In “Dear Dad, Again,” Hawkeye recounts to his father the $50 bet he made with Trapper that he could walk to the Mess Tent from the Swamp and order lunch stark naked and nobody would notice. Strategically placed objects are used to great comic effect to cover up Alda, including the Sign Post and a piece of wood being carried by two men.

Although the camera work does a good job of making it appear that Alan Alda is only wearing his army boots and hat, thanks to the magic of the freeze frame option on the DVDs, it is obvious that Alda is wearing a pair of shorts:

In fact, it appears that he has two different pairs of shorts on, the above olive drab ones and a white pair:

For the past few months I’ve been slowly going through a large stack of New Yorker magazines from 2004/2005 that have been sitting on my bookshelf since they were first published. In the September 5th, 2005 issue I found a short article about Alan Alda. At the time, he was wrapping up his run in David Mamet’s play Glengarry Glen Ross and his autobiography, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed And Other Things I’ve Learned, was about to be published. The article, called “Alda Onstage,” was written by Lillian Ross (it appears on page 56) and discusses the play and why Alda decided to return to the stage.

Ross also mentions Alda’s famous father, Robert Alda, and there is a lengthy quote from Alda about working alongside his father in an episode of M*A*S*H:

Six years before he died, I had an idea for a part for him in ‘M*A*S*H.’ He had always wanted to be a doctor. He had wanted me to be a doctor, too, but I couldn’t stand the idea of touching sick people. I made him an older, controlling type of surgeon, who couldn’t get along with me. In the episode, both of us were wounded; he could use only his right hand, and I only my left hand, and that way we were able to operate together. My father was delighted.

Robert Alda first appeared on M*A*S*H in a 1973 episode called “The Consultant.” He would reprise the role of Dr. Anthony Borelli in 1980 during M*A*S*H‘s eighth season in “Lend a Hand,” the episode Alan Alda discusses above. Robert Alda died in 1986.

The army boots Alan Alda offered as part of the second annual Stand Up for Heroes: A Benefit for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, presented by the New York Comedy Festival and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, failed to sell when the auction closed this afternoon (at 3PM EST). Only one bidder showed interest and the boots, given a fair market value of $25,000, failed to hit an undisclosed reserve. Alda’s signed copy of “Inga” sold for $600 with 13 bids, a copy of The Last Days of M*A*S*H went for $275 with one bid, and a signed copy of M*A*S*H’s Greatest Hits sold for $425 with eight bids.

Will the boots be relisted with a lower reserve? We shall see.

Four pieces of M*A*S*H memorabilia donated by star Alan Alda, including the army boots he wore in the series, are up for auction at Charity Folks, with all proceeds benefiting the Bob Woodruff Foundation. Alda’s dog tags, mentioned in this W.E.N.N. article, are not yet up for auction. In addition to the army boots: an autographed copy of Alda’s “Inga” script, a copy of The Last Days of M*A*S*H (written by Alda and his wife as the series came to a close) and a signed copy of M*A*S*H’s Greatest Hits, a record album recorded by the cast in 1978.

Alan Alda’s Army Boots

Autographed Copy of Inga

The Last Days of M*A*S*H

Signed Copy of M*A*S*H’s Greatest Hits

A copy of M*A*S*H’s Greatest Hits was auctioned off by Profiles in History in August of 2005, and the auction listing noted that the following was printed on the back of the album:

The army boots have a starting bid of $5,000 and a fair market value of $25,000 and a reserve. The other items all start at $250, have a fair market value of the same amount, and no reserve. The auctions for all four items end on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 3:00PM EST.

According to World Entertainment News Network (via the IMDb), Alan Alda will be auctioning off the dog tags and army boots he wore in the role of Hawkeye Pierce during his time on M*A*S*H to raise money for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which supports injured troops. The items will be auctioned as part of the second annual Stand Up for Heroes: A Benefit for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, presented by the New York Comedy Festival and the Bob Woodruff Foundation (read a press release here).

The W.E.N.N. article states that the items will be auctioned off at the charityfolks.org website today (Tuesday, November 4th), but I believe the actual website is charityfolks.com. The page for the Bod Woodruff Foundation can be found here. Alda discussed the boots and dog tags in “Memories of M*A*S*H,” a retrospective originally broadcast in November of 1991:

How much will the items — perhaps not the most famous memorabilia from M*A*S*H but still important and with a personal connection to show’s biggest name — sell for is a question I look forward to having answered.