Women in Uniform

 

I'm fairly certain that this young woman is wearing a uniform of some kind.  I know I've seen it before, but where? A World War 1 era military nurse is my best guess, but I can't be sure.  Anyway, there's an American flag in the restaurant window, and the pencil line drawn on the top image may indicate a crop for newspaper reproduction. 

A Military Confab

Even with my best magnifying glass I can't make out what's printed on the book underneath the desk.  I bought this photo here, in L.A., so I'm guessing those are American uniforms, from around the World War 2 era, though I have to admit that guess has as much to do with the hairdos.  But which branch of the military?  And what is that thing on the desk?  It has a key in it, is the wrong size and shape for a brief case. Is it some sort of code machine?   And yes, I blew up the picture and the woman on the left does have a bit of her finger in her nose.  Military secrets.

Women In Uniform

I could probably deploy a fairly effective strike force with all the pictures I have of men in uniform. Women in uniform, however, is a whole other matter. Until corrected, I'm going to assume that this is a World war 2 era WAC-Women's Army Corp. This hand colored portrait is a nice companion piece to my post of 8/19/09, WAVES of the Navy. Click on military women in the labels section to bring it up.

WAVES of the Navy

The WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) started in August of 1943 after first lady Eleanor Roosevelt urged congress to authorize service by women in the United States Navy. Within one year of it's authorization, there were over 27,000 WAVES in the navy. At first their service was limited to the continental United States, and was mostly clerical in nature. By the time the war was over WAVES were also serving in Hawaii, and some were involved in naval aviation. The WAACS (Women's Auxiliary Army Corp.) began as an auxiliary part of the army and WAACS were not part of the army. WAVES were part of the navy right from the beginning, they held naval rank, and were also subject to military discipline. I don't know whether or not there were official portraits, done by the navy, of WAVES. This could be an official portrait, or just something paid for by the subject of this great World War 2 era portrait.