Carlos is looking for a good picture of the Swamp door and the symbol painted on it. I thought for sure there was a nice photograph in Suzy Kalter’s The Complete Book of M*A*S*H but after flipping through it this weekend I realized I was mistaken. Does anyone know off the top of their head an episode that has a close-up of the door and/or the symbol that I can make a screen capture of for Carlos?
Sunday, December 6th, 2009 Update: In the comments section below Mrs. Frank Burns suggested a scene from “It Happened One Night” in which the Swamp door and the symbol were visible. After finding that scene and making a screen capture I randomly popped the second disc of Season Two and quickly ran through the episodes. There were two nice shots of the door in “The Sniper” and another in “Henry In Love.” Here they are:
“It Happened One Night”
“Henry in Love”
“The Sniper”
“The Sniper”
There is a picture of the Swamp (from a distance and in Black and White) on page 147 of “M*A*S*H: The Exclusive, Inside Story of TV’s Most Popular Show” by David S. Reiss
Season 4’s ‘It Happened One Night’. In the scene where Frank and Klinger are outside, talking about the password, you can see the symbol right beind Frank.
I have always wanted to know where the symbol came from that was painted on the door of the swamp. Does anyone know what it means or where it came from?
It came from the book Razor’s Edge, it was on the cover.
It’s a Moorish symbol for good luck
I am a tad obsessed w/ the symbol on the swamp.
Here is something I found tonight regarding it’s meaning/origin in case anyone hasn’t already looked it up:
“The symbol is some sort of design that was used by novelist Somerset Maugham on the frontspieces of his books. His 1944 novel The Razor’s Edge was an enormous bestseller and the symbol became popular with young people of the time.
A photograph of Dr. Richard Hornberger, taken when he was assigned to the 8055th M*A*S*H in 1952, shows him standing in front of a tent marked “SWAMP” with the symbol on the door. This must have been spotted by somebody connected with the movie and became part of the set design. The same sets were used for the tv series.”
Now we just need more clear images of it.
😉
Personally, I think it looks a lot like a B-52 bomber. Since the movie and show were filmed during the Vietnam War, it could be a reference to the war and a subliminal symbol of protest against it. Additionally, there’s a Bell Huey model hanging from Colonel Blake’s ceiling in his office. That particular model of helicopter did not exist in the 1950s during the Korean War but it was a prominent fixture during the Vietnam War. There were several references made about the Vietnam War within the show, noticed or not.
That’s exactly what it is. The painting on the door is not an entirely accurate representation of the image on Maugham’s books, but it is now the best known version due to MASH. If you want to see it well, just google the author and look at pictures of his book covers. The timing makes sense. The young people of the mid 40’s who so loved his books would be the young soldiers of the Korean War.
In the first sets of episodes the theater of operations were said many times as south east asia many times. To Market We Go where Hawkeye and Trapper go to Seoul to talk to the major player in the black market for hydrocordisone. South East Asia theater of Operations was the Viet Nam area with including of Laos, Cambodia and Tiawan
Looks awesome!
http://cdn101.iofferphoto.com/img/1131955200/_i/9314057/1.jpg
The image from the afore mentioned book.
Speaking of the Swamp door, does anyone know what the white sign above the red rectangle says?
It says “B O Q NUMBER 6”. BOQ means Bachelor Officers’ Quarters. Which I find funny, as there would never been a married housing unit in a combat zone, so ALL quarters in a combat zone would be bachelors. But I guess they gotta stay consistent. The equivalent for the enlisted men was BEQ.
The B in BOQ or BEQ means Basic as in what U bring is what u use. Only bunk is issued to u.
Sign against bad Destiny.Minoi culture.Crete Grece.
It’s a Moorish symbol for good luck
Season 1, Episode 3. Clearly seen after Trapper plucks Frank’s flowers, and Frank come out to water them.
“Requiem for a lightweight” just to be clear.