How Doughnuts Saved the Day During World War I

When the Doughboys of World War I needed a morale boost, the women volunteers known as the ‘Donut Lassies’ met the challenge.

Doughnut Dollies were women volunteers of the Salvation Army, who traveled to France in 1918 to support American soldiers. Public Domain

The Great War began during the summer of 1914, and it was nearly three more years before America sent her boys to fight in Europe. Congress declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. Although women were not allowed to serve as soldiers in the United States military, thousands of women joined the cause in Europe anyway.

It was not the first time that American women were involved in military conflict. Fifty years before World War I broke out, the Civil War created the opportunity for women to become nurses. The new European conflict swung wide the door for women to become involved. Between 1917 and 1919, more than 22,000 women were recruited by the American Red Cross to join the U.S. Army as nurses. Nearly half of them served near the Western Front. There were an additional 1,500 who served with the U.S. Navy. The primary difference between the nurses of the Civil War and those serving during World War I was that the latter were already professionally trained.

A Specific Type of Woman

But it wasn’t just the American Red Cross that recruited women to serve during the war. Other private charity organizations, like the Knights of Columbus, the Jewish Welfare Board, the YMCA, and The Salvation Army, launched efforts to recruit women. The YMCA issued pamphlets informing potential recruits that their service would be needed in “its Canteens overseas.” The type of women desired was more specific.