Was there style of builiding in the 1950's where the sides of a foundation were exposed and had wire mesh embedded in them?
In a neighborhood of 1956 vintage brick veneer homes, many of them are built so the sides of the concrete foundation is exposed. Spalling of the sides is exposing "chicken wire". Since this happens on many houses, I think the wire mesh is part of the original construction and not a repair. It looks like mortar was applied over the mesh instead of concrete.
These pictures were taken on a day when there was a light rain. The ground slopes away from the foundation, but moisture seems to be wicking into sides of the foundation.