In 1918 the U.S. Army Service of Supply instituted a salvaging unit near the French city of Tours which employed hundreds of French women and a number of idle "Sammies" in order to eradicate Army waste. It was there that the millions of discarded uniform elements were re-fashioned into other useful items:
"At Tours they evolved a hospital slipper with a sole made from a torn and discarded campaign hat and an upper of O.D cloth cut from anywhere. It was such a good slipper, and easy to make that St. Pierre-des-Corps soon reached quantity production on it."
