Rosie the Santa Claus: World War II Santa Shortages

 It is well-known that women filled many military and manufacturing roles during World War II, to compensate for men fighting overseas, as well as meet the ramped-up wartime needs in manufacturing.

The symbol of this wartime woman worker became the “Rosie the Riveter,” of the famous Westinghouse factory poster of a young woman in a blue work shirt, sleeves rolled up to show off muscular arms, her curly brunette hair held back from her rosy-cheeked face with a red handkerchief. In the Norman Rockwell version of Rosie, she’s depicted in a blue work shirt, also with rolled up sleeves and mighty, muscular arms, with blue overalls. By December of 1942, another role that was traditionally men-only was making it into the media of the day. This time, however, the women were sporting red – and pillows around their middle. Wartime women stepped up at Christmastime to play the big man himself, Santa Claus.

The December 9, 1943, “Planters Press” newspaper of Bossier City published Hollywood make-up expert and businessman Max Factor’s advice to women who will play Santa. Max Factor suggested they “lower their voices, puff out their cheeks with cotton and put on a false nose.” The “Shreveport Times” for Christmas 1943, published an AP wire story out of Tampa, Florida where a “Pinch-Hitting Female Santa Frightens Tots”. The Santa’s appearance was fine, the nursery workers explained, it was just the cognitive dissonance caused once Santa opened her mouth that caused the wee ones to cry. They weren’t expecting a “high voice.”

Syndicated columnist Henry McLemore had a widely distributed piece (including in the Shreveport Times on December 8, 1942,) titled, “Holy Smoke - Susie Santa Claus!” Mr. McLemore expressed a tongue-in-cheek horror at the realization he was seeing a woman dressed as Santa in the toy department: “There she stood, a little ol’ wren of a Santa Claus” who “minced around on size 3 shoes and worst of all, she giggled.”

One might ask, why didn’t the Mrs. Claus just pitch in? Perhaps because as a character she really wasn’t yet known. The idea of Mrs. Claus was popularized in the Baby Boom era. (Nat King Cole’s 1953 song “Mrs. Santa Claus” and Phyllis McGinley’s 1963 children’s book, “How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas” helped give the Mrs. her due.) In fact, a woman filling in for an absent male Santa in the 1940’s did try out the Mrs. Claus role, and was met with a child’s disbelief that Santa was married!

The WACs (Women’s Army Corps) at Barksdale had already figured this out, though. The December 30, 1944, Barksdale Bark reported more than 100 of the young women set their alarms for 2:00 AM to catch the “red-knickered gent” known as Santa Claus coming down the chimney. Apparently, he’d outsmarted them, arriving prior to 2:00 and leaving a bag of gifts. One of the WACs, Sgt. Nora Bigley, dressed as “Mrs. Santa Claus” and, aided by some “pert elves,” shouldered the bag of gifts and distributed them to the lucky young women. The pajama party broke up at 4 am and the women returned to their barracks to snooze some more.

There were other ways to compensate for the absence of the Jolly Old Elf. At Gunter Field in Alabama, a major said he’d give the one remaining Christmastime furlough to the soldier with the most compelling reason for why he wanted it. The soldier who said he played Santa at his hometown orphanage every year and wanted to return home to continue to fulfill the role got the furlough. The WACs in Monroe, La. were featured in a story titled, “WACs Play Santa for 125 Children at Baptist Home.” They entertained the children at a Christmas party. The party went so well that the WACs made plans to host the children for outings after the holiday, too. Meanwhile, men overseas found ways to be Father Christmas as “Santa Claus with an American Accent,” a small story which was printed in the “Bossier Banner-Progress” on Nov 11, 1943. The men of the 8th Army Air Force in England set up a workshop where they built thousands of wooden toys in their free time, making items like trucks and doll cradles for local children in need, and saving their candy rations to put inside the toys.

Henry McLemore, the columnist who expressed he had the shock of his life by seeing that a department store Santa was a diminutive female, conceded all the “horrors” with this sentiment: “War is primarily a matter of big things. But there are a lot of little things that it changes, too. Sweet little things.”

If you like learning about World War II, don’t forget to attend World War Tuesdays on the second Tuesday of the month from 10:30 – noon at the History Center. This month’s meeting is on December 12th and will feature Pearl Harbor and the 1941 holiday that suddenly became a wartime Christmas. The History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Rosie the Riveter poster that occasionally hung in Westinghouse factories during WWII.
• Photo that accompanied Hollywood make-up expert Max Factor’s advice to women playing Santa, from the December 9, 1943, “Planters Press”

Article by: Pam Carlisle