Serving overseas during the holidays can be hard & lonesome for both Soldier & loved ones. But we know your strong, & like Soldiers of past, we know youll adapt, overcome, & make it the best Christmas you can! From your family & friends, we wish every American & Allied Soldier a Very Merry Christmas o7 Christmas During World War II... 1) During World War II, Christmas trees were in short supply due to a lack of manpower to fell them and a shortage of means of transportation to ship the trees to market. People rushed to buy artificial trees. 2) In 1941, a 1.5m Christmas tree could be purchased for 75 cents. 3) The shortage of materials like aluminum and tin used to produce ornaments led many people to make their own ornaments at home. Magazines contained patterns for ornaments made out of non-priority war materials, like paper, string, and natural objects, such as pine cones or nuts. 4) Electric bubble lights were created during the 1940s and remain popular even today. 5) To give their Christmas tree a snow-covered effect, people mixed a box of soap powder with two cups of water and brushed the concoction on the branches of their tree. 6) Fewer men at home resulted in fewer men available to dress up and play Santa Claus. Women took the role at some department stores. 7) I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and “White Christmas” were both written during the 1940s and quickly gained popularity with the war-weary but optimistic population. 8) Travel during the holidays was limited for most families due to the rationing of tires and gasoline. People saved up their food ration stamps to provide extra food for a fine holiday meal. 9) Many people threw their German blown-glass ornaments and exotic Japanese ornaments in the trash as soon as the war began. Shortly after the war, Corning Glass Company of New York began mass-producing Christmas tree balls using machines designed to produce light bulbs. Corning could make more ornaments in a single minute than a German cottage glass blower could make in a whole day, albeit not of a hand-crafted quality. 10) With British soldiers away in Europe, war-hit families in the United Kingdom were issued with an urgent plea to invite their US colleagues to share their Christmas celebrations. GIs proved a festive hit due to their tendency to share rare rations with their host families. 11) From 1939 onward, the BBCs special Christmas Day radio programming would include a speech by the King, an event which became an annual ritual and continues to this day. 12) Keen to decorate their bases, the soldiers would hang chaff, strips of metallic foil thrown from their aircraft to confuse German radar. (originally by wargaming.net)
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 01:24:56 +0000
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