I’m still trying to figure why Aunt Marian had a box of military badges—and what units the badges represent. But I have determined that some of them represent various WAC ranks.

I found this chart in a 1944 recruiting publication aimed at parents, called Someone to be Proud Of: Your Daughter in the WAC, which not only shows the grades, but also the monthly pay received at each level. Who won’t want to join the WACs when they get $50 a month in “spending money”?

WAC badges in Aunt Marian’s Collection