{"id":1750,"date":"2023-01-06T03:26:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T03:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2026-01-23T09:47:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:47:45","slug":"wwiipopentertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2023\/01\/06\/wwiipopentertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Entertainment During WWII for a WAC in the Southwest Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Greta Suiter, Manuscripts Archivist, Ohio University Libraries<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Didn\u2019t I write and tell you about the enclosed? (Irving Berlin)? He was up here the day before Christmas for dinner and also went to the hospital. Hope I\u2019ll get a chance to see his show when it comes. Never thought in the fall of 1942 that I\u2019d have to go clear to New Guinea to see it.<\/p>\n<cite>-Phyllis Peirce letter home 7 January 1945<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"951\" data-id=\"1752\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-1024x951.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-1024x951.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-300x279.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-768x713.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-1536x1426.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-2048x1902.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Group portraits of Irving Berlin and soldiers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"853\" data-id=\"1753\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Berlin20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-1024x853.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1753\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Berlin20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-1024x853.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Berlin20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Berlin20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-768x640.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Berlin20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-1536x1279.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Berlin20220707aldenWWIIcollection_bws0205-2048x1706.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Phyllis Peirce and Irving Berlin; Newspaper clipping &#8220;Irving Berlin in New Guinea&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Phyllis Peirce joined the Women&#8217;s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC later became Women&#8217;s Army Corps (WAC)) in the fall of 1942. From 1942 to 1944 she served stateside, training and working in Florida, Oklahoma, Washington D.C., and Georgia. In the fall of 1944 she left the continental United States for the southwest Pacific and worked in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dutch_New_Guinea\">Dutch New Guinea<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Luzon\">Luzon<\/a> in the Philippines. Her <a href=\"https:\/\/media.library.ohio.edu\/digital\/collection\/findingaids\/id\/961\/rec\/1\">World War II collection<\/a> contains scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, programs and ephemera, and an oral history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contained in the letters she wrote home while in the Pacific are mentions of movies, books, and magazines that she was able to watch and read. While she felt a world away from her hometown of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, she could still enjoy American culture and music through movies, magazines, and the 7th Fleet band stationed near her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"919\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/peirce-scrapbook-02_009-919x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1754\" style=\"width:689px;height:768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/peirce-scrapbook-02_009-919x1024.jpg 919w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/peirce-scrapbook-02_009-269x300.jpg 269w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/peirce-scrapbook-02_009-768x855.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/peirce-scrapbook-02_009-1379x1536.jpg 1379w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/peirce-scrapbook-02_009-1839x2048.jpg 1839w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 919px) 100vw, 919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Three photographs from a scrapbook in the Phyllis Peirce collection. The top image depicts an aerial view of the 7th Fleet area in Hollandia, the middle image depicts the 119th NCB Theatre, and the bottom image depicts the Naval Chapel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Below are some examples of her reactions to popular culture she saw and read while overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cI finally got to see \u2018Mrs. Parkington\u2019 this week and was very disappointed in it. I\u2019m sure you would be also if you have read the book for the latter was wonderful. Believe Cindy wrote that she didn\u2019t like the movie, tho\u2019 Mary loved it.\u201d \u2013 14 January 1945<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWent to see \u2018Keys of the Kingdom\u2019 Sat night, but as usual I was too sleepy to stay and see the end, so left about 11:45.\u201d \u2013 24 February 1945<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cI went to the movie \u2013 \u2018Meet me in St. Louis.\u2019 It was very good and colorful.\u201d \u2013 4 March 1945<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fod-infobase-com.proxy.library.ohio.edu\/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=168773&amp;loid=545417&amp;tScript=0#\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/VincentMinnelli-1024x427.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/VincentMinnelli-1024x427.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/VincentMinnelli-300x125.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/VincentMinnelli-768x320.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/VincentMinnelli.png 1477w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Watch a documentary on Vincente Minnelli, director of Meet Me in St. Louis, online via the OHIO Libraries<a href=\"https:\/\/fod-infobase-com.proxy.library.ohio.edu\/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=168773&amp;loid=545417&amp;tScript=0#\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/fod-infobase-com.proxy.library.ohio.edu\/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=168773&amp;loid=545417&amp;tScript=0#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Films on Demand <\/a>service,  must be logged into OHIO Libraries to access.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cSat. night went up to the movie in our Rec. Hall, \u2018The Thin Man Goes Home.\u2019 It was very good, silly but entertaining.\u201d \u2013 11 March 1945<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In a letter from Sunday, April 15, 1945 Peirce caught her family up on a lot of entertainment news from the past week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;Tues night a group of us went to see \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/ohiolink-ou.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/search?vid=01OHIOLINK_OU:OU&amp;mode=advanced&amp;query=any,contains,Mutiny%20on%20the%20Bounty,AND&amp;tab=Everything\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mutiny on the Bounty<\/a>.\u2019 Pop, I thought of you when I saw it and remembered how interested you were in that section of the world. Like it as much as the first time.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Friday night a group of us went to another outdoor theater to see the stage show \u2018Oklahoma.\u2019 It was very good, a lot thought it compared favorably with the one in the states. It rained very hard for a while, but we had fun.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fod-infobase-com.proxy.library.ohio.edu\/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=194805&amp;loid=575169&amp;tScript=0\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"196\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Oklahoma-1024x196.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1755\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Oklahoma-1024x196.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Oklahoma-300x57.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Oklahoma-768x147.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Oklahoma.png 1451w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Watch Oklahoma! online via the OHIO Libraries<a href=\"https:\/\/fod-infobase-com.proxy.library.ohio.edu\/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=194805&amp;loid=575169&amp;tScript=0\"> Films On Demand<\/a> service, must be logged into OHIO Libraries to access.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;This morning I went down to the 7<sup>th<\/sup> Fleet chapel. They (the string quartet) played Handle&#8217;s \u2018Largo\u2019 especially for me. Also one of the fellows I knows song. It was a very nice service. The chaplain read the 93<sup>rd<\/sup> Psalm and while he did they played a part of \u2018Finlandia.\u2019 The chaplain likes a lot of music at his services and will miss the band when they\u2019re gone. I believe he\u2019s from Conn. as he says &#8216;half&#8217; the way we do.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In her April 15th letter we also read about her reaction to President&nbsp;Roosevelt\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>No doubt you are wondering what our reaction was to the President\u2019s death. We heard of it Friday morning on the way to breakfast. Most of the girls wouldn\u2019t believe it. I don\u2019t believe I had any particular feeling about it, as we\u2019re so far away we hardly feel part of the states anymore. We had a minute of silence at 11: o\u2019clock, and the flag has been at half-staff since then. Believe 7<sup>th<\/sup> Fleet completely closed down as far as recreation, no movie, ping pong, etc. yesterday. It seemed queer today to hear Pres. Truman mentioned on the radio.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Peirce mentions having subscriptions to the magazines <em>Time<\/em> and <em>The New Yorker<\/em> and she has some access to books. In a letter from Luzon dated 6 July 1945 she briefly mentions reading a novel \u2013 \u201cFinally finished \u2018Forever Amber\u2019. I\u2019m not sorry I read it, as I learned a lot about history, tho\u2019 it is a bad way to study history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"771\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PXL_20221223_184521436-1024x771.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1761\" style=\"width:768px;height:578px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PXL_20221223_184521436-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PXL_20221223_184521436-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PXL_20221223_184521436-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PXL_20221223_184521436-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PXL_20221223_184521436-2048x1542.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Letters from 1945 in the Phyllis Peirce World War II Collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Entertainment is just one of the themes in Peirce\u2019s correspondence from 1945. Being a cryptanalyst<sup>1<\/sup>, she couldn\u2019t write about her work, so she writes about people she is meeting, what mail she is receiving, how she is spending her time while not at work, and about excursions to villages in New Guinea and to the city of Manila when she is in Luzon. All of her correspondence would have been checked by censors, limiting the type of information she could include. The collection provides a fascinating record of military life in the southwest Pacific during World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notes:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>1<\/sup> To read more about what a cryptanalyst did in World War II see the article, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nsa.gov\/portals\/75\/documents\/about\/cryptologic-heritage\/historical-figures-publications\/publications\/wwii\/sharing_the_burden.pdf\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nsa.gov\/portals\/75\/documents\/about\/cryptologic-heritage\/historical-figures-publications\/publications\/wwii\/sharing_the_burden.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Sharing the Burden: Women in Cryptology during World War II&#8221;<\/a> by the National Security Agency history program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interested in more film streaming options for OHIO students and staff? Check out the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/libguides.library.ohio.edu\/filmandmedia\/streamingfilms\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/libguides.library.ohio.edu\/filmandmedia\/streamingfilms\" target=\"_blank\">Streaming Video libguide.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Greta Suiter, Manuscripts Archivist, Ohio University Libraries Didn\u2019t I write and tell you about the enclosed? (Irving Berlin)? He was up here the day before Christmas for dinner and also went to the hospital. Hope I\u2019ll get a chance to see his show when it comes. Never thought in the fall of 1942 that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[81,82,74,33],"class_list":["post-1750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manuscript-collections","tag-phyllis-peirce","tag-popular-culture","tag-scrapbooks","tag-world-war-ii"],"modified_by":"Greta Suiter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1750"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5544,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions\/5544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}