Button has blue text and an illustration of a yellow two-wing seaplane with red markings over a background of blue and white sky and water.
YANK JUNIOR AIRPLANE SERIES RELIANCE MFG CO CHICAGO ILL.
Shown on this button is a Curtiss R3C or R3C-2, which were models based on the U.S. Navy's F3C fighter. In the 1920s, the U.S. Navy and Army acquired planes from the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Co. specifically to race against civilian planes in national and international air races. One of the most prominent was the Schneider Trophy, an international competition. In 1925, the race was held over Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore, Maryland, and won by James Doolittle with a new seaplane record of 232.57 miles per hour. Doolittle achieved the rank of Major General in World War II and led the U.S. Army Air Corps' raid on Tokyo in 1942. He was awarded numerous trophies and medals, including the U.S. Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross (3).
This button is part of a larger set of 20 buttons, each with an illustration of a different airplane. They were originally given away by Yank Junior clothing with purchases.
Yenne, Bill. (2015). Hit the target: Eight men who led the Eighth Air Force to victory over the luftwaffe. Penguin Group: New York, New York.