A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
Rounded shoulders, fuller skirts, nipped-in waistlines and high-climbing throat-lines . . . these are the new silhouettes to look for.
Consider these highlights when shopping, but don’t be a slave to the mode if it’s wrong for you.
From the booklet “Back to Civvies,” held by the The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
The Navy set up five separation units for WAVES. In this article from the WAVES’ newsletter, it describes what women could expect as they moved from their stationed posts and gradually were decommissioned and released from duty. It comes from the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College.
Did you know that three Navy women, the Naval Academy’s Laura Gorinski, Toni Paruso, and Rheanna Vaughn, qualified to swim in the recent U.S. Olympic trials? While they didn’t make the Olympic swim team, they deserve a salute as we head to the opening ceremony of the Olympics this week.
This photo shows WAVES celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the WAVES with a spash in the pool. It comes from the National Archives.
Of course, where there are young men and young women during wartime, there is a chance for romance and adventure. And for the oh-so-innocent Josette Dermody, romance and adventure came in a dashing package known as Blackie.
Blackie was my epitome of being a sailor. He loved his ship. He loved being a sailor and in a sense he loved me. But, I found out that one day he was dating me, but he would drop me off and go find the other kind of woman for the evening and stuff. He was scary but he was exciting.
This photo comes from the collection of Josette Dermody Wingo.
Josette Dermody (at far left in this photo), worked as a gunner’s mate at Treasure Island in San Francisco, training men to shoot at moving targets. It was a small, close-knit group who worked and played together.
Mostly we stuck together because, you know — let me see, there were probably 30 of us. And depending upon your duty hours and that sort of stuff — then since our work was with the guys, it wasn’t with the gals as much — although it wasn’t exclusive particularly. It was just the way the work went.
This photograph comes from the collection of Josette Dermody Wingo.
I fall into Navy jokes. We called the blankets the admiral so you could write home and say, “I was sleeping with my admiral” (laughs). There was a lounge upstairs with no men allowed. And a phone, I think one phone in the hallway, which meant you had to train your roommates to take your messages. “Tell Ronald I’m dying of pneumonia and tell my mom I’ll call her back next Tuesday (laughs) and tell Gerald I’m” — you don’t want to sound too eager. “Oh, it’s you Gerald! Yes da da da da da.” Everybody talks about all the camaraderie, so in one sense we were not exactly careful, but close to each other. We made a circle around where the guys would not wear us down.
-Josette Dermody, World War II WAVE
This photograph shows WAVES and sailors going out for a meal; Josette Dermody is third from the left. It comes from the collection of Josette Dermody Wingo.
A good cartoon makes the rounds in a WAVE recreation lounge room, NAS Anacostia DC.
From the National Archives.
From the start of the WAVES, the women were “in” the Navy, qualifying for all veteran benefits. The same as the men.
This comic comes from the collection of Liane Rose Galvin.
Who doesn’t like a dust ruffle? Certainly adds a bit of flair to those Navy bed corners.
This comic comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Of course WAVES wanted to keep things “ship shape”!
This comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Hinges of History 