Meet the Spandules

The whimsical training booklet in this post was created in June 1943 for the United States Army Air Force, Safety Education Division, Flight Control Command. The concept behind the booklet was simple: create a manual that would hold the attention of an airman, while teaching him the basic principles of cold weather flying in a fun manner.


The booklet measures 6 by 4 1/2 inches and numbers 28 pages, including the front and back covers. The introduction states in part:

"In this book for the first time is pictured a close relative of the Gremlin, the 'Spandule.' These little fellows inhabit the air space above 30,000 feet except in the winter time, when they come down to lower altitudes and have been known to play around on the ground. Although not mean at heart, these little guys are forced by their very nature to do a lot of things to get a pilot in trouble.

Whenever an airplane enters their domain they pounce aboard. They like to test a guy out. If he is on his toes they probably won't bother him much, but if he looks sound asleep or a little thick between the ears they are almost sure to plaster his wings with ice, load down his propeller, and do all sorts of tricks that can be real serious.

If you know where to look for Spandules and if you keep a close watch for the first evidence of their handiwork, you can usually avoid a run-in with them. This book will help you do that.

The life-like pictures of Spandules which appear in this book were created by Walt Disney at the invitation of the Flight Control Command."

The booklet details through humorous sketches the perils Allied airmen could face while flying at high altitudes and in cold weather conditions. The characters featured in the manual are Spandules, the winter cousins of author Roald Dahl's Gremlins. Gremlins were adult males, Fifinella their female companions and Widgets were their offspring.

In a June 3, 1943 Inter-Office Communication sent to Walt Disney regarding ideas for the Gremlins cartoon under development, artist Hal Adelquist referred to Spandules as "the dopes of the group." He added, "The Spandules are assigned to the Stratosphere and we develop a very interesting sequence of the Spandule's song as they go about coating the wings of the Spitfires [with ice]."

The booklet's illustrations were created by artist Bill Justice, who also did the black and white drawings found in The Gremlins Random House book.






















And finally, the back cover:

If anyone has any of the above art for sale, or has ever seen this art for sale, I'd be interested in hearing from you. I'd like to add this art to my collection.

I'd also like to hear from any airmen who were given this booklet while in training.