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LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - DECEMBER 4, 2016
The Red Cross Christmas in 1918
History always intrigues
me. Every time I start
reading I discover something
new. In preparation for
our candlelight tours, I was
looking at Christmas in 1918.
The United States entered
World War I in April 1917.
Many American factories were
converted to the production of
weapons and munitions. This
included toy companies and in
1918, the Council of National
Defense suggested a ban on toys
in an effort to encourage people
to spend their money to buy war
bonds instead of Christmas pres-
ents. Before the war, Germany
produced toys and Christmas
ornaments that were shipped to
the United States. (The War also
affected the production of gela-
tin for Jell-O. Holland produced
most of the gelatin for Jell-O
and it was almost impossible to
ship gelatin across the Atlan-
tic during the War. And gelatin
was used in the manufacture of
some explosives. As a result,
Jell-O encouraged the start of
the Atlantic Gelatin Company in
Woburn, Massachusetts, where
the gelatin was manufactured
until recently.) The Committee
on Public Information created
a campaign to encourage peo-
ple to buy bonds, not toys. The
Toy Manufacturers of the U.S.A.
asked a successful toy manu-
facturer, A.C. Gilbert to go to
Washington to speak before the
Council to convince them to
change their decision. The story
is told that he took some of his
toys with him and the Council
members were so enthralled that
they ended the meeting, playing
with the toys and they decid-
ed not to go forward with the
planned ban on toy production.
Gilbert is known for the intro-
duction of the Erector set. The
story of his trip to Washington
and diverting the decision to end
toy production was made into
a movie a few years ago, “The
Man Who Saved Christmas.”
(It is generally agreed that the
premise of the movie took a lot
of liberty with the true story.)
Christmas in 1918 certainly
should have been joyous. The
War had ended on November
11, and only three days be-
fore, women in New York State
turned out to cast their ballots
in the first national election.
But December 1918 had a dark
cloud lurking. Not only was the
country preparing for the return
of many wounded soldiers but
the great influenza epidemic
had taken a toll and tuberculo-
sis was rampant. The Red Cross
was called upon to help support
the wounded men and women
returning from Europe. And
it was the Red Cross that was
called to help with the influenza
and tuberculosis outbreaks. It
was also the women of the local
Red Cross who exercised their
right to vote, walking down-
stairs from their Chapter room
in the Municipal Building to use
the new voting machines on the
first floor. It was the women of
the Red Cross, who marched up
Main Street on November 11, to
assemble in front of the Munici-
pal Building to witness the sign-
ing of the Armistice.
In 1918, each member of the
Red Cross was given ten Christ-
mas Seals. Usually, Christmas
Seals were sold to raise money,
but it was decided to recognize
Red Cross members as “messen-
gers of health.” A little booklet
accompanied the seals: “Sol-
diers in camps are taught how
to resist tuberculosis. Health
habits are taught to hundreds
of thousands of children and
adults. The gospel of fresh air,
cleanliness and right living is
spread everywhere. America
needs your continued support,
personal as well as financial, in
this campaign for health.”
The Christmas message in
the LeRoy Gazette News on
December 18, 1918, mentions
that December 19 was desig-
nated as Red Cross enrollment
day. In LeRoy. there were
1900 adult members and 500
Junior Red Cross members. It
was hoped that the member-
ship would be doubled. The
campaign was called “A Heart
and a Dollar.” “Enrollment is
more than a duty, it is a glo-
rious privilege that should be
sought by all. The Red Cross
service flag, with the addition-
al little crosses for each mem-
ber in the family should be a
Christmas decoration in every
window this holiday season.
Let’s add to our Christmas
happiness and joy by helping
to build renewed happiness and
joy where it is now barren.”