I still haven't heard from the retailers, but I'll update you all on the progress of my "research".

The term "GI Joe" was coined in 1942 and in 1945 a film was released called "The Story of GI Joe" starring Robert Mitchum. So it's possible that a toy from 1944 would have the words "GI Joe" on it, but in my opinion, unlikely. (The toys/action figures that we think of when we hear "GI Joe" were first released in the mid '60s, and obviously have no bearing on this discussion, but every time you do an internet search for GI Joe you get tons of collector sites, so now I know more than i ever wanted to about GI Joe dolls. [img]wink.gif[/img] )

I talked to two friends (a military history buff and a linguistic/grammar maven) who both agreed with me that the term "atomic" would not have been used in this way 'til after WWII - that it wouldn't have had any "sales pull" 'til after the war. My military history friend gave me some info on the army uniforms of the time, but dating the little toy by the uniform proved harder than I thought, especially since he doesn't really have any pants, just metal sticks. LOL!

All of this conclusively proves that I have no life.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 18, 2003 10:49 PM: Message edited by: *Jane* ]</font>