Image from 'Central News' showing amputees sawing wood as an exercise - 1918

Before wounded soldiers could be fitted with functional, heavy industrial prosthetics or trained in seated trades (such as shoemaking, tailoring, or typewriter repair), they had to undergo careful muscle re-education. This 'first stage' involved highly structured, low-impact group exercises designed to prevent joint stiffening, promote blood circulation in residual limbs, and rebuild foundational core and balance control.
Photographic features like this one were widely syndicated by Central News to show the public that the state was taking active, scientific steps to care for wounded veterans and return them to productive civilian life.
This era closely aligned with the work of efficiency pioneers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, who used motion cameras to study how disabled soldiers could adapt their remaining limbs to operate machinery, laying the absolute groundwork for modern ergonomics and occupational therapy.