[Dixielandjazz] PBS series "The War"

Tue Oct 2 15:12:24 PDT 2007

Pat -- all talked of the shock of being in a country where the lights
> shone brightly and food and drink were in good supply.
> What were the blackouts and the searchlights for?  No one had an airplane 
> that could reach the US.
__________________________________
Very true for the most part but we did have rationing here and even though I
lived in the middle of the US they did have blackouts and yes the lights
were on in major cities for the u boats to target ships against.  The
blackouts here were drills.  My dad was an air raid warden and had a white
helmet and all the gear.  These were more of a morale thing I think to show
solidarity  and to feel what it was like other places.

There was food rationing here.  Meat, eggs and sugar are the one's I
remember most although there was soap rationing too.  Gasoline was rationed
not because there was a shortage of gasoline but because of the tires.
Unlimited driving would have worn out the available tires pretty quick.
There was a retread place up the street from my house and they retreaded
tires for people when they could get the rubber.  I remember ration points
more than ration books.  Ration points were little red and blue tokens made
from pressed paper.  Everything at the grocery store had a point value along
with money.

I don't remember a black market although I'm pretty sure one existed.

There was a guy in the aircraft factory (Curtis Wright) who got pissed off
and kicked a toilet paper roll off the wall of the john.  He was fired and
charged with sabotage.  My mother got scared to death when the FBI
investigated her department.  It seems that someone was dropping rivets into
the Pitot tubes that she installed.  There were a lot of industrial
accidents.  They talked about people drilling their fingers and women
getting their hair caught in machines.  It was a different time.

Being a little kid I most remember the toys.  Nothing metal and there were a
lot of pressed wood toys and you had to cut and fold paper for all sorts of
things like ships and planes.  My dad made some toys for me and there was a
kid around the corner who had a kid sized replica of a fighter plane cockpit
his dad made.  Boy was I jealous of him.  My parents had some friends who
had a large collection of WW1 era lead toy soldiers about 4" tall with
little sandbags, barbed wire fields, forts and cannon.  I was in heaven when
we visited them   Those things had belonged to their sons who were in the
war.  I didn't own a bicycle until a long time after the war.

My grandmother was diabetic so we got her sugar.  They would save it.  My
dad had an "A" war priority sticker on his car and could save up gas for an
occasional trip to visit my grandparents on the farm.  We could get the
sugar and bring home canned meats and other things they grew on the farm.
Also wine and beer that my grandfather made.  My grandparents saved pig fat
and my mother would make soap.  We would always have flat tires on those
trips.  The tires and inner tubes were really rotten.

Ice and milk were delivered in horse drawn wagons and the trash pickers had
a horse drawn wagon too.  I watched a guy digging  basements with a mule and
scoop in my neighborhood.

We had a search light battery somewhere near the airport which was about 5
miles from my house and they practiced almost every night.  I suppose they
were training people to use them.  The lights were fun to watch.  After the
war they ended up advertising car dealers.

My Grandparents had relatives in Germany and after the war we sent a lot of
packages to them.  I remember packing and sending them over.

Everyone seemed to do OK so far as having enough of things.  I guess it
wasn't tough as compared to other countries but it wasn't a lot of fun
either.
Larry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "pat ladd" <pj.ladd at btinternet.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "jazz" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 11:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] PBS series "The War"

> Hi Larry,
>
> very intrigued by the Burns `War`. A mate in Maryland has already given me 
> a head up. I hope that we get it over here soon, it sounds pretty well 
> done.
>
> I am puzzled by the references to blackouts, rationing etc etc. All the 
> stuff which I have read by our servicemen who were sent to Canada for 
> training and to the US  to try and pass on battle experience to US fliers 
> in training have all talked of the shock of being in a country where the 
> lights shone brightly and food and drink were in good supply.
> What were the blackouts and the searchlights for?  No one had an airplane 
> that could reach the US. OK the Japs floated some balloons with 
> incendiaries on across the Pacific and the Germans were experimenting with 
> an up graded V2 with a piloted section which in theory could have reached 
> the Atlantic seabord, but it came to nothing.
> The U boats lurking off the US coast were targeting US coastal traffic by 
> lining the cargo boats up against the brightly lit shore line.
>
> I was 10 in Sept `39 and remember the blitz on Bath and Bristol and being 
> allowed out of the air raid shelter at night to stand on the roof with my 
> father and watch the fires as the centre of the cities were consumed. The 
> Germans course to Bristol and Bath passed directly overhead.  The ack ack 
> bursts in the sky and the occasional Heinkel 111 caught in the 
> searchlights. This was pretty regular until we were bombed ourselves early 
> one morning . The house was pretty badly smashed up and I was sent away to 
> live with an uncle a couple of miles away who insisted I stayed in bed.
> I did see one attack by Spifires and Hurricanes on a German bomber raid 
> of around 40 aircraft during their  daylight bombing period. That was 
> pretty exciting but our schoolteachers drove us back into the shelters. 
> They watched though.
>
> What was the extent of the rationing? Any idea what quantities were 
> involved?
>
> This isn`t a DJML topic so if anyone is interested in taking this off list 
> please say so
>
> Cheers
>
> Pat
> 