American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller

American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller
Author :
Publisher : University of Missouri Press
Total Pages : 367
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780826272843
ISBN-13 : 0826272843
Rating : 4/5 (843 Downloads)

Book Synopsis American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller by : James J. Cooke

Download or read book American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller written by James J. Cooke and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 2012-10-01 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Cooke's examination of the Special Services and PX System during World War II, a subject previously overlooked by scholars, shows that these goods and services kept the armed forces' spirits up under the alienating conditions of global war."—Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century As World War II dawned in Europe, General George C. Marshall, the new Army Chief of Staff, had to acknowledge that American society—and the citizens who would soon become soldiers—had drastically changed in the previous few decades. Almost every home had a radio, movies could talk, and driving in an automobile to the neighborhood soda fountain was part of everyday life. A product of newly created mass consumerism, the soldier of 1940 had expectations of material comfort, even while at war. Historian James J. Cooke presents the first comprehensive look at how Marshall’s efforts to cheer soldiers far from home resulted in the enduring morale services that the Army provides still today. Marshall understood that civilian soldiers provided particular challenges and wanted to improve the subpar morale services that had been provided to Great War doughboys. Frederick Osborn, a civilian intellectual, was called to head the newly formed morale branch, which quickly became the Special Services Division. Hundreds of on-post movie theaters showing first-run movies at reduced prices, service clubs where GIs could relax, and inexpensive cafeterias were constructed. The Army Exchange System took direction under Brigadier General Joseph Byron, offering comfort items at low prices; the PX sold everything from cigarettes and razor blades to low-alcohol beer in very popular beer halls. The great civic organizations—the YMCA, the Salvation Army, the Jewish Welfare Board, and others—were brought together to form the United Service Organizations (USO). At USO Camp Shows, admired entertainers like Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Frances Langford brought home-style entertainment to soldiers within the war zones. As the war heightened in intensity, the Special Service Companies grew to over forty in number, each containing more than one hundred enlisted men. Trained in infantry skills, soldiers in the companies at times would have to stop showing movies, pick up their rifles, and fight. The Special Services Division, PX, and USO were crucial elements in maintaining GI morale, and Cooke’s work makes clear the lasting legacy of these efforts to boost the average soldier’s spirits almost a century ago. The idea that as American soldiers serve abroad, they should have access to at least some of the comforts of home has become a cultural standard.


American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller Related Books

American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller
Language: en
Pages: 367
Authors: James J. Cooke
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-10-01 - Publisher: University of Missouri Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Cooke's examination of the Special Services and PX System during World War II, a subject previously overlooked by scholars, shows that these goods and services
Dear John
Language: en
Pages: 339
Authors: Susan L. Carruthers
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2022-01-06 - Publisher: Cambridge University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A sweeping history of emotional life that explores how 'Dear John' letters became a rite of passage for American servicemen.
Modern American Drama: Playwriting in the 1940s
Language: en
Pages: 325
Authors: Felicia Hardison Londré
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-11-14 - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Decades of Modern American Drama series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1930s to 2009 in eight vol
Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis
Language: en
Pages: 227
Authors: Aaron Lefkovitz
Categories: Music
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-06-20 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book examines Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis as distinctively global symbols of threatening and nonthreatening black masculinity. It cent
The Girls Next Door
Language: en
Pages: 393
Authors: Kara Dixon Vuic
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-02-01 - Publisher: Harvard University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The story of the intrepid young women who volunteered to help and entertain American servicemen fighting overseas, from World War I through the wars in Afghanis