This little pocket book was printed as a welcome guide for soldiers at the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, located near the Navy Yard at Swanson and Washington Avenues in Philadelphia, on a railroad hub linking the North and the South. The saloon was supported in part by the US Sanitary Commission and staffed by volunteers to provide warm meals, temporary housing, medical services, and washing facilities to soldiers heading home or heading to the front. In this case the booklet was aimed specifically at those returning home, “after having nobly defended the Flag of your Country,” welcoming them to the City of Brotherly Love, and wishing them farewell. From 1861 to 1865, the facility assisted over 800,000 men, which include 1,025,000 meals.

This is in very good condition and would make a nice addition to a display emphasizing the war effort on the home front, or of a soldier’s personal effects, particularly those of long serving veterans headed home at last.

[sr] [ph:m]

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