"Suntan" Uniform 1936-42
Summer Uniform of the Later CCC
CCC "SUNTAN" SUMMER UNIFORM: 1936-1942
For most of the interwar period, US Army enlisted men suffered through summer in a heavy woolen service uniform. By extension, the CCC boys did as well.
Only in the sweeping 1937 uniform revisions did the Army adopt a true summer weight uniform for issue to all soldiers in all climates. This "Pattern 1937" summer uniform was a two-part ensemble comprised of a khaki cotton twill shirt and matching cotton twill trousers. The Pattern 1937 khakis were the first Army enlisted service uniform authorized to be worn without a tunic, and lived on to become one of the iconic uniforms or World War II. Interestingly, the CCC seems to have received this new khaki cotton shirt-trouser combination beginning in 1936, two years prior to its widespread issue to the Regular Army.
CCC enrollees loved the new summer-weight uniform and affectionately called it their "suntans," a portmantaeu of summer and tan.
SHIRT, COTTON, KHAKI
SHIRT, COTTON, KHAKI, 8.2OZ, "PATTERN 1936"
SHIRT COTTON, KHAKI, 8.2OZ, SPECIFICATION 6-241 ADOPTED 29 NOVEMBER 1938
The suntan khaki shirt issued to the CCC was an 8.2 oz. cotton twill shirt with brown plastic buttons and a decorative facing on the placket. It was essentially an faithful translation of the contemporary woolen service shirt design into a summer cotton equivalent.
The design was adopted by the Army in 1936, and was initially issued on a limited basis to soldiers in tropical duty posts such as Panama and Hawaii. Prior to the 1937 US Army uniform revisions, the suntan shirt was paired with cotton khaki breeches for Army use.
Limited issue of the new cotton shirt to CCC companies in warm-weather camps seems also to have begun in 1936. However, in CCC service the suntan shirt was paired with trousers rather than breeches as discussed below.
In November 1938 the 1936 cotton shirt pattern was formalized as Specification 6-241 and made standard issue to all Army troops in all climates; however, there appear to be no meaningful differences between the 1936 and 1938 specifications.
US military clothing scholar Charles Lemons provides a concise description of the key features of the suntan shirt:
Constructed of medium weight khaki cotton, this shirt was nearly identical to the Pattern 1937 OD Wool shirt with two breast pockets and long sleeves. The front closure button holes are reinforced a 1 1/4" wide khaki cotton decorative facing along the front of the shirt and above the cuffs. The pocket flaps are beveled in the traditional army style and are closed with a single button. The front is closed with seven brown plastic buttons and the cuffs are closed with a single button. It has a two-piece "band" collar, which consists of a 1" wide band which is sewn around the top opening onto which the collar proper is sewn.
Original US Army issue 6-241 "suntan" shirt. Source: Uniforms of the US Army Ground Forces 1939-1945, Volume 3, Shirts, by Charles Lemons, pages 74-76.
TROUSERS: COTTON, KHAKI, 8.2 OZ.
TROUSERS, COTTON, KHAKI, QMC TENTATIVE SPECIFICATION DATED 11 MARCH 1936
TROUSERS, COTTON, KHAKI, SPECIAL, QM SPECIFICATION 6-254 DATED 8 NOVEMBER 1937
While Army tropical garrisons initially received khaki cotton breeches to go with with their new "Pattern 1936" cotton shirts, the CCC received khaki cotton trousers.
CCC khaki trousers were initially manufactured according to a tentative specification dated 11 March 1936. The "suntan" trouser was, in essence, simply the contemporary Army 8-83B wool service trouser design implemented in a midweight cotton khaki fabric. It was a plain-front khaki trouser in 8.2 cotton twill with a button fly, high waist, closely fitted seat, and full straight legs. They have the same front slash and horizontal back hanging pockets as the woolen 8-83Bs, and are closed by five buttons in a hidden fly. Very wide belt loops were sized to accommodate a leather belt if preferred, though the pants were most commonly worn with a web belt.
A common feature of the CCC-specific tentative spec trousers is the use of aluminum buttons stamped US Army to close the fly; these are similar to the zinc buttons used on the denim fatigue garments.
Interestingly, the "suntan" trousers present a clear example of the Army QMC using a CCC tentative specification to field test a garment prior to introducing it into US Army uniform system. In November 1937 the Army re-designated the CCC-specific tentative specification as US Army Specification 6-254. The only change from the tentative specification seems to have been a switch from zinc to brown plastic buttons to close the fly.
Beginning in 1938, trousers in the new 6-254 pattern were specified as the Army general issue replacement for summer-weight breeches, helping the QMC achieve its two-decade goal of retiring the military's beloved breeches in favor of straightforward pants.
Three views of an original US Army issue pair of 6-254 cotton cotton khaki trousers. Source: Private collection of Christopher Reuscher, from page "U.S. Army Enlisted Men's Trousers, Special Cotton Khaki Trousers" in website United States Military Uniforms of World War II by Christopher Reuscher.
GARRISON CAP: COTTON, QM SPECIFICATION PQD 13 DATED 10 JANUARY 1941
At the beginning of 1941 the Army QMC adopted a specification for a cotton twill khaki version of the Garrison Cap for wear with the summer service uniform. Prior to this time, enlisted men wore a visor cap with their suntans.
In its original prewar Specification PQD 13, the summer cotton cap was subtly different from its winter wool counterpart, Specification 8-114. Side flaps of the khaki cap were higher than the OD wool version, the peak was more rounded, and the center crease in the peak much shallower. Surviving examples of these caps often have inspection tags, but no contract tag--this usually indicates an item was made by the QMC's own staff in the workshops of the Philadelphia Depot rather than by a contractor.
Issue of khaki garrison caps to the CCC may have begun at the same time the cap was introduced into the Army. Like its spruce green winter counterpart, the CCC version of the summer khaki cap came with the green-on-gold landscape patch applied prior to issue.
Given the January 1941 date of introduction for the parent Army specification, the suntan garrison cap was very likely the last new article of clothing introduced to the CCC uniform system.
Image: original late khaki cotton garrison cap. QMC inspector tag inside, but no contract tag; likely made in-house at Philadelphia QM depot. Shape and construction conform to Army Specification PQD 13. Source: Collection of the author.
NECKTIE: COTTON, KHAKI, QMC SPECIFICATION 6-282, CIRCA 1939
Khaki tie from the footlocker of Richard Loida, ca. 1938. Source: Minnesota Historical Society.
To complete the khaki Army summer service uniform the Quartermaster also authorized production of a khaki tie. Constructed of the same 8.2oz twill as the service shirt, the tie was 41.5 to 43 inches long, 2 3/4 inches wide at the broad end, and 1 5/8 inches wide at the narrow end.
Photographic evidence suggests that the black worsted wool tie overwhelmingly remained the CCC standard for wear with both the winter and summer uniforms through to the end of the program in 1942.
That said, the Minnesota Historical Society has in its collections the complete footlocker content of enrollee Assistant Leader Richard Loida of CCC Company 712, Camp Gunflint #1, from 1938. Among the contents is the 6-282 khaki tie reproduced at left. Enrollee Antonia Gomez of Texas (pictured in the gallery below) also seems to have been issued the khaki tie to wear with his suntans.
Such issues were evidently the exception rather than the rule.
"SUNTAN" IMAGE GALLERY
Suntan shirt with denim fatigue pants and cap. Enrollee sighting through a transit, photographer unknown, probably OWI. Beltsville, MD, May, 1940. Source: Kean University Galleries.
Enrollee Antonio Sanchez Gomez, perfectly turned out in crisp suntans with the regulation web belt. The tie appears to be cotton khaki rather than black. Source: Gomez family photograph reproduced in "'Tree army’ changed clothes with time, climate," by Paula Allen, San Antonio Express News.
Two suntan portraits. Left, enrollee Johnny Buskowiak at Plainview, MN, 1938. Right: Assistant Leader Frank L.B. Johnson, Company 1791 Camp F-12, Custer South Dakota, ca. 1938. Source: Left: Minnesota Historical Society, Right, CCC Museum of South Dakota.
Turned out is sharp suntans, an enrollee quartet sings for fellow camp members in Yanceyville, North Carolina, May 5, 1940. Source: Getty images.
