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".

Handbook Updates

I've made several edits and additions to the CCC Uniforms Handbook recently.  Highlights include a new section on civilian denim chore coats in workwear, a revised discussion of procurement of civilian service-style shirts during the mobilization years in early dress uniforms, and a new entry for the late spruce-green dress Mackinaw coat (companion garment to the spruce green tunic) in Outerwear.

Mobilization Expedient: Civilian "Levis 501-style" Denim Trousers

In an earlier post I highlighted a remarkable high-resolution photograph of the boys of Company 720, Baudette, Minnesota, 1933, collection of the Minnesota Historical Society. High resolution version available from MHS.

In that first post I singled out for attention the remarkable custom-printed CCC sweatshirt one boy is wearing. Taking a second look, I'm reminded that many boys in this image are also wearing civilian blue jean trousers, a notable deviation from standard CCC practice.

Below are screen captures of three boys from this group wearing jeans with arctuate hanging front pockets and reenforcing rivets in the general style defined by Levis 501s of the 1930s.

It seems likely that when this company was outfitted during the initial mobilization rush, the regional QMC depot had a shortage of Army denim fatigue coverall trousers and went into the market for a civilian substitute.

These jeans serve as a reminder that, when it comes to CCC-issue clothing, there is an exception to every rule. Issue of civilian-cut denim dungarees to a CCC company was clearly rare. Overwhelmingly, the denim work pants on CCC boys in vintage images are standard post-1919 US Army fatigue coveralls. However, in an organization as sprawling as the CCC, mobilized under such hasty conditions, expedients abounded. Sometime and somewhere, if it could happen, it probably did.

In any event, if you are a reenactor interested in creating a CCC impression, and want to wear your prized pair of full-cut, straight-leg 1933 selvage denim Levi's instead of boring M1937 fatigues, go for it. Now you have the image to make your case.

 

Website of the Day: Camp Wolverine

Reader Scott Gerych of the Michigan Military History Museum has sent a link to a local history website he has compiled for Camp Wolverine, 673rd Company, located in Chandler Township Charlevoix County MI.

Scott has done an extraordinary job of weaving together contemporary newspaper articles with images from camp albums. The result is a granular, almost week by week portrait of the camp in its first year. You can follow the whole process from announcement of the Corps, selection of local enrollees, arrival of the 673rd in town, and slow transformation from tent camp to a permanent camp.

Well worth a look!

Link: https://chandlertownshipmichiganmemories.weebly.com/camp-wolverine-ccc.html