The 'Mao suit': how a military-style uniform changed the face of China – and clothed Australian prisoners during the Korean War
Retrieved on:
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
People, Survival rate, Frostbite, Industry, Photograph, Communist party, Atmosphere, Mickey Mouse, Hwacheon Dam, Civil War, Prisoner, MASH, United Nations Command, Clothing, Table tennis rubber, The, POW, Prisoner of war, Incidence, Personal protective equipment, Man, Humidity, Communist China, Cotton, Anglo-French Wars, Australian, World War II, Collection, Time, Mass, Communism, Greatcoat, Weather, Weapon, Mao Zedong, Shoe, Cambridge University Press, Film industry, Fashion design, Cryptocurrency, Sewing, Jewellery, Shoemaking, Drug, Chinese, Korean War, Sun Yat-sen
In Chinese, this war is known as the “resist America, support Korea” war.
Key Points:
- In Chinese, this war is known as the “resist America, support Korea” war.
- On 27 July 1953, 70 years ago today, hostilities came to an indefinite halt with the signing of an armistice.
- In this bitter, destructive and still unresolved conflict, one of the greatest challenges for both sides was how to deal with the weather.
- Read more:
North Korean POWs seeking last chance to return home after decades in exile
Mass mobilisation of sewing labour
- These items of clothing were all products of global militarisation in the 20th century.
- The altered appearance of the crowd in any Chinese town after 1949 was one of the most immediate effects of regime change.
- Clothing regulations for employees in the state sector established the Sun Yatsen jacket or its poor relative, the “People’s jacket”, as standard dress.
- For provisioning the armed forces, mass mobilisation of labour was required.
- The huge labour reserves available in China failed to avert a crisis in the supply of winter uniforms in the early months of the war.
- Read more:
M*A*S*H, 50 years on: the anti-war sitcom was a product of its time, yet its themes are timeless
Unpicking and refluffing
- By August 1951, the US had come up with an airtight, insulated rubber boot, popularly known as the Mickey Mouse boot on account of its large toe.
- It did not eliminate the problem of frostbite but with frequent changes of woollen socks sharply reduced its incidence.
- The Chinese, too, developed something more effective, with a larger toe, providing room for extra padding.
- Padded cloth socks were widely used and sewing socks for soldiers became a common domestic pastime.
- At the end of the war the majority of POWs from the People’s Volunteer Army chose to go to Taiwan.