Seventy Years Ago: The Home Front

The latest Tea Party/Libertarian/Anarchist whine is about the TSA conducting security checks of attendees at a Paul Ryan political event in Florida last weekend.

I never cease to be amazed at the organized paranoia of these people. Just for information, Secret Service, FBI and state and local authorities have been cooperating for over a century in providing security for appearances by presidential and vice presidential candidates. And for presidents. Example: April 14 2005 season's opener in DC of the Washington Nationals. I was there. But I didn't get to see George W. Bush throw out the first ball. Not enough TSA agents and the equipment wasn't reliable. It was the third or fourth inning before I took my seat.

So what was government like when we had a real war?

January 1942: automobile production ended for the duration. Sale of rubber tires to civilians ended. Anyone with more than five tires had to turn in the extras. Steel, copper, and aluminum were placed under wartime controls;

February: Daylight savings time (to conserve energy), rationing of canned meat and fish;

March: Fresh meat, butter and cheese rationed; two ration books issued to every man, woman and child - blue for two pounds of canned fruit and vegetables per month, red for 28 ounces of meat and 4 ounces of cheese per month; shield seaward facing lights within 12 miles of the coast; marriage increased 300% over 1941 (some in expectation of separation, some to avoid the draft); GM produced 28,728 Browning machine guns;

April: Price Control Act - 60% of foods maximum price set at level in March;

May: Iron, more steel, zinc under wartime controls; War Ration Book One issued - the sugar book; gasoline rationing - 2 1/2 gallons per month sugar rationed 1/2 lb. per month; Meat 7 lb., butter, coffee 1 lb. per month; civilian production banned on 136 items, including refrigerators, vacuums, vending machines, small appliances;

June: V-mail to the troops (microfilm);

July: milk, ice and bread delivery switch to horse-drawn wagons; metal products banned;

August: German U-boats sink a ship every four hours;

September: Fair Employment Commission reports 50% of all defense jobs remain closed to Negroes;

October: Meatless Tuesday initiated; draft age lowered to 18;

November: War Labor Board allows employers to raise pay for women 20 cents per hour if necessary to get employees (average 40% less than men); coffee rationing one cup per day;

December: Gasoline rationing with A, B, C stickers 4 gallons per month.

All prices were controlled by the Office of Price Administration.

Rationing ended in 1946.

Popular songs in 1942 include: "Praise the Lord and Pass The Ammunition," based on an incident aboard USS New Orleans during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

No one doubted we were all in the war together.

Oriental Town Board Meeting June 5

A few things learned at last night's meeting of Oriental's Town Board.

1. The town manager has advertised for two full time police positions for the town;
2. The town manager is interviewing applicants for a position as assistant clerk;
3. The town board approved the issuance of a special use permit to the Steamer restaurant to add gaming as a category of use, subject to keeping the front door closed and removing the sidewalk tables, in order to reduce noise in the neighborhood. Some board members and members of the public attempted to expand the discussion to the question of whether the Steamer should be allowed to remain open to serve liquor as late as 2:00 a.m. At least two commissioners thought that was too late and one has promised to introduce a measure that would close all bars in town at an earlier hour. The mayor rightly ruled that such a discussion was outside the scope of last night's public hearing, which was a quasi-judicial proceeding limited to the special use permit request.

In side discussions after the meeting, some observed that the town's requirement for two police officers is somewhat driven by the fact that Oriental is the only municipality in Pamlico County allowing sale of liquor by the drink.

Isn't Thanksgiving Over?

Another post from Making Light that I feel compelled to share. I think the insights can be recycled for those who have turkey for Christmas, also. This from November 24:

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving
Posted by Jim Macdonald at 10:38 AM * 42 comments Q. Why do turkeys go “gobble gobble”?
A. Because they have terrible table manners.
Q, What’s big and green and goes “gobble gobble”?
A. Turkeysaurus Rex
Q. What’s inside a genie’s turkey?
A. Three wishbones.
Q. How many cranberries grow on a bush?
A. All of them.
Q. Why did the turkey cross the road?
A. The chicken gets major holidays off.
Q. What happened when the turkey got into a fight?
A. He got the stuffing knocked out of him.
Q. What does Godzilla eat on Thanksgiving?
A. Squash.
Q. What do mathematicians do on Thanksgiving?
A. Count their blessings.
Q. What always comes at the end of Thanksgiving?
A. The letter G.

More on Coffee

Puritans usually believe what they learned as a child is the be all and end all of knowledge, or at least of right conduct. More open-minded people sometimes think out of the box.

When I was a child, coffee came already ground up, in a can that said "Folgers" or "Maxwell House" ("good to the last drop") or possibly even "Luzianne." That seemed meet and right to me.

I was twenty years old when I learned about grinding your own beans. I was a house guest of a Navy Commander and his wife, who had traveled the world. I visited them in Memphis, Tennessee, where they had the habit of grinding their beans fresh in the morning.

What a difference in flavor! I still put sugar in it, but I no longer added any dairy product. It was a year later before I abandoned sugar in my coffee, but once I experienced freshly ground beans, there was no going back.

Coffee: Part I

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

I Corinthians, 13:11 (King James Version)

I was about six years old when my grandmother gave me half a cup of milk, added some coffee and sweetening and let me drink the grown-up drink. The sweetening was saccharine - sugar was rationed and too precious to use in coffee or tea.

When I went off to sea a decade and a half later, the only thing I had to drink was coffee. It kept me awake on the bridge during the mid watch. I drank it any time of day or night. I would have a cup before going to bed and sleep like a log.

I had long since stopped putting milk in it, but I kept using sugar. I drank so much coffee, I got coffee nerves. A shipmate suggested I stop using sugar. I did. The coffee nerves went away.

I had finally put away childish things - at least concerning coffee.