Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
July 1943. Greenville, South Carolina. "Air Service Command. Enlisted man folding up his gas mask to hang on the wall after having worn it all day." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Judging by the itinerant nature of most training posts, I'd surmise the footlocker came with the room and was indeed part of the furniture.
Some of these temporary buildings, built to only last for the duration of the conflict, still stand today. I stayed in many of them and trust me, many are as spartan today as they were when originally built, other than maybe a real bed, new roof, lighting or siding.
As we used to say, all rooms look the same with your eyes shut.
I've never seen that metal window panel holder before. It was more visible in "Cornerman: 1943" picture posted a few days ago. It's simplicity is genius. Does anyone know what it's called?
The wooden "footlockers" shown in this image and in the one entitled "Cornerman" are not the familiar Government Issue footlockers, which were painted an "Olive Drab" green.
WW2 was a time of makeshifts to work around various shortages. I, for one, cannot recall ever seeing footlockers like this in any other set of WW2 images.
These may be repurposed shipping crates.
They look to be made of much heavier boards - certainly not suited for mobility, but on the other hand more suited for seating.
The unfinished look of the footlockers is in keeping with the temporary look of these barracks.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5