Operation Vittles Cookbook

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Compiled by the American women in the Berlin Blockade during the Berlin Airlift at the end of World War II, the 1949 cookbook of this collection titled Operations Vittles contains hand-drawn illustrations, signatures, and recipes adapted to the scarcity of postwar West Berlin. The book was once owned by Colonel John C. Winget, an Air Materiel Command officer whose service spanned World War II to the Korean War.

At the end of World War II when the Soviet forces blockaded West Berlin roads, the United States and its allies executed "Operation Vittles," also known as the Berlin Airlift. Cargo planes delivered 2.3 million tons of food and supplies to West Berlin. Compiled by the "American Women in Blockaded Berlin," the Foreign Service Officers and their wives created this cookbook that includes recipes that utilized the limited variety of food at their disposal through this period. This cookbook was property of Colonel John C. Winget who served in the United States Army Air Corps at the Wright-Patterson Base in Dayton, Ohio during World War II. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Civil Engineering and was employed by Armco Steel in Middletown, Ohio. Because of his education and employment, he was called back to duty at the established Air Materiel Command now part of the United State Air Force. Colonel Winget acquired this cookbook during the Berlin Airlift of 1949. He went on to service during the Korean War and was honored in a 1952 ceremony in London, England. His name is also engraved on the Wall of Honor outside the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Identifier

NASM.2024.0024

Creator

American Women in Blockaded Berlin

Date

January 1949

Provenance

Ann La Porta, Gift, 2024, NASM.2024.0024.

Extent

.05 Cubic feet (1 folder)

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of a cookbook entitled Operation Vittles that was compiled by the American Women in Blockaded Berlin and published by Deutscher Verlag in January 1949. It measures approximately 8.25 by 6.5 inches with 116 pages including front and back covers. The book includes recipes with each cook's signature, hand-drawn illustrations, images of cargo plane, and drawings created by German schoolchildren. The cover features a drawing of a zoomorphic aircraft stylized as birds dropping food and supplies to Allied troops depicted as a group of openmouthed people in a bird's nest.

Arrangement note

One item.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Citation

Operation Vittles Cookbook, NASM.2024.0024, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Aeronautics, Military
Cold War
Berlin (Germany) -- History -- Blockade, 1948-1949

Type

Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Cookbooks

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