A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
One last post to end our series on the film Here Come the WAVES.
We’ll leave you with a quote from the film, an exchange between Rosemary and Susan, twin sisters both played by actress Betty Hutton.
Susan: Only I wish… I wish…
Roemary: What?
Roemary: I wish that I had been born twelve minutes earlier than you, and I’d have had all the brains.
And if you have some time this Sunday, check out the full film, below.
Here Come the WAVES was released worldwide, including in Sweden (Flottans farliga flickor, November 1945), Finland (Laivaston heilat, December 1946), Turkey (Gönüllü melekler, 1947), Denmark (En rigtig sailor, August 1947), and Portugal (A Tentação da Sereia, May 1949).
The poster above is from the Argentinian version of the film, known as Mellizas Peligrosas, or Dangerous Twins. The poster below from the Denmark release, which translates as A Real Sailor.
And look what we found on the other side of the December, 1944 WAVES Newsletter. An ad for the new film Here Come the WAVES.
The Betty Hutton/Bing Crosby vehicle was filmed on Navy bases and at the Hunter College Boot Camp. It went into pre-release at Navy facilities across the United States before going into theatrical release December 18, 1944.
Happy December!
The December, 1944 edition of the WAVES Newsletter finds a photograph of a WAVE stepping out of a plane. We’d probably expect a Christmas-themed cover these days….
…. when you join the WAVES. World War II-era recruitment photo.
Watching football this weekend? Maybe this photo of some WAVES at the USS Hunter (aka Hunter College Boot Camp in New York) will help you get some team spirit. Give me an N! Give me an A! Give me a V! Give me a Y! What’s that spell? NAVY!!!
The photo comes from the New York Historical Society.
Getting ready for Thursday? How about this tidbit from the Navy History and Heritage Command from Thanksgiving 1944 at the Amphibious Training Center in San Francisco?
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is in a few days, so we thought a color photograph of New York City from during the war seemed appropriate.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVE Elane Hoganson, a yeoman 2nd class, types a letter from a dictaphone record. The dictaphone used a wax cylinder to record voices – kind of an early precursor to tape recorders or MP3 recording devices.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
At the Navy Exhibit for the Sixth War Loan Drive, which opening on November 17, 1944 (70 years ago), WAVE ensign Edna Laing demonstrates aerology (weather forecasting) skills.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 