It's Time to Send Your Presents to Servicemen;
'Christmas Mail Month' Is Sept. 15 to Oct. 15
-
Privilege Granted
On Overseas Gifts
During This Period
The volume of Christmas
mail going overseas to men
and women in the armed
forces this year will reach a
new high, the office of war in
formation predicts.
Approximately 33,000 uni
formed men and women in the
army and navy postal serv
ices are preparing for their
biggest job—that of moving
an estimated 70,000,000 pack
ages of Christmas presents
(three times as many as last
year) to the military men and
women overseas.
Army postal officers are prepar
ing their organization to move about
twice as many Christmas parcels as
were handled in 1943, when 20,000,
000 holiday packages were sent
abroad.
The navy mail service expects
nearly four times the volume of gifts
handled in 1943 through fleet post
offices in New York and San Fran
cisco. A total of 7,480,000 packages
went through the fleet post offices
last year, 3,480.000 of them to ad
vanced bases or ships at sea and
4.000,000 to ships putting in at Amer
ican ports.
The service postal organizations
can handle this enormous volume
more easily with a little assistance
from friends and relatives of sol
diers and sailors. In 1943, the army
post office transmitted more than 20
million holiday packages and an ad
ditional 75 million to 100 million
pieces of miscellaneous mail.
Hie navy moved approximately
3,480,000 parcels overseas last
Christmas and approximately four
million packages to personnel on
shore stations in the United States,
and more than 80 million letters
and Christmas cards during the
Christmas mail period last year.
The army and navy intend to
make every effort to deliver every
Christmas gift overseas on time
and intact. But a sailor will not be
cheered if the gift he receives from
his mother—for example: an expen
sive wristwatch — proves to have
been ruined because it was com
pletely buried in a box of cookies
that have crumbled in transit, the
navy said.
Distances, heat, cold, sand, damp
ness, fleet or combat operations, and
the fortunes of war are hazards
that complicate the delivery of all
mail overseas, even without the
Christmas rush. The only factor in
Christmas gift delivery over which
the sender has control is the type
and condition of the parcel when it
leaves his hands, the army and navy
emphasized.
Mail Regulations.
1. Christmas mail month will com
prise the 30-day period from Sep
tember 15 to October 15, 1944, for
all these in the armed services over
seas.
This period is the only time dur
ing which packages may be sent to
soldiers overseas without a specific
written request from the soldier or
without an APO cancellation.
Only one package may be sent by
Whenever the presents arrive is Christmas to soldiers across the sea.
Sometimes the army and navy postal services deliver the goods sooner
than expected, as happened last year in Italy, when packages from
home arrived late in November. The boys opened them up at once, since
they didn’t know what they’d be doing or where they’d be on Christmas
Day. It’s safest to mail early, however, because unforeseen delays can
come along any time.
Inches in length and 36 inches in
length and girth combined.
The army recommends that the
package container be a box of
metal, wood, or solid doublefaced,
corrugated fiberboard. reinforced
with strong gummed paper tape or
tied with strong twine or both.
Standardized boxes for mailing
Christmas gifts to military person
nel overseas will probably be on the
market by September 1, the War
Production board reported. Approxi
mately 16,000,000 special applica
tions for the purchase by retailers
and box jobbers of these boxes have
been filed with WPB.
WPB said that the standard boxes
are to be manufacutured of 175
pound tested corrugated paper
board, 12 by 6% by 4 inches, in
regulation slotted carton style with
taped manufacturers’ joints. The
post office department has recom
mended that gummed flaps be sup
plied with the boxes for sealing the
parcels, WPB reported.
Blanks for address and return ad
dress will appear on the panels of
the box, also the statement “this
box to be used only for sending
merchandise to a member of the
armed forces outside the United
States.”
4. Address the package complete
ly and legibly. Print the address so
that it will not run, streak, smudge
or fade. Place an additional copy
of the address and return address
inside the package, so that if it
comes apart, or the wrapper is torn,
soiled, or lost, the additional copy
may be used. Do not use gummed
labels for addressing.
The army and navy point out that
they know what not to send over
seas for Christmas, on the basis of
past experience. But what to send
is another thing altogether. In gen
eral, soldiers and sailors and oth
ers like gifts that are unobtainable
where they are and remind them
with special significance of home.
What Not to Send.
The services advise generally
against sending articles that may be
obtained by sailors in ships’ serv
ice stores, or by soldiers in post ex
Packages get rough handling all along the way, and unless they are
securely wrapped and tied, they may be damaged in transit. Here
Is a scene in the New York postoffice, showing how busy sorters toss
parcels into the hand-trucks. The big pile In the rear consists of packages
that are coming undone—the string working off, or the wrapping loose.
By the time your gifts have made the long trip in a mail sack, they
have been subjected to a lot of bouncing around on the railroad and
boat. The last stage may be made in a jeep or airplane.
or on behalf of the same person or
concern to or for the same soldier
in one week during this month.
2. Mark the package "Christmas
Parcel," using a label that does not
resemble a postage mark or 6tamp.
3. The package must weigh not
more than five pouuds, wrapped,
and must be no longer than 18
changes. But soap, for example,
which is available in most post ex
changes, is a valued gift, particu
larly for soldiers on the move, for
in advancing they sometimes out
distance for hours or days even mo
bile post exchanges.
Perishable foods, intoxicants,
weapons, poisons and inflammables,
including matches and lighter fluids,
are taboo and will not be accepted
for mailing overseas.
A navy postal officer stationed
overseas wrote: “During the Christ
mas rush we kept a considerable
force of men busy rewrapping par
cels and salvaging everything fit for
forwarding. A very great service
could be rendered to us out here if
the widest possible publicity could
be given to these matters.
“The people should be warned not
to send liquids of any kind. They
should use every possible precaution
in packing powder of any kind Fruit
is not only dangerous to their own
mail, but it causes serious dam
age to the other fellow’s mail. Warn
them about candy melting, fruit,
cakes and cookies crumble and de
cay.
“Above all the fact should be
stressed that mail sacks can be
baked in the hot sun and drenched
in transit, all in the same day.”
The navy has found that unsuit
able gifts Include: leather goods
(these mold in the tropics); choco
lates (these melt); cigarettes (ob
tainable more cheaply in ships’
stores); cameras (forbidden); elec
trical equipment (there may be no
electricity available); food, unless
tinned; liquor; clothing, unless re
quested.
Fragile articles and soft candies
and pastries are poor gifts for ob
vious reasons, the army reported.
Gifts Poorly Wrapped.
The army cautioned that boxes of
miscellaneous gifts should be
packed carefully Razor blades, for
example, require extra wrapping. j
Numerous cases have been re
corded of improperly wrapped razor
blades working through packages.
In 1943, approximately 15 per cent
of the Christmas mail handled by
the navy was delayed in transit be
cause of incorrect or incomplete
addressing, the navy reported.
One navy postal officer wrote
from the Pacific theater:
"It needs no considerable stretch
of your imagination to understand
how mail looks after it has been
shipped for thousands of miles by
water, then worked and shipped
again, reworked and reshipped un
til it arrives at a Fleet Post office
for directory service. By this time,
any of the parcel post that was at
all inclined to be perishable is thor
oughly decomposed, causing dam
age to mails adjacent.
“Only today we dumped up a sack
containing the contents of a parcel
which had come entirely apart. I
There were rotten apples, decayed
oranges, melted candy and stale
cake crumbs throughout the entire
sack. This happens all too fre
quently.
"A great deal of it was originally
poorly wrapped. Many parcels have
sticker addresses. The sacks may
have become wet in transit, caus
ing the labels to come off Fre
quently these stickers have been
hurriedly slapped on. leaving tiny
air pockets beneath them. Friction
in transit causes these to wear off
in spots. All too often addresses are
in pencil, or, if in ink, the ink has
become wet and illegible.”
Again this year soldiers overseas
will be able to select gifts for the
folks back home from the mail or
der catalogue operated by the army
exchange service, special services
division. Listed gifts include: men’s
toiletries, haberdashery, leather
goods, luggage, games, including
playing cards, books, magazine sub
scriptions, dolls, toys, doll dishes,
stuffed animals, smokers' supplies,
candy, perfumes, cosmetics and
lingerie.
First Railroad Post Office Carried Mail to Soldiers
Eighty years ago the first perma
nent railroad post office was estab
lished to speed up mail for soldiers.
On August 28, 1864, George B. Arm
strong, then assistant postmaster of
Chicago, sent his first railway post
office on its way over the Chicago
and North Western railway from
Chicago to Clinton, Iowa. Within a
few years the new system of ex
pediting the mails spread to include
the principal trunk lines of the na
tion. Practically every nation in the
world adopted the idea eventually.
Armstrong Instituted the service
with approval of the postmaster
general as a means of facilitating
distribution of mail, particularly to
men in the army. From the first,
Armstrong envisioned a national
system and lived to see his plan
become a success, despite public
doubts and ridicule when he first
announced his plan.
On the first trip 80 years ago
prominent Chicago newspapermen.
bankers and civic leaders went
along to witness the initial opera
tion. One banker refused to be con
vinced of the plan’s practicability,
remarking that ‘‘all the mail would
blow out of the car."
Although Armstrong is generally
credited with the first permanent
railway post office, others preceded
him by a few years with similar
plans. All, however, were devised t«
meet local emergencies and no plan
operated more than a year.
Looking at
FRANCHOT TONE, suave man
about town, society's pet sophisti
cate—this is the way Hollywood first
typed Franchot. so this is the way
we think of him. 'Tis true. Fran
chot would grace anybody's cock
tail party, make no mistake about
that. He has perfect passing man
ners—is also a good mixer of people
plus cocktails.
But graceful manners and unculti
vated poise are automatic with Fran
chot. He wears
them as easily as
you and I wear
that old outfit
we’ve nad many
years. And. like
those old clothes,
Franchot is tired
of being accepted
solely on the ba
sis of these sur
face impressions.
Especially when
these impressions
Franchot Tone
are all the producers seem to re
member when casting pictures.
Franchot is no different from the
rest of us, which means he’s really
just a plain, real person.
Franchot cast aside his bonds of
aristocracy (if he ever had them)
when he gave up a career as as
sistant to the head of Romance lan
guages at Cornell university for a
starvation diet of used scripts and
black coffee. During lean years that
followed his turn to the theater he
learned to respect and admire the
so-called little man who wasn’t
afraid to work and starve if neces
sary for what he wanted. He be
came one of them, in fact. But his
struggles didn’t begin here.
Born into a family of means, the
son of the late Frank J. Tone, sci
entist and president of the famous
Carborundum company, Franchot
was more serious-minded, objective,
and studious than most children
born with a silver spoon you know
where. He sweated his way through
Cornell in three years. He so im
pressed the faculty that he was ap
pointed to his teaching post in the
Romance languages before gradu
ation.
Did It the Hard Way
Franchot burned plenty of mid
night oil before he learned to shout,
“0, how I loved my alma mater!”
His was no snap letters and science
curriculum dealing only with study
of the drama, physical education
and bicep building, though that
drama course at Cornell is no cinch.
Franchot majored in drama. His
course included French and Latin, a
half dozen courses dealing with
drama, ranging from its history to
real, honest-to-goodness play acting,
topped off with a few courses in mu
sic.
Franchot left Cornell’s halls after
a year’s try at teaching, shook some
of the iyy out of his hair, and in
vaded Broadway. He can laugh at
it now; he couldn’t then. His inva
sion almost came a cropper. But
Franchot was determined; he had
what it took, and so Broadway suc
cumbed when he jolted the critics
from their well grooved seats with
his first performance in “Age of In
nocence,” with Katharine Cornell.
Prelude to Success
Before he won this opportunity he
did several years of solid training
with the New Playwrights' theater
in Greenwich Village, got $15 week
ly. He did a stint with the Garry
McGarry Players in Buffalo, kept
busy doing stock work until he got
his Broadway call. After the Kit
Cornell show Franchot appeared
with Sylvia Sydney, Irene Purcell,
and Peggy Shannon in “Cross
Roads.” He joined the Theater guild
in 1929 and did a series of shows.
Franchot was not only an earnest
actor but an idealist in his attitude
toward his work. He was an origi
nator of the Group theater. With
this organization, which still re
mains close to his heart, he appeared
in “House of Connolly,” "Night Over
Taos." and "Success Story.”
Hollywood Next Stop
By this time motion pictures were
bidding (or talented Broadway ac
tors, so he signed with Paramount to
play in “The Wiser Six," with Clau
dette Colbert, Lilyan Tashnian and
William Boyd. From then on Fran
chot cast his lot with movies, and
proved himself an excellent per
former.
A long-term contract with M.G.M.
brought Tone to Hollywood, and what
followed is a familiar story. Pro
ducers called him "Smoothie." They
immediately put him in "smooth"
parts, and it's a tribute to Fran
chot's ability, plus his patience, that
he made himself outstanding despite
the fact that he worked too often
with mediocre material.
• • •
What Price Youth?
Kenny Baker is no longer a kid,
although he still looks like one. He’s
married and has two children, but
when he bought a ranch out here,
I the owner insisted on getting an affi
davit from Kenny’s father that he
was over 21 and would be able to
pay for it. Kenny’s Just about to
close for a mighty good screen part.
. . . Sonja Henie insists she wants to
do a straight dramatic part. If our
little skater's set her mind on it—
she’ll do itl
The Heritage
# ♦ ♦
Ry VIRGINIA COUGHLIN
McClure Syndicate—WNU Features.
I ITTLE Nan brought the question
Mionie from school with her.
•‘Mummy,” she said over her
steaming lunch, "our teacher was
talking about Pen—Penelope to
day. Who's she?"
"Oh, Just a story-book lady,
dear," Dorothy Ncvins told her
daughter. "Eat your potatoes now.
And, Thomas Nevins Junior, please
scrub those awful fingernails of
yours thoroughly before you go back
to school."
“O. K." Slouched in his chair,
Tommy was obviously not thinking
of his meal, or of his hands, either.
Like his younger sister, Tommy
lived in an enchanted world of
bright, delicious fantasy. His eyes
were wide and expectant. "How
about this Penelope? What story is
she in?"
"I don’t know,” Dorothy an
swered.
“What did she do?” Nan's inter
est in the strange but somehow
promising lady was keen.
Dorothy dropped kisses on the two
dark heads. “It’s been a long time
since Mummy went to school. She
has forgotten all about Penelope."
Seeing disappointment cloud the
children’s small faces, she was im
mediately penitent. "Tell you what,”
she suggested, "I’ll get out Daddy's
mythology this afternoon and meet
Penelope aggin. I’ll tell you the
story at bedtime. Will that do?”
This was greeted with shouts of de
lighted approval.
Dorothy waved them to their
afternoon sessions. For a relaxing
moment she sank into a chair. The
angelic whirlwinds, she thought lov
ingly, it would take ten mothers to
keep up with them. Such beautiful
children, she mused further, un
abashed at her pride in them.
The clock measured off the min
utes, tick, tick, tick . . . Just one
glance at its bland face and Dorothy
was on her feet again. She set about
washing the dishes. It wasn’t until
she’d dropped the first tumbler into
the froth of white suds that she felt
her morning’s depression close in
upon her again. It came, as it had
come every day, almost stifling her
in its dark, heart-sickening spell.
Her hands faltered. But pretty Mrs.
Nevins lectured herself. "Don’t stop.
You’ve a job to do.”
Tucked in their respective beds
that night, the little ones were ob
viously not the least bit sleepy. "Tell
us the story. Mummy," Nan re
minded.
"Yes," urged Tommy, "you prom
ised—"
“And I shall keep my promise—If
you’ll both go right to sleep after
ward. No thousand drinks of water."
She smiled at each of them in turn,
then began the story.
It was the tale familiar to almost
everyone, the fable of Penelope, that
valiant lady who refused to give up
hope of her husband’s return from
the Trojan war. In terms suited to
her youngsters’ understanding,
Dorothy explained how time raced
on and Ulysses was no longer be
lieved alive, how Penelope went
about weaving a robe, promising to
marry one of her countless suitors
only when it should be completed.
The lady’s handiwork was never
quite finished, however, as she fash
ioned it during the day, then ripped
the new stitches at night. Her art
fulness saved her.
"Penelope was very wise,” Doro
thy ended, and the children nodded
in agreement, their round eyes
thoughtful.
After the evening prayers, kisses
and nose tweaking. Mrs. Nevins
tucked them in, then went down
stairs to the quiet living room. She
switched on the radio and sat lis
tening to the soft music but not hear
ing it, fingering the small socks she
was darning without seeing them.
"Tom,” she whispered, turning to
look at the photograph that stood on
the table. The smiling dark-haired
man was young and handsome in
his Army captain’s uniform. There
was capability in his lean face,
j strength in the line of his broad
shoulders. "Oh, Tom," Dorothy
asked, "why have I been such a
baby? Other wives have waited for
wars to end. haven’t they? Always,
throughout the ages, women have
( been buoyed by hope — even in
Penelope’s time. Penelope was very
wise—wise to keep working and nev
er, never to give up. I shall try to
be more like her, Tom. . . ”
The radio music stopped. There
was utter silence until a young voice
called from upstairs, “Mummyl
Did the lady’s husband come back?”
“Yes,” Dorothy answered, “after
a long time Ulysses came home.
Now go to sleep, darlings.”
She listened to their muffled re
1 sponses. "Yes, Ulysses came
home,” she repeated to herself.
Glancing at Tom’s picture again
she suddenly, happily, matched hia
i reassuring smile with her own.
Sulphuric Acid
In peacetime the largest share of
the sulphuric acid used in the Unit
ed States is consumed In the fer
tilizer industry. It serves to break
down insoluble phosphate rock, con
verting it into superphosphate of
lime which dissolves easily in the
I soil and can then be drunk up as
! food by plant roots.
The second larget amount is used
in petroleum refining, where it
helps to tear the complex ail to
pieces.
SEWING CIRCLE PATTERNS
House Frock With Smart Yoke
Princess Dress—-Collarless, Co*l
8622
12-42
8672
12-42
A "Cooler”
^JICEST air conditioned house
^ and morning frock you’ve ever
had! The smart yoke which is ex
tended to form diminutive ex
cuses-for-sleeves is awfully flatter
ing. The loose dress is made form
fitting by means of the two half
belts at either side. Try it in pink
seersucker. Use pink-pearl plastic
buttons. Pretty?
Pattern No 8072 Is in sizes 12, 14. 16. 18
20; 40 and 42. Size 14 requires 3>'« yards
of 30-lnch material.
Neck and Neck
Aunt Martha—Have you kept up
with your studies?
Jasper — Yes, but I haven’t
passed them.
Another Thought
.1 Ira. Smith—Your husband tins cer
tainly brave to craul under the bed to
fight that burglar.
Mrs. Jones—Yes, but when he crawled
tinder the bed he thought the burglar
was down in the kitchen!
Bit Exaggerated
Customer—These sleeves are miles too
long.
Tailor—ti ell. how much shall I take
off?
Customer—Oh, I guess about a quar
ter of an inch.
Said the Boss—She’s a good sec
retary, alright, but she’s clock
eyed.
Fisherman’s Prayer
Oh, give me grace to catch a fish
So large that even I
In talking about it afterwards
May never need to lie.
Not His Choice
Housewife—And are you really
content to spend your life walking
about the country, begging?
Hobo—No, lady, not at all.
Many’s the time I wished I had
a car. _
We’ll Bite, What?
Jasper—I certainly like good
food, and always look forward to
the next meal.
Joan—Why don’t you think of
higher things once in a while?
Jasper—What’s higher than food
these days?
“Dirt-cheap” is no longer a legit
imate term, for dirt is no longer
cheap, it’s precious.
The Life
Jasper—I w’ish I lived in Green
land.
! Joan—What for?
Jasper—With a night six months
l long, it must be wonderful to have
a date with a beautiful blonde.
It’s Collarless
^OLLARLESS and cooler is the
keynote to this summer’s play
fashions! The handsome princess
jumper illustrated has a most at
tractive collarless jacket which
turns it into a smart business and
street ensemble.
Pattern No. 8622 is in sizes 12, 14, 16, 18,
20; 40 and 42. Size 14. jumper, requires
2’« yards of 39-inch fabric; Jacket. 1%
yards.
Due to an unusually large demand and
current war conditions, slightly more time
is required In Ailing orders for a few of
the mUjt popular pattern numbers.
Send your order to;
SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN BEPT.
530 South Wells St. Chicago
Enclose 25 cents In coins for each
pattern desired.
Pattern No.Size.
Nam* .
Address .
Reason and Conscience
What can be more honorable
than to have courage enough to
execute the commands of reason
and conscience—to maintain the
dignity of our nature, and the sta
tion assigned us?—Jeremy Collier.
BEAT
HEAT
Heat ranh irritated akin
thrills to the touch of
Mexsana, soothing, medi
cated powder. For cool
ing relief, get Me
SNAPPY FACTS
ABOUT
RUBBER
Before the end of the year,
the U. S. should be producing
enough man-made rubber to
fill all military and essential
civilian needs, in the opinion
of John L. Collyer, President
•f B. f. Goodrich, who fore
sees the output of800,000tons
of synthetic rubber in 1944.
Neglect of the rubber plantations
now under Japanese control may
be a benefit In disguise, accord
ing to authorities, since postponing
the tapping of rubber trees tends
to improve their subsequent yields.
Normally only one per cent of the
rubber consumed in the li. S. went
Into the manufacture of medical,
surgloal, dental and drug sundries,
while more than 72 per cent wos
used by the tire Industry,
PIRST IN RUBBER
Snap, Crackle, Pop!
"Th« Crains art Great Folds'
-fa'm#'
• Kellogg’s Rice Krispies equal the
whole ripe grain in nearly all the
protective food elements declared
essential to human nutrition.