\ 19th cen-fa.r the roads. ajjfort passing aa r ' "de day,ihi jfthe . - . . -d system... s;:relatively fewDad!

. Manual of theofRoadmafc:-^Barnes, 1871),

David A. Norris looks at civilian life in America during WWI

THE US's ENTRY into WWI markedthe appearance-of America in-a —new, major role on the worldstage. However, on a smaller, indi-vidual scale, WWI also broughtchanges, challenges and troublesto every home in the US. All-too-modern sounding problems, suchas fuel and gasoline shortages andinflation, were part of life for theAmericans who lived on "theHome Front". Some wartimechanges lasted only until the

fArmistice ended the war in 1918,fbut others permanently alteredlAmerican Hfe.I Millions of(soldiers andicivilians hadidied in "The

i ' . . - '. '•aches thick.-/aus were thele road sur-crusla. This /id fromones, eachies thick andet across. Theped stonesitly togetheriy monblithiQpreat War"

""since it began'In 1914, withjneither the^Allies nor theCentral PowersSable to gain aHear advan-tage. America'sIndustrial

light and vastijpopulationI brought the\t of an

; Allied victoryI — if the French

tions than the draft of the 1860s. A- -massive draft-registration day was

held across the country on 5 June1917, for men of military age tosign up and receive their draftnumbers. The day was a tremen-dous success; in some places,participation was higher than theestimated numbers drawn fromthe census. About 24 millionmen were eventually registered.The US Armed Forces grewfrom 179,000 people in allbranches of the service in 1916,to just over 3.5 million by 1918.College students joined the

ft!'"" 5;ijbr^ //;

|k .rkedx-foot tall cir-itances werele pillarsumber ofitself, andm inscription,le of the ;/: time thetructed. / ,ique featureIs "was theleir route's.',dble, theyight,/with the.;d by terrain,is much as 20.of length,

ne Roman;t, with some:;y,;..rnost were. /and 19th cen-re used the :other con- //

• , . •• - - ' - ' - . ,• ' . . • . - ' . • •'

ell over two • ' . ,;6ad, theout-

ind British:ould hold out long enough forhe US to shift its factories intowar production, and to raise andrain troops.

Starting From ScratchA/nen America officially declaredwar on Germany on 6 April 1917,ts armed forces were a mere dropin the bucket compared to the mil-ions in the massive Allied forces.Congress passed the Selective Ser-vice Act on 18 May 1917. The firstnationwide draft since the US •ivil War, it was much more far- .aching and had fewer exerrip-

. Students' Army Training Corps,which resembled today's ReserveOfficers' Training Corps.

President Woodrow Wilson,faced with the gigantic tasks ofmobilizing American labor and .industry established several newgovernment agencies to guide thewar effort. The War IndustriesBoard was responsible for switch-ing factories from making peace-time goods to military equipment.Automobile makers cut back oncivilian cars and built militaryvehicles and airplane engines.Piano factories switched some of

Above: "If you can't goacross with guns, come

across with funds", was oneslogan that urged Ameri-

cans to buy "LibertyBonds" to finance the war'effort. Events such as this

1918 parade kept up civilianmorale and raised aware-ness of new war bond dri-ves. Top: Women took over

formerly male jobs inoffices and factories, in

order to free men for activemilitary service.

their production over to buildingairplanes, a natural enough ideasince airplanes then were made ofcloth-covered wooden frames.

The War Industries Board alsodetermined how much steel andother vital material could bespared for nonessential industries.Construction was drasticallyaffected. Buildings in progresswere allowed to be finished, andfarm buildings were permitted,but most other non war-relatedbuilding projects had to wait untilpeacetime. In 1918, the board cutthe corset industry's annual con-

History Magazine • August/September 2006 21

WAR TIME f

sumption of steel in half. Thisseemingly trivial decision saved15,000 tons of steel, enough tobuild two warships.

Another way of saving steelwas by building freighters out ofwood or concrete. Concrete shipswere constructed of massive con-crete slabs supported by a steelframe. They were intended to last

'—~OTTiy~forthe duration of the war.-Concrete ships floated well-enough, although their hulls werevulnerable to cracking in a colli-sion. After the war, one concreteship, the Atlantus, was wrecked byaccident on its way to become aferry dock with other concreteships. The crumbling remains ofthe Atlantus are visible today offthe beach at Cape May,New Jersey.

The Board also set rules forclothing manufacturers, savingmaterials by setting limits for the .heights of shoes and mandatingshorter jackets. Parisian clothingdesigners cooperated when askedby the American authorities tocome up with simpler fashionsthat would save material andmanufacturing time.

Friction between business andlabor was eased by the War LaborBoard. Strikes were discouragednot only by pressuring workersand unions, but also by pushingfactory owners into improvingpay and working conditions, tokeep workers from wanting to •strike.

New Roles For WomenLabor shortages gave US womenthe opportunity to take jobs thatwere once thought of as exclu-sively male. It was no longerunusual for women to work out-side the home, although womenstill often quit their jobs if theymarried. Before the war, most jobsopen to women were low-payingpositions in offices and factories,or in teaching and nursing. How-ever, the war bent the traditionalrules of society. On the homefront, women worked in ship-yards, ammunition factories andsteel plants; repaired railroadtracks and locomotives; and drove'cabs, delivery wagons and motor-cycles, subway trains and street-

cars. Other women helped the wareffort by babysitting for womenwho stepped into these new jobs.

Female factory workers evenbegan wearing overalls, whichwere easier to clean than dressesand less likely toget caught inmachinery. Manywomen traveled towork in-ordinarydresses andchanged into over-alls just for theirjob. Before the warmade it necessary,such clothingwould have beendeemed unaccept-able for women.The masculinelook was softenedby making overallsfrom light mater-ial, with bright col-ors or patterns.

volunteer groups handed out cof-fee and snacks to soldiers passingthrough on troop trains.

The US Army Nurse Corps,which was founded in 1901, hadabout 4,000 women in 1917. More

than 20,000womenenlisted dur-ing the war.,Over 200women lost itheir lives .iserving inthe US army,most in the1918influenzaepidemic.

The USNavy andMarinesenlistedwomen as ;well. Theirfemalerecruits weretrained tomarch anddrill, butwere gener-ally put intooffice andclerical jobs.This easedthe Navy'sshortage ofpersonnelneeded tohandle theflood ofwartimepaperwork,and freedseveral thou-

Top: The US FoodAdministrationtried to cut foodwaste. Scarcewheat was con-served by pushingcorn products.'Left: Americanswere urged to buywar bonds. Posterssuch as this madethe point thatcivilian participa-tion was vital inwinning the war.

One way for women to take amore direct role in the war was tojoin the Red Cross, YMCA, orother volunteer organizations thataided the military. YMCA canteenswere set up not far from the fight-ing in France, offering soldiers aplace to relax, get coffee and goodmeals, and stationery to writehome with. In many towns, local

sand men formore active roles in the war.Women in the Marines werecalled "Marinettes" until a direc-tive from Washington stated thatthey were simply to be called"Marines".

Other American women wentto France as telephone operatorsworking for the US Army. Theywere known as "hello girls"."Hello girls" had to speak bothEnglish and French fluently. Somewomen took these jobs to be closerto husbands who were servingoverseas. Like the women in thebranches of the US service, they

22 History Magazine • August/September 2006

wore jacmen's uiskirts. Tcwind frcweigh'

FightingThe pierinto Bunto the ti£shortage-home. T)army cumore foeUSmilitshortageThe warFrance'sFrance afarm wojobs.

Therun by nand futuHoover,and distirelied onappealshe did latration uand postall Air-,effortfood.

The.efforts wwheat, p

t effecHoover iavoid Wecarefullyand neveserving tions of j~overnnrecipes awidely c:

Manion's recwith themendedThey sug5ork witess refinconsumiruits. Otusing lesing oil b)oods, anTom

Ratic

ied out cof-iers passingis.rse Corps,\Y~ ".had1. . More

than 20,000womensnlisted dur-ing the war.:

3ver,200 i=-women losttheir lives •',;serving in vthe US army,most in the .1918 >:T-influenzaepidemic.

The USNavy and ;Marinesenlistedwomen aswell. Their :

femalerecruits weretrained to imarch anddrill, butwere gener-al]'" ̂ ut intoof andclerical jobs.This easedthe Navy'sshortage ofpersonnelneeded tohandle theflood ofwartimepaperwork,and freedseveral thou-sand men forthe war.IBS wereuntil a direc-n stated thatbe called

vomen went= operatorsrmy. Theyt girls",peak bothuently. Some

wore jackets and caps resemblingmen's uniforms, with long narrowskirts. To prevent a sudden gust ofwind from lifting their skirts,weights were sewn into the hems.

Fighting the Kaiser with FoodThe plentiful supplies pouringinto Europe were a sharp contrastto the tightened supplies andshortages-of-many necessities athome. The flow of men into thearmy cut farm production just asmore food was needed to feed theUS military, as well as relieve foodshortages suffered by the Allies.The war had ruined much ofFrance's farmland, and bothFrance and Britain had lost manyfarm workers to the war or factoryjobs.

The US Food Administration,run by millionaire businessmanand future president HerbertHoover, handled the productionand distribution of food. Hooverrelied on voluntary sacrifice andappeals to patriotism more thanhe did laws. The Food Adminis-tration used newspaper coverageand posters to make its point thatall Americans could help the wareffort by conserving or producingfood.

The administration's strongestefforts went toward conservingwheat, pork, and beef. One simplebut effective tactic taken byHoover was pushing consumers toavoid wasting food. Storing foodcarefully; the wise use of leftovers;and never overcooking food orserving too much would save mil-lions of pounds of foodstuffs,

overnment pamphlets withrecipes and food-saving tips werewidely circulated.

Many of the Food Administra-tion's recipes would fit right inwith the healthy diets recom:mended by nutritionists today.They suggested replacing beef andpork with poultry and fish; eatingless refined sugar and flour; andconsuming more vegetables andfruits. Other suggestions includedusing less butter in cooking, sav-ing oil by cutting down on fried

>s to be closer foods, and buying perishablespe ing from local suppliers to save fuelm--. m the burned by shipping,rvice, they Rationing was enforced

largely by social pressure. Every-one was asked to give up certainfoods on particular days of theweek. "Wheatless Mondays","Meatless Tuesdays", "WheatlessWednesdays" and "Porkless Satur-days" were the custom in homesand a requirement for hotels andrestaurants. In addition, peoplewere asked to have one wheatlessmeal and one meatless meal eacday. On "wheatless days", peoplewere allowed "liberty breads androlls", which were baked using atleast 20 percent cornmeal, oat-meal, or some other wheat substi-tute. Restaurants that failed tofollow the guidelines were tem-porarily closed, and forced to dis-

less sugar and stir like h—1!"One good way to stretch the

food supply was to grow vegeta-bles yourself in a personal "Vic-tory Garden". The problem was,though, that by 1917, a large pro-portion of Americans lived intowns and cities, and had no expe-rience farming. So many peoplewere a generation or more from"ie farm; tterthe^gtrvernment had

to produce pamphlets to givebasic instructions on gardening.

More ShortagesCoal shortages loomed during thecolder-than-normal winter of1917-18. Not only were factoriesburning more coal, but railroads

Americans at home gathered tons of peach pits and nut shells, which wereburned to make charcoal for gas mask filters to be distributed to the troops

overseas. (National Archives.)

play an embarrassing poster thatexplained why they were shutdown.

Unlike the WWTl era, whenmany commodities were rationed,only sugar was officially rationedin the US during .WWI. The FoodAdministration claimed thatAmericans used three times asmuch sugar than the other allies.Sugar substitutes includedmolasses, sweet fruit syrups andmaple syrup. Consumers werepressed to use sugar wisely. Sassysigns posted in cafes read, "Use

were so jammed with business,that coal shipments were tied up.Railroads were forced to confiscatecoal shipments to get enough fuelto keep the trains running. Ameri-cans saved coal in their homes byheating with firewood and usingstoves instead of their furnaceswhen possible. In stores, electricsigns were only allowed on from7:45 to UPM. Thursdays and Sun-days were "Lightless Nights", andmerchants were not allowed tolight their signs at all. In 1918,from January 18 to March 25,

History Magazine • August/September 2006 23

WAR TIME

many non-essential businesseswere ordered to close in order tostretch coal and energy supplies.

Although the automobile hadnot completely replaced the horseyet, many Americans alreadydepended upon them. Gasolinesupplies tightened as military andindustrial consumption soared. Tosave fuel, "Gasless_Sunday^jvas__added felEe"meatless and wheat-less days late in 1918 as a conser-vation measure. Only doctors,clergymen, or others with validreasons for driving on Sundaycould travel without public scorn.Some Americans took the ideaseriously enough to hitch horsesor mules to their cars for travel onthe Sabbath.

One fellow from Decatur, Illi-nois who disregarded "GaslessSunday" in 1918 found plenty oftrouble when his car broke down.A garage owner offered to tow thecar in with his horse and give thefamily a wagon ride home, butflatly refused to work on the car.The motorist asked to borrow atelephone to call another garage,but was told that the phone wouldnot work for the automobile busi-~ness on Gasless Sunday. The Sun-day drivers got their car runningfor a short time, but it broke downagain in front of another homewhere the phone did not work onGasless Sunday. A passingmotorist towed them for a shortdistance until the towrope broke.Giving up, they accepted anotheroffer of a horse-powered tow anda wagon ride home. The news-paper reporting the story said thiscar would probably remain athome on future "Gasless Sun-days". Just in case, though, thepaper printed the license numberof the car.

One way of coping with theprivations caused by shortageswas through humor. An anony-mous poet penned these lines:

Our Mondays are meat-lessOur Tuesdays are Sweet-less

We're getting more eat-less each dayOur bread it is wheat-less

Our beds, they are sheet-lessThey've gone to the YMCA

Our homes they are heat-lessOur drinks they are treat-less

Each day we grow sadder and wiser

Our socks they are feet-lessOur trousers are seat-less

O Lord, how I hate the dam[n] Kaiser INot only were food and gaso-

line in short supply, but so wasdaylight. Daylight Saving Timewas made law in 1918, to takeeffect from the last Sunday in

Wearing masculine attire, such asthese overalls, would have been

unthinkable for most women beforethe war. Many women wore regulardresses and changed into overalls atwork; often, they still wore old-fash-ioned corsets beneath the overalls.

March to the last Sunday in Octo-ber. Government studies showedit to be worth millions in extrawork accomplished in shipyardsand construction, and in savingenergy for lighting.

Doctors, too, were scarce.Thousands of medical practition-ers were needed for the army.Eventually, the governmentdecided to draft all doctorsyounger than 45, and leave theolder doctors in place, to preventcommunities from losing all oftheir physicians.

Recycling: 1917-Style • ̂ expPaper and metal, like food, were |g onstringently conserved. Consumers • 'removed labels from food cans for/ ,paper drives. The cans themselves cou

were, in turn, saved for metal dri- ;inslves. Even garbage was reused. ;v rproLeftover fats and oils were gath- tha;ered to be made into explosives. .-; witFood scraps^ could ie-fed"Full garbage pails in Americamean empty dinner pails... in |Europe", went one slogan. the

Perhaps the most unusual as"recycling drive resulted from the to Tuse of poison gas in Europe. ; :Cai$America needed millions of gas • mermasks for its soldiers. The masks Youabsorbed the poisonous gas by ;"Thpassing air through filters packed ;comwith charcoal. Charcoal from ; 'Youwood was found unsatisfactory. Bag]Burnt fruit pits and nutshells, vatethough, yielded a dense charcoal Kne<that was much better at trappingthe gas particles. Children in the FinaScouts, schools and Sunday Theschools gathered mountains of to acpeach, cherry, plum and apricot miliipits, and hickory nut and walnut UP °shells. It took 200 peach pits, or trseven pounds of walnut shells, to billicmake enough charcoal for one sol- spendier's gas mask. billic

brouMusic and Humor Boost Morale fundBecause civilian support for the rateswar and its restrictions was criti- centscal, keeping up morale on the letterhome front was a priority with all tappelevels of government. Being a war t"knocker", or whiner, was almost withas bad as being a "slacker", or three-draft dodger. rowir

Stories of German cruelty and was rthe arrogance of their leader, errimKaiser Wilhelm II (whose mili- . zens 1tarism was blamed for the war in Bond:the first place) motivated Ameri- acrosscans to support the war, but also acrosscontributed to anti-German feel- one siing. Sauerkraut was called "liberty amusicabbage", dachshunds were bannerenamed "liberty dogs". In the Der Kcomic strips, the formerly German Bonds"Katzenjammer Kids" became the affordDutch "Shenanigan Kids". The stampcharacters Hans and Fritz became at pcMike and Aleck. lickeu

Music was an important key folder;to boosting the spirits of everyone stamp:on the home front. Radio was still could '.

24 History Magazine • August/September 2006

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experimental and had little impacton daily life, but new songs werewidely circulated on records andsheet music. So many Americanscould play pianos and otherinstruments that sheet music wasprobably even more importantthan recordings. Each song camewith its score printed on a fewpages, bound with a bright, attrac-tive cover.- -—- -

Among the best-known hits ofthe war era were lively tunes suchas "Over There", "It's a Long Wayto Tipperary" and "When theCaissons Go Rolling Along"; senti-mental ballads such as "I'll TakeYou Home Again, Kathleen" and"There's a Long, Long Trail"; andcomic novelty songs like "WouldYou Rather Be a Colonel With AnEagle on Your Shoulder, or a Pri-vate With a Chicken on YourKnee?"

Financing the FightThe Federal budget soaredto accommodate the hugemilitary expansion. TheUS government spent lessthan three quarters of abillion dollars in 1916, but.pent over twelve and halfbillion in 1918. Taxesbrought in much of thefunding. Even postagerates went up, from twocents to three cents for aletter; the increase wastapped to help pay for thewar effort. However, evenwith higher taxes andthree-cent stamps, bor-rowing on a massive scalewas necessary. The gov-ernment appealed for citi-zens to invest in "LibertyBonds". "If you can't goacross with guns, comeacross with funds", wentone slogan. Anotheramusing but misspelledbanner blared, "To HelmetDer Kiser Buy Victory LoanBonds". For people who could notafford a bond, war bond savingsstamps were sold for 25 cents eachat post offices. The stamps werelicked and stuck into cardboard

Iders. Four dollars' worth ofamps and a few extra cents

ould be exchanged for a "war

savings certificate", which wasactually another stamp. Withinterest, the certificate would beworth five dollars in 1923.

From a halting start, theAmerica's military and industrialmight grew into a major factor inleading to an Allied victory. Amer-ica's seemingly endlessnumbers of soldiers, exu-

—ber ant Wgh morale;-and-—bountiful flow of suppliesappalled the Germans,who were as weary ofwar as the Allies, but whohad nowhere to turn forhelp. The first trickle ofUS troops reached Europein June 1917. By May1918, there were half amillion in Europe, grow-ing to about two millionwhen the long-awaitedarmistice put an end tothe war at HAM on 11November 1918.

hibition became law at the begin-ning of 1919.

Many women went back totheir prewar roles as men tookback their old jobs after leavingthe military. However, women'sbranches of the armed forcesbecame permanent. And, the will-

The doughboys who camehome in 1919 found a > changedcountry. Not only did returningveterans arrive into a recessionsparked by cancelled war con-tracts and swelling numbers of

•former soldiers without work,they found that they could not 'legally buy a drink. National pro-

Patriotic posters, such as the onesshown here, made the point thatevery American needed to conservefood to help feed the US army andthe Allies.

ingness shown by women to han-dle any job allowed them to "winthe war strengthened the suf-fragette movement. In 1920, theratification of the 19th Amend-ment legalized the right of Ameri-can women to vote.

Daylight Saving Time wasunpopular and ended once WWIended. The wartime austerity andshortages were forgotten as theeconomy boomed during the1920s. However, restrictions, recy-cling and rationing would returnonce again to America in the late1930s, when the world plungedinto depression and then marchedback into war.

History Magazine • August/September 2006 25