A Proper Uniform<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the soldiers fighting in Europe, Mount Holyoke Farmerettes were required to wear a uniform. This uniform included putnees (loose trousers) that were either khaki or blue in color, a matching blouse, comfortable, low-heeled shoes or sneakers, and stockings. They also designed an emblem which was worn on their costumes. These emblems were decorated with red stripes that indicated the number of months each girl had worked on the farm. According to one student, they also wore straw hats of \u201cumbrella proportions\u201d to protect themselves from the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Farmerettes enjoyed wearing their uniforms to local events, especially since it allowed them to shock town residents with the idea that women could not only farm, but that they could do so wearing men\u2019s clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Farmerette\u2019s Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Farmerettes who worked during the summer months woke at 5:00 AM and, after changing into their uniform and eating a hearty breakfast, began work on the college farm. Students typically worked on the farm for six hours, leaving the afternoon free for other tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Helping on the Homefront<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe purpose was\u2026not to make money, but to produce food as a small but material contribution to the resources of our allies in arms.\u201d<\/em> -Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly, July 1917<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the Farm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When they were not working on the Mount Holyoke College Farm, many farmerettes volunteered on local farms while others maintained lawns and gardens for South Hadley residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Farm to Table<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the crops that were grown on the garden were beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radishes, squash, corn, tomatoes, and turnips. In 1918, the college installed a canning kitchen and students worked to preserve vegetables for use during the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The War\u2019s End<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although some doubted that College women would be able to complete such an ambitious project, their endeavor was a success. By the end of the summer of 1917, they were able to pay back the money invested in the farm. After the War ended in November of 1919, the farm was reduced to a size that could be handled with a minimum amount of labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the spring of 1917, soon after America entered the War, students from Mount Holyoke College created a college farm with the goal of contributing to the war effort. After choosing a seven-acre plot, they contracted South Hadley farmers to plow and prepare the land and recruited students and faculty to plant and cultivate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2199,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/page-nosidebar.php","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Farmette-Uniform.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Summer-Volunteers.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Students-Gather-Tomatoes-1918.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Students-Gardening-1917.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Students-Unloading-Cans-from-the-Cannery.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Students-Delivering-Milk.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Students-Cutting-Corn-off-of-the-Cob.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Students-Biking-with-Vegetables-in-their-Baskets.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/976\/2025\/01\/Military-Parade-led-by-Elizabeth-Abercrombie--1024x582.jpg\")
<\/a>