Maidenform Company products included ‘brassiere for birds’

Because raw materials were needed for the war, many companies were unable to obtain these materials for consumer goods and were forced to close during World War II. Not so the Maidenform Company, whose creative owners, Ida and William Rosenthal, met the challenge by designing lingerie and other products for the war effort. One of the “other products” was a pigeon vest, dubbed the “brassiere for birds.” 

When Allied troops parachuted behind enemy lines in North Africa, they needed to bring carrier pigeons with them. But how were they to get these pigeons from their planes to the ground? The Rosenthals sewed a vest (khaki, of course) that fitted around the pigeon’s body and tied onto a device sewed onto the paratrooper’s jacket. The pigeon carried a tiny capsule attached to its leg. The capsules might contain messages, blood samples or even tiny cameras. Often, during World War II, pigeons were the only form of communication. Communication by homing pigeon was least likely to be intercepted. More than 95 percent of their messages were successfully delivered. Approximately 56,000 carrier pigeons were trained for war missions in World War II. Maidenform manufactured 28,500 pigeon vests.*

Maidenform also supplied much of the underwear worn by the troops. Sewed inside each item was the label Maiden Form Brassiere. This was the source of so many jokes that the label was later shortened to MFB.

*Source: The Smithsonian National Museum of American History blog.

TOBY ROSSNER (tobyross@cox.net) was the director of media services at the Bureau of Jewish Education from 1978 to 2002. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 11th in a series on the history of Jewish women entrepreneurs.