We have had this project languishing on the proverbial back burner for a few years now, but after Fort Meigs’ Muster on the Maumee event and triple-digit heat, we decided to actually start it.
The exercise uniform consisted of a front-buttoning striped seersucker dress and matching bloomers, the WAAC Summer Cap (AKA fatigue hat, “Daisy Mae”), athletic shoes, and OD cotton socks completed the ensemble.
“To provide for the needs of Fatigue and utility clothing for the WAAC, the OQMG had designed an exercise suit…the exercise suit and bloomers were well received by Waacs upon issue at Fort Des Moines in 1942.” -Erna Risch, 1945
While officially designated the exercise suit, it was worn for far more than just physical training. It also was worn for KP and fatigue work, as well as on laundry day.
Our projects will be the exercise suit, the summer cap, and the athletic shoes–stay tuned for tutorials.
We will be going into more details on subsequent posts, in the meantime enjoy the following photos!
WACs at the Third WAC Training Center, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, gather for softball game, circa 1944. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Helena Seymbroski(” stands in front of a clothesline holding a box of Rinso detergent on wash day at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, April 1944. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Doris Dickens Wilson holds a broom while lifting the lid of a garbage can, part of her Kitchen Patrol duties. Photo identification indicates she was wearing her fatigue uniform. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
WACs at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, gather for mail call in April 1944. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
WACs Bernice Moran Miller and Elsie Ribiero play in the sand at Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, in 1943. Behind them, mattresses are draped over a wooden fence. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Photo of WACs playing with a giant ball in a game of “push ball” at Third WAC Training Center,Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, circa 1944. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Mildred Curtis Scott and two fellow WACs stand in front of sign reading “Gas Chamber and Decontamination Area”, circa 1944. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Kathryn Fulner Wakefield sits on a post, circa 1943. She wears the WAAC brown and white seersucker exercise uniform, and in her lap is the khaki summer fatigue hat. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Ann Kaplowitz Goldberg poses in her brown and white seersucker exercise uniform while hanging laundry on the back porch of her quarters in Asheville, North Carolina, nicknamed “khalamity kottage” on 10 July 1945. The back of the photo reads, “Glamorous, even when I’m washing clothes. The window is my bedroom.” The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Ann Kaplowitz Goldberg leans against a mop on the porch of Barracks 12 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, in March 1945, wearing her work uniform and Daisy Mae fatigue cap. The back of the photo reads, “Don’t I look like an eager beaver?” The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Two WACs pose at MacDill Airfield in Tampa, Florida, circa 1943. The WAC on the left wears the brown and white seersucker exercise uniform and holds her Daisy Mae cap. The WAC crouching on the right wears a men’s flight suit with air force insignia and a Daisy Mae cap, and holds a camera. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Marcelle Fisher poses outside a barracks in the WAC seersucker exercise uniform, circa 1943. Behind her, laundry is hanging to dry. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Kathryn Fulner Wakefield (back row, second from left) and five other WAACs sit on the ground, circa 1943. The WAACs wear brown and white seersucker exercise uniforms with khaki summer fatigue hats. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Alice Starr May, circa 1944. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 — http://library.uncg.edu/
Sources
- FM 35-20 W.A.C. Field Manual Physical Training, 1943-07-15
- Risch, Erna. Q.M.C. Historical Studies No. 12: No. 12: A Wardrobe for the Women of the Army,  1945
- The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project (WVHP) at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG)
