USS Galveston Hammered Aluminum and Wood Cigarette Box

This cigarette box recently entered our collection. It belonged to a sailor who had a 26-year Navy career and who spent the late 50s and early 60s assigned to the USS Galveston.

The USS Galveston (CLG-3) was a guided missile cruiser originally launched on April 22, 1945, by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Co. She was commissioned on May 28, 1958, with Captain J. B. Colwell in command. The USS Galveston successfully fired the first Talos missile ever shot at sea on February 24, 1959. She spent the majority of the 1960s as part of Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla 9, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and was actively involved in combat in Vietnam. She was decommissioned in May of 1970. This cigarette box is representative of boxes and plaques frequently given out as tokens to ship’s crews at the time. During the time period that both our USS Stewart DE-238 and USS Galveston CLG-3 were in service, cigarettes weren’t just a part of Navy culture; they were a part of daily rations. To illustrate this history, we will be placing this cigarette box on display in an upcoming exhibit opening in the USS Stewart’s Officers’ Country.

Be sure to come see it in person soon!