| The C.E. Daniel Collection |
| The Homefront: USA |
| While the young men of our armed forces found themselves stationed at training bases across the country, and with others already having left for service overseas, those left at home found themselves in a unique situation. Housewives found work at the nearby war factory plants, rationing of all kinds became common place and even children found ways to assist with the war effort. While we remember the brave service of our American soldiers and airmen, lets also take time to remember those who remained at home, and kept the country moving forward. Throughout my 30+ years of collecting WWII US aviation items, I would occasionally come across items that were not aviation related, but which were an interesting part of WWII history. This page was created to show a few homefront items which had found their way into my private collection. This page is dedicated to Rosie the Riveter, the kids who scrambled around town collecting items for the war effort, and all the rest who kept our country running while men of fighting age were overseas or off training for war. |
| The Son in Service Flag |
| During WWII, it would have been common to see "son in service flags" hanging in windows of homes and business, the residing family proudly showing their family's contribution to the war effort with someone serving in the military. A tradition that can trace its origins to WWI, the son/daughter in service flag (originally also called the War Mothers Flag) would display one blue star for each son or daughter currently serving in the United States military during a time of war. Multiple stars would be added to the flag, representing the multiple children currently in service. A gold star sewn over the blue star would indicate the loss of a son or daughter who lost their lives while serving in the war. Fortunately this tradition proudly continue today with modern "son/daughter in service flags" still flying in the patriotic windows of home across our country. It is an important tradition worth passing along to future generations, hoping no further gold stars will be added to these proud flags. Below are just a couple of these flags that are contained within my collection. |
| The V-Mail Magnifier |
| With the invention of "V-mail" (Victory mail) during WWII, there is little doubt many parents, grandparents and siblings sat focused in the dim lighting of home, straining to read the miniature writing found on a v-mail from a loved one serving overseas. Likewise, soldiers overseas most likely also found the v-mail letters difficult to read at best. Designed to save space in the amount of cargo be sent to and from the states, a system of microfilming letters on special paper was designed to allow letters to be sent to and from loved ones, while cutting down on the amount of space and weight required to carry letters back and forth. During WWII, well over 500 millions pieces of v-mail were sent to and from the United States, to loved ones serving all around the world. One of my favorite non-aviation related pieces in my collection is this original WWII era v-mail magnifier shown below. Still in its original box, this undoubtedly aided readers in reading every word written by their loved ones in miniature. Although original war time v-mail letters are fairly common and easy to come by, these v-mail readers are seldom found, especially with the original box. |
| The Old Daniel Family Radio fromBarnsdall, Oklahoma |
| During WWII, people kept up on war news by word of mouth, from newspapers and shorts in the theaters, or from the family radio. The radio shown below is a 1940, General Electric model L-630 wood cased, table top radio. The photograph shows my grandparents listening to the very same radio during WWII. Upon receiving the radio, I cleaned it up gently and found that it still works. The sound of the old speakers as it broadcasts modern programming is simply nostalgic. There is nothing like listening to a baseball game on one of these old wood radios. I am proud to say I have the pleasure of caring for this radio that has been in my family for over 70 years. |
| MORE TO BE ADDED |