Hair for the war effort! 

1) Mount Carmel Item, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1942 

2) San Anselmo Herald, California, November 12, 1942

3) Belvidere Daily Republican, Illinois, October 17, 1942

4) Dixon Evening Telegraph, Illinois, April 8, 1942

5) The Decatur Daily Review, Illinois, May 3, 1945

When I first saw the Decatur Daily Review article a few days ago I had no idea what they might’ve been using the hairs for, what “secret weapon” they could be a part of. Then I stumbled upon an article about one woman whose hair was used: Mary Babnik Brown. The hair was commonly used as crosshairs for aircraft bombsights and women who donated their hair would be rewarded with war savings stamps.  From the articles I’ve read about 50% of the time they say it’s for a secret weapon and the other 30% they explain it’s for the crosshairs, the other 20% usually didn’t really explain at all. So I’m not sure how many other uses there were, one of the articles I’ve posted explains that the hairs will be used “in tiny one-tube radio sets which are attached to a free balloon”.  But for whatever purpose your hair would be used, the most favored was straight, blonde, untreated and at least 14 inches.