Rare Vintage 40s Officer Ranked Red Cross Gray Wool Bakelite Buttons Blazer L/XL

Description

Rare Vintage 40s Officer Ranked Red Cross Gray Wool Bakelite Buttons Blazer    About the Gray Ladies of RED CROSS
Black Bakelite Red Cross embossed buttons
Howard Uniforms Baltimore USA / Lined
Bust: 21" / Waist: 18.5" / Total length backside: 25.5" / Sleeve length: 24" ( compare to your own to be sure )
INV# 100-546
No size tag but fits a Large or a medium loosely, Seen on a modern day medium mannequin
The Gray Ladies, formerly known as Hostess and Hospital Service and Recreation Corps, was founded in 1918 at Walter Reed Army Hospital and became a unique and enduring symbol of the Red Cross service in military and later civilian hospitals.
Their gray uniforms worn by the female volunteers at the hospitals prompted wounded soldiers in their care to affectionately call them Gray Ladies.
In 1947, the name was officially changed to the Gray Lady service.
The Gray Ladies do not provide medical care, rather recreational services to patients and assistance where needed at military and civilian hospitals, blood centers and disaster response.
Early on in the Alexandria chapter, the Gray Ladies would visit nursing home patients, write letters and sometimes transport patients to appointments.
Nationwide, during World War II, the service reached its peak with almost 50,000 women serving as Gray Ladies in military and other hospitals across the U.S.
The Gray Ladies continued serving in hospitals until the mid-1960s when the Red Cross shifted to a unified concept of volunteers.