National Doughnut Day WWI

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: World War I United States of America Salvation Army

National Doughnut Day,^[1] is celebrated in the United States, on the first Friday of June each year. Doughnut Day was started by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor their members who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I. Many American doughnut stores offer free doughnuts on National Doughnut Day.

In 1917 Helen Purviance, an ensign in the Salvation Army, was sent to France to work with the American First Division. Along with fellow officer, Ensign Margaret Sheldon, started making donuts for the soldiers. They used a wine bottle as a rolling pin. They had no doughnut cutter, they used a knife to cut the dough into strips and then twisted them .^[2]I was literally on my knees," she recalled, "when those first doughnuts were fried, seven at a time, in a small frypan. There was also a prayer in my heart that somehow this home touch would do more for those who ate the doughnuts than satisfy a physical hunger

The girls could serve only 150 doughnuts the first day. The next day, they made double. When they were fully equipped, they made 2,500 to 9,000 doughnuts daily, as did other Salvation Army girls along the frontline trenches. The girls were asked by the soldiers , Can't you make a doughnut with a hole in it. Ensign Purviance had an elderly French blacksmith make a a doughnut cutter by fastening the top of a condensed milk can and camphor ice tube to a wooden block. Later they use a number of different items such as the lid from a baking powder can or a lamp chimney and the top of a coffee percolator. The soldiers referred to Salvation Army girls as doughnut girls.Over 250 Salvation Army volunteers provided assistance to American soldiers in France starting in 1917 during WWI. The donuts were fried, seven at a time in soldiers’ helmets.

The Salvation Army started National Donut Day during the Great Depression. It was a way to raise funds and bring awareness to The Salvation Army’s social service programs. National Donut Day is a day to remember the donut lassies. These were female Salvation Army volunteers who provided a number of services to soldiers on the front in WWI such as giving supplies, stamps, clothes mending and home cooked meals, and donuts.

According to "Soft Schools reference, the original donuts handed out during World War I were usually fried in oil. The American soldier could use the helmets as a cooking pot, as they would hold the high heat of the hot oil. Seven donuts could be fried at a time in a helmet. (this was before the time of cholesterol-awareness). People were just interested in "good food"

The term 'doughboy' has been used to describe soldiers in World War I. This term is reported to be used clear back to 1846 during the Mexican-American War.

During World War II volunteers from the Red Crossalso distributed donuts to soldiers and were also referred to as 'Doughnut Dollies'.^[3]

American POWs that were held in Son Tay prison camp tricked their North Vietnamese captors into getting them donuts. They told them it was the United States Marine Corp birthday and donuts were used to honor the occasion.!!^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia - National Doughnut Day
2. ↑ World War I - Doughnut the official story
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} National Donut Day

See also

• Salvation Army - History of Donut Day
• Soft Schools.com - National Donut Day Facts
• Wikiwand.com - National Doughnut Day