{"id":9081,"date":"2017-07-31T15:12:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T15:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/atlasobscura-the-wool-brigades-of-world-war-i\/"},"modified":"2018-12-05T16:11:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T23:11:18","slug":"atlasobscura-the-wool-brigades-of-world-war-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/atlasobscura-the-wool-brigades-of-world-war-i\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-9081 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/atlasobscura-the-wool-brigades-of-world-war-i\/attachment\/9082\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_otylhbe8uI1qahceco1_1280-100x100.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/atlasobscura.tumblr.com\/post\/163638241051\/the-wool-brigades-of-world-war-i-when-knitting\" class=\"tumblr_blog\">atlasobscura<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The Wool Brigades of World War I, When Knitting Was a Patriotic Duty<\/p>\n<p>In August 1918, the Comforts Committee of the Navy League of the United States opened a three-day knitting bee in Central Park. It was a massive event, with a sole purpose: to produce warm garments for those fighting in World War I. At the event, there were knitting competitions for speed and agility, and attendees ranged from children to octogenarians. The numbers were so great that one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=8dFMltjhi0YC&amp;pg=PT316&amp;lpg=PT316&amp;dq=central+park+knitting+bee+1918&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=rBioGWFcAZ&amp;sig=vxpDw4nnV-QP0gxcONdKCMn_h9A&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiRlJPj6qTVAhVs44MKHeD_DaMQ6AEIVDAJ#v=onepage&amp;q=central%20park%20knitting%20bee%201918&amp;f=false\">chairwomen said<\/a>, \u201cthe click of the needles could be heard all the way to Berlin.\u201d By the end of the \u201cknit-in,\u201d the Comforts Committee had raised $4,000 (roughly $70,000 today) and created 50 sweaters, nearly as many mufflers, 224 pairs of socks, and 40 head-and-neck coverings called \u201cwool helmets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the war, there was an overwhelming effort to assist those fighting abroad. Before America even joined the war, organizations such as the American Red Cross and the American Fund for the French Wounded had issued pleas for warm clothing for soldiers\u2014or, as a Navy League poster put it, to \u201cKnit a Bit.\u201d After April 1917, the Red Cross and the Comforts Committee worked together to mobilize ever larger numbers of knitters, with a request for <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=edoDAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PA659&amp;lpg=PA659&amp;dq=comforts+committee+navy+league&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=ZQ2c9fIDC9&amp;sig=JeMLm9ZNJcIqx-yyhO1IqUpvXgs&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjqnreKsqLVAhVK4oMKHZfxA9Q4ChDoAQg6MAY#v=onepage&amp;q=comforts%20committee%20navy%20league&amp;f=false\">1.5 million<\/a> knitted garments.<\/p>\n<p>Knitting was promoted as a patriotic duty. A Red Cross poster showed a woman knitting diligently, with the words, \u201cYou Can Help.\u201d Tape measures were sold in red, white, and blue, and the Betsy Ross Yarn Mills <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=8dFMltjhi0YC&amp;pg=PT298&amp;lpg=PT298&amp;dq=allies+special+aid+khaki+knitting&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=rBioGOAhz-&amp;sig=khkOck3MIHgP5iqhc5bdcfmFJTE&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiB--j6r6LVAhUE04MKHVYnBV0Q6AEIMzAC#v=onepage&amp;q=allies%20special%20aid%20khaki%20knitting&amp;f=false\">advertised<\/a> their water-repellent, khaki and grey wool with \u201cUncle Sam Wants You To Knit To Protect His Boys\u2014\u2018Over There.\u2019\u201d The Allies Special Aid <a href=\"http:\/\/hanover.wickedlocal.com\/article\/20151110\/news\/151119569\">knitting bag<\/a> exhorted the efforts of the homefront knitters in military terms:<\/p>\n<p>Do you belong to the wool brigade?<br \/>If not, then come along.<br \/>Mothers, wives and maidens<br \/>Make this Army strong.<\/p>\n<p>Gray Wool is our ammunition;<br \/>Some make it into balls<br \/>Pass them to the knitting squad;<br \/>They will soon use them all.<\/p>\n<p>For this is no time to be idle<br \/>And sit with folded hands<br \/>Pick up your knitting whenever you\u2019re sitting.<br \/>A sock soon grows under your hand.<\/p>\n<p>Hark! I hear the bugle call.<br \/>Somebody wants another ball.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.atlasobscura.com\/articles\/when-knitting-was-a-patriotic-duty-wwi-homefront-wool-brigades\">Read more &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>atlasobscura: The Wool Brigades of World War I, When Knitting Was a Patriotic Duty In August 1918, the Comforts Committee of the Navy League of the United States opened a three-day knitting bee in Central Park. It was a massive event, with a sole purpose: to produce warm garments for those fighting in World War [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-words","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6PWot-2mt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9083,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9081\/revisions\/9083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}