The Great Brookline Dimout

The World War II generation was asked to collectively sacrifice in a way that was not known in any kind of sustained way in the United States between VJ-Day and the outbreak of COVID-19. As is well-known, food rationing, gasoline restrictions, and consumer goods shortages impacted everyday life for those on the Homefront. However, one less-remembered shared sacrifice were the dimouts that were ordered in Brookline and other east coast towns and cities throughout 1943. 

Looking back at the war with the wisdom of hindsight, it may seem odd that Americans were darkening the entire eastern seaboard each night in 1943. But in those early years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, who was to say that the Germans might not send the Luftwaffe across the Atlantic. In addition, defense officials worried that illuminated towns and cities might make it easier to torpedo silhouetted American ships off the coast. For residents here in Brookline, it meant eleven months of nightly dimouts — the slightly less burdensome cousin of the total blackouts known in London.

Beginning in late November 1942, each evening — starting a half-hour after sundown — Brookline became “a really dark area,” according to the Chronicle. Hundreds of wardens and auxiliary police in town helped enforce the new rules.  Homeowners were asked to pull shades three quarters of the way down in their windows and stores were required to either have a light-proof backdrop or a partition between outer windows and the rest of the store. The rules could be quite specific: “Stores are allowed one 15-watt bulb per eight linear feet of show window,” read one regulation. 

On the road, streetlights were shielded, car headlights half-covered, and traffic lights “cut to a mere cone.” Dim traffic lights and headlights had the Brookline chief of police concerned. James Tonra drafted an 11-point “travel code” for pedestrians which included such advice as to walk “defensively,” “wear white clothing,” and “take into consideration that drivers may be intoxicated or confused.” Despite that lack of confidence in the sobriety of Brookline drivers, the reduction of the speed limit to 30mph as well as gas rationing, largely kept the roads safe.

Patriotic Brookliners responded enthusiastically to the new normal. Blackout Officer Daniel Lacy reported in January 1943 that 95% of Brookline merchants were correctly following the new dimout regulations. The other 5% were apparently owners whose blackout curtains had not yet arrived in the overburdened U.S. mail. Still, air wardens were not quite ready to celebrate yet. Lacy added that “the probationary period is over, and strict compliance will be required, and violators will be prosecuted.” And although it's hard to imagine any judge actually enforcing the letter of the law, penalties did include a $5000 fine and up to a year in jail. Chief Air Raid Warden William DeFord Beal reminded townsfolk that “the purpose of the regulations is to save lives and ships.” Still, not all rules were set in stone. Apartment vestibule regulations were eased during the holiday mail rush, as town officials found that postmen were groping in the dark, searching for lobby mailboxes.

Although residents were keen to follow the rules, the dimout did have consequences, especially for businesses. The Chronicle reported in February that “many persons have assumed that because a store is darkened on the outside, it is closed for business. This is not true — business is proceeding as usual in stores which were always open in the evening.” Meanwhile, at Christmas time, special lighting in stained glass church windows were prohibited and community Christmas trees in Coolidge Corner and Brookline Village were cancelled as all Yuletide lighting was banned.

As the Allies won victory after victory over Nazi forces in late 1943, it was suggested that perhaps the dimout regulations be put aside. Many in Brookline thought that was a bad idea. The Note & Comment section of the Chronicle in late October 1943 said that “efforts being made to lift the dimout regulations seem absolutely absurd.”  J.W. Farley, chairman of the Massachusetts committee on public safety, agreed, saying “the facts are that Germany can still bomb our eastern seacoast cities. Sabotage is just as probable, and if we sit back and coast, we will be inviting disaster.” Nevertheless, by November, the military seemed confident enough that Nazi forces were on their heels that the lights went back on in Brookline.