Library program explores how Americans celebrated Christmas during World War II

Less than three weeks after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans celebrated their first Christmas of World War II. Joy Johnson, adult services coordinator for Coshocton Public Library, presented a program honoring the 80th anniversary for the end of World War II. She brought with her two copies of the 1942 Sears Wish Books for anyone wanting to see what gifts were popular at that time.

“In 1941 America was expecting a holiday for the books. This is pre-Pearl Harbor,” Johnson said. “Today we are going to explore what life was like during that time. In 1941 we were expecting a holiday boom. Americans were just coming out of The Great Depression; people had a little more money in their pockets.”

Holiday mail set a record during that time. Christmas cards were very popular during the war years, and the earliest cards were more patriotic. Hallmark employed 3,000 people.

The holidays looked very different during the war years, affecting what people could gift, eat and who would be missed from the family table.

“This program will explore what life was like for Americans during that time, how we managed to still create holiday cheer, and we will make a paper ornament for your tree,” Johnson said.

In 1941 shoppers were encouraged to purchase things like pocketbooks large enough to store first aid kits, fuel oil, house wares, stockings because they couldn't find silk stockings, warm underwear, blackout kits, and military-themed toys like trucks, tanks and planes. The focus was on health and nutrition during the war.

In a copy of the Coshocton Tribune, advertisers encouraged people to buy appliances for Christmas. Defend your country, buy new appliances. In 1941 you could buy a Hitler pin cushion, where you stick the pins in his behind, and of course, war bonds were the things to give.

At the start of the war, stores pulled ornaments made in Japan from their shelves. Outdoor displays like Christmas trees and decorations had to be turned off at night because of air raids. The shortage of materials, like aluminum and tin, used to produce ornaments led many people to make their own ornaments at home.

Ornaments were made from paper. Some were dipped in paraffin wax, and they used a thread and needle to hang them on the tree. Magazines contained patterns for ornaments made from nonpriority war materials, like paper, string and natural objects such as pinecones or nuts.

Electric bubble lights were created during the 1940s and remain popular today. To give their Christmas tree a snow-covered effect, people mixed a box of Lux soap powder with 2 cups of water and brushed the concoction on the branches of their tree. In the 1940s, a 5-foot Christmas tree could be purchased for 75 cents.

During the early years of World War II, the new American-made Christmas ornaments did not look all that different from those still being produced today. From 1939-41 the ornaments were shiny, thanks to being coated on their interior with a silver nitrate solution. These shiny glass balls were often decorated with painted stripes and topped with a metal cap embossed with “Made in the U.S. of A.”

Silver tinsel was used up, and the ornaments were left without any inside decoration. Around 1943 all metal was needed for the war effort, and the ornament industry could no longer produce metal caps for their glass decorations. Companies became creative and started using caps made from either cardboard or paper and with a piece of cord in place of a metal hanging hook.

Some companies used a type of cardboard hanging hook that fastened inside the ball. Other decorating companies used a little piece of wood stuck sideways in the neck of the ball, with a cord tied to it.

Sugar was the first food to be rationed during World War II and butter the following year, but that didn't stop people from making Christmas dessert. Home economists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other food manufacturers developed new wartime recipes using ingredients that were cheap and available. Victory cakes used very little sugar and gelatin-based desserts. The government began rationing foods in 1942, and households had to rethink what they could serve.

A new kind of "butter" came to the grocery stores during World War II, when ration books made many staples and goods a luxury. People grew up believing margarine was invented in response to wartime shortages and rationing of butter. By the early 20th century, most margarine was made from vegetable oils, without any animal fats, which made it easier to spread and cheaper to produce.

As an activity for this program, everyone was invited to make paper star ornaments out of scrapbook paper to explore how holidays were celebrated at that time. In 1945 Germany surrendered and in May Japan surrendered.