Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, plunged the United States into war just as the holiday season was beginning. As World War II dragged on for four long years, people in Snohomish County found ways to come together to celebrate and to support those in the military who were far from home during the holidays.
Can’t Blackout Snohomish County’s Holiday Spirit
To keep morale up, people were encouraged to celebrate the holidays as normally as possible. And they tried. “War has failed to blackout Everett’s Christmas spirit,” the Everett Daily Herald proclaimed Christmas Eve 1941. But air raid precautions kept the lights off during the newspaper’s annual outdoor Christmas decorating contest. The event had to be cancelled for the rest of the war.
The conflict became impossible to ignore. Holiday travel was limited by gas and tire rationing. Ads urged people to buy war bonds as Christmas gifts. Rationing changed holiday menus. And then there were the empty chairs at the holiday table. People could mail gifts to their loved ones overseas—if they did it early—but they could also help soldiers stationed nearby.
Helping Soldiers
The Army Air Corps took over Paine Field in 1941 to provide protection for the Bremerton Shipyards and the Boeing plant and airfield in Seattle. This brought many soldiers to Snohomish County.
Everett’s USO became a home away from home for soldiers during the holidays. Open 24 hours a day, it had a dormitory and served hot dogs, burgers, and coffee at all hours. Soldiers helped decorate the place themselves. In 1942, servicemen and junior hostesses teamed up for a decorating contest. The first group to finish their section won prizes. A dance followed.
Volunteers also helped at the servicemen’s club at Paine Field. It opened December 23, 1942, just in time for Christmas. To help them celebrate, Everett High School’s home economics students made candy. Rural members of the Spanish-American War Veterans’ women’s auxiliary pooled their rationed sugar for the project.
The Red Cross collected gift boxes to send to soldiers both at Paine Field and beyond. Clubs, church groups, schools, and individuals packed boxes with games, personal hygiene items, and snacks for service members they’d never meet. Collection jars went up around Snohomish County to raise money so soldiers at Paine Field wouldn’t have to pay to call home during the holidays.
Patients and staff at Paine Field Hospital were not forgotten either. In 1944 alone, the Earl Faulkner Post of the American Legion and its women’s auxiliary collected over 400 “Purple Heart Christmas Boxes” from donors across Snohomish County. Volunteers also hosted an annual holiday party with vaudeville acts and live music. Non-ambulatory patients were not excluded, with speakers set up to allow them to listen in on the program.
Helping the Allies
Through the Red Cross and other organizations, Snohomish County’s wartime generosity also helped Allied civilians overseas.
Among them was young James Longsley. Writing from All Souls’ School in Caerphilly (Wales), he thanked Everett’s mayor and citizens for their Red Cross holiday gifts. “We wish all children in America a happy Christmas,” he concluded, “and to all the grownups too.” James had been evacuated from Folkestone on the English Channel and had not seen his mother in three and a half years. During the Battle of Britain, his home area earned the nickname “Hellfire Corner” due to the intense aerial fighting and bombing. The Everett Daily Herald published James’ letter on January 19, 1944, encouraging Snohomish County to continue supporting the Red Cross.
Children closer to home had been dislocated by the war as well. After Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, siblings Patricia, Richard and Robert Deigh were evacuated. Now living at the Deaconess’ Children’s Home in Everett, the half-Aleut children attracted the attention of Major George W. White, director of administration at Paine Field. Having once been stationed in the Aleutians, he supported efforts to give the children at the Home a merry Christmas by helping them decorate the tree at the Home in 1944.
Peacetime Christmas in Snohomish County
The holiday season in 1945 was a special time. After years of war, peace had finally come! “Christmas, according to the calendar,” remarked the Daily Herald on December 22, “will not come until Tuesday, but it was in the air in Everett today.”
But most soldiers were still far from home. The Everett USO was overwhelmed with soldiers from Paine Field, as well as some on leave from Bremerton and Seattle. The USO kept them busy with a full schedule of holiday-themed events, including popcorn popping, spaghetti dinners and a county-wide checker tournament. There was also a series of Christmas-themed dances like the “Holly Hop,” “Birds of Paradise Ball,” and “Kris Kringle Kapers.”
On Christmas Day itself, the Elks sponsored a holiday breakfast and an evening turkey dinner at the USO. After a formal “Sleigh Bell Ball,” 75 soldiers went caroling throughout town. Over 200 servicemen were invited to dinner at private homes.
Christmas 1945 was a holiday of relief and expectation. It marked one step closer to the time when Snohomish County families would reunite with their loved ones. For others, though, the empty chair at the holiday table would never be filled again.
But while the heartache of the war years remained, peace brought the promise that things were getting better. The holidays were a time for Americans to both reflect on the hardships of the war years and to celebrate peace. The future of America was looking bright.
