B-17 Flying Fortress units of the United States Army Air Forces 2d Bombardment Group, Langley Field, Virginia on 11 January 1936; the first production B-17B was delivered on 29 March 1939 also to the 2nd Bombardment Group. A total of 12,677 production Fortresses was built before production came to an end. In August 1944, the Boeing B-17 equipped no less than 33 overseas combat groups. The last Boeing-built B-17G was delivered to the USAAF on 13 April 1945. Following the end of World War II, the Flying Fortress was rapidly withdrawn from USAAF service, being replaced by the B-29 Superfortress. Literally thousands of Fortresses used in combat in Europe by Eighth
The Centaur Company had the company represented by Barnum's famous circus star Jumbo, the giant elephant. Another ad featured the legendary boxer Joe Louis. In the 1920s, Centaur was one of the earliest advertisers targeting women directly. "Their advertising prior to that had targeted both men and women, but here [in the 1920s] they began to advertise additionally in the new publications specifically targeted to women." There were three "Fletcher's Castoria" B-17 Flying Fortress bombers during World War II, part of the 100th Bomber Group. The first was lost, but the crew survived. The second survived the war. Its pilot was William H.