Blanket Stories: Transportation Object, Generous Ones, Trek

A sculpture commissioned for the Haub Family Galleries at the Tacoma Art Museum

This blanket belonged to my late uncle Pat Christie and is donated in memory of him. Pat’s passion was flying; he gained his pilot license at 17 in 1934 before he was allowed a driving license! By 1937 he had joined the Royal Air Force in Great Britain as the conflict with Germany at the outset of World War II was looming. He fought through the Battle of Britain (was shot down at least twice), flew reconnaissance missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar as the war progressed. Sadly, at the end of the war in Europe his plane went down while ferrying a plane from Montreal, Canada to New York—he was almost 25 years old and had packed a lot of living and adventure into his short life. One story that shows his spirit is after having been shot down and landing in the Thames River, his rescuers hauled him into a boat and he told them to quickly take him down river to the center of London as he didn’t want to be late for his date at the Ritz! This blanket would have accompanied him to a boy’s camp in the back woods of Quebec, Canada.