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History

From the archives, 1950: EC design for modern living

Stars and Stripes •
First Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co. 18th Inf., 1st Div., relaxes in his arm chair as his wife, Betty Jo reads with their two children, Colleen, 5, and Richard, 3, in the living room of their new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their family in Aschaffenburg, Germany.

First Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co. 18th Inf., 1st Div., relaxes in his arm chair as his wife, Betty Jo reads with their two children, Colleen, 5, and Richard, 3, in the living room of their new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their family in Aschaffenburg, Germany. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

This excerpt is from an article that first appeared in the Stars and Stripes European edition, Feb. 19, 1950. 

Spring cleaning time is coming up and the ancient wish of housewives to "leave this grubby place and start in with a new house" may be more than idle dreaming this year.

For Army and Air Force housing projects are in the mill, and the end of the critical housing shortage is in sight, at least to keen-eyed architects. EUCOM engineer division officials say the units under way, either built entirely new or converted and rehabilitated from kasernes. former displaced-persons camps and war-damaged structures, and other projects contemplated "as funds become available," will take the desperation out of the plea: "But where am I going to get a house for my family?"

M. Sgt. William F. Garland, of Hq Co., 18th Inf., his wife, Helen, and their three daughters, Glenda Lee, 7, Billie Joe, 6, and Sandra Elizabeth, 3, in their living room, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg.

M. Sgt. William F. Garland, of Hq Co., 18th Inf., his wife, Helen, and their three daughters, Glenda Lee, 7, Billie Joe, 6, and Sandra Elizabeth, 3, in their living room, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

M. Sgt. William F. Garland, of Hq Co., 18th Inf., his wife, Helen, and their three daughters, Glenda Lee, 7, Billie Joe, 6, and Sandra Elizabeth, 3, stand on the balcony of their new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg. The roads and landscaping in the housing project have yet to be finished.

M. Sgt. William F. Garland, of Hq Co., 18th Inf., his wife, Helen, and their three daughters, Glenda Lee, 7, Billie Joe, 6, and Sandra Elizabeth, 3, stand on the balcony of their new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg. The roads and landscaping in the housing project have yet to be finished. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

Glenda Lee, 7, Billie Joe, 6, and Sandra Elizabeth, 3, daughters of M. Sgt. William F. Garland, of Hq Co., 18th Inf., and his wife, Helen, play hide-and-seek in the family’s new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg, as their father and mother look on.

Glenda Lee, 7, Billie Joe, 6, and Sandra Elizabeth, 3, daughters of M. Sgt. William F. Garland, of Hq Co., 18th Inf., and his wife, Helen, play hide-and-seek in the family’s new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg, as their father and mother look on. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

Betty Jo Fay, wife of 1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co. 18th Inf., 1st Div., gets the couple’s daughter Colleen, 5, ready for bed in the family’s new apartment. The Fay family moved into one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg.

Betty Jo Fay, wife of 1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co. 18th Inf., 1st Div., gets the couple’s daughter Colleen, 5, ready for bed in the family’s new apartment. The Fay family moved into one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

Betty Jo Fay, wife of 1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co. 18th Inf., 1st Div., eats some soup and sandwiches with the couple’s two children, Colleen, 5, and Richard, 3, at the family’s kitchen table in their new apartment. The Fay family moved into one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg.

Betty Jo Fay, wife of 1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co. 18th Inf., 1st Div., eats some soup and sandwiches with the couple’s two children, Colleen, 5, and Richard, 3, at the family’s kitchen table in their new apartment. The Fay family moved into one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co., 18th Inf., 1st Div., reads his newspaper and his wife Betty Jo relaxes in the living room of their new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg.

1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co., 18th Inf., 1st Div., reads his newspaper and his wife Betty Jo relaxes in the living room of their new apartment, one of the 156 newly constructed apartment units for service members and their families in Aschaffenburg. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co., 18th Inf., 1st Div., his wife Betty Jo and their 5-year-old daughter Colleen stand in the kitchen of their brand new apartment in the Aschaffenburg military housing complex. Sgt. Fay pours his daughter a soda, as Mrs. Fay measures ingredients to bake a cake.

1st Sgt. Thomas H. Fay, of H Co., 18th Inf., 1st Div., his wife Betty Jo and their 5-year-old daughter Colleen stand in the kitchen of their brand new apartment in the Aschaffenburg military housing complex. Sgt. Fay pours his daughter a soda, as Mrs. Fay measures ingredients to bake a cake. (Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

Almost daily now families are moving into some of the 962 units under construction by the Army or the 1,445 under USAFE construction. All new construction now under way will be completed by June [1950].

Want to read more historic articles on how EUCOM combatted the post-war dependent housing shortage in Germany? Subscribe to Stars and Stripes’ historic newspaper archive! We have digitized all of our 1948-1999 European and Pacific editions, as well as several of our WWII editions and made them available online through http://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com/

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