USO lounges in Philadelphia, New York City, and Newark railroad stations
These are three postcards issued by the Pennsylvania Railroad for U. S. service men during WWII. The cards show service men lounging and engaged in recreational activities at USO lounges in various railroad stations.The USO (United Service Organization) was formed in 1941 from six service organizations. Railroad stations were one place the USO set up recreation and canteen facilities for the use of troops on layover between trains.
All of these postcards have the same description on the back:
TO MAKE SERVICE MEN COMFORTABLE while on the move, attractive Lounges and Special facilities are maintained in Stations in a number of cities served by the Pennsylvania Railroad. They are operated and staffed by the USO, the Traveler’s Aid, and local patriotic organizations, including the Women’s Aid of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
USO lounges in Indiana and St. Louis railroad stations
USO lounges in Ohio railroad stations
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Postcardy 2.0 
I’m so glad that you had these post cards to share, which certainly hit the mark of the recreational photo of SS this week.
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I hadn’t seen WW1 postcards like this before, so thank you for sharing – they are a first class match for this week’s theme.
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That really is a fascinating story. the cards are a wonderful piece of history – thank you for sharing them.
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Some airports have USO lounges. I enjoyed this informative post.
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I suppose most of these cards were used by servicemen to send messages home to the family. Since ship movements were not advertised many soldiers/sailors had no notion of when or where they were going to arrive or depart. My uncle was stationed in the Pacific during the war and several times hitchhiked crosscountry from California to Maryland to save on train fare.
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Wonderful set of photos of railroad lounges. A bit more upscale than the one in our photo prompt.
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I’ve never seen postcards like these. Good advertising for the railroad too, I suppose.
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Spot On For This week’s Theme!
And,I’m sure, comforting for the cards recipients , to see the troops in relaxed social settings.
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