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WW1 - 1914-1918
" Looks of War photographers "
" Regards de photographes de Guerre"
9000 photos
438 pages
CITIES and VILLAGES
ENJOYMENTS and PAINS
SERBIA
page 4
Serbia
A ninety-year-old mountaineer of Bela Palanka, Serbia,
who came to ask aid from the American Red Cross.
His clothing would be the envy of an American "quilting party."
Buttons and thread were so scarce that when the chill weather came on,
he was sewed into it in order to avoid the danger of tearing or wear in dressing and undressing
13 November 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
A group of Serbian young men and children at Valjevo.
This is the type of man and woman hood upon which the gallant little nation bases its future.
They have suffered much but are optimistic, industrious and courageous.
They have great love and respect for Americans because of the generous aid extended
by the Red Cross in checking the epidemic of disease and starvation
that came as an anticlimax to the war
9 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
"Life is real and Life is earnest" to many people but not to the shopkeepers of Mitrivotza, Serbia.
They make no improvements in their stores of methods.
They squat all day in one corner of their shop and are content with few sales
and the minimum of effort.
American Red Cross workers found economic conditions at their worst
as a result of these inefficient businessmen and the introduction
of American methods amazed these indolent Turks
9 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Scraps of cloth that defy description save that they are unclean
and insufficient form the only clothing of thousands of children refugees
in Allied countries even now.
These three little Serbs and their garb strikingly portray the utter destitution
to which their people have been reduced.
To clothe decently these helpless waifs of the war the ARC is conducting
a nationwide collection of used clothing, shoes, and blankets
5 March 1919
Photographer : ARC.
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Joseph's coat of many colors here finds a grim rival
in the pitiful, tattered garb of a tiny Serb refugee.
That this boy and thousands upon thousands like him may not be longer forced to live
in the unclean, unprotecting scraps of cloth that are now all they can find
for clothing the American R.C. is conducting during the last of March
a nationwide collection of used garments, shoes and blankets for the refugees of all Allied countries
5 March 1919
Photographer : ARC.
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
A quilt that has long outlived its usefulness formed the basis of the coat this Serb girl
wears with praise worthy fortitude.
But there is no East nor West in the desire of little girls for decent and becoming clothing
and some real clothes donated in the Old Clothes Week conducted by the A.R.C.,
will immeasurably help this little one forget the misery the war brought to her
5 March 1919
Photographer : ARC.
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Guess who's here: It's "Big Shoe Tom," the wandering doughboy of the Near East.
He has taken part in every war since the Crimea and, whisper it low, he expects to fight some more.
One glance at his feet and his nickname is understood.
He is in full uniform ready to join any Balkan army, having on a Russian avaiator's cap,
Roumanian trousers and one Serbian leg wrap.
He showed up one day at the American Red Cross station and asked for food and shelter,
explaining that the peace had brought evil times upon him
13 November 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office,
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Here comes the bride.
A picture of a sixteen year old Turkish Girl taken immediately after her wedding.
It is the custom among the Turks in this town of Vranje, Serbia, to cover the Bride's face
with gilt leaf, giving her the appearance of age.
After the gilt leaf is taken off the girl must put on a veil and never remove it except
in the presence of her husband.
American Red Cross dentists attempting to treat the teeth of Turkish brides had to cut holes through the veils to do their work as the women would not remove them, fearing the wrath of their husbands
4 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office,
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
A cobbler who doesn't wear shoes.
This hole in the wall is a typical cobbler's shop at Skoplje, Serbia.
His own shoeless feet wouldn't be considered a very good advertisement for his trade in America.
But he has all the trade that he can take care of as leather is mighty scarce.
He didn't mind because the American Red Cross brought several thousand pairs of shoes
into the Balkans for distribution to the needy.
He says, he realizes the soles will wear out sometime and that means more trade for him
9 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office,
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Women of the Balkans.
A typical group of women from the mountain district of Serbia.
They are taking a sun bath on the side of the American Red Cross station at Batch
while waiting for the distribution of relief supplies.
Note their aprons and similarity of dress.
The aprons are made of coarse handspun wool with fine red and white stripes.
The jackets are the native costume of the village from which they come.
They hav ewalked many miles for Red Cross supplies. Several of them are barefoot
and none have stockings
9 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office,
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
A typical gypsy girl in the Balkans.
In this part of the world gypsies are found in large numbers.
During the recent fight on contagious diseases,
these wandering families have been a great problem to the A.R.C. doctors.
This little girl was snapped while selling pottery on the street
4 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
He sells good cauliflower.
A boy vegetable vendor in the Balkans.
Two baskets are evenly balanced on a pole across his soldiers.
His mother raises the truck in a small garden on the edge of the town.
Everyday he calls at the American Red Cross house and leaves a Cauliflower
with the compliment of his mother, who was once a patient in the American Hospital
9 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Clothes so worn, torn and dirty that they are literally falling off the bodies they only feebly protect
are the sole raiment of thousands upon thousands of refugees in the devastated Allied countries.
To give these helpless people a better chance for life the A.R.C. is conducting
a nationwide collection of used clothing, shoes and blankets in their behalf
5 March 1919
Photographer : ARC Balkan Commission
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Tetovo.
A Turkish Woman
5 August 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office Lt. P.J.
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)
The War, the Moths, and Michael.
A Bessarabian boy with his Russian hat that the moths wouldn't let alone
and the overcoat that wouldn't hold together.
He hasn't had any clothes in five years and has had to do his own mending as he doesn't know
what happened to his parents, having been lost in a big refugee movement in the near East.
He was photographed upon his arrival at an American Red Cross relief station.
He insisted on holding his old overcoat and the new pair of American shoes
4 December 1919
Photographer : ARC. Paris Office
American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)