While checking the gorgeous new products at Heritage Scrap the other day, I say Jean Daugherty's new 1940s kit. What a marvelous collection!
It got me thinking about the 1940s and how tough times were for families; and then the war came along and things got even tougher. Jean's kit shows some of the things going on, the posters, the fund raisers, and how people were generally really behind the troops! Patriotism was at a very high level. Then I saw this layout:
James
by Linda aka lyndabook
Again, I'm struck by the patriotism of the era despite the hard times. It was like the whole country was in it together! What a wonderful sense of community!
Later that evening, I was working on some of my family history as I had just gotten some new obituaries from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library. When they print a scan of the obituary from the paper, they leave the surrounding articles, ads, and such in tact. The obit was from 1944 and had an article about the war included AND this little gem:
A-13 Coupon's Expiration Near -- Office of Price Administration Tuesday reminded motorists that "A-13" gasoline ration coupons will expire Thursday. Six "A-14" coupons in each basic "A" book will become valid Friday, December 22, OPA said. Each coupon will be worth four ....
And there it is cut off. That little article reminded me of an incident at my town's local historical museum where I used to work part-time. We would forever get boxes of "junk" that people would drop off saying it was from Grandmother's attic or some such thing. Sometimes it really did contain all junk that we threw away and other times it would hold wonderful things! One time while going through such a box, I came across an old coin purse that was ratty and falling apart. I was about to toss it in the trash when something told me to check the inside. To my amazement, I found several small cardboard coins with much writing on them. Checking them closer, they turned out to be ration coins to be used when buying sugar, coffee, and other grocery items during the 1940s! So that day we were lucky with our box of "junk" that really was a box of treasures! We put them aside for an exhibit later after more research was done. I quit working there before the research and exhibit were done and the new curator didn't seem inclined to do anything with them. So they are again sitting in a box, although they are properly preserved now, just waiting for the chance to show their former use.
What stories have you heard from your grandparents or great-grands about those times? Do you have any treasures from the period? Leave us a comment telling us your story, or better yet, make a layout and post it in the Heritage Hunters forum and gallery at Heritage Scrap. We'd love to hear more about this period of time. Many people are equating the hard economic times we are experiencing right now with those of our elders during the 40s. It will be interesting to see some of the similarities but also the differences. Then stop in to our Heritage Hunters chat on Tuesday evening at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time while we talk about the 40s and what our ancestors did back then. The chat is in the Heritage Scrap chat room and all are welcome. We usually have a small group so chatting is easy and fun! We also have fun things like chat freebies and posting bonuses. Hope to see you Tuesday evening!
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