American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Approx. 3 5/8 x 2 1/2 in. couched embroidered "GZ" patch on blue cotton (losses to blue fabric backing, expected tarnishing of metal thread); 1 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. woven band (light discoloration). The letters "GZ" are embroidered on a bordered blue oval, flanked by couched embroidered stylized wings. The badge is worked on black felt and is attached to the woven hatband with a buttonhole on either end to attach to a hat.  Provenance: Jack Boettner, Goodyear's first pilot, and later Goodyear Zeppelin Airship Fleet Commander.

A hatband relating to the partnership of the Goodyear Company Akron, Ohio, and the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Company of Friedrichshafen, Germany, started in the mid-1920s. The Zeppelin company worked closely with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to manufacture Zeppelins in the United States. To cement this relationship, a joint venture company, the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, was created to handle such activities. The first airship to be produced under this initiative, the Zeppelin LZ 126 called the ZR-3 USS Los Angeles that performed its first flight on 27 August 1924. RARE.