Tennessee Maneuvers 1943 Sweetheart pillowcase

[Aragorn243]

Found this in a new antique shop today. As I'm a collectoholic and have to have home front items now also, it came home with me. In the process, I learned about a neglected part of US military history.

The Tennessee Maneuvers were conducted from September of 1942 to March of 1944 and were used to prepare US divisions for fighting in Western Europe. They determined that the central Tennessee area closely resembled the terrain that would be encountered there and the Tennessee River resembled the Rhine. Nashville was Cherbourg, they trained Monday through Thursday or Friday and then had the weekends off. They were conducted on mostly private land, in the towns, fields, etc. 25 US divisions with over 850,000 troops were involved in these. 22 of the divisions fought in Europe. More then 250 men and a number of civilians lost their lives during the exercises.

This is obviously a souvenir sent home to a loving (hopefully) wife. I don't think the poem would fly very well today.

And if anyone is married to someone who knows how to iron things, please have them offer advise on what to do with this. I don't want to damage it. Not sure what the fabric is.

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[rcathey]

I love homefront stuff.

I have a couple handfuls of sweetheart jewelry. The plan is to (one day…eventually) frame it in a vintage bubble glass frame. Preferably a military themed frame if I can find one.

[Bob Womack]

My wife is suggesting to iron it on low heat through a slightly damp towel.

Bob

[Aragorn243]

I love homefront stuff.

I have a couple handfuls of sweetheart jewelry. The plan is to (one day…eventually) frame it in a vintage bubble glass frame. Preferably a military themed frame if I can find one.

I have a sweetheart locket that I would like to get period style photos of my youngest daughter and her husband in. He's pretty easy, I have a helmet he can wear. She's a little harder, we need to get her hair done up in 40's style. Just seems like an awful lot of work for a tiny photo.

[Daan Kemp]

Would definitely be worth the effort.

[Flying10uk]

Not sure what the fabric is.

I wonder if it's Silk?

[muffett.2008]

Looks like satin to me.

[Flying10uk]

Confusingly, satin can be from silk, apparently.

[Aragorn243]

I thought it was nylon but I don't think they had nylon back then. Didn't get a chance to look.

It just looked like it might melt if I used an iron on it. I think it would be safe under a damp towel like suggested. I'm not at home now to try. Working out of town again.