Well, I hit a wall today. I challenged myself to post something every day for the month of November (but I didn’t start until Nov. 5th). Five days in and I had nothing. I searched prompt ideas, looked at photos on the computer and my phone, tried to research something I had started …. In other words, I’ve spent way too much time today trying to come up with something simple that I could do in just a few minutes! Ugh!

I opened up one of my grandmother’s scrapbooks and found that almost everything in it were holiday craft and party ideas. One loose newspaper clipping caught my eye.

This was not the item Abbie was saving for future use – on the back is an idea for a Christmas decoration. But I was more interested in this uniform today, perhaps because Veteran’s Day is this week.

A really quick google search (because I’m out of time!) turned up a few snippets of info.
1. This is a press release  photo from 1952. See photos on ebay.

2. The Library of Congress Veterans History Project, has a letter from a soldier dated February 22, 1953 which contains the following:
Well, I’m back in the “CW” truck. It’s 6 pm now I’m on until 10 tonight. I’m on a “Coldbar Team”. We’re supposed to check the “Coldbar Uniform”. That’s a plastic suit guaranteed against cold weather. It’s about 3/8 inch thick. When wearing it, all a person need wear are his “T”-shirt and shorts. After I wear it for awhile, they want my opinion of it.

3. This newspaper article describes the money and research time spent to keep American military forces warm and dry during the Korean winters. The suit is described as a “foam-rubber-like petroleum derived plastic – polyvinylchloride …. made under the trade name Ensolite. ….When the body becomes over-heated through strenuous exercise the wearer merely opens various slide fasteners to allow sufficient cold air to cool the skin surface.”

Any Korean War veterans out there who observed the use of the coldbar uniform?