Original private purchase wool uniform coat by Edward E. Strauss & Co. Chicago. No name but there is a tag inside the coat pocket with an order number and dated August 23, 1918. Coat has some minor moth tracking throughout, the biggest hole is about 1/2 inch. The highlight is a rare machine sewn 1st Army Railway Artillery patch with the fabled Oozelfinch (patch and thread do not glow under black light). Also features sterling silver 2nd lieutenant rank insignia, overseas service chevron on the left sleeve, U.S. and Artillery branch insignia on the collar. Overseas cap is in very good condition, only one moth nip, and the initials "J.P.B." written inside. 
 
The Oozlefinch is a mythical, featherless, backward-flying bird that became the official mascot of the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps and the Railway Artillery Reserve during World War I. The legend began around 1905 at Fort Monroe, Virginia—the home of the Coast Artillery Corps. Captain Henry MacPherson Merriam claimed to have first spotted the strange, big-eyed, flight-challenged bird outside the officers' club bar patio. When U.S. forces entered the war and deployed to Europe in 1917–1918, men of the Railway Artillery Reserve (R.A.R.) carried the legend of the Oozlefinch overseas with them. The bird appeared on military unit insignias, cartoons, and embroidered felt patches. Following the war, the Oozlefinch remained deeply tied to U.S. artillery traditions, eventually transitioning into a mascot for the Air Defense Artillery during the Cold War era