New Hampshire's Wright Museum ~A Home Front Museum~
Remembers World War II
by Patricia Cummings
photos by James Cummings
David Wright (1931-2003) established the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire in 1982. He wanted to tell the story of "The War," as it has come to be known, through the presentation of wartime artifacts. The museum's collection encompasses a broad range of items, including a large fleet of vehicles, and even an airplane, household items, posters, textiles, and much more! As one strolls around, the music of the era plays, and in one corner an hour long video tells the story of the war through personal accounts. Surely, the 1940s changed many lives forever.
President Roosevelt announced the entry of the United States into the fray after the Japanese bombed battleships positioned at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. During the course of the war, which had actually started in 1939 and ended in 1945, an estimated fifty to sixty million people died, across the globe. An exact count shall never be known.
Americans Pull Together For A Common Cause
Soon war factories rose to the cause and were in full production swing. That was good for an economy that was still plagued by the lingering effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s. For the first time, many American women left their homes to enter the world of work. Their efforts joined those of other community members who backed the war by recycling old tires so that they could be made into airplane tires, and who saved used cooking oil for use in the production of bombs. Everyone was required to have ration coupons to purchase certain commodities such as gasoline, meat, and sugar, among other consummables.
An Introductory Video
New visitors to the museum are invited to view a short video. Events in America, that happened concurrently with the war, are mentioned in the “must-see,” film. The names of popular new books of the time, as well as songs, and Broadway plays are presented on the screen, listed by year. Several songs are played in the background, one of which is memorable for its haunting lyrics, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” Another song, "Junk Ain’t Junk No More” is also shared. This tune refers to the plea to Americans to recycle metals for use in making armaments of war.
"Sweetheart Pillows" sent home by GIs
Please click on any thumbnail picture to see a larger view.
Textiles Visible Throughout Collection
Textiles add a very nice dimension to this war collection. Of particular note are two beautiful wedding gowns, an outfit worn by a Red Cross worker, and a decorated Girl Scout uniform. Patches worn by certain units certainly comprise an important part of the museum's holdings. A quilt, made by local quilters, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the museum, hangs in a specially-made display case near the museum's entrance. Among the blocks is a depiction of "Rosie the Riveter."
Endearing pillow covers, like the one above, were sent home to loved ones by GIs.
Collection of Patricia Cummings. photo by James Cummings
See our ten part overview that discusses "Sweetheart Pillows" and other pillows from World War I and II.
Period Quilts from the Museum's Permanent Collection
We feel so lucky to be have been able to view three period quilts from the museum’s permanent collection. One of those antiques is called “Multi-Colored Tulips” in the more recently published book, Garden of Quilts, by Mary Elizabeth Johnson (Oxmoor House, 1984), page 34. Although the quilt was folded, it seems to be the same design and originally could have been a kit quilt. I have not researched this yet.
"Living Room" which displays three quilts, Tulip quilt on far left.
The bright and cheerful pastel colors used during the 1920s and 1930s, and the oft used motifs of butterflies, combine for a cheerful effect. These kind of quilts must have provided a welcome respite for those women who had enough time to think about quilting during those years.
Special Exhibit
One of Sally Palmer Field's quilts, dedicated to President Eisenhower, a general in World War II, was part of a special feature on the day of our visit. This center medallion style quilt features an “I Like Ike” kerchief, in the center. Within the borders is a 1950s fabric which is known as “Eisenhower Toile” (of which Mamie Eisenhower had a dress made for herself). Sally chose to include isolated elements of the narrow fabric, which is printed with various commemorative highlights of the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of the United States from 1953-1961.
The quilt had been previously displayed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in an exhibit entitled, "America Remembers Quilting in the Twentieth Century,” which began on April 3, 1998.
Note: Museum exhibits rotate, so if you visit today, you may not see the same items as shown here.
Room Set-Ups Simulate the Decade of the 1940s
A living room and a kitchen are set up with the furniture and accessories that would have typically been seen in a home in America during this time period of the 1940s.
Lots of Ephemera
The museum walls are plastered with posters and covers of Life Magazine from the war years. Below is a large postcard (that belongs to my family). A case at the museum has one just like it. Ours was sent by my uncle who participated in seven major battles of the war on the European front, and who suffered shrapnel wounds to the knee, during the Battle of the Bulge.
Collection of Patricia Cummings. photo by James Cummings
Armored Vehicles Help to Tell the Story
As we continued to wander around, we were greeted by a volunteer who told us about the Capture of the Remagen Bridge in March 1945. A T-26 Pershing Tank from the 9th Army Division is one of three that made it to the bridge. The size of the tank is awesome!
Museum Store
Postcards, tee-shirts, books, posters, and other items provide the visitor with items to give as gifts or to take home as souvenirs.
Summer Lecture Series
The summer lecture series of 2007 offered an opportunity to hear from people who were directly involved in the war, and also those who study the time period. We can look at tanks and quilts and we can truly appreciate them. However, the true impact of World War II is the effect that it had on individual lives. Below is a short review of the comments from one speaker, whom we found to be an exceptional presenter.
Dr. James Kimble Debunks Rosie the Riveter Myths
On July 31, 2007, Dr. James J. Kimble, an Assistant Professor at Seton Hall University delighted members and guests of the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, with an account of his studies about the origin and use of an image that we have come to know as “Rosie, the Riveter.”
The image seen below has been widely-marketed, but the first time it showed up for marketing purposes was in 1982, according to Kimble's research thus far. By the way, if anyone finds an earlier item, he would love to be contacted!
A kitchen towel shows “Rosie the Riveter,” as created by J. Howard Miller for Westinghouse Co. Towel - collection of Patricia Cummings, photo by Jim Cummings
Not A Recruiting Poster
The media has jumped to conclusions, and has misreported information about the image. Kimble states that the poster was not used for recruitment of women into the work force during World War II. Instead, it was designed by an artist for Westinghouse, an electronics company that never made "rivets." The poster was displayed for only two weeks, in that place of business alone, where women were already working.
“Rosie,” with bent elbow and clenched fist, is wearing a red bandanna on her head, and a badge on her collar (which actually says “Westinghouse” on the original poster). Kimble convincingly argues that the gesture being made by the woman, with upraised arm, is probably interpreted today in a manner that was not intended by the artist, at that point in history.
Discrepancies Noted by Dr. Kimble
The towel in my collection, purchased within the last decade, features the words
“We Can Do It.” The bottom of the
towel says, “Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.,” above
which are the words, “This World War II poster, commissioned by the
War Production Coordinating Committee, evokes Rosie the Riveter.” Dr.
Kimble asked himself, “Was this committee a part of the government?”
No, he discovered it was not. Rather, it was a labor committee at
Westinghouse.
Of course, this account is not intended to be an indepth review of all of Dr Kimble's remarks. He spoke with clarity and depth and successfully disassembled the myths associated with "Rosie the Riveter," one by one. In addition, he revealed that only two of the original posters with this exact image are still in existence, insofar as anyone knows.
Rockwell Poster Less Well-Known
There is a second poster, “Rosie, The Riveter” designed by Norman Rockwell for the cover of Saturday Evening Post magazine. The Wright Museum owns a copy of that poster.
The copyright holders of Rockwell's poster fiercely guard its reproduction. For that reason, most folks have not seen it. Westinghouse never protected their interest in the work-for-hire creation of the artist whose poster is the one with which we have become so familiar, recently.
In ending the talk, the audience was invited to hear the vintage song titled, "Rosie the Riveter," as played on a laptop computer.
Dr. Kimble’s research is ongoing. He wrote a book, Mobilizing the Home Front: War Bonds and Domestic Propaganda, (TX A & M University Press, 2006), and his work has been published in academic journals. If you ever have a chance to hear this wonderful speaker, please do! We certainly hope that Dr. Kimble will return to the museum again soon.
Fascinating War Time Textiles the Highlight of Book
For information and a review of a very interesting book, Wearing Propaganda, please click on the title. Wearing Propaganda: 1931-1945: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States is a book not to be missed by serious student of textiles and clothing.
The Wright Museum is a non-profit, private WWII homefront museum that relies on contributions and memberships to fund its programs.
Contact information: Wright Museum, 77 Center St., Wolfeboro, NH, 03894 Telephone: (603) 569-1212.
Open daily, May 1-October 31
Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sundays, Noon-4 p.m.
To access a wonderful list of live links to other museums, please visit their webpage: http://www.wrightmuseum.org/link.html
©Copyright 2004-2008. Patricia and James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. Contact us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com