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Phone: 847-640-7774
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The Tooth Notch & The Model 70 Addressograph

Old wives’ tales and other stories die slowly.  The “tooth notchâ€? fairy tale has persisted for all these years and I don’t think it will ever go away.  We present this information to show the truth, that the notch in the tag was not a “tooth notch.â€?  I have had many people swear that it was, and that in fact, they saw the tags shoved into some poor dead bastards mouth.  I don’t believe any of these stories, but they just will not go away.

The Model 70 Addressograph was used to imprint forms using the soldier’s identification tag (dog tag). It could be used to imprint the soldier’s name and number only; or the name and address of the person to be notified in case of emergency or the entire five lines on the tag.

The notch on the tag was for proper positioning in the Model 70.  See the following paragraph from the instruction sheet we have quoted exactly:

“With the Addressograph facing as shown in (figure 2), insert the identification tag between the plate guides and push the tag as far to the right as it will go.  The raised characters of the tag must face downward, and the locating notch in the tag must be toward operator.â€?

Notice that is says “locating notch� not “tooth notch.�

Information provided by:
Mr. Michael Martin, Raven Military
Addressograph Corp. “Instructions for the Operation of Model 70 Addressograph�

The following is a change made to Army regulations in 1943.  It  shows the recommended format to use for making “dog tags.â€? It calls for 18 characters per line. Our machines will do 16 characters although you can get more by crowding and on the longer lines. (lines 2,3, and 4.)

PERSONNEL

PRESCRIBED SERVICE UNIFORM CHANGES                                                    WAR DEPARTMENT

No. 25                                                   Washington 25, D.C  July 1943

AR 600-35, 10 November 1941, is changed as follows:

69. Tag, identification.
   b. Each tag has a capacity of five lines of type, 18 spaces to the line, and will be embossed by a machine provided for that purpose as follows:
   First line: Name of wearer
   Second line: First eight spaces, Army serial number; ninth space vacant; tenth, eleventh, and twelfth spaces, record of tetanus immunization (date completed) (letter T and the last two numerals of the year); thirteenth space vacant; fourteenth and fifteenth spaces, the last two numerals of the year in which the immunity stimulating injection of the tetanus toxoid is completed; sixteenth space vacant; seventeenth space, the letter signifying the blood type; eighteenth space vacant unless the blood type is indicated by two letters.  For example:
   30611333 space T41 space A or
   30611333 space 41 space 42 space AB
(Blood types are indicated by the symbols “A,� “B,� “AB,� or “O.�)
   The religion of the wearer, when stated, will be stamped in space 18 of the fifth line if that space is vacant, otherwise in space 18 of the fourth line, and will be indicated by a capital letter as follows: C for Catholic; H for Hebrew; and P for Protestant.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR

Material Furnished by:

Chris Sherwin, Deal of the Day