Home Fires Burning : In Their Words : mnhs.org

War seemed like a distant possibility to most Americans, with battles fought by other countries in far-off, foreign-sounding places, until Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. As millions of young men mobilized for war, those on the home front began to experience sweeping changes that would dramatically impact daily life. "Remember Pearl Harbor!" became a rallying cry as the country pulled together in an unprecedented display of patriotism to win the war and preserve precious freedoms.

The Minnesota Office of Civilian Defense recruited Wardens to patrol neighborhoods and help to prepare citizens for possible enemy attack. The Wardens oversaw blackout and air raid drills, instructed the public on emergency procedures in the event of a gas attack, helped people to plan Victory Gardens, promoted nutrition and physical fitness as weapons of war, handled emergency manpower needs, and provided information about rationing.

As military demand for food and materials grew, shortages in the land of plenty became a way of life. Rationing on foodstuffs was first imposed in 1942, closely followed by shoes, rubber, gasoline, and other non-food commodities. Each member of every family received a ration book, which dictated how much of a given commodity could be purchased, and the number of ration stamps or tokens required. Americans of all ages salvaged paper, cooking fats and rubber, and participated in scrap drives for aluminum, tin, and other metals that could be recycled into war materiel. Families planted large Victory Gardens to supply their tables with homegrown fruits and vegetables to supplement rations.

As more and more men entered the armed forces, the face of the American workforce also changed. Encouraged by the War Manpower Commission's propaganda and lured by good wages, women began to take on job responsibilities in business and industry that had been closed to them in peacetime. Many took jobs in shipyards and defense plants, helping to produce battleships, aircraft, vehicles, weapons, ammunition, and other items needed for the war effort, and "Rosie the Riveter" became an iconic image of wartime propaganda. Others helped out in the private sector, taking on such jobs as streetcar "motorettes," factory workers, and farm laborers.

Bond drives – advertised as "War" bonds, then "Victory" bonds – offered Americans a way to save money while actively supporting the war effort. Wage earners could purchase them through payroll deduction at work, and even children put their pennies toward bonds at school by buying war savings stamps.

Families gathered around radios to listen to the latest news from the fronts. Those with loved ones serving abroad wrote volumes of letters, and proudly displayed service flags in the windows of their homes, all the while dreading the delivery of a War Department telegram that would turn the flag's blue stars to gold.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

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