Hooked on Sinkers: Doughnuts in Wartime

 Friday, June 3, 2022, is National Donut Day, not to be confused with November 5, 2023, National Doughnut Day.  Both are occasions to treat yourself or some friends to doughnuts (and technically both spellings of the confection are correct, too), but only the day in June has a historical story behind it, one that teaches us to never underestimate the power of doughnuts during wartime, especially WWII.

Barksdale during WWII was an excellent example of the wartime popularity of doughnuts. A story in the “Barksdale’s Bark” newspaper from February 3, 1945, ran the headline “Dunkers Devour 300 Dozen Donuts, 4,000 Cups of Java at PX Every Day.”  PX stands for Post Exchange, when Barksdale was an Army Air Field prior to the creation of the U.S. Air Force and “dunkers,” of course, refers to the time-honored tradition of dunking doughnuts in coffee. According to the article, “Among GI’s who are confirmed dunkers, 300 dozen a day vanish with a slurp, often by 10:30 am…” Sundays are when the most donuts are consumed there, at almost double the amount. The Cafeteria Manager, John Kennedy, was quoted saying, “We never have any left. Some guys take as many as 8 at a time.”

In fact, the PX previously made the doughnuts themselves but from the early 1940s they couldn’t keep up with the demand so a Shreveport bakery supplied them. A tongue-in-cheek welcome to new GIs in the July 8, 1944, issue of “Barksdale’s Bark” urged, “If it’s doughnuts and a cup of red-eye (coffee) your little heart desires, a short two-hour wait should do the trick. Even if you’re not hungry, get in line anyway. By the time you get through it you will be.”

Doughnuts, however, were doing more than just filling the hungry stomachs of GIs on breaks. Every American post had an American Red Cross (ARC) Doughnut Dugout. Returning flight crews were greeted with fresh coffee and doughnuts. These provisions got a noteworthy mention in the February 26, 1944, “Barksdale’s Bark” article about services the ARC was providing both stateside and to the soldiers overseas. “A special service that made a big hit with fliers was the coffee and donuts which awaited the crews as they returned from their combat missions.” The Bark noted in a January 1945 article about Division Rest Camps for the U.S. 1^st Army that every 30 days, a soldier is sent to the rest camp for two days. He can “sleep, visit the nearby town, eat all the doughnuts he can take, see as many movies as he likes.”

Doughnuts were provided behind the front lines by women Red Cross volunteers who drove Clubmobiles, vehicles equipped with facilities for coffee and doughnut-making, a phonograph and gum, newspapers, and a few other comfort items from home. The women who served on these vehicles were required to be college graduates, at least 25 years old, and possessing excellent interpersonal skills. They came to be known by the name “Doughnut Dollies.”

To provide this same sense of normalcy and support to soldiers serving during WWII, the Salvation Army also provided coffee and doughnuts and other relief services. In 1938, the Salvation Army in Chicago proclaimed the first Friday in June as National Doughnut Day to raise funds and honor these "Doughnut Lassies," who originally served treats and provided assistance to soldiers on the front lines during World War I.

Syndicated columnist Raymond Clapper, in a column that ran in the “Shreveport Journal” on July 19, 1943, wrote about his visit to troops in the Allied Command Post, North Africa during the height of the Sicilian campaign, when the fighter bombers were “practically seeing the whites of the enemy’s eyes in low strafing attacks on military trucks, railroad yards, radio stations and other targets.” He watched the bombers landing in a converted goat pasture, the pilots “wringing wet” with sweat and throwing off their life jackets. Then the Lt. Col. said, “Let’s check in and get over to those Red Cross doughnuts.” Clapper observed, “The biggest thing in their lives at the moment is an American Red Cross girl under an olive tree serving coffee and doughnuts. Only after a second cup of coffee and the third doughnut do you begin to hear about what (tragedy) happened over Sicily a few moments ago.”

Photo: "Wm. L. Shirer, Coffee & Sinker." The woman has an American Red Cross pin at her collar. She is likely a member of the Red Cross "Canteen Corps".

William L. Shirer (left with glasses) was an American journalist and war correspondent. 7 January 1943

Does your family have any stories, clippings or photos of Doughnut Dollies or Doughnut Lassies? Do you know what bakery in Shreveport provided those daily 300 dozen doughnuts to Barksdale during wartime? (We don’t know, and are curious.) We would love to see the items or hear your story and copy or record them, with permission, to add to the History Center’s research collection. Also, please come to the History Center to see our exhibit on the American Red Cross at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 10-8, Fri 10-6, and Sat 10-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org
 
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Article by: Pam Carlisle