Happy birthday! Commissaries parallel, honor Army’s 245 years of service

Commissary in Nievere, France, Jan. 8, 1919, after the Armistice. This photo shows the commissaries were already racially integrated. Finally, the color of the uniform meant more than the color of the skin. But these African-American soldiers would l go back home after the war only to meet up with the same old Jim Crow segregationist attiudes, practices, and laws. the commissary itself shows the simple style of operation; customers would give a list to a clerk, who would then pull their items from shelves behind the sales counter. There are at least two female clerks behind the counter, one glancing toward the caaamera and the other concentrating on the shelving in fron tof her. A prominent sign says something about sanitation standards of the time: "Please Do Not Spit On The Floor." Other signs say more mundaane things... :Orders taken at this counter" and "Cashier." (National Archives)