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Christmas 1941

© Earl Rickard

War and Christmas are the antithesis of each other. In December 1941, Americans had to endure one while trying to enjoy the other. Since the beginning of the first peacetime draft, in September 1940, a faint veil of wartime had hung over the American scene. Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1940 found a small number of young men away from home at military camps; Thanksgiving of 1941 found almost one million draftees, all of the nation's National Guardsmen, and most of the reserves on active duty ready to defend the Western Hemisphere. The smell of war was in the air, but the way war came, with "dramatic suddenness" at Pearl Harbor, shocked the nation. Real war had arrived. Yet the calendar page in most American homes reflected pictures of Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and winter wonderlands -- Christmas would not be denied.

Because they lived on the shores of the Pacific Ocean where the Japanese fleet had struck the infamous blow, the people of the West Coast felt the fear of war more acutely than the rest of the country. The San Francisco Chronicle warned readers to turn off their Christmas tree lights when away from home: "There is no Christmas truce in the war and orders to blackout come without warning.... Air raid wardens are empowered to break into houses in a blackout if lights are on and owners not home."

Most owners must have been home, because Christmas shoppers had been scarce that season until just before the big day. Lack of shoppers was no fault of the advertisers. Ads for Zenith's portable radios asked "What to do in air raids?" and reminded readers to turn on their radios in an emergency "to hear any commands that might be given by defense authorities. The Office of Civilian Defense wants you to do this." In New York, a Macy's ad for globes($2.79), pocket maps of the world($.47), and world atlases($.69 to $3.98) informed readers that "No one knows better than Macys how wide awake America has suddenly become! In the past ten days, we've sold over a thousand globes, about eight hundred maps and hundreds more atlases!...all items are limited, the stock uncertain ....Keep up with...your soldiers, your sailors, your marines!"

Telephone companies asked consumers to refrain from all but the most urgent calls. Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company ads said the days just before Christmas were the "busiest in Pacific Coast history." PT&T asked the public "to lend us a hand over the Holiday Season by not sending greetings by Long Distance." New York Telephone Company ads led with a headline "BECAUSE OF THE WAR" and explained that long distance lines must be kept open for defense use on Christmas Eve and Day. "We are sorry to ask you to restrict a custom that is so much a part of the spirit of Christmas; but since there will be no truce over the holidays, we feel sure you will understand and be glad to cooperate."