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The Hollywood Canteen operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California between October 3, 1942 and November 22, 1945 (Thanksgiving Day) as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen, usually on their way overseas. Even though the majority of visitors were U.S servicemen, the Canteen was open to servicemen of allied countries as well as women in all branch of service. The serviceman's ticket to admission was his uniform and everything at the Canteen was free of charge.
The East Coast counterpart was the New York City–based Stage Door Canteen, which featured Broadway stars and was also celebrated in a film, "Stage Door Canteen"
The driving force behind its creation were Bette Davis and John Garfield along with composer Jules Stein, President of Music Corporation of America (MCA), who headed up the finance committee. Davis devoted an enormous amount of time and energy to the project and served as its president. The cost of materials for the renovations and the labor was all donated by members of the various guilds and unions of the entertainment industry. The Canteen was operated and staffed by volunteers from the entertainment industry only. By the time the Canteen opened its doors, over 3000 stars, players, directors, producers, grips, dancers,
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s, singers, writer, technicians, wardrobe attendants, hair stylists, agents, stand-ins, publicists, secretaries, and allied craftsmen of radio and screen had registered as volunteers.
Glamorous stars volunteered to wait on tables, cook in the kitchen and clean up. On September 15, 1943, the one millionth guest walked through the door of the Hollywood Canteen. The lucky soldier, Sgt. Carl Bell, received a kiss from Betty Grable. (That works out to nearly 2,900 servicemen a day!)
A Hall of Honor at the Hollywood Canteen had a wall of photos which honored the film actors who served in the military. Most of those actors, while on shore leave, came out to help the Canteen.
In 1944, Warner Bros Studio made a star-studded film about the Hollywood Canteen.
At the time the Canteen closed its doors, it had been host to almost three million servicemen
Over 225 photographs of the Hollywood Canteen can be seen at http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com
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