To honor the men and women who flew and trained at Luke Field, Arizona, during World War II.

Photos of the Exchange

Even today, service men and women commonly cruise through the Base Exchange if they have a few minutes on their hands, especially if they are located at a distance from other stores.

This photo shows Line Exchange #1. There were two Line Exchanges at Luke Field, plus the main Base Exchange. The Line Exchanges were primarily for those pilots, students, and aircraft maintainers who needed to stay close to the flight line.

Being a military installation, haircuts were a required part of being a serviceman. Here is the new Barber Shop sporting fourteen chairs. Notice the African-American attendant standing near the wall on the left holding a broom. Due to segregation, he had to work in that barber shop, but could not get his hair cut there.

Being a military facility, the Base Exchange needed a Clothing Department. Since the servicemen were supposed to wear their uniforms most of the time, all of the clothes shown here were uniform items. Shirts are on the right, with pants and hats in the middle, and coats in the back on the left. Off camera were shirts and shoes for sale. Many of the cadets as they approached graduation probably replaced their old issued uniforms with newer, nicer ones from the Clothing Department.

In order to look sharp, the men wanted the uniforms they bought or were issued tailored. Issued uniform items often did not fit properly. Here is one view of the Alterations and Pressing Section. A sewing machine in the foreground to make the alterations, large flat tables to use for marking and cutting the fabrics, and over on the wall is the steam pressing machine.

Much of the military still runs on coffee, as shown in this photo of the Luke Field Cafe. The large coffee maker on the left with dozens of cups underneath highlight that fact. The mural on the far wall shows numerous cadet activities. What is interesting the two men saluting next to the door. The one on the left is a United States Army Air Corp second lieutenant with his new wings. The figure on the right is a newly minted Chinese Air Force lieutenant with his new wings. This mural shows how important the leadership valued the Chinese Air Force efforts at Luke Field.

Looking the other way in the Luke Field Café, one can see the four milk shake machines. There is little doubt they were put to good work. The mural on the back wall highlights the efforts of the maintainers who worked hard to keep the aircraft flying.

The Soda Fountain offered sandwiches and a large coffee maker just right of center. Milk Shakes were 15 cents and Coca-Cola’s were a nickel. While a cup of coffee cost 5 cents, if you wanted a pot of coffee to go, it was 15 cents. The most expensive item on the menu was a ham and cheese sandwich which cost 20 cents.

The Quick Lunch Cafeteria on B Street offered sandwiches, coffee, bottled sodas for 10 cents, tobacco products, and even boxes of Hi-Ho Crackers.

After the standard duty day, the Beer and Soft Drink counter opened. Beer from one of the four taps on the far-left cost 10 cents. Soft drinks were served on the right. Various snacks lined the wall behind the entire counter.

At the B Street cafeteria were stand up tables and stand-up counters to give the people a place to eat a quick bite. On the right is the water fountain next to the cigarette machine.

Thanks to the Sylvia Glover family, this photo of the Exchange workers and cashiers is included. Sylvia is the second lady on the left. Notice that each table outside the B Street cafeteria has a shade canopy by the time the photo was taken. Earlier, there were just the tables and the surrounding fence. Therefore, this photo was probably taken later in the WWII. (Photographer is unknown)

Inside the Base Exchange were a number of departments. Here is the Stationery and Jewelry counters. For a number of the cadets, they had more spending cash than they had ever had before enlisting. The Stationery counter offers the colorized post cards on the two racks on top of the glass. All of those post cards were the same colorized photos exhibited on this website. It also sold paper, envelopes, various books to write in, like the pilot flight log. It also carried games, like checkers, dice cards and poker chips. Obviously, the Jewelry counter was for things to buy for their mothers, themselves, or a sweetheart back home.

During the 1920s and 1930s, smoking became glamorous. Many of the movie stars and sports heroes smoked. It held a mixed promise of looking tough, being cool, and the chance to get a break from military duties during smoke breaks. The Base Exchange’s Tobacco counter carried cigarettes, cigars, and canned tobacco. On the right is the magazine stand, which was most likely part of the Stationery counter.

Since the hospital covered 26 buildings connected with covered walkways, the Exchange set up a mobile cart they could to the sick and injured men and women in the hospital. What is interesting is that over half of contents were tobacco products. The rest of the contents were candy bars, chewing gum, and shaving supplies.

While most of the men ate in the chow hall, for the families they needed a commissary. Therefore, Luke Field issued them commissary cards that authorized them to shop there. The Market on Luke Field was small. In this photo, the produce display in Market is in the foreground. On the right is a scale to weigh the vegetables and fruit, displayed next to the scale. To the left of the fruit display is the Tavern Shop, offering alcoholic beverages to take home. Standing out form the wall in the center of the photo is the Rainbow Bread display. The leaves are turn up on end. Next to that was where one would pick up and drop off their shopping baskets. In the back near the corner was the freezer. The doors and turnstile are on the left.

Being so far from town and hard to get a pass to leave Luke Field, it was obvious to the leaders that the men needed recreation to help relieve some of the stress. Besides the swimming pool, theaters, and basketball courts, there was a baseball diamond and a bowling alley. The bowling alley featured ten lanes and bowling was free for the military members.

Most of the men did not have cars, but some of the staff did. For the few cars belonging to the military members on Luke Field, there was a four-pump gas station. Two pumps are shown here with two more off camera on an island to the left. The lubrication bay had several weights of oil, depending upon what the customer’s vehicle needed. Obvious in this photo, is that one of the most popular things about the gas station was the Coca-Cola machine.