Women’s Experience in the Red Cross during WWII – Just
scratching the surface for the Reenactor
and
About Laughing Moon Mercantile Pattern #139, WWII Red
Cross Uniform and Civilian Skirted Suit
JoAnn Peterson
I am a patternmaker who has made 19th C sewing
patterns. Before I publish patterns
I include what I have learned about the garment, usually in a section called "History Notes". Sometimes it’s like documenting an Easter Egg
Hunt. I record little nuggets of
information I have dug up in the innards of a huge book written by a smart
textile historian or show a photograph of a raggedy piece of clothing rescued
from eBay. This time I found so much
information about the WWII era woman’s Red Cross uniform it was more like the
well-known phrase “taking a drink from a fire hose.” Information about WWII and the American Red
Cross abounds. WWII ended in
August of 1945 with the surrender of Japan.
At the time of this writing that was only 72 years ago. There are eye witnesses still with us. There are countless photos and films. And fortunately, there are many written accounts. And for the costumer, there are lots of
surviving primary sources and actual clothing.
So, I am only writing this so that I might make some of this information
easier to find. I cannot hope to list
all of it.
Here is a link to the pattern on our website: http://www.lafnmoon.com/product_p/p139.htm
Here is a link to the extant uniform copied for this pattern: https://www.pinterest.com/LaughingMoonMer/red-cross-uniform-wwii/
The best book I read while researching WWII and women was “Our Mother’s War: American Women at Home and at the Front in WWII”
by Emily Yellin written in 2004. No
matter what impression you might want to do for a WWII reenactment, this book
will give you information about it. It
will also help orient you to the wider view of different roles American women
played in the period. It is so good and
complete I think it should be required reading.
You can purchase a hard copy or you can read it online here:
Myrna Loy in her Red Cross Uniform
Eleanor Roosevelt volunteered for the Red Cross and wore the
uniform on a 25,000 mile tour of the Pacific Theater in 1943
You might ask, “Why do an impression of a Red Cross Girl?” I think most people immediately think of Army
Nurse as the most logical person for a woman to portray in WWII. Nurses were certainly some of the most
important people and lived through what might be the worst experiences. Their
bravery was exemplary and some suffered greatly. But they weren’t the only women that joined
up to help in the war effort and nurse wasn’t the only job available for those
who wanted to contribute. Some of the
books I have read certainly opened my eyes to that fact.
One bit of information I learned from my reading was very
surprising to me. At the end of the
1930s, when many of the people affected by WWII were growing up, America was
very unsophisticated to our minds.
Contrary to what I believed, though a nurse was considered a woman’s job,
being a nurse was not always considered an appropriate job for a “well-brought
up girl”. Stating it plainly, since
nurses in their natural course of work would see naked men, and understand
physiology, human sexuality, and venereal diseases, many parents found the job
description unacceptable for their daughters.
In fact, many nurses pursued their vocation over the loud objections and
to the shame of some of their parents.
Add that to the prevailing resistance to women joining the military and physically
moving away from their home, nurses and Red Cross girls had a lot to stand
up to. But stand up they did. By the end of the war over 35,000 Army and
Navy nurses and 7,000 Red Cross girls were serving overseas. But not everyone was able to become a nurse
or leave their homes. Fortunately for
the patriotic woman, alternatives abounded.
Many of these choices are listed in the excellent books, Dressed for Duty volumes one and
two. There are many groups and corps
listed that would make equally interesting material for women's WWII impressions.
The Red Cross Girls that were hired to serve with the
military overseas were a little different from those Red Cross volunteers who
had to stay in the USA, though the uniform was the same. Incidentally, I am fully aware that these
were women and not “girls”, but in the vernacular of the day, that is what they
were called. In any case the Red Cross
had a stringent interview process for those women they were going to hire. They only wanted women who were at least 25
years of age and who had a college degree.
They were not looking for teenagers, but well-rounded intelligent women
with an education. They wanted women
that could be trusted to take on a great deal of responsibility with a minimum
of supervision, sometime in very far-away places during wartime with all its
uncertainties, dangers, and difficulties.
They were looking for women who would work hard and wanted to serve
their country in the best way they could.
So right from the start the Red Cross Girls gained an excellent
reputation and were top flight. This
countered some of the resistance the women faced from their families about serving. Once hired, the women went to Washington D.C.
for weeks of training. The mission the
Red Cross set for these women was to “bring a little touch of home to the boys
away from home.” (Ruth Register) After
shipping out and arriving overseas they were assigned either to a Rest Home for
the injured or Hospital, USO Clubs in the cities, a Clubmobile, or an Aero Club
at aircraft bases and stations. They
were stationed in the European, Mediterranean/African, and Pacific Theaters.
As for Red Cross services provided at the home front, the
involvement was huge. This website gives
some of the story and statistics. The Red
Cross was the largest organization that provided stateside services. The uniform in the pattern was also worn
domestically as well as overseas.
Here are some statistics from this website: During World War II (1939–45), the Red Cross
was the largest civilian organization providing vital services to military
personnel and their families. By 1945, the last year of the war, the Red Cross
had 36.7 million adult members, 19.9 million Junior Red Cross members, 7.5
million volunteers, and 24,378 paid staff. Almost every household in the United
States participated in some way in Red Cross activities. Between 1941 and 1946,
when the average yearly U.S. family income was roughly $3,000, Americans
contributed about $785 million to the Red Cross war fund.
Volunteering at the Canteen
Red Cross volunteers meeting troop trains in the USA. Women of all ages volunteered in the Red
Cross at home.
Suggestions for A Red Cross Girl’s Impression:
Domestically the Red Cross served in Canteens, USO Clubs,
and hospitals. They met troop trains
with coffee and snacks. They put on
blood drives, made bandages and masks, knit socks and scarves, made up sewing
kits, and collected books. The Red Cross
overseas served the military as near to the front line as they were
allowed. So anytime the soldiers or
flyers in your reenactment are not involved in direct active combat would be a
time to engage with them. If your
reenactment has a field hospital the Red Cross Girls would be there alongside
the nurses. Or your activities could be
in the field and might center around a jeep serving coffee and donuts (and
perhaps playing records and jitterbugging!) or in a tent made up to be a Red
Cross Club or Canteen. Inside the club
you would find chairs and tables for games or letter writing, a phonograph
playing popular songs with dancing, personnel performing skits or playing
musical instruments, or GIs reading books, newspapers, and magazines from the
States. Many clubs had 16mm projectors
and would show movies several times a week.
Some of the clubs managed to get a piano so the girls or the servicemen
could play. Along with the coffee and
donuts there might also be sandwiches and Coca-Cola or lemonade, cookies,
cakes, candy, chewing gum, and other snacks.
In their letters to home the girls wrote about the topics in their
training. The games they learned to play
included gin rummy, black jack, Casino, Michigan, fan tan, badminton, ping pong
and other card and dice games. They
learned recreational dramatics and crafts.
Square dancing and other dances were taught. The girls wrote about learning the jitterbug
as the GIs loved the dance. They learned
how to organize and play volleyball, baseball, badminton, and other team
sports. They also learned how to throw
parties complete with party games. One
topic that turned out to be the most important was discussion techniques. The GIs liked nothing more than having an
American girl to talk to.
Meeting with the crew before takeoff and after landing from
bombing missions
Activities for an Impression:
Delivering the mail to soldiers – If the Red Cross was going
out in the field they sometimes would also take the mail to deliver to the
soldiers.
Playing games, playing records, dancing, singing, putting on
skits. This included going to dances in
the evening wearing their uniform – as many as they could go to, including the
USO clubs, and dances put on by the military bases and the local inhabitants where
they were stationed. Dating the
servicemen was allowed but many girls were wary of getting too involved.
Talking to the servicemen, asking where they are from, about
their loved ones back home, telling jokes, and being cheerful. 1940’s slang words and definitions can be
found listed on the Internet. Some of
the women who wrote books mentioned how important subtle makeup, nail polish,
and perfume were even though they were always in uniform and were not supposed
to wear jewelry. The GIs would admire
and mention it.
Handing out small supplies and snacks: Donuts and coffee, snacks and juice, candy,
chewing gum, cigarettes, playing cards, writing paper, stamps, and envelopes,
postcards, sewing kits, books, magazines.
Donuts were such a common snack for the Red Cross the Red Cross girls
were sometimes called “Donut Dollies”.
This is a synopsis of a book listed in the bibliography that
will give you more ideas for your impression.
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2007/fall/lipstick.html
Dancing to popular tunes played on a phonograph set up on
gas cans.
Working from a jeep visiting solders in the field.
Handing out cigarettes and candy
Singing around the piano at a Red Cross Aero Club
Sources for Reproduction Items:
Candy, snacks, and gum: http://wwiisupply.com/candies/
WWII Cigarettes – Chesterfield, Camel, Lucky Strike, Pall
Mall, Viceroy, Raleigh, Kool, Old Gold, http://wwiisupply.com/tobacco/
General Women’s Items:
https://wwiisoldier.com/product-category/1940s-women/
Toiletries: https://wwiisoldier.com/product-category/u-s-military-reproductions/u-s-army-toiletries/
Playing music and singing in the field using a Dodge WC
truck – somewhere in France 1944
More Information about the Red Cross in WWII:
Here is another excellent website that explains the services
provided by the Red Cross in WWII:
Books
At His Side the Story
of the American Red Cross Overseas in WWII by George Korson, 1945. The link above takes you to this book so you
can read it online. It is also available
hard copy through the usual online sources.
This book was written before WWII was over and could be regarded as a
recruitment for the Red Cross.
Nevertheless, it has great information about the direct involvement of
the Red Cross giving war information including specific dates, places, names,
and direct quotes from all the theaters of war.
The following books provide excellent information about the
lives of Red Cross Girls overseas through their letters home. Though sanitized by wartime censorship and
burdened by the everyday minutia of letters (“Please send me some panties and
more stuffed olives.”) the writing is informing about these women’s daily
lives. They are all a worthwhile
read.
My War: From Bismarck to Britain and Back, edited
by Christine C. Woods, 2006. This book
contains the letters of Ruth Register and the diary of Edith Christianson, her
mother, and was edited by the daughter of Ms. Register. It is a very good description of the life
assigned to an Aero Club in Europe at a bomber base.
Slinging Doughnuts for
the Boys: An American Woman in World War
II, 2007. This book is a compilation
of the letters of Elizabeth Richardson of her time in the Red Cross. The editor and writer of additional
information is James H. Madison. He was
a professor at the University of Indiana and provides interesting illumination
about the context of the letters. This
book provides very important information about the Clubmobiles in Europe. Here is a synopsis by the author: https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2007/fall/lipstick.html
War Through the Hole
of a Donut by Angela Petesch, 2006.
This might be the most well written of all the memoirs written by way of
letters home. Ms. Petesch worked as a
feature writer at the Chicago Tribune before the Second World War, and her
expertise shows in this book. It was
decided before she left that she would write one letter periodically that would
be shared with all her family and then saved for her when she returned. She thereby kept all her family up to date
and created a journal of all her experiences for the future. This book has excellent information about
Clubmobiles.
How to Play During a
War: A Free Spirit’s Life in Letters,
by Evelyn Merritt, 2007, through her letters home. This book was edited by the author’s son,
Lynne Whelden. This book has interesting
information about the Pacific Theater, the women assigned to hospitals, and the
challenges they faced. This title is
misleading, I think. The woman who wrote
the letters in this book was very independent, but also very religious,
traditional, and took her work seriously.
Destination Unknown,
LeOna Cox and Kathleen Cox, 2009.
Excellent information about setting up a Red Cross club in North Africa
and then moving on to Rome.
Under new Management - The Red Cross Girls and their VW schwimmwagen
“donated” by the German Army
Online Sources
The following is a list of Red Cross information online in
period newsreels and modern videos of former Red Cross Girl’s remembrances of
their experiences. You will see the
uniform in this pattern in most of the following films. It is very interesting to see the uniforms in
context.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_UUPoPOXKg
- Personal interview – don’t miss it.
Mary Burgess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GJTwTrDYO0 - Red Cross in Sicily
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQkuWjpamMI&t=469s
- At His Side – Newsreel about the Red Cross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-JwFQWWw00 - Bogie makes a pitch for the Red Cross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADDakA7PRZg - Personal interview with a former
Clubmobiler – Barbara Pathe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk1VKwDXIS4 – Personal interview with a former Aero Club Red
Cross Girl – Erna Torney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K27Pq7e6hSQ - Red Cross recruiting nurse, clubs
overseas, Blood Drives & blood plasma, stateside canteens and clubs, Jr.
Red Cross, POW work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW9dbcNVy44
- Story about the Evansville, Indiana
Red Cross Canteen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xtbMmUrL2k - Silent film footage of Clubmobilers about August
1944
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCfwV556a00&t=68s - Overview of Red Cross history
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aglwXv93y2I - Red Cross Rest Camp, New Caledonia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS-9UnROmS4 - Personal interview – Margo Hemmingway (not Margaux
Hemmingway)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISv3SSkOjkI&t=144s
- Modern compilation of WWII footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdlOu36CW30
- Red Cross workers in Egypt
Online Forums
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ - General Militaria with some sub categories
of “Women Services” and “Homefront”
Thank you for slogging through this! I hope this has given you some ideas for a WWII
Red Cross impression. Reading and
researching has given me a huge interest in WWII and the place women had in
it. From this interest I have added lots of women's WWII uniforms to
my personal clothing collection, both American and British. Just to warn you, this was with an intent to
make patterns from them. Most of which,
might I add, would make wonderful civilian clothing, including “Rosie wear”
using different material.
Thanks!
JoAnn Peterson, December 26, 2017
The 340th Bombardment Group
Here is another book to add to your collection. https://www.amazon.com/Ediths-War-Writings-Williams-Ford-University/dp/162349625X
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