As I was born in 1930, I was a teen ager during WWII and remember very well
the shortages, making do and collecting for the War effort.
What silk there was was used for parachutes and silk stockings were not
available. Remember, silk came from China which was occupied by the Japanese.
Nylon was invented (or manufactured) during the War for parachutes, but not
available for stockings until after the war. Mother wore heavy rayon hose but
we teenagers painted our legs with special leg make up and drew seams down the
back with eyebrow pencils. Shoes and some clothing were rationed. We all had
"ration books" for clothes as well as meat. One had to take care of what we
had to make it last for the duration.
I can remember using corn meal to absorb oily spots and to clean woolens and
furs; baking soda to clean and peanut butter to remove chewing gum from hair.
And castile soap was the very best for delicate garments. But we never used oil
on spots. If we couldn't wash it or "spot" it with cleaning fluid (gasoline?)
we could send it to the Dry Cleaners.
Dad always had a garden and I helped can vegetables and make jam. I was
making my own clothes by the time I started Junior High School.
Of course, in the USA we were not as deprived as those in Britain or Europe.
My Dad, a vet of WWI, was neighborhood Air Raid Warden. We had drills but no
one really expected
an air raid in Central Virginia.. As a Girl Scout, I learned to Knit squares
for the Red Cross to make lap robes for wounded vets; We also collected metal,
paper, and bacon grease!
One Christmas Day (1943) our GS Troop spent the afternoon at the train station
serving coffee and donuts to the solders on the trains. My older brother and
all his friends were in the service and I wrote letters to them.
Growing up during the 1940s all that was just normal to us as that was the way
it was.
Louise in Central Virginia
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