Station 3: Image gallery - Socks

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During the First World War, women across Newfoundland volunteered their time to help knit much needed supplies for the soldiers overseas. More than 15,000 women formed the Women’s Patriotic Association (WPA). In this photo, members at work in the Ball Room, at Government House in St. John’s in 1915.

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This is the St. John Ambulance division of the Women's Patriotic Association making supplies in 1915. They knit scarves, hats, mitts and sweaters, but the grey wool socks were the most popular with the soldiers overseas.

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Here in 1915, is the St. John Ambulance Division of the WPA, making supplies. The WPA broke down class and religious barriers that had previously divided Newfoundland society. The volunteers in the WPA included the rich and the poor, and they came from urban and outport communities.

Image 4 of 7

This is a photo of the women at the Ballroom Government House, in 1915. The caption on the back of the photo reads: ”The ballroom, Government House, St. John’s, NL, which is used by members of the Patriotic Association who meet five days a week to sew and knit for the men at the front.”

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Here in this photo are 5,276 pairs of socks knitted by the women of Newfoundland. One pair apparently reached a knitter's son! In total between 1914 and 1916, the WPA produced approximately 62,000 pairs of socks, 6,000 pairs of cuffs (mittens with a trigger finger), and almost 2,500 scarves. They sent the first shipment of 40 barrels overseas on May 27, 1915. Many more followed!

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When Newfoundland soldiers received parcels such as the grey socks lovingly knit on the home front, they would often write a letter of thanks to their knitter. The gifts reminded them that those at home were thinking of them. This painting depicts a Newfoundland soldier writing a letter home while in the trenches.

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This is the book created in 1916 that the poem “A Pair of Grey Socks” appears in. The cover reads: "A Pair of Grey Socks. Facts and Fancies. Lovingly dedicated to the boys of the Newfoundland Regiment. And to every woman who has knitted a pair of grey socks.”
The book was co-written by Tryphena Duley and her daughter Margaret Duley during the First World War. Margaret, who went on to become one of Newfoundland's best-known authors, wrote the poem in honour of the work of the women of Newfoundland.
A pair of grey socks : facts and fancies Author: Tryphena. Duley and Margaret Duley 1894-1968. Publisher: St. John’s s.n. Creation Date: ca. 1916] Format: 16 pages. Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries