Irvin Sylvan "Kip" Kipper, (November 13, 1916 – April 21, 2016) was a

US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

bomber pilot,

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

, and the founder and namesake of Kip's Toyland, the oldest toy store in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, located in the

Farmer's Market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

since 1945.

Early life

Irvin Kipper was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, on November 13, 1916, and his family moved to

in 1920. Kipper graduated from LA's Jefferson High School as Valedictorian. In 1944, he enlisted in the

US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, ultimately becoming an officer and pilot of the

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. While flying in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Kipper named his B-17 "Purdy Gertie", after his wife, Gertrude.

Family

Kipper married his wife Gertrude on January 1, 1939. Born in Ohio in 1919, Gertrude and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1929, where she graduated from Los Angeles High School. After they married, Kipper left for war, and it was the only time in their lives that the two were apart. Gertrude was athletic and musically talented and gave tennis and piano lessons. Kipper and Gertrude had two boys, Don and Robert, as well as four grandchildren, Andrew, Lily, Natalie and Elliot. Son Don and granddaughter Lily are now the current owners of Kip's Toyland. Their other son, Robert, is a divorce attorney in Beverly Hills. At the time of his death, he had been married for 77 years. Gertrude passed away only six weeks after Kipper.

Military service

Kipper served with the 463rd Bombardment Group in the

as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

. He served with other units as well, including

15th Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Fo ...

and 772nd Bomb Squadron. On his 26th mission, Kipper was shot down over

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy where he was captured and spent more than seven months as a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

prisoner of war in the POW camps

Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III (; literally "Main Camp, Air, III"; SL III) was a ''Luftwaffe''-run prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during the Second World War, which held captured Western Allied air force personnel. The camp was established in March 1942 near th ...

(celebrated in books, TV and film for " The Great Escape") and Stalag VII. Kipper's camp was liberated by troops of

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Alli ...

in August 1945.

Career

When Kipper returned to Los Angeles after the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, he purchased a small store to sell flags. Part of the reason he chose to open a toy store was because after the trauma he experienced during the war, he wanted to bring joy to those around him. He then added balloons, which were a big hit, because rubber was rationed during the war. Then he added

Slinky The Slinky is a helical spring toy invented and developed by American naval engineer Richard T. James in 1943 and successfully demonstrated at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia on November 27, 1945. It can perform a number of tricks, ...

, board games,

Lincoln Logs Lincoln Logs are an American construction toy for children, consisting of square-notched miniature lightweight logs used to build small forts and buildings. They were invented around 1916 by John Lloyd Wright, second son of well-known architect ...

Tinkertoy The Tinkertoy Construction Set—commonly known as Tinkertoy, Tinker Toy, or plural forms thereof—is a construction set for children. It was designed in 1914 and was originally manufactured in Evanston, Illinois, U.S. The brand is now owned ...

sets, Carrom Game Boards, and new toys as they were invented.

FAO Schwarz FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and Toy store, retail chain. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, Interactivity, interactive experiences, Product placement, brand integrations, and games. FAO Schwarz clai ...

opened up a short distance from Kip's Toyland, but they went out of business, while Kip's Toyland is still flourishing, recently celebrating its 75th anniversary in November 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipper, Irwin 1916 births 2016 deaths United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II Shot-down aviators American prisoners of war in World War II Businesspeople from Los Angeles Businesspeople from Fort Worth, Texas Military personnel from Fort Worth, Texas 20th-century American businesspeople Military personnel from Texas