Warning/Warming

A continuous cold rain all day today brought to mind this unusual make-do textile. It's a blanket made from embroidered armbands sewn together. The armbands were distributed to volunteer members of the U. S. Army Air Force Aircraft Warning Service, citizens who were enlisted to observe the skies for enemy aircraft during World War II. They received training in identifying various aircraft, and there were flash cards and models made as aids. Recognition clubs flourished and were a major social phenomenon of the day. There were competitions and "bees." On the West Coast, NBC had a weekly radio broadcast called "Eyes, Aloft," with Henry Fonda as a principal actor. As many as 750,000 people, the majority of them women, participated

As part of the waste-not, want-not ethos of the time, some enterprising person took advantage of the leftovers to make this warm wool blanket.