''Well, we all remember what we were doing
when we heard on the
radio (103K)
that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor on
Dec. 7, 1941", Gramma said. She had just turned ten five
days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. They were just
about to go to church, since it was Sunday. She couldn't
think about anything other then the thought that she could
be bombed at any time and her dad would have to go to war.
But he didn't because he was a farmer "and probably too
old". What I learned from that was if I had some great fear
I should talk it over with someone like my parents." said
Gramma.
To
help with the war effort, they saved their dimes and brought
them to school to buy Saving Stamps. The Saving Stamps
turned into $25.00 saving bonds. At the price of $18.75 they
got a savings bond book that was worth $25.00. That money
went to help the country buy weapons. "Buying war bonds was the
patriotic thing to do" (278K), said Gramma.
Particular items were rationed. You would
have to use stamps from your ration book to buy certain
items. That reminded my Gramma about sugar, shoes, and
gasoline. Gasoline was a rationed item but wasn't a problem
because they had a "C" card. This meant you practically got
unlimited gas for farm purposes. "You don't go too far when
you have livestock to feed twice a day", said Gramma. People
that lived in the city had "A" cards, this meant that they
got 4 gallons a week. They also had "B" cards.
My
Gramma didn't remember how many pairs of shoes or how much
sugar you were allowed to have, but she remembers her
experience when she was baking a birthday cake for my dad.
My Gramma used honey instead of sugar and to offset the
sweetness they had to use coffee instead of milk. After the
birthday party for my great grandpa, he decided that the
coffee grounds had been too "chewy
". She had forgotten to cook the
coffee!
Some other things that were hard to get were
ladies stockings, marshmallows, and bananas. Marshmallows
and bananas were not too much of a problem because they went
to "Belle Creek" store. The owner would have to go to
Minneapolis when a shipment came in. The stockings were more
of a problem. My Gramma had to dress up for her first band
concert with no silk stockings! She had no stockings because
China and Japan produced the silk. Although nylon had been
invented, it was used for parachutes and all she had was
ugly, old, heavy rayon.This is what they had to live with
during the war.
