Baseball season is in full swing! Perhaps you’ve already been to a Brewer game or two — but can you imagine starting your day at the ballpark?
Well, that’s exactly what happened during World War II when the Milwaukee Brewers hosted morning games so that people working overnight shifts at local factories could still enjoy America’s favorite pastime.
When author Judy Campbell-Smith found out about the morning games after going down an internet rabbit hole about notable baseball figure Bill Veeck, she knew it would make for a great children’s book.
"I love finding these little stories from history - those always inspire me in my writing," says Campbell-Smith. "I immediately just felt like there’s so much here in this little sentence: there’s baseball, there’s World War II, there’s Bill Veeck, and I just wanted to know more."
Baseball for Breakfast: A (Mostly) True Story, a book for ages 5 to 8, celebrates baseball and resilience through the eyes of a young Black child named Jimmy. His family loves going to Brewers games together, but everything changes during World War II as his dad goes overseas to serve and his mother starts working nights at a local factory. Jimmy meets then-Brewers owner Bill Veeck and helps inspire the idea of morning baseball games so that Jimmy and his mother can still enjoy watching the Brewers.
While Jimmy, Ma and Pop are fictional characters, Campbell-Smith says they represent the real experiences of many families during this time period. Portraying a Black family is also a tribute to her grandfather, a World War II veteran.
"When I was writing about the father going to go off to war my mind just went to my grandfather, Roger Smith. During World War II he was an electrician in the Navy, and so I just wanted to make that part of the story as a tribute to him. So I have 'Pop' join the Navy and then in the back matter for the book, I do get to mention my grandfather. So I felt like that was just a really special way to keep the book personal, even though I wasn't around that time and don't live in Milwaukee, but there's definitely reality to the book," explains Campbell-Smith.
The character of Jimmy's mother also represents the many women of color who worked in the factories to aid the production of supplies during the war.
"It is that icon [of Rosie the Riveter] that creates in our mind the narrative of who is helping in the factories? And when I was growing up, I just didn't see these images of Black families during World War II — not as soldiers, not on the war front — everything is kind of told from that one perspective. And so during my research ... it was really exciting to find images of Black and brown women in their uniforms and with the goggles and welding guns, building the airplanes and doing all that work alongside white women. Just that full history and that full story gets to be told, so that's really exciting for me to show children pictures of real women, Black and white, who were all doing the work and just giving that representation to them."
Bill Veeck bought the Milwaukee Brewers, who were then in the minor league, in 1941 and transformed them into a top team. Campbell-Smith includes true details about Veeck, such as how he frequently shook hands with fans outside of Borchert Field as they left games. Veeck was also a legendary baseball promoter who wanted to center the fan's experience. During the Brewers' morning games, ushers would wear nightgowns, the head coach would be "woken up" from his bed that was in the middle of the field, and concessions included cereal with milk, coffee and donuts.
"I always tell the kids when I'm reading the book that if you've ever been to a baseball game and you enjoyed the kiss cam or the characters racing around the field or the giveaways and the t-shirts, you can probably thank Bill Veeck for that because he really thought the fans should experience a fun time at games beyond just what was going on in the field — and that was not the norm at the time," Campbell-Smith notes. "Some owners even thought that that was kind of like a waste of time or taking away from the baseball, but I think he's been proven right to today because every stadium is gonna have fun things going on in between the innings."
Baseball for Breakfast has an additional local touch with illustrations by Wisconsin native Maggie Carroll. "One of the reasons Maggie made the list is not just because her artwork is amazing, but also for that local connection. But when I saw her work, I just ... I fell in love with it and it just felt like the right vibe for the book," says Campbell-Smith. "So she gets all the credit for her style and her creativity ... she just found the right tone, the right color to make it feel a little classic and retro, but also just very fun and energetic."
Judy Campbell-Smith will be at the Wauwatosa Public Library on June 27 for an Author Event & Bernie Brewer Meet and Greet. All ages are welcome and registration for the event is required.
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