This collection primarily consists of letters written by Blair family members and friends of the family during World War II. The letters in the collection came from the Appanoose County Historical Society in Centerville, Iowa. Harold Blair, who was a recipient of most of the letters, had retired to Centerville where he subsequently passed away. Harold was born in Ellsworth, Illinois, and graduated from Bloomington High School. The letters were sent to Harold and his wife when they lived in Cooksville, Illinois. This is why the Historical Society thought the McLean County Museum of History would be an appropriate site to house the collection.
The letters provide glimpses of the conditions that soldiers endured during WWII. The letters also demonstrate the impact of technology on war correspondence. To save cargo space WWII soldiers wrote their letters on special 7 x 9-inch sheets of papers that were photographed and reduced to thumb-nail size negative images on microfilm. About arrival in the United States, the images were developed and printed as 4 ¼ x 5 ¼ inch cards that were called Victory Mail or more commonly V-Mail. Once printed, the cards were delivered to their intended recipients.