N is for New Year’s Eve #AtoZChallenge
The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 posts, one for each letter of the English alphabet, in April. Most of us choose to make these posts on a particular theme. My theme for 2023 is 1943 Washington D.C., the setting of the novel that I’m writing. Visit daily in April for a new post on my topic.
N is for New Year’s Eve
The last day of 1943, December 31, was a Friday. You would think that would be a good day for a party, but most government employees worked on Saturdays. There would be no compensatory day off for New Year’s Day falling on Sunday, either. Federal employees only got one holiday during the war — Christmas Day.
A practical solution to the problem of how to celebrate, but not too late into the evening, was to attend the party thrown by the United Federal Workers.
The party started at 9 p.m. — a good time for a celebratory cocktail and a return home to bed, only a little past normal bedtime.
I couldn’t find a photo of the event, but it must have looked pretty similar to the Christmas tree decorating party at the same location a few weeks earlier. From the Library of Congress.
The party was at the CIO building, 1212 18th Street, Northwest, currently occupied by a small restaurant and a Chase Bank outlet. The current AFL-CIO building is on Black Lives Matter Plaza, just a couple of blocks north of the White House.
The United Federal Workers existed from 1937 to 1946, before it was merged into the United Public Workers of America.
There were a few dances in Washington, D.C. that started at 10pm on New Year’s Eve, 1943. For most folks, however, the better time for a party was New Year’s Day, 1944, a Saturday with the next day off of work.
The USO clubs hosted events most Saturdays. The New Year events were particularly festive with open houses, games, and dances. Similar events were held by churches and other civic organizations for people who weren’t in uniform.
The hope for the New Year was victory and an end to the war in 1944.
What's going on and where. (1943, Dec 31). The Washington Post (1923-1954) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/whats-going-on-where/docview/151622331/se-2 By, J. K. (1943, Dec 31). The federal diary: Federal employment rolls cut 90,373. The Washington Post (1923-1954) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/federal-diary/docview/151618702/se-2 USO to stage new year's celebrations. (1944, ). The Washington Post (1923-1954) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/uso-stage-new-years-celebrations/docview/151707677/se-2