Dan Morton
A Fixture
A brief and hopefully not too painful history…
During the early months of the US entry into the Great War, a New York Times editorial asked, “How are we going to feed our Allies across the water and have enough left to feed ourselves?” Food riots erupted in New York City, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. One of the causes for concern was a dangerous scarcity of farm labor and while this was not new, the lure of higher paying war jobs or of military service made the problem much worse.
The Women’s Land Army (WLA) was an idea conceived and already functioning in Great Britain, but it was, to many, a radical and unpopular solution. Many other schemes – drafting a segment of the prison populations to work on farms, importing German POWs interned in England and France or employing the thousands of unemployed German aliens living in the US and unable to return home. A scheme of compulsory agricultural service was even considered.
The Wall Street Journal bluntly reminded its readers, “…victory may depend upon the food supply”, and called for the mobilization of “an army for agriculture”.
The urgency of the situation and the lack of male leadership brought about a speedy response from existing women’s groups including the Women’s Trade Union League, the YWCA, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the National League for Women’s Service and others. Talented women who had been college administrators and women’s suffrage advocates with help from the state and federal departments of agriculture and overcoming not inconsiderable male opposition, evolved the American version of the WLA. The “farmerettes” plowed fields, drove tractors, planted, harvested and hauled lumber. They broke accepted societal rules but proved themselves willing and capable and made a lasting contribution to the war effort.1
The WLA had a semi-official ‘uniform’ for farm work-very similar in appearance to the British WLA uniform. The uniform included working boots with gaiters, loose-fitting trousers somewhat akin to jodhpurs, a loose-fitting smock with pockets and a large straw or light canvas hat.
My “farmerette” [as they were called at the time] is a 1/16th scale model, using a head and hands and a shovel from kits. Everything else is original. I went for a straw hat and used impressions from a metal file on to the lead sheet and putty for the straw “look”. The shovel is covered with a canvas protector. I remember my grandfather taking care of his tools using things like that. He had a canvas mattock cover and one for each of his garden shovels. He put grease inside the covers to prevent rust. So it’s not inconceivable that a WLA lady farmer would have been taught to use such things also. The photo background is various kinds of lettuce [lettuces?] in a field in North Carolina.
Hope you like it!
All the best,
Dan
1 – If you want to know more about the WLA, the best reference I found was Elaine F. Weiss, “Fruits of Victory”, Potomac Books, Washington, DC., 2008. ISBN: 9781597972734.
During the early months of the US entry into the Great War, a New York Times editorial asked, “How are we going to feed our Allies across the water and have enough left to feed ourselves?” Food riots erupted in New York City, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. One of the causes for concern was a dangerous scarcity of farm labor and while this was not new, the lure of higher paying war jobs or of military service made the problem much worse.
The Women’s Land Army (WLA) was an idea conceived and already functioning in Great Britain, but it was, to many, a radical and unpopular solution. Many other schemes – drafting a segment of the prison populations to work on farms, importing German POWs interned in England and France or employing the thousands of unemployed German aliens living in the US and unable to return home. A scheme of compulsory agricultural service was even considered.
The Wall Street Journal bluntly reminded its readers, “…victory may depend upon the food supply”, and called for the mobilization of “an army for agriculture”.
The urgency of the situation and the lack of male leadership brought about a speedy response from existing women’s groups including the Women’s Trade Union League, the YWCA, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the National League for Women’s Service and others. Talented women who had been college administrators and women’s suffrage advocates with help from the state and federal departments of agriculture and overcoming not inconsiderable male opposition, evolved the American version of the WLA. The “farmerettes” plowed fields, drove tractors, planted, harvested and hauled lumber. They broke accepted societal rules but proved themselves willing and capable and made a lasting contribution to the war effort.1
The WLA had a semi-official ‘uniform’ for farm work-very similar in appearance to the British WLA uniform. The uniform included working boots with gaiters, loose-fitting trousers somewhat akin to jodhpurs, a loose-fitting smock with pockets and a large straw or light canvas hat.
My “farmerette” [as they were called at the time] is a 1/16th scale model, using a head and hands and a shovel from kits. Everything else is original. I went for a straw hat and used impressions from a metal file on to the lead sheet and putty for the straw “look”. The shovel is covered with a canvas protector. I remember my grandfather taking care of his tools using things like that. He had a canvas mattock cover and one for each of his garden shovels. He put grease inside the covers to prevent rust. So it’s not inconceivable that a WLA lady farmer would have been taught to use such things also. The photo background is various kinds of lettuce [lettuces?] in a field in North Carolina.
Hope you like it!
All the best,
Dan
1 – If you want to know more about the WLA, the best reference I found was Elaine F. Weiss, “Fruits of Victory”, Potomac Books, Washington, DC., 2008. ISBN: 9781597972734.
