Soldier Silhouettes on Our Front (1918)

Soldier Silhouettes on Our Front

William L. Stidger's World War I sketches collect vignettes of American soldiers, chaplains, hospitals, and daily life near the Western Front. (Open Library)

Watches

Ingersoll watch

Two American soldiers try to trade a four-dollar illuminated Ingersoll for a French soldier's jeweled Swiss-movement pocket watch. Stidger places the transaction on the Toul line, shortly after the Americans arrive. The participants bargain with gestures and repeated French assent despite sharing little language. The narrator then sees the American unstrap the Ingersoll and complete the exchange; both men leave pleased with the watches they have obtained. (Project Gutenberg source text)

Source text: The American soldiers had a four-dollar Ingersoll watch, and this illuminated time-piece had caught the eye of the French soldier. He, in turn, had an expensive, jewelled, Swiss-movement pocket-watch. (Project Gutenberg ebook 18078)