Apparently housewives won WWII

[SoCalDem]

Here's a whole page of public service ad links from that era..

Who knew the nazis were defeated by bacon grease?

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/dynaweb/adaccess/war/conservation/@Generic__BookView

a few samples:

[LostInAnomie]

1. Why is she pouring grease down the drain in the first place?

Good way to f' up a drain.

[TahitiNut]

21. Nope. We saved bacon grease in a coffee can on the stove.

I thought EVERYONE knew that. :silly:

[SoCalDem]

22. I still do that.n/t

[TahitiNut]

25. I can't even remember the last time I fried bacon at home.

:cry: I miss my nitrates!!! :cry:

[Raine]

2. THANKS

for the link. I find that time period really interesting and like to read this kind of stuff. :-)

[Beerboy]

3. Yes, they did.

No one can sell those ladies short, they got out of the house and riveted and welded up the machines of war necessary to utterly smash fascists and Nazis until ruined smoking surrender.
Couldn't have done it without 'em!
Thank you, way old grandmas for what you did way back then, and this thread is a shout out to you! Thank You!

[SoCalDem]

5. My grandmother saved fabric scraps, newspapers, tin cans..you name it..

we still have some old ration stamps around here somewhere :)

[NavyDavy]

10. keep them i think they are collector items now....i thought i

heard that somewhere

[SoCalDem]

11. We won't toss them out....I still have books of S&H Green Stamps too

My boys are gonna curse me after I'm dead and gone.. I can hear them now.. "Why the HELL did she save all this crap?"

[TahitiNut]

27. Gawd! I remember pasting them in the books until my tongue was too sticky to talk.

:silly: I HATED those things.

[fishwax]

9. welcome to DU, Beerboy

:toast:

[Hekate]

4. Everyone sacrificed, everyone participated in the war effort.Utterly different from today.

It's really fascinating, because while we know this kind of "public service announcement" was a form of propaganda, it worked to create a sense of cohesiveness and belonging among ALL Americans.

Housewives really did have a part to play in it because of their role in what used to be called home economy: they made most if not all of the decisions about the purchase, preparation, and disposal of food, as well as the purchase of clothing and fabric for themselves and their children -- and all of these goods were to some extent rationed. Recycling household waste was important to the war effort as well, and that also fell under the purview of the housewife.

After we were attacked on 9-11 I fully expected that The Jerk's speechwriters would whip up something like FDR's Pearl Harbor speech -- telling us to be courageous, stick together, and share the sacrifice. It still shocks me that we were told to go shopping, spend lots of money, and be scared witless.

What a sad comedown for our country.

Hekate

[David__77]

6. Propaganda gets a bad name, but it has a role.

All that "propaganda" really means is a type of publicity, usually social or political in nature. The Chinese Communist Party changed the English translation of its Propaganda Department to "Publicity Department." Doesn't that sound better? Propaganda can be good or bad, depending on its truthfulness and the cause which it serves.

[Raine]

7. Yeah now days in a time of crisis

for our country the pResident tell us all to keep shopping. x(

[Greyhound]

8. Well sure, that was a real war, not a mass-marketed corporate for-profit venture.

WWII was a fight to the death against an enemy with the capability to do real harm, and the conclusion was not a scripted inevitability.

[KoKo]

12. Lets hope that when Fisher-Price Toys have LEAD we create a new "MOM POWER"

Consumer Movement.

SoCal...do you remember "Creative Playthings and those little wooden figures with little paint but it was "lead free?"

How our kids balked at those toys when the "shiny objects" their friends were playing with distracted them..

Maybe we were right...but we were HATED FOR IT! :D

I didn't go for "BooBerry Cereal" either...but I've been told it was all kids wanted to eat and if your Mom didn't Stock It...you were a Freak!

Just saying....

[SoCalDem]

15. Actually, my boys liked Creative Playthings.

But our nemesis was Hot Wheels cars.. everywhere..and I do mean EVERYWHERE..

and Tonka..
but those things were safer back then.. (at least I hope they were)

My boys were DOers more than PLAYers..they got on their bikes and roamed.. they were not all that into "toys"..
Most of the baby toys were cast off by the younger two in favor of the older one's cars & trucks :evilgrin:

They even played with Tonkas that were my husband's when he was little.. they were steel back then..not plastic crap like today..

in our house, Honey Nut Cheerios was as 'wacky' as we got with the cereal:)

[KoKo]

17. sorry I asked.

[SoCalDem]

20. don't be

:)

I was not an indulgent Mom, and I understood your message.:hi:..my boys were just not all that into toys.. I only had ONE who would even accept a stuffed toy..:cry:

and only one who had a blankie:cry:

[KoKo]

24. I just have a girl

thought you were dissing me.... :-(

[SoCalDem]

26. Hey I WANTED 3 girls Katharine, Diane & Susan

I ended up with Scott, Michael & Steven :)

I longed to make frilly little dresses & have tea parties.. and instead I got to crawl in dirt & help them catch lizards :)

[KoKo]

28. BTW... for GIRLS (mostly their Moms) Doll Houses were big business

in the 70's.. No lead paint and emphasis on "Historical" renovations.

[BlooInBloo]

13. They certainly did their share... Making armaments, enriching uranium....

... You name it, they did it.

[JVS]

14. I'm surprised to learn Hitler was a midget who spent the war pestering housewives

[bleedingheart]

18. that made me laugh out loud...

[SoCalDem]

32. It's funny now, but i bet a lot of people with German heritage changed their names

to a less teutonic name ..

Gruber may have become Grubbs

ALBRECHT changes to ALBRIGHT

GOLDBERGER shortens to GOLDBERG

MUELLER changes to MILLER


etc

[bleedingheart]

33. the Hitler was a midget pestering housewives....was what I thought was funny

not the name part...

[Bassic]

16. Hehe,

Shickelgruber :)

[bleedingheart]

19. my mom saves bacon grease to this day for cooking..

she uses it to make eggs...and she puts it in sauerkraut to make it taste better..

we are clearly a heart smart family...

[TahitiNut]

23. Absolutely.

Who the hell BUYS grease??? :silly:

[SoCalDem]

29. I have bought lard before.. Gotta have lard for real refried beans

cue salivary glands :)

[KoKo]

30. Here's the problem with that..

Hubby has Quadruple Bypass when he HAS NOT EATEN badly his whole life...No Mickey D's/Arby's/Kentucky Fried/Domino's.

He ends up in Hospital before Heart ATTACK with FIVE Arteries Blocked and has to go in and have stuff replaced that none of his four other brothers did when they eat GREASE 24/7.

Hubby get's it done...goes through RE=Hab and is told to not eat nuts or berries by Cardiologist who is on "watch list" for Heart Attack Himself...even though he's a MARATHON RUNNER and no one in HIS family has HIS PROBLEM, either.

You gotta COOK WITHOUT LARD (YUM) to make sure spouse doesn't die and it's on your head or hands for preparing food that could KILL HIM! What does one do?

I don't cook with lard or butter. But, the food tastes like crap, especially since the FOOD GIANTS are corrupting the freshness and quality of EVERYTHING with IMPORTS!

It's a hard life....:-(

Especially for folks who love FOOD and GREAT RECIPES that use all that GOOD STUFF for FLAVOR that doesn't include "Chinese Tainted Enhancments."

[SoCalDem]

31. We use mostly olive oil these days.. My husband has the opposite problem

his cholesterol is too low :eyes: I'm afraid to have mine tested.. There's probably more cholesterol than they can measure :)

[rucky]

34. What part of the Midwest are you from?

If you had said your mom saves bacon grease to make gunpowder, I may have assumed something different.