Dr. Meghan Winchell, author of Good Girls, Good Food, Good Fun: The Story of USO Hostesses during World War II joins us on the front porch. Nancy and Linda loved reading a book all about good fun! Meghan shares that she is one of the few researchers who have delved into the history of the USO, and particularly of the hostesses’ experiences. We learn how Meghan’s earlier research on prostitution led to her interest in the USO and that, interestingly, keeping servicemen from prostitution was one of the precipitating factors in the USO’s formation. Linda continues her idea that the USO would have been a good place to find a man and Meghan acknowledges the USO resulted in a lot of marriages. Military uniforms provided the servicemen a good look and a cloak of respectability that hid typical clues about class status. Meghan points out that women in the military were often not considered “real women.” She recounts the policy of some clubs that women in the military were barred from the clubs because military members had to wear their uniforms to enter and the worry was that seeing the women in their uniforms would remind the men about the war, though, they were also in uniform. Even deeper than concepts of racism were the issues of racism. We discuss prevailing notions at the time that black women were hyper sexualized and not “safe” for the soldiers. We talk about how much we admire the black women who worked hard to be allowed to volunteer at the USO even though they often made greater economic sacrifices than the white hostesses. Bottom line: black women refused to let only white women contribute to the war and support the troops! Meghan observes that WWII was a fascinating time in U.S. cultural history because it forced people together who normally would have nothing to do with each other. Meghan lifts the curtain on her participation in the documentary about the USO and tells us about her recent research on the history and impact of the uniform in popular culture.