Everyone was missing somebody. And so there were Christmas gifts to help you cope. Best-selling books at Macy’s in 1943, perfect for the wives with husbands away from home at war, included titles such as YOUR HUSBAND’S GONE TO WAR and THE NAVY WIFE.
You couldn’t necessarily just pick up the phone and call someone to ease your loneliness. Bell Telephone repeatedly placed ads in newspapers and magazines at holiday time, reminding people that there was a war on. “War needs the wires this Christmas,” said one. “War can’t wait--not even for Christmas. So please don’t make long distance calls to war-busy centers this Christmas unless they’re vital.”
There were many sacrifices to make, no matter how small. During the war, sugar was rationed. So in early December 1942, the War Production Board ruled that there was to be no production of chocolate St. Nicholas figures that year.
Yes, at times, things could be grim. And yet, and yet...the Christmas spirit, the spirit of giving and sharing, would still shine through. Montgomery, Alabama, for example, at Christmas 1943 found itself with not one but two major military bases nearby, Gunter Air Force Base and Maxwell Air Force Base. Its downtown stores were open long hours during the Christmas season, their clerks and sales people worked to the bone. Yet on December 17th and 18th, 1943, cadets from both bases were given the run of the downtown to do all their Christmas shopping. Stores stayed open an extra hour or two to accommodate them. Then, on Christmas Day, the Montgomery Red Cross and Jaycees teamed up to open a special canteen, from which free bags of gum, fruit, games, and comic books were handed out to each serviceman who came by. Why go to all this trouble?, asked one reporter.
“It’s Christmas!,” came the reply.
