as its symbol. Most local units (called "voitures," or "boxcars") had a replica locomotive for parades and other events. During World War II Forty et Eight members supported various charitable programs, volunteered for further military service, served in civil defense capacities, aided in salvage drives and bond drives, and helped with Armed Services recruiting. As a national organization they also distributed more than four million decks of cards to servicemen going overseas on transport ships. The organization's racial restriction was dropped in 1973. Snapshot loaned by Fred Keip, Jr.