Naval Aid War Drive Hollywood
The war-time organization known as the Naval Aid Auxiliary set up a series of stations across the country that acted like the many "canteens" that would provide entertainments and temporary housing for servicemen and sailors in the middle of their transfer from one location to another. But they did much more, with their most important contribution being the creation and overseeing of extended care hospitals for the many returning wounded. Like the Stage Door
Canteens, the Naval Aid Auxiliary stations counted on volunteers to keep the food and services flowing. Kitchen help, musicians, servers, typists, medical aides, file clerks, servers, the list of needed talents was almost endless. Americans across the country responded to that need. It seemed that if your son, daughter, husband, father, boyfriend, brother, sister, cousin, or good friend was assigned to a Navy base or ship, and if you lived near one of these NAA stations, the odds were that you were at that station, helping in any way you could and as often as you could. There were also many local volunteers that showed up to help, even if they didn't personally know anyone serving in our Navy. Good people just couldn't sit back and do nothing when so many of their countrymen and women were giving so much. That was just how America was at that time. As events of recent years have shown us, that is how we are still. But what we haven't had to see about ourselves in modern times is what kind of national spirit it took to survive four full years of unbridled, full-scale warfare. Such sustained stress numbs the human psyche, making it easier to do a little less each day, show up to your volunteer position a little less often, donate a little less money to each new request. Continuing War Bond and Stamp drives, regular print ads and newsreels, patriotic posters everywhere you looked, these and more kept the dollars flowing to the benefit of the nation's cause. But as America tired, as she as a nation had less to give, special promotions were sometimes deemed necessary to generate even more money from our nation's exhausted and financially strained population. The NAA received a lot of their much-needed funding from public donations, much of which was raised by hundreds of Hollywood's brightest through personal appearances across the land. Since the heads of NAA had access to these stars, someone eventually came up with the idea of selling the autographs of these stars to a ready public, as a fund raiser. In 1944 the NAA had signed up almost 200 celebrities who had already dedicated hundreds of hours working in the stations but were still willing to pen their autographs on specially prepared signature cards that the NAA provided. This promotion was advertised and a full list of available signers was sent out to anyone who ordered from the ad. Imagine being able to get the autograph of your favorite movie idol for just 25 cents, yet that's all it cost. Autographs of Ingrid Bergman, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Harry James, Gene Kelly, Alan Ladd, Hedy Lamarr, Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Temple—for just two-bits apiece??? Could you have been able to resist? Many probably couldn't, guaranteeing the
success of the promotion.
Canteens, the Naval Aid Auxiliary stations counted on volunteers to keep the food and services flowing. Kitchen help, musicians, servers, typists, medical aides, file clerks, servers, the list of needed talents was almost endless. Americans across the country responded to that need. It seemed that if your son, daughter, husband, father, boyfriend, brother, sister, cousin, or good friend was assigned to a Navy base or ship, and if you lived near one of these NAA stations, the odds were that you were at that station, helping in any way you could and as often as you could. There were also many local volunteers that showed up to help, even if they didn't personally know anyone serving in our Navy. Good people just couldn't sit back and do nothing when so many of their countrymen and women were giving so much. That was just how America was at that time. As events of recent years have shown us, that is how we are still. But what we haven't had to see about ourselves in modern times is what kind of national spirit it took to survive four full years of unbridled, full-scale warfare. Such sustained stress numbs the human psyche, making it easier to do a little less each day, show up to your volunteer position a little less often, donate a little less money to each new request. Continuing War Bond and Stamp drives, regular print ads and newsreels, patriotic posters everywhere you looked, these and more kept the dollars flowing to the benefit of the nation's cause. But as America tired, as she as a nation had less to give, special promotions were sometimes deemed necessary to generate even more money from our nation's exhausted and financially strained population. The NAA received a lot of their much-needed funding from public donations, much of which was raised by hundreds of Hollywood's brightest through personal appearances across the land. Since the heads of NAA had access to these stars, someone eventually came up with the idea of selling the autographs of these stars to a ready public, as a fund raiser. In 1944 the NAA had signed up almost 200 celebrities who had already dedicated hundreds of hours working in the stations but were still willing to pen their autographs on specially prepared signature cards that the NAA provided. This promotion was advertised and a full list of available signers was sent out to anyone who ordered from the ad. Imagine being able to get the autograph of your favorite movie idol for just 25 cents, yet that's all it cost. Autographs of Ingrid Bergman, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Harry James, Gene Kelly, Alan Ladd, Hedy Lamarr, Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Temple—for just two-bits apiece??? Could you have been able to resist? Many probably couldn't, guaranteeing the
success of the promotion.