Recollections: November 2023

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Murray Fraser’s RCAF “housewife” sewing kit

Wartime recruits entered a regimented world. A January 1941 issue of The Airman’s Post from Brandon’s Manning Depot explained it well: “After passing through the Record and Pay Offices where the civilian signs his documents, he is directed to the Clothing Stores, where he will receive his complete kit, comprising thirty-nine pieces in all.” [1]

Among those 39 items, recruits may have been surprised to be issued a handy housewife. No doubt the term invited wisecracks, but it was a useful sewing kit needed for keeping a lot of those other pieces in good order.

The idea of a small, portable, roll-up sewing kit is neither new, nor exclusively military. An online sewing tutorial explains, “The term housewife (also known as hussif/hussive/hussy) to describe a sewing kit first appeared in a dictionary in 1749 […] but for it to have appeared in a dictionary it had most likely been in use for quite some time beforehand.” [2]

Whether domestic or military, new or old, these were practical compact sewing kits. Historians note photos from the U.S. Civil War showing soldiers repairing their uniforms.

A Union soldier during the U.S. Civil War repairing a uniform. [3] [Library of Congress 1S02987]

The khaki canvas kits issued in the Second World War varied little from those of the preceding World War. Intended to help servicemen maintain their kit, contents could include needles and thread (with a small piece of wax to waterproof that thread), a small pair of scissors, a thimble, spare buttons, yarn to darn wool socks and gloves, a tape measure, safety pins and tailors’ chalk.

A Canadian soldier in the Netherlands (at right) mending his uniform, 1944. [3] [LAC PA-143931]

Samples of WWII kits found online are rarely complete, confirming that their contents were indeed needed and used. That is true of Murray Fraser’s sewing kit (below), too.

Unrolled, his sewing kit measured about 5 x 12 inches (12.75 x 30.5 cm).

The remaining supplies in Murray Fraser’s sewing kit: darning wool, needles, wax, spare buttons, and a belt buckle.

“A sergeant sews on his own stripes in this cartoon by Sgt. Ralph Stein illustrating a how-to article for YANK, The Army Weekly in 1943.” [3]

Murray Fraser's kit suggests that servicemen were indeed responsible for sewing on their own insignia.

Murray Fraser’s LAC propellers and shoulder patches, as well as his summer uniform Corporal stripes, all stored in his sewing kit.

A Leading Aircraftman (LAC) tunic, showing the types of patches, buttons and belt buckle found in Murray Fraser’s sewing kit. [4]

Manufacturer’s label. Let’s hope those stains are grease or oil, not blood.

As its stamped label shows, this housewife was made by S.S. Holden Limited of Ottawa in 1940. Spencer Sutherland Holden worked for Woods, Limited in 1904–1912, before starting his own business. The factory of Grant, Holden, Graham, Limited produced camping gear and workers’ wear, and was well positioned for war contracts. S. S. Holden Ltd. evolved from that company, later becoming a subsidiary of S. E. Woods Ltd. in the 1950s. Boasting a legacy dating back to 1885, Woods remains an “adventure outfitter” to this day. [5]

The issuing of sewing kits did not end with WWII. Canadian Forces continued to supply them.

A standard issue Canadian Forces sewing kit from 1978 [6]

A more contemporary, 1991 version. Made of nylon, it has Velcro fasteners instead of cotton ties. [6]

Sources (accessed November 7, 2023)

1. Flgt. Sgt. Racine, “From Civilian Into Airman,” The Airman’s Post, Vol. 1, No. 2, January 1941, No. 2 Manning Depot, Brandon, Manitoba
https://frasertrunk.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-clothes-make-man.html

2. Willoughby & Rose “How to Make an 18^th Century “Hussif” or Housewife” YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vui_-n9Glck

3. Sharon Adams, “The housewife,” Legion magazine, October 1, 2016.
https://legionmagazine.com/the-housewife

4. LAC tunic, https://www.germanmilitaria.com/OtherNations/photos/C012082.html

5. “How did Woods™ Start?” https://www.woods.ca/pages/faq

6. “Sewing Kit,” Canadian Soldiers website, photos courtesy Ed Storey
https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/equipment/personal/sewing.htm

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