Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during WWII and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
Around this time of year, it’s easy to put the bicycle away and take the car to the corner store four blocks away just to avoid the heat. But here at The National World War II Museum, we’d like to remind you to think of your bike! It can be easy to take the thing for granted with the many pleasures of today.
Discussing the Home Front during WWII seems to always lead back to rationing, and bicycles were not immune to these changes. In fact, bicycles today would be much different if it wasn’t for WWII! The demand for metal for war materials required that bicycle makers decrease the weight of their bikes. Bikes went from 57 pounds in 1941 to 31 pounds in mid-1942, never to go back.
And the companies had to keep creating bicycles, as much of the United States population relied on them as the primary form of transportation to and from work.
They were also used by soldiers overseas. Though Allied use of bikes was limited, they were supplied to paratroopers and messengers. Bicycles were dropped out of planes to reach troops behind enemy lines, as well. The 25th United States Infantry, a majority African-American infantry regiment, often used bicycles in their missions.
U.S. serviceman and young, Italian boy surveying bomb damage in Italy in 1944
32nd Infantry Regiment soldier pushing a cart ar Attu, Aleutian Islands in May 1943
Red Cross woman on Tinian in December 1945
A civilian woman rides her bicycle across a bridge in Verona, Italy in 1944 or 1945
And today, we can very easily pick up our new lightweight bikes and enjoy a stroll around the town. Your bike and your body will thank you!
Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
Baseball is known for being America’s pastime. The craze started, reportedly, in the 1850s and it only has grown in popularity since. Because of Jim Crow and the national racism towards African-Americans, the Negro Baseball Leagues formed in 1920. The Negro Leagues paralleled the major leagues and featured some of the highest quality professional baseball in the United States during its existence. During World War II, the Negro Leagues grew in popularity immensely.
Herbert “Briefcase” Simpson played for the Algiers Giants from 1939 to 1941, and then in 1941 he joined the Army. While he was in service, he played baseball with his military attachment in the United Kingdom and in Germany. When he returned in 1946, he played in the Pacific Coast League for the Seattle Steelheads. After the end of that season, he was picked to play for the All-Star Cincinnati Crescents and to play in Hawai’i.
Lou Brissie, Morrie Morris, and Herb Simpson at The Museum’s Baseball Conference in 2007.
He then played for the Harlem Globetrotters, the Chicago American Giants, the Spokane Indians, the Albuquerque Dukes, and finally ended his career with the Oakland Acorns. While he played with the Dukes, in the 1953 season, he batted .372 with 59 RBI. He semi-retired after he married, playing semi-pro ball with the New Orleans Creoles while he worked at the New Orleans Parish School Board. The Museum was lucky enough to learn Herb’s story and have him attend our conference on baseball during wartime several years ago.
Just last week the Museum opened up the special exhibit “Fighting for the Right to Fight,” which discusses experiences of African-Americans during World War II. Additionally, MLB’s All-Star Weekend is this weekend and the All-Star Game is this Tuesday! If Herbert “Briefcase” Simpson were alive and playing baseball today, he’d almost certainly be playing in the game Tuesday night.
Posted by Catherine Perrone, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum.
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
“Drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola Go down Point Koomahnah Both mother and daughter Workin’ for the Yankee dollar”
-The Andrew Sisters, “Rum And Coca-Cola”
The Andrews Sisters
Rum and coke – the match made in heaven! It’s such a staple of the American bar that few probably have wondered who had the brilliant idea to put them together. During wartime, soldiers made many new discoveries abroad and brought them back to the States. One of those discoveries was the combination of rum and Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola was invented in the 1880s by a pharmaceutical chemist named John Pemberton, and by WWII Coca-Cola had grown into a global franchise operation. Most stories of the invention of the drink spawn from the Spanish-American War at a bar in Havana. But regardless of where it started, it spread throughout the Caribbean.
When the US was threatened by German submarines in 1940, FDR met with Winston Churchill to address the issue. The United States provided England with ships and rifles to aid in the war (remember, we had not yet entered!), and the United States were able to increase their defenses on British-controlled islands in the Caribbean – including the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Antigua, Bermuda, and Trinidad. Thousands of servicemen were sent to these islands, greatly influxing the local populations and affecting a cross-cultural movement. Rum was cheap, and by 1941, the drink of choice (at least on Bermuda) was rum for a mere quarter! Coca-Cola was dedicated to providing the troops with a soda for a nickel – roughly 10 billion Cokes were served to soldiers all over the world during WWII! So, naturally, the two together couldn’t be beat.
The Andrew Sisters’ catchy tune is actually a recording of a song Trinidadian locals were singing around the Island after all the soldiers appeared. It ended up being the most requested Andrew Sisters’ song on USO tours. With the help of this song, rum and Coke became the undeclared national drink of our troops! And to think, it is still an easy, go-to drink!
All you need is rum, coke, and a lime (if you’re feeling crazy), turn on the Andrews Sisters, and be transported by that calypso beat and sweet drink to the Islands!
Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during WWII and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
June 8th was National Best Friends Day. That’s right – did you forgot your best friend? Well, at the World War II Museum, we have you covered! Like today, friendship was essential to surviving the difficulties of daily life. Especially during this time of war, this support was needed to make it through. Abroad or at home, friends were there to make you smile and warm your heart. Friendship was essential for morale. It always has been!
Phil and lifelong friend Dave Puckett, Jr.
Phil “Bo” Perabo was from Tupelo, Mississippi and served as a pilot in both the Battle of the Atlantic and in the Pacific. Perabo flew off of the Bogue, the Card and the Bennington. Perabo was captured after bailing out on a mission to Japan, after swimming eight hours to reach the shore. He was taken to Ofuna POW camp where he was reunited with his childhood friend Dave “Son” Puckett, also an aviator who had been captured months earlier.
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during WWII and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
Today, we surround ourselves with televisions, iPhones, iPads, and all the conveniences technology provides us. But during World War II, Americans relied primarily on the radio as their source of news and entertainment. People eagerly listened to reports on the fighting abroad, as well as increasingly patriotic music.
One might hear the lyrics of “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” and “Comin’ In on a Wing and a Prayer” over the speakers, fueling the fire of victory.
Radios allowed Americans to experience the war as much as possible from miles away. Legendary journalists like Edward R. Murrow captivated audiences with warfront reports. When big bands and entertainers performed for military bases, the programs were streamed to listeners all around the country. War-related storylines like that of Norman Corwin’s “Untitled” were incredibly stirring (and reminiscent of podcasts to come!).
At the World War II Museum, we’re lucky to have a collection of sheet music, including this gem called “Plant a Little Garden (In Your Own Back Yard)” that one might have heard on a home radio during wartime.
Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at the World War II Museum
Count Fleet, with jockey Johnny Longden wearing the wreath of roses after winning the 69th running of the Kentucky Derby, May 1, 1943. From the Associated Press.
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
It’s Derby weekend, and that means mint juleps! But before you indulge in the pleasures of the oldest continuously running sporting even in the United States, let’s talk a bit about the Kentucky Derby and World War II.
Since 1875, the Derby has consistently been held at Churchill Downs. In 1941, when the United States became fully involved in WWII, the future of sporting events was in jeopardy. Frivolous activities were being postponed in the interest of more serious war efforts. Colonel Winn, President of the Churchill Downs Racetrack, saw the importance of continuing the Derby in the same place, despite the war. In his own words, “part of its glory was centered in the fact that it had never lapsed.”
When that glory was threatened in the spring of 1943, Winn rose to the challenge. Due to rationing, traveling and consumption were restricted during WWII. American transportation administrator Joseph B. Eastman categorized the special trains and private cars to transport people to the Derby as unnecessary travel during wartime. Winn responded that he didn’t need the extra transportation and the Kentucky Derby would be held on May 1, as always.
People arrived by street car, coining the Derby of 1943 as the “Streetcar Derby,” and the race went on as planned. Because the war had seeped into every aspect of American life, the horses took on a new patriotism, capturing the military spirit. Because of the patriotism of the Derby, especially during times of war, leaders of the Churchill Downs created a uniquely American identity for the race.
The Derby became an American institution, a rallying point for Americans overseas and abroad. The Masters golf tournament and the Indianapolis 500 were suspended during WWII, but the Derby never faltered. Remember that as you indulge in juleps and enormous hats!
Speaking of mint juleps, here is a little recipe we think you might like:
Ingredients-
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
2 oz. Bourbon whiskey
2 teaspoons water
4 mint leaves
In a highball glass, muddle the mint, sugar and water.
Fill the glass with ice
Add Bourbon
Stir well (the glass should be well frosted)
Garnish with a mint sprig!
Works Cited
Nicholson, James C. The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America’s
Premier Sporting Event. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2012. Print.
Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum.
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during WWII and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
Due to rationing and conservation orders, life on the Home Front during WWII was much different than the world we have come to know today. Not everything was easily accessible. But some things were not affected by rationing. For example, Bakelite was readily available. Bakelite was an early plastic that was utilized for a variety of reasons during WWII, but perhaps for no reason as lovely as jewelry.
During the 1940s, a wide array of Bakelite jewelry was created to document the efforts of patriots in the USA. They were made into pins, necklaces, and bracelets so the Home Front could express solidarity with the men fighting overseas. Pins were made to honor sweethearts, and others trumped slogans like MacArthur’s, “I shall return,” and “Remember Pearl Harbor.” Bakelite jewelry became a way of expressing patriotism, and makers got creative – with moveable parts and many colors, shapes, and sizes. Not just a fashion statement, this jewelry carried much more weight.
Tri-color Bakelite ‘V’ for Victory pin with ‘Mother’ in wire at the top. Gift of Rhoda and Roger Berkowitz, 2011.009
Today, collectors still admire the jewelry (and it is still wearable!). Louisiana’s own Bambi Deville Engeran compiled a collection of over 200 images of these fascinating pieces, and we offer it here at the National World War II Museum. Check out her book, WWII Bakelite Jewelry: Love and Victory, sure to excite jewelry and WWII buffs around the globe! What’s truly amazing is that something so small – like a plastic pin – could carry so much weight and meaning. These pieces may not be made of the most valuable material, but they were a way for the Home Front to champion our country. Enjoy the creativity and significance of these priceless pieces.
Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at the World War II Museum
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
In honor of Women’s History Month and our current special exhibit Manufacturing Victory: The Arsenal of Democracy, on Saturday March 28, in partnership with Tulane University’s Newcomb College Institute, we gathered to hear stories of the women who were integral to America’s success in World War II. We encouraged any women workers of the WWII-era to share their stories of working on the Home Front and helping lead America to victory, either as a riveter, a welder, or even a master canner. The women workers of World War II were encouraged to bring war mementos and speak about their experiences during the event.
Newcomb alumnae Mryl Cambias, Jeanne Bruno, and Alice Manson joined us in a conversation about their experiences as college students and college graduates during the WWII-era moderated by the Museum’s Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs and Newcomb alum Lauren Handley.
Jeanne Bruno, Mryl Cambias and Alice Manson
Surely there is a women in your life with a story to share. Keep the spirit alive today by talking to your mothers, grandmothers and neighbors and asking them about their experiences in the past, and how ordinary people each live individual extraordinary lives. For extra credit, have these women introduce you to other women that have impacted their lives.
Posted by Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National World War II Museum
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
It’s the first day of spring! Like the cockroaches comfortably nestled in your walls, it’s time to reemerge from the house and bask in the glorious sunshine! And what better way to soak up that vitamin D than to do a bit of gardening?
During World War II, gardening was not just a great way to catch some rays – it became a necessary food source for much of the country. As the public food supply dwindled, rationing became necessary. To combat hunger, Victory Gardens were planted at public parks and private residences.
These provided over a third of the vegetables consumed in the United States! By 1943, 18 million victory gardens were flourishing – 12 million in cities and 6 million on farms. Wherever there was space (roofs, window boxes, backyards), a garden became a great way to save money and put food on the table.
Here at the World War II Museum, we have our very own Victory Garden, and some tips for how you can start one this spring with our Victory Garden Project. There’s a lot of information on starting a garden with a class of students, or on your own, including advice from gardeners, tasty recipes, and more!
Not sure you have what it takes to start a garden? Don’t worry! Try supporting some local farms in your area for fresh, organic produce. Or, start small and simple with a few herbs in these DIY tin can planters.
You’ll Need:
Tin Can(s)
Spray Paint
String/Rope
Hammer
Nail
Drill & Bit (Or not, if you don’t have one handy!)
Instructions:
1. Spray paint your leftover tin can (mine was from tomato sauce!) Let dry.
2. Using hammer and a nail, poke holes in the bottom of the can for draining purposes.
3. IF you have a drill, drill two holes in the side of the can near the top to put your string or rope through and tie. If not, do what I did using simple cooking string – tie a loop around it.
4. Plant your herb(s), one per can.
5. Hang from a secure place!
Whatever you do, be it starting your own garden, crafting some simple tin planters, or supporting local farms, get out of the house and enjoy spring before summer comes a-blazin’ and glues you to the air conditioning!
Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at the World War II Museum
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit of the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
Ahhh, Rosie… the image of female economic independence, a symbol of power and strength, and an icon for feminism. During World War II, propaganda posters of this sort were used to encourage women to enter the industrial workforce. And women did. Between 1941 and 1945, the female percentage of the work force jumped ten percent, making up about 37 percent. With men overseas, women filled vacant positions outside the home, proving they could do the same jobs, often better. In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s take a look at some of the challenges US women overcame striving for equality in the workplace.
Besides historically unequal pay, women were met with many more obstacles. During the Depression, women were criticized for entering the workforce. They were targeted for stealing men’s jobs, though they entered female industries, and criticized for abandoning their children, though they often worked out of dire necessity. Married women were targeted by the government. In 1932, the Federal Economy Act passed, which quite blatantly stated that a married woman could not work in civil service if her husband did as well. Additionally, women were often fired for being married and having children. Up until the late 1930s, labor unions were exclusively male, so women’s rights were left unprotected and exploitable.
FDR’s New Deal helped women in a number of ways. By 1940, 800,000 women workers were unionized, triple the number in 1930. The New Deal legitimized women’s collective bargaining, encouraged women in industry to unionize, and encouraged male unions to include women. Despite this, many of the programs were initially fraught with sexism and racism. For instance, the National Recovery Administration stated that women must be paid less than men.
Until World War II, the plight of the female worker was largely ignored. But with the influx of female workers during wartime, unions began paying attention to women’s labor issues. Women organized themselves, lobbying for national health insurance, free daycare for working mothers, and maternity leave. Many victories were made for women’s rights during World War II. The women workers of the Great Depression and World War II were a part of a long line of women determined to see fair and equal conditions for women in the work force. We honor them by continuing their efforts today, and remembering them this March.
Additionally, Friday, March 13th is Digital Learning Day, which celebrates technology in education and high-quality learning opportunities. To recognize both Digital Learning Day and Women’s History Month, check out some of the Museum’s online assets and digital programming
Teachers: request a Virtual Field Trip about American women uniting for a cause and aiding their country at home and abroad during WWII
Check out one of the Museum’s WWII High School Yearbooks from all-girls, St. Ursula Academy in Toledo, Ohio.
Listen to oral histories, view historic short films, and browse photos of female industrial workers in the online component of our special exhibit Manufacturing Victory: The Arsenal of Democracy.
Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at the World War II Museum
![Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, NYWT&S Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-111157]](http://www.nww2m.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/andrews-sisters.jpg)
