Wristlets, Mufflers, Sweaters, Socks

In 1917, the American Red Cross made an urgent call for knitted goods and hospital supplies which would help fight the war. This urgent need for supplies was submitted for at least one and a half million of knitted wristles, mufflers, sweaters and pairs of socks. The most common and desirable need was for socks as the conditions for trenches were terrible by the fact that these soldiers were spending weeks or months at a time in wet and freezing cold conditions. As soldiers were being stuck in the trenches or if they were on the march in France, these warm and very simple socks would be making all the difference to these soldiers.

Wristlets

Socks

During the World War 1 soldiers wore what they called Trench Boots, which would have been made from retanned cowhide with very thick soles but unfortunately these boots ripped out from the seams very quickly. The boots had iron heels and 5 rows of hobnails as these where to help the soldiers from slipping, which were then hammered to the soles. These hobnails conducted the cold from the frozen ground directly to the soldier’s feet. But a new and improved version of this boot came about in 1918, which was called the Pershing Boot. This particular boot had an extra sole, which give the boot more warmth for the soldiers but the soldier could not bend his foot in this rigid boot and his feet would remain cold, sore and more often than not wet. These boots were not insulated in any way and as a result of this the soldiers would be wearing two pairs of thick wool socks. This required the boots to be two sizes larger than the regular size. These boots had the disadvantage of wearing and tearing and the soldiers had to make practice of changing socks to avoid contracting trench foot. So the need of a continuous supply of wool socks was endless.

Trench Boots

Pershing Boots