PRINTED WORLD WAR II CARTOON INSCRIBED & SIGNED BY AMERICAN CARTOONIST DAVE BREGER.

The cartoon depicts aggravated G.I.s attempting to sleep while a fellow soldier enthusiastically plays a drum set and another exclaims:"Patience, Mac! only eighteen days left of the thirty-day free trial!" The cartoon is headed "Lt. Dave Breger / Britain". Its original newspaper publication date was June 16, 1943. The return address on the mailing envelope is "Stars & Stripes /APO 887, N.Y." and the addressee is James A. Bowman, a teacher at Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.

Irving David Breger [1908-1970] was an American cartoonist who created the syndicated "Mister Breger [1945-1970], a gag panel and Sunday comic strip. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in early 1941 and sent to Camp Livingston in Louisiana. The Army became aware of his talent and transferred him to the Special Services Division in New York. In the spring of 1942 he was assigned to the New York staff of Yank, The Army Weekly. He came up with the new title "G.I. Joe" from the military term "Government Issue". He soon became one of the most famous and widely read World War II cartoonists and the term "G.I. Joe' was adopted, first by soldiers and then the homefront, as the popular term for the American foot soldier.