Last of the DC-2 Line: Douglas C-39 Factory Loading Photos, Set of 3 For Sale

Last of the DC-2 Line: Douglas C-39
Factory Loading Photos, Set of 3
Dated 2-24-39, Santa Monica to Sacramento Air DepotDESCRIPTIONThis is an original vintage press photograph set... three individual period prints documenting a single Douglas Aircraft Company factory loading operation at Santa Monica, California, dated directly on the negative February 24, 1939.The photos capture sequential moments of a wooden Air Corps supply crate being raised and loaded aboard a Douglas C-39 military transport, from a motorized lift truck positioning the crate at platform height, to the crate suspended by chain hoist beside the aircraft's open cargo door, to ground crew guiding it into the fuselage.The crate itself is stenciled "TO QUARTERMASTER, FOR AIR CORPS SUPPLY OFFICER, SACRAMENTO AIR DEPOT, CALIF." with a visible Army Air Corps contract number, confirming the shipment's destination and military purpose.The Douglas C-39 pictured belongs to a genuinely small production run... only 35 were built for the Army Air Corps between late 1938 and September 1939, and when the last one rolled off the line it was the final version of the DC-2 airframe ever completed.The C-39 married the DC-2's fuselage and wings to the larger tail and center wing section of the DC-3, a fix for stability issues in the original DC-2 design, and it served as the direct proving ground for the cargo door, hoist points and reinforced floor that would define its far more famous successor, the C-47 Skytrain, of which over 10,000 were built and flown in every theater of the Second World War.This set documents that transitional aircraft in the middle of its working military life, a supply run, camera ready, the same year most of the type was delivered.All three prints come from the same period photo album and share consistent period paper stock, gelatin silver printing, and handling marks from album removal.Sold as a set of three; the negatives are numbered sequentially in period (14652, 14656, 14659), confirming all three were taken within the same photo session documenting the same crate and aircraft.Every effort is made for fact checking and provenance including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you're unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I'll make it right.Orders placed before Noon CDT will ship same day Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. Rigid, professional packaging on all shipments, sealed and protected in acid free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONAll three photographs are original period gelatin silver prints, each measuring approximately 6.25 x 5 inches. All three show light general wear consistent with decades in a bound photo album, including mottled adhesive residue and small areas of paper loss on the reverse where each print was removed from its album leaf; this residue does not show through to the image side.One of the three prints has an additional diagonal crease running from the upper edge partway down the print, along with a faint circular toning mark in the same upper region; neither affects the clarity of the printed image, subject matter, or the visible date and negative number stamped in the corner.The other two prints show only minor corner and edge wear with no creasing or tears through the image area. No physical restoration, retouching, or reprinting has been done to any of the three. Please review all photos closely, as they are the best representation of actual condition.