WWII – SHE SERVED AMERICA
WWII – She Served America is the current main exhibit at the Stroud Mansion. For more than 220 years in our country, women have served and sacrificed during times of war. It was not until 1942, however, that females became military personnel.
It was not until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, and Gen. Marshall's subsequent support and congressional testimony did Rogers’ bill receive serious consideration. On May 14, after hours of debating, the bill was passed in the House, 249 to 86, and in the Senate, 38 to 27. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill into law the next day and set a recruitment goal of 25,000 for the first year.
Roughly 70 percent of women who enlisted during World War II completed more traditional office-type jobs including serving as clerks and typists. The idea was that by filling office jobs, men were free to fight on the front lines. While women were not allowed to serve at the front lines, often their work had them serving within combat zones.
In addition to propaganda posters, military artifacts and office equipment, three uniforms belonging to Monroe County women are on display. Camilla Edna Fulper Henry served in the U.S. Marine Corps, Sylvia Hauser served in the U.S. Navy achieving the rank of Lieutenant Commander and Helen G. Brown, who joined the WAC in 1943, rose to the position of captain.
Plan to stop by and see this patriotic display of Monroe County women who served in the Armed Forces during World War II. The exhibit will run until November 13, 2010.
Now on exhibit in the display case in our front room is the Humpty-Dumpty Circus, a toy introduced in 1903 by the A. Schoenhut Company of Philadelphia. By 1909, there were approximately 37 animals, 29 figures, a tent, parade wagons, hoops, whips and tight rope and some 40 other odd pieces.The early pieces had glass eyes and then were manufactured with painted eyes. The animals are made of wood and painted with enamel colors. They are ball-jointed and strung with elastic so they can be positioned into a variety of positions.
As a toy, the Schoenhut Circus has contrasting attractions. The joints and notches in the animals make it a cross between building blocks and the balancing toy. The figures can be manipulated to appear in frozen action.
This toy could be called American folk art. Although it does not have the self-consciousness of other types of folk art, it is a very direct depiction of what it represents. It concentrates on the vitality of characteristic elements.
In 1935, the A. Schoenhut Company closed its doors.
Stop by the Eastern Monroe Public Library, 1002 North 9th St., Stroudsburg, to see our General Store display of interesting advertising and promotional items from days gone by. Featured is a model store of the Charles Robert Dotter grocery store, along with an assortment of branded items such as a vintage fly swatter from East Stroudsburg National Bank, a can of Pocono Mountain beer, A.B. Wyckoff children's coloring books, and a shoe polish cloth from the Penn Stroud Motor Inn.