Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1536054
Every film comes with its own unique set of challenges, but one of the most daunting tasks was replicating the staggering volume of mail handled by these women. The 6888th Battalion was responsible for clearing an immense backlog of undelivered mail—17 million pieces, to be exact—left behind by the U.S. military in Europe. Our set decorator, Maria Ney, and I worked of real and prop letters, along with strategically placed stacks of blank paper wrapped in realistic envelopes. Every letter had to look authentic, from period-correct stamps we created, to the types of paper and handwriting styles used during the 1940s and the Second World War. Authentic period postmarks were recreated from cities across the country to replicate all those letters from home to their servicemen overseas. Even the postal bags used to hold the mail were fabricated from scratch. The decorator sourced material to make more than 6,000 military postal bags overseas that were then custom sewn to size and screen printed with the correct denotations used on the bags in that era. Once we received the bags in the United States, they all had to be aged, distressed, and filled. In order to maintain continuity between the sets in the United Kingdom and the sets in the United States, we choose the correct matching bags to ship overseas so that they matched the shots no matter where they were filming. This also included the hero bag and stack of mail with the hero letter that we established in the US, which I felt necessary to hand-carry to the UK for filming. I was not letting that out of my sight. As a Property Master, I look at every prop as an opportunity to push the story forward and bring the world to life. One of the ways we did that was by thinking through the process of shipping Christmas or birthday presents not only an honor, but also a tremendous responsibility. This was more than just another period movie; it was a chance to help tell a forgotten chapter of American history with the utmost accuracy, respect, and authenticity from a Property Department's standpoint. This meant extensive research, collaboration with historians and military experts, and an intense focus on detail from the stitching on flags to the millions of letters and packages that symbolized the heart of the 6888th's mission. closely with author and military historian Harlan Glenn to guarantee we stayed authentic to the time period. These letters were not just paper; they were emotional lifelines connecting soldiers to their families back home. For the film, we worked closely to recreate scenes filled with massive stacks of envelopes, packages, and parcels to accurately portray the overwhelming task these women faced. To create the illusion of millions of letters without actually printing 17 million individual pieces of mail. We had to use a combination