The
Victory Home:
Doing Our Part--Knitting
Knitting
for soldiers and sailors was a tradition that started during the Civil
War and continued through World Wars I and II. Whether or not the
garments were actually needed, they were a morale booster for both
knitter and recipient. Knitted garments were also made for wartime
refugees, although this was not
as popular.
Poster image is
courtesy of
the Northwestern University Library
poster database .
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provided by the Buffalo Free-Net.
Updated 11/12/04.
Page created by Midge
Coates
Home
Stories
Knitting
for Victory, WWII
These stories are from
British and Canadian citizens, but the same activities occurred in the
United States.
Knitting for Britain
Canadian knitting
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Photos
These photos are in the
American Memory collection, America from the
Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA/OWI,
1935-1945 . Click on the small image to see a larger one.
Woman knitting. Washington, D.C.
Fort Kent, ME. (vicinity). Albert Gagnon's daughter knitting.
Fort Kent, ME (vicinity). Three of Gagnon's daughters knitting.
Tulare County, CA. FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm workers'
camp. Girl Scout knitting.
Tulare County, CA. FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm workers'
camp. Girl scouts learning to knit.
Brooklyn, NY. Red Hook housing project. Class in knitting at the
community center.
East Montpelier, VT. Mrs. Myrtle Ormsbee, widowed mother of farmer
Charles Ormsbee, knitting sweaters for the Red Cross.
East Montpelier, VT. Mrs. Myrtle Ormsbee and Marilyn, mother and
daughter of farmer Charles Ormsbee. Mrs. Ormsbee is knitting sweaters
for the Red
Cross.
East Montpelier, VT. Charles Ormsbee's widowed mother, Mrs. Myrtle
Ormsbee, knitting sweaters for the Red Cross, and entertaining her
grandson of five at the same time.
East Montpelier, VT. Charles Ormsbee's widowed mother, Myrtle Ormsbee,
knitting sweaters for the Red Cross. Mr. Ormsbee increased his produce,
milk, and wood to aid the war effort, and all the members of his family
aid
in many ways.
Moreno Valley, Colfax County, NM. A rancher's daughter knitting during
a poker party at George Turner's ranch.
Washington, D.C. The Netherlands Legation. Madame Louden, wife of the
minister, knitting for the Netherlands National Committee of the Red
Cross in her
living room at home.
Washington, D.C. The Netherlands Legation. Minister Louden's daughter
examining a sweater which her mother is knitting for the Netherlands
branch of the
Red Cross.
New York, NY. Dr. and Mrs. Winn [or Wynn], Janet and Marie, a
Czech-American family, playing Chinese checkers while their grandmother
knits.
Lithuanian chapter of Red Cross. Pittsburgh, PA. (knitting)
Lithuanian chapter of the Red Cross at work finishing sweaters.
Pittsburgh, PA.
This photo is in the National Archives ARC
Digital Copies collection.
The La
Roe family of Austis, FL, after a day's work for The Deland pool. Left
is Mrs. La Roe, with her two-year-old granddaughter, next is
four-year-old Eugene, Clarence La Roe's son, and Mr. La Roe.
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Posters
This poster is in the
Smithsonian Institution online exhibit of WWII posters, "Produce for Victory"
.
Purl Harder
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Ads
This ad is in the Ad*Access
collection of Duke University.
Minneapolis War Knitter (Ivory soap)
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Instructions
Some of these patterns
are from World War I, but they were probably still used for World War
II.
Red Cross knitting
patterns (WWII)
Knitting pattern, Red
Cross (WWI)
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