From my long, rambling piece about Stewart-Warner and other things a few days ago, I still had some WWII ads in my browser. I found this one quite poignant. (Transcription below.)
That led to a thought about rationing during WWII. Were people sending threats to their governors and mayors, and showing up in front of the statehouse with protest signs, after a WHOLE MONTH of rationing?
I suspect not. This is an interesting read; note the reference to Kraft macaroni & cheese, too.
It would be spectacular if we could come together to make sacrifices for a few years to win the war on COVID-19. It’s been a long time since a president has asked all of us to make genuine sacrifices.
I just said “So long, Son”...
“He’ll be in uniform tomorrow. And God knows where six months from now. But I was proud to see him go.
“Of course I had a lump in my throat. I guess Larry did, too. But he had a look to his eyes that was good to see. That look in the eyes of our boys will keep America free.
“I’ve seen that look before—in the eyes of my buddies, 24 years ago. They knew what they were fighting for, just as Larry does. And you know what a job they did.
“If you heard some of them recently asking why we went to France, they didn’t mean what you thought. It wasn’t that we lacked a cause. But that we went soft in the hearts and heads afterwards, and let the peace we’d won dribble thru our fingers...
“So that Larry and ten million like him have to start from scratch and do the whole job over again.... Or live from now on like the people of China and Singapore and Manila are living now.
“Maybe Larry won’t come back. I realize that. But Larry would rather die a free man than live a slave. He’s better off with something worth dying for than with nothing worth living for.
“So he’s gone. Last thing he said was, ‘Keep those shells coming, Dad. You make ‘em. I’ll shoot ‘em!’
“Well—there hasn’t been a machine in the shop busier than mine since this started. But I can squeeze thru a few more shells an hour now—for Larry.
“And I can do more than that. I can see that no one who’s making things for Larry and the rest of our boys will run short of material—or power—or shipping space—because of me.
“I can take care of the things we have. Our car—our refrigerator and washing machine—our house—our garden tools. So no neglect of mine will use up repair parts, or waste vital material or fuel, or add to the war load on our railroads or machines or highways.
“The way things are, some of us can’t do more than that. But no one who calls himself an American can do less.”