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1939: a very peculiar Christmas and a dilemma in America |
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Christmas 1939, and although Britain had technically been at war with Germany since September 3rd, life carried on much the same. In Woolworths customers chose cards, decorations and stocking fillers, much the same as usual. To be sure the tinned peaches and jars of honey sold a bit better than usual as the wisest customers squirreled some away 'just in case', but inside the store you would hardly know the country was at war. | |||
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the street there was more evidence of war - shop windows boarded or
taped over to prevent injuries from breaking glass. The first
blackout precautions. Fund-raising in the streets and
encouragement to enlist.
And everyone man, woman and child must carry a gas mask at all times. |
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| Behind the scenes government and local authorities were making plans for rationing, with food, fuel and clothing at the top of the list, building air raid shelters, and implementing anti-invasion measures like the removal of directional traffic signs. And the ARP (Air Raid Police) training and drills had greater purpose and importance. Young men volunteered for military service by the thousand, while older men signed up for the Home Guard, ARP or for other civil defence work. | ||||
At
Woolworths' Office in New Bond Street, London, war set executives into a
spin.
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Executives
decided that stores should major on those parts of the range which would
support the war effort:
The policy was a great success and helped to build the Company's reputation for providing solutions to problems. Pamphlets were published to help customers to prepare for war under the banner "Good Things To Know". |
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| To stem the tide of Managers volunteering for war service, the company introduced a new policy that seemed very generous. If a Manager was conscripted (officially called up for war service), the company would continue to pay their salary to their family back home on top of their army wage. But if a Manager volunteered before he was conscripted, while of course the company would let him go, he would not get this benefit, just the right to return to his job when the war was over, which was given to every man enlisting by law. |  |
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The
policy change was important to allow Woolies time to make arrangements
for a replacement store manager - often by training up a senior member
of the store staff to take on the extra duties. People were given
notice if they were conscripted to allow time for such arrangements to
be made, while those volunteering often agreed to start their service
right away.
Sixty four years later
the policy of penalising volunteers and rewarding conscripts remains
controversial. It is true that those Managers who waited to enlist
enjoyed much better pensions than those who faced the darkest days of
war. But had Woolworths not implemented the policy, perhaps there
would have been no company to pay pensions at all. |
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| The American parent company faces a dilemma | ||||
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US Government was determined not to be dragged into a European war and
issued instructions to businesses. Public opinion was overwhelming
anti-war.
But F. W. Woolworth Co. was partly Canadian (Canada declared war on Germany on September 10th, 1940) and had a large subsidiary in Britain (also at war with Germany), which in turn had a subsidiary in Eire, which was neutral. Worse still they had a successful subsidiary in Germany, as well as a large wholesale warehouse there. |
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| Things
got even more complicated as the war continued as the American company
also had extensive trading links with Japan and had established a
fully-manned Buying Office there, which bought many products for the
American, Canadian, British and Irish companies.
Their response was to give money to the war effort of both sides - but in each case to specify that it was to be spent for humanitarian relief purposes! In all of their correspondence the American parent remained studiously neutral, even when Hitler instructed that no trading profits could be sent overseas, which was very painful to the balance sheet. Only when America joined the Allies later in the war did they stop contributing funds to Germany. |
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| One
American travelogue newsreel in summer 1939 visited a Woolworth store in
Berlin. A summary of the film remains in the production company's
database. Pan fascia reading 25 und 50 Pfg. Laden F. W. Woolworth Co. GMBH Voiceover - Woolworths, a familiar sight from home. Voiceover - Let's take a look at the range on sale Pan to Adolf Hitler tea tray - 25 pfennigs, Pan to set of 6 teacups and saucers with swastika pattern - 50 pfennigs. Pan to window sign. Voiceover. The sign reads "Our management is not Jewish." "Jews are not welcome here." As Americans sat down to Thanksgiving Dinner and planned their Christmas shopping, Britain and Germany braced themselves for what was to come....
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World War II Gallery Home Page Xmas
1939: UK and USA a world apart Fire
from the sky - Blitz hits major cities |
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