Little Vittles Scrapbook

1948-1949

Operation Little Vittles was a goodwill mission to drop candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949 and was headquartered in Chicopee, Massachusetts. This scrapbook is a record of the Operation Little Vittles Committee and provides information about the group of volunteers who were involved. The scrapbook contains official minutes of their meetings, the committee’s constitution and rules of operation, newspaper clippings, handwritten letters in German from children who received candy during the drops and a few photographs. The Little Vittles committee was responsible for coordinating and gathering candy and handkerchiefs to be delivered to Westover Air Force Base. From there the supplies were brought to Germany to be dropped to children in West Berlin.

Operation Little Vittles came out of the Berlin Airlift, an operation by the United States and England that brought food to the people of West Berlin during the Soviet Blockade of Germany. Little Vittles was started by Air Force Pilot Gail S. Halvorsen after he handed out candy to a group of children and saw their reaction to his gesture. On the next flight he dropped candy tied to handkerchief parachutes. This grew to regular drops of candy by Halvorsen and his crew. As news spread of the operation in the United States the Little Vittles Committee was formed to handle the volume of candy and handkerchief donations as well as bring the supplies to the air force base in Chicopee. 

More information about the Berlin Airlift, Operation Little Vittles and Air Force Pilot Gail S. Halvorsen can be found at the Chicopee Public Library and through the library’s catalog.