What to do in an Air Raid

Hi everyone. Still no home internet but things are up, I guess.
The good news is yesterday at 10 am as I was baking cookies (oatmeal/raisin/cranberry) two phone folks came to look at the line. Bad news is the problem is in the pole wire so they have to have a pole tech come out. Good news is that could be today or tomorrow by their 'two to three day' verbiage. Bad news is they could be lying and it might take until next week. Sigh.

Also my serger is on her way to getting repaired. The repair place called yesterday and said that the motor needed new parts. I thought the whole thing might need to be replaced, so that was good news. He also said that he would do a chemical cleaning, realign all the loopers and get her good and ready. Sweet! Bad news is they charge a $200 flat rate. I went on and said do it. I miss my serger and considering she's a five cone with a differential feed and I only paid $120 for her over a year ago, and a comparable new 5 cone would be about $600, that's not too much to ask for getting back a near new machine.

The good news about that is I get my serger back, the bad news is I'm more broke than ever and I don't think I'll have the cash for materials for my nurse uniform for the Air Raid in February.

I'm on the fence about the uniform anyway.

I have a thing about military uniforms. Well, more a high respect. That's one reason I don't wear camouflage, or nautical inspired...anything. I feel as a civilian I haven't earned the right to wear those colors/styles, etc. I have more than my share of choices in civilian wear. But I'm going to think about it.

In the mean time, I went to a friend's the other day to usurp their wifi (I'm shameless...),
and she showed me this booklet she just got.

In the back, there are a couple of pages of armband insignia for civilian members of air raid teams. There's an idea, I'm thinking. Make an armband and copies of this booklet and pass them out! I could totally do that!

Choices choices! In any case, I thought I'd post the booklet on my blog. It's a rather interesting (at times funny) read.

Here goes part 1. Ill post it in three installments.

13 comments:

  1. Awesome! Thanks!
    I hope your internet gets fixed soon. And yay for an as-good-as-new serger :)

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  2. I think you need to prioritize that air raid outfit. What if there really is an air raid? What kind of materials do you need?

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  3. Note to self: Air Raid Shelters should have wood paneling. :)

    Chris feels the same way about military uniforms. He feels weird wearing them as a costume because it's not really his. I'm torn - I like seeing them at recreation events because they make it feel more authentic, but I'd feel like a fraud doing it myself. I think I'd do a uniform if I did some good research so that I could represent it well.

    If you dress up as a warden, you MUST have a whistle. :)

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  4. Oh! A whistle! Might be worth it for that reason alone. :)

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  5. I'm with you and Beth about wearing uniforms, and I'm glad that y'all think that way. :) I've reenacted a different era for a long time, too, and by and large they people there are pretty series and respectful about the uniforms and the research. Nothing breaks the moment for me like seeing someone in the right uniform acting goofy or all modern or clearly non-military - but when it's done right, it's awesome.

    I think the air-raid warden idea is fantastic. Armbands and whistles, yay! Perfect for the event.

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  6. It's mainly fabric I need, Peter. I was going to get a nice white cotton broadcloth for the uniform and I wanted to think about some navy wool felt for a jacket. I was also toying with getting or making a canvis satchel. And Id need white nurse shoes... I guess I could be a civilan nurse but if I were going to make the outfit at all, Id want to use good fabric.

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  7. Sorry, I just can't get over the notion of air raid preperations for Chicago... Maybe I'm just ignorant, but did any place in mainland US get bombed during the Second World War?

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  8. Hey I'm left handed too!!! WOO WOO! What to do in an air raid... I cant even imagine! The first thing i would do is cuss like a sailor!

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  9. I can understand the feelign about uniforms, but nautical inspired I can't see - they became civilian clothing for little (upperclass) bloys and gitls over a century ago. Then you couldn't have epaulettes or cords across the chest or other military inspired styel elements either, since they come from real 19th century uniforms (the cords cam from hussars, who got them from turkish/tatar coats)

    /Eva

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  10. Thanks so much for posting the "What to do in an air raid" booklet. I grew up in the Chicago area and knew of several buildings that had the Air Raid Shelter signs still on them. My friends and I were never quite sure what they were for. This was in the era when we had drills at school to prepare us for a nuclear attack. At the time my father was in the airforce and the idea of a nuclear attack was considered very real, and very scary. I was never sure why crouching under my desk would help save me during a nuclear attack, but I knew there was no way we could get to the Air Raid Shelter. It makes me smile now, but it was so scary then.

    BTW- love, love, love your blog. I hope your internet is restored soon! And as the daughter, wife, and mother of vets, thank you for wanting to participate in the day. I know my men are never offended by anyone who dons the uniform, as long as they do it with respect. If you want to go as a military nurse, go for it!

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  11. Oh, if you go as an air raid warden you can wear your overalls!

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  12. Ooh as a Chicagoan that's especially interesting to me. They thought we could get bombed from Norway? How odd! I particularly like the DON'T pictures on your last scan. Ha ha.

    p.s. I too am a lefty!

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  13. Thank you for the insight, pikojiko. That helps a lot. And I've just never cared for nautical inspired anything, Eva, especially on me!
    I'm so glad you all are liking the booklet! Ain't it a hoot!
    I'll post more photos as soon as I can get to some wifi. I love my iPhone, but using it as a primary internet source much longer is gonna make my eyes bug out!

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