The Way We Were: Kroehler Manfacturing Company, formerly one of largest employer in Naperville, was a WWII military vendor. Company produced prosthetics and Gold Stars for fallen soldiers.

Female employees at the Kroehler Manufacturing Company wore sentry blue uniforms with matching caps when working in 1943 at Plant #1 in Naperville. Pictured, from left: Lorraine Laugl, Virginia Chandler, Rose Hodel, Genevieve Stark Bauko, Sarah Grate Rodesieler, Louise Orcutt, Lucille Daverin, Mary Buvarskis, Leona Burke, Anna Palger, Helen O’Conner, Dorothy Stone, Celia Cowan, Virginia Seetin, Helen Walsh, Louise Kungle.

Most of what Kroehler produced was based on materials for furniture, primarily wood and cloth – just as it had been doing for 50 years – but this wasn’t for domestic use. In April 1942, company officials signed a contract with the Doak Aircraft Company from California to manufacture wooden propellers. Wooden propellers were needed to replace aluminum ones on training planes, as aluminum was needed for other aspects of the war effort.

Recycling was in style even back then as in the first quarter of 1944, employees salvaged 15,605 pounds of wastepaper. Over the course of the war, Kroehler manufactured more than 200 new items for the war effort. The plant in Naperville manufactured 28 different items including rucksacks, dummy shells, lockers, cabinets, chairs, tables and ammunition boxes.

By the fall of 1940, a total of 937 Naperville men ages 21 to 35 had registered for the draft. And Kroehler was not the only local business that helped. Those with relatives who lived during the war have probably heard about ration books which were used for gasoline and other items. Naperville residents signed up for ration books at Ellsworth School, Naper School and Naperville High School.

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