Historians may ad the following to that list of the many “firsts” that World War I has claimed as its own:
The First World War was the first conflict in which the American soldier preferred candy to chewing tobacco.
“Candy in the days of the old Army was considered a luxury. The war with Germany witnessed a change… Approximately 300,000 pounds of candy represented the monthly purchases during the early period of the war. Demands from overseas grew steadily. The soldier far from home and from his customary amusements could not be considered an ordinary individual living according to his own inclinations, and candy became more and more sought after. As the need increased, the Quartermaster Department came to recognize the need of systematic selection and purchase.”
“The suffering sweet tooth of the Yank was not appeased by candy alone. The third billion pounds of sugar bought for Army represents a tremendous number of cakes, tarts, pies and custards. An old soldier recently stated that the ice cream eaten by the Army during the war would start a new ocean…”
Click here to read about all the effort that was made
to get cigarettes to the Doughboys…
Click here to read about the shipments of chewing gum that were sent to the American Army of W.W. I.
