Officially, the United States had been at war for 4 months when the Tyrone-Waring Canteen opened its doors on April 7, 1943, and over the next 40 months tens of thousands of servicemen and women were greeted with a hot cup o’ joe, a smile, and a place to relax.
What Made the Canteen Possible
In the early months of the war, the Salvation Army (Tyrone Post), headed by Captain Eccleston, realized that the job of providing lodging/rooms to the ever-increasing numbers of service personnel passing through Tyrone had become an impossible task. Likewise, Earl Rothrock, a Tyrone businessman, was concerned. While visiting his friend Fred Waring in New York, they discussed the plight of the delayed servicemen. They talked about how service personnel in New York also got homesick in the worst way and Mr. Waring told about his weekly party and shows for the boys to ease their longing for home. Mr. Rothrock brought up Tyrone’s then-unsolved problem of so many uniformed men coming through town at all hours of the day and night and having to wait for bus or train connections. Some of those headed home might hitchhike, but others paced the streets all night or slept at the police station while awaiting transportation.
Then came the idea for a canteen. Mr. Waring offered his financial support if Mr. Rothrock could interest the people of Tyrone in the project. Upon his return home, Mr. Rothrock invited a group of citizens to meet at the Villa Restaurant. They came up with a plan to create and house a canteen in the DeFerie building and give it the look and feel of a home away from home. Space for the new facility was rented from Mr. DeFerie for a nominal sum and he agreed to pay for all the necessary changes and improvements to the site. Many items were donated including all the furnishings, large steel cots, a jukebox, towels for the shower, an ironing board, and an iron. One individual volunteered to wash the windows each week for free; another came forward to furnish the large outdoor sign.
As stated before, one of the cosponsors of the new canteen was Fred Waring. (Although the signs bore his name, it was known locally just as the Canteen.) His first donation of $500 was to be used for furnishings.
At that first meeting in the Villa, officers were elected: Mrs. Florence Beaston, manager; Anne Calderwood (aunt of Fred Waring), treasurer; Earl Rothrock, secretary; and Marjorie Rothrock, editor of the Canteen News.
One of the goals of the new Canteen was to remain open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The committee felt it should be staffed with volunteer workers but Mrs. Beaston insisted that paid hostesses were a necessity. Rose DeFerie, Gloria Kloss, Mary Westover, Grace Yinger, and Emma Snyder filled those positions.
Funding and Donations
The founders of the Canteen knew that to make this endeavor a reality a steady source of income would be needed. One of the few rules adopted by the Canteen management was that the bank account would never fall below $100. Fifty Tyrone citizens contributed $5 per month and the American Legion of Philipsburg gave $25 per month for 2½ years. Mr. Rothrock, who was a successful businessman and coffee merchant, donated over 2,000 pounds of coffee. That equates to a lot of cups!
Countless numbers of Tyrone families donated food items such as home-canned fruits, vegetables, and desserts. Donations were collected from local organizations such as sewing clubs, garden clubs, the War Mothers, local churches, school children, as well as individual citizens. Local food stores and bakeries provided fresh produce, meats, and baked goods. As the word spread about the Canteen, donations started coming in from surrounding towns.
What the Canteen Provided
Another goal of the Canteen was to “keep ’em comfortable and get ’em home.” From the very beginning the Canteen was to be a home away from home for all service personnel who passed through its doors. There was a food bar in the center of the main room that provided anything the traveling service person could want. One night a soldier went into the food bar and said, “Two hamburg sandwiches and a cup of coffee, hurry, please.” When he asked the price, and was told there was no charge, his face got red. There was only one price listed for the services and that was FREE. He immediately apologized for the way he had ordered. The hostess smiled and said, “That is why we are here, to feed you.”
There was homemade meatloaf, baked beans, rolls, bread, pickled eggs, spiced crab apples, vegetable soup, baked apples, cream puffs, doughnuts and pies (apple, cream, lemon, pumpkin, and raisin). There was always an adequate supply of mustard, ketchup, relish, pickles, and coffee. During the hunting season, the local hunters furnished the canteen with rabbit and venison.
Any service member that came in was given a free pack of cigarettes; if they didn’t smoke it was a pack of chewing gum. Each was asked to sign the register so a permanent record could be kept of where everyone came from. Signatures of more than 78,000 men and women from over one hundred Pennsylvania towns, thirty-nine states, and the District of Columbia proved that Tyrone was truly the Hub of the Highways.
So, what would a typical visit to the canteen consist of? When a soldier walked through the doors his immediate worries were over. A motherly looking lady greeted him with a smile and was happy to hear his story. He was given a meal, could take a hot shower, and, upon returning to the main lounge, he could relax on a davenport and read a magazine. One of the hostesses unofficially reported that the most popular magazines were: Reader’s Digest, Colliers, Life, and Esquire; in that order of preference. Later he could enter the sleeping quarters and get a good night’s sleep. In the morning a hot breakfast was waiting for him and he was told his train schedule. He was handed a ticket and enough money for the day’s meals. Before he left the Canteen, he could sit down and write a letter.
The first guest was Private Charles Vogt of the 359th Infantry at Camp Barkeley, Texas. Private Vogt was later killed in action.
Besides a place for signing their names and where they were from, there was space for short comments. Some of the ones that jumped out were: “We’ll win the war for people like you.” And, “For me, thank Fred Waring and the entire canteen staff.” How about, “Good coffee, weather colder than hell.” But I think my favorite was “A swell Canteen. Police treated me kindly.”
The Red Light and the Police
Back in those days, mass public transportation at the local level was still a vision for the future in Tyrone. Many of the service personnel traveling through were on military leave and trying to get home. The Tyrone Police Force (Jim Hutchinson, Chief; Bill Tonkay; Ted Feller; Jack Giles; and Lawrence Miller, Clerk) did their best to arrange transportation for anyone needing it. To attract the attention of a police officer, the manager of the Canteen would flash a red light when a ride was needed. The police officer would then begin stopping traffic at Pennsylvania Avenue and 10th Street to see where each vehicle was going. An empty seat in the vehicle meant that someone was getting closer to being home. It is estimated that over 50,000 rides were procured in this manner. Officer Ted Feller received the most praise, as he was always stopping in the Canteen to see if someone needed a ride. It was reported that truck drivers were always willing to help out.
Tyrone-Waring Canteen News
To provide extra funds for the operation of the Canteen, Mrs. Marjorie Rothrock published a monthly edition of the Tyrone-Waring Canteen News. Each month there would be 4,000 copies of the newsletter printed and sold by newspaper kids for 10 cents each. Every month the child who sold the most copies of the News had his/her picture put in the next edition. One thousand four hundred copies were sent free of charge to Tyrone servicemen and women stationed all over the world.
The format of the newsletter was standard from month to month. The first article was “We Salute.” In this section a Tyrone soldier was highlighted. A rundown of his military career to date was reviewed and a brief history about him prior to his entering the service. One particular article caught my eye. In the May 1944 Canteen News, there was an article referencing our town: “Tyrone was not yet ten years old when Fort Sumpter was fired upon. During the Civil War 300 area men entered the service of the Union Army and $6,000 was raised and donated to the Union cause.”
In June 1944, Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Dickson of 205 East 12th Street, Tyrone, had six sons, four grandsons, and one son-in-law, all serving in the Army or Navy.
One of my favorite sections in the Canteen News used as much space as necessary and was dedicated to marriages; what was playing at the movies, of course — local sports, what was on the radio, what was happening in the different organizations about town such as the Red Cross, and any letters from the boys. There were always lots of pictures of Tyrone boys at the front. It gave their name, rank, and where they were stationed. On another page was “Tales of Their Valor” where details were given on the wartime activities of Tyrone servicemen and women.
The Canteen News would not have been possible without its sponsors. Individuals were recognized for their donations whether of one dollar a month, five dollars a month, or more. The food donations were listed by individual donor. A special word of thanks to one of the most faithful food contributors was to Mrs. J. W. Wighaman — she never missed a week donating a cake.
The Canteen News, which kept so many servicemen in touch with home and kept the people of Tyrone aware of who was serving from here, placed the following acknowledgment of thanks in the last issue: “Tyrone Paper Mill, for all the paper. Tyrone merchants, for their ads. Fred Waring, for his cover page ad (for which he paid $100 every month). Paul Goheen, the Tyrone Herald’s ace reporter, for much of the news about the servicemen. The Tyrone Herald, for their complete coverage of football games. Mr. George Beaver of Huntingdon, for some of our best ‘laugh material.’ The servicemen, for their many interesting letters. The Tyrone people, for their faithful purchases every month.”
I think Mrs. Rothrock summed it up very well when she wrote: “Getting out a magazine is fun but it’s no picnic. If we print jokes, people say we are silly. If we don’t, they say we are too serious. If we clip things from other magazines, we are too lazy to write them ourselves. If we don’t, we are too fond of our own stuff. Now, like as not, someone will say we swiped this from another magazine — we did.” (Canteen News, August 1945.)
Conclusion
The Tyrone-Waring Canteen’s mission was a simple concept — how can we help our troops? The people of Tyrone were greatly impacted by their presence and desired to make their brief stay in Tyrone comfortable while they waited to continue on their journey home… or wherever. Growing up in Tyrone I often heard about Tyrone being the “Hub of the Highways” but I never knew what that meant until I started digging into local World War II history.
Thanks to the Tyrone Area Historical Society which had all 28 issues of the Canteen News, all monthly issues are now available on the Society’s website.
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