Clothing Table of Allowances, 1937 War Department Civilian Conservation Corps Regulations

Below is the table of allowances provided in the 1937 War Department Regulations for the Civilian Conservation Corps. Items of interest include the notation phasing out the altered WWI tunics, overcoats and jerkins, and the mobilization-era "windbreakers".

Director Fechner Comments on Clothing, FY 1938 Annual Report

In the Annual Report of the Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30 1938, Director Robert Fechner had the following remarks to make about clothing:

Clothing Varied when Necessary

The quality of and the workmanship on the various garments purchased and issued is good because long experience has demonstrated that lowest net costs are produced through the purchase of materials of very good quality finished with excellent workmanship. As with the food purchased the clothing is all bought to exacting specifications. Buying is done by the Quartermaster Corps United States Army which maintains very rigid inspection to see that goods purchased comply with specifications.

While most of the items which make up the clothing outfits of the enrollees are standard all over the country a number of items are not This is accounted for by the great climatic differences encountered in a country as large as the United States. Special wool and fur garments are issued to enrollees in places where extreme cold is encountered. The issue of similar garments to enrollees in hot desert locations would of course be ridiculous. Special tropical clothing items are issued tomen in very warm locations. Often due to unusual geographical or work conditions other special items of clothing are issued. Men who work along a cliffside are often issued hard high crowned crash-helmets to protect them against being injured by falling pebbles or slivers of rock. Thus, clothing is standardized wherever possible but when special needs arise special clothing items are furnished to meet the needs.

Increasing emphasis has been placed on obtaining and issuing clothing which fits well and looks well in addition to wearing well. This is done to build up the individual's pride and interest in his appearance because personal appearance is often so vital a factor in obtaining and holding a job. When an enrollee leaves the Corps at the end of his term of enrollment he is given adequate clothing to insure a comfortable trip home. While he is at the camp the enrollee is free to wear his own clothing within very broad limits if he wishes to do so in preference to that which is issued. The enrollee who goes to town for the evening or who is given a week end leave or other leave is not required to wear the clothing issued to him but may do so if he wishes.

Document of the Day: 1935 Officer's Uniform Catalog

The CCC made a sharp distinction between officer's and enrollee's uniforms.

Unlike enlisted men, officers in the US Army purchased their own uniforms rather than being issued government-furnished garments from the Quartermaster Corps depots. Officer uniforms were individually tailored, often made in superior grades of fabric, and individuals were given considerable latitude in customizing them. The CCC followed the same practice.

US military officers serving as camp commanders, adjutants or doctors wore their military service uniforms while on active duty with the CCC.  However, the question arose as to whether and how the project supervisory staff assigned to CCC camps from the Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, and state forest services should be uniformed. The same question arose concerning the camp Education Advisors, the only civilians directly employed by the ECW/CCC itself.

Vintage images suggest that most technical staff were not uniformed most of the time. Whether from the Soil Conservation Service, the US Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, or other agencies, supervisors most often show up in photographs in whatever idiosyncratic combination of workwear and civilian business wear they found comfortable.

In 1935 there does seem to have been a push to have technical branch supervisors wear either their own service uniform (NPS and USFS), or, if their parent branch had no uniform, a generic CCC officer's uniform. The specs seem to have loosely followed US Forest Service practice. 

Below is a link to a 1935 catalog for CCC Officer's uniforms from Fechtheimer Bros, the prominent Cincinnati-based purveyor of military uniforms and coats, issued in response to the 1935 mandate. The original is in the collections of the Denver Public Library.

https://dp.la/api/files/original/a485b3ca1d5179d25f3fc2c5b3a23bc8.pdf