In our experience this is the rarest of all Captain Midnight badges and it was issued on an extremely limited basis during 1940, the second year of the program. The item that comes with this, an in-house sheet of paper from the sponsor Skelly gasoline explains why this badge is such a rarity. The badge is a 1-1/8" tall beautifully designed highly embossed piece of brass with title at top, Skelly logo at center, and symbolic plane below. Other than the widely distributed Mysto-Magic Weather Forecasting Flight Wings badge issued in 1939 this badge is the other earliest issued badge and first award. While millions of the flight wings where distributed, it took special circumstances to be awarded this Commander badge. The award process is described on a light tan 8.5x11" sheet of paper which came from the personal archive of a Skelly employee. The sheet is printed and has facsimile signature of "A.E. Taylor" who was apparently the Skelly executive in charge of the Captain Midnight promotion. Bottom right corner has ink stamped seal reading "Received/Oct 18 1939/Skelly Oil Co./Omaha, Nebr." Upper left corner of this sheet carries a second Omaha address with the name of a person as well as the name of a gasoline station title "West Dodge Station." There are four paragraphs at the top of the sheet under the title "Follow Up Captain Midnight Parent Prospects Now." The text states that the local station should have boys and girls enrolled as members of the upcoming 1940 Captain Midnight Flight Patrol. It further instructs the dealer should select the "Better Parent Prospects" and that these "Hot" prospects should be solicited for new business by personal visits or telephone calls. The relevant part of this sheet follows the title at the center "Let Captain Midnight Flight Patrol Commander Help You Handle Enrollments." This text relates that some dealers in 1939 chose Flight Patrol neighborhood members to help the station with "Enrollment And Distribution Of The Various Give Away Items." They point out this relieved the service station personnel of the detail work and that the young helpers knew most of the youngsters who were already in the Flight Patrol. The text points out this worked so well in 1939 that they recommend use during the 1940 season. Text instructs "We Suggest That You Make Use Of This Plan If You Know Some Boy Who, In Your Estimation Can And Will Handle This For You...We Have Provided An Attractive Incentive For The Boy You Have In Mind To Handle This Work For You. He Is To Be Designated As A Captain Midnight Flight Patrol Commander. When You Choose Someone For This Position, Send Us His Name And We Will Provide Him With A Special Captain Midnight Flight Patrol Commander Badge Signifying That He Is The Leader Of All Of The Members Enrolled Through Your Station. Only The Commander Will Be Entitled To Wear This Special Badge, So Only One In Your Neighborhood Will Have One..." Sheet has three tiny staple hole marks on the corners and a very minor .5" tear on the upper edge. The Hake Pop Culture Guide NM value for the badge alone is $2,500.00 As rare as the badge may be, this in-house Skelly sheet may be a sole survivor.