Help with "stolen" backstamp on WWI airplane photo

Pls see photo and description here:

http://military-historians.org/cgi-bin/member/forum.pl?page=1;md=read;id=14026

 

The word "stolen" is odd... So far, no ideas but will think about it.

 

There are always things that are marked like that in fun but not in this case. As far as my recollection goes anything gub-mint always and forever is unless it's 'disposed' of. There is a word for this in the military but can't seem to ring it up right now. After all, 'we' all paid for this stuff.
That said....I doubt anyone cares at this point for such a thing. I would guess that since this group doesn't exist any more (does it? Don't believe so) it has some value. Certainly no secrets to be had here.

 

I have had some former museum ephemera with a similar stamp - stolen from such and such museum

I think the 'stolen from alcatraz' t-shirts, etc are based on some former marking of real deals

 

Surplussed? Discarded? Museum stuff gets de-accessioned. The photo may have been made off with, or rescued from the trash when the Army got rid of a bunch of old files no one had a use for.

 

Disposition is likely the proper word though I'm sure there was something in the Navy we used that I still haven't 'rung up' as yet.

 

IMO the gummint would never use such a marking. I spent 34 years working for them and so have some knowledge to back that up. One suspicious sign is the use of larger font for word "stolen." Looks like a promotion of some kind.

 

Most all such official gov photos I've seen have back stamps stating that they are official photos of this or that agency, classification level and sometimes the authorized distribution. There's often a caption there too. So I think this is a commercially-printed item.

 

I concur

 

google only comes up with two hits for "stolen from us files" - both extraneous.

 

I had a pen saying ...Stolen from a Nevada whorehouse....

I've never been.......to Nevada !

 

Sure.....sure.....