Victory Gardens and Comic Books

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

The Interviewee

• For the Oral History Project, our group interviewed a woman by the name of Ms. P.
•  Ms. P was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Ms. Pwas two years old when World War II began
• Ms. P moved to and spent most of her childhood in San Francisco, California
• She had two other siblings and was married at 19
• Ms. P’s father worked at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, worked nights at a mortuary and was a TA at the University of Berkley in English Literature
• Ms. P’s mother worked at the administration office at the University of Berkley and also cleaned factory offices

Contextual Research

•  World War II began in 1939, due to Hitler's invasion of Poland and Britain and France’s declaration of war on Germany.
• In 1941 the United States joined the war due to Japan’s attack of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
•  Sparked naval battles between Japan and the U.S. i.e. Battle of Midway
•  1941 Nazi Germany and its Axis Powers declared war on the U.S.
• Allied Powers: Britain, France, the U.S. and the Soviet Union
• Axis Powers: Germany, Italy and Japan
• 1944 German defeat at the Battle of the Bulge and D-Day (Allied invasion of France)
• May 7 1945 Germany surrenders to the western Allies
•  August 6^th and August 9^th1945 the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• September 2 1945 Japan surrenders officially ending the war
• 1945 Auschwitz is liberated by troops of the Soviet Union
• It is estimated that more than 55 million people died during World War II

What We Learned

Throughout the interviewing process, we learned about the importance of victory gardens in World War II.

•          Victory gardens which particularly popular in San Francisco, where our interviewee was from. 
•      Victory Gardens were planted by families to prevent food shortage and to ensure that there would be enough food for the soldiers. 
•      At the time, many had to ration foods like sugar, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, coffee, meat and canned goods

In the interview with Ms. P, we learned about the role of war bonds in World War II.

•      War bonds were established to help fund the war.
•      The government encouraged citizens to buy war bonds and in return the government promised to pay the bonds back with interest over the period of roughly 10 years.
•      War bonds were bought by purchasing stamps that were usually 10 to 15 cents each.
•      As Ms. P described one of her memorable childhood experiences, she stated, “We all bought our stamps and pasted them in the books and filled them up and turned them in. ”

Rosie the Riveter

•     Rosie the Riveter was a cultural icon, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II
•     Rosie the Riveter is based upon an actual song and person

•      Perry described Rose as “[the symbol] of women stepping in to do what was necessary to keep the home front going and to keep the war machine going.”

Entertainment of the 1940’s:

•      World War II proved to be the Golden Age of Comics
•      Comic books during the Great Depression and World War II were established for cheap entertainment for only 10 cents. Comic books like Captain America and other Heroic Comics showed a lot of tension between America and The Nazi’s.
•      Captain America and other characters were inspirational characters that instilled hope and perseverance in the people of the U.S. states. When the characters were up against Hitler they never lost a battle showing that America can never be defeated.
•         Perry recalled attending the cinema’s once a week for 11 cents on Saturdays.
•          In addition, Perry recalled that one could only “eat one piece of bubble gum at the corner store because there wasn’t sugar being wasted on nonsense in those days.”
•      Cartoons became a big sensation during World War II
•          In 1942 Navy torpedo boats were being launched, Lieutenant E. S. Caldwell of the Naval Operations office in Washington, wrote a letter to Walt Disney in Hollywood asking Disney to design an emblem for their fleet “mosquito boats” A few days later Disney delivered this emblem and it was such a hit that every torpedo boat had a Disney mosquito, word got around in the Army about what Disney did, Disney was bombarded with requests
•        There are many major cartoons that are known today that were involved in WWII: Dr. Seuss and Loony Toons.
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•         Looney Tunes were a big hit during World War II. Bugs Bunny was the mascot for Warner Brothers. Bugs played in a lot of episodes imitating Adolf Hitler. A lot of the Looney Tunes cartoons were banned and could not stay on the air.

 Radio was a primary source of entertainment for Ms. P

•       Ms. P recalls learning to fox trot with her father to “The Way You Look Tonight” on the radio
•      Songs that Ms. P mentioned included:
•      Mairzy Doats: “Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey, a kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?”
•      Bell Bottom Trousers: when the sailors came to town everyone sang this jingle
•       “Bell bottom trousers, coats of navy blue, she loves her sailor and he loves her too.”
•          Bing Crosby was an important singer and actor of the 1940’s
•          Bette Davis was a renowned actress of film, television and theater, known for her roles as an unsympathetic character.
•          Betty Grable was known for her pin-up shots and appearance in magazine covers.

The End of World War II:

•           At the end of World War II, Perry described that “Everybody in the whole neighborhood went out in the streets laughing and crying. And they were so happy the war was over. That was an interesting experience that was the first time I saw people pouring out of their houses with this kind of open emotion. You know, because people more or less stayed in their own yards, in their own houses the rest of the time.”

The Rise of the Great Depression:

•           Mobilizing the economy for World War II provided a helpful solution to the Depression. Millions of men and women joined the armed forces and others went to work in well-paying defense jobs.
•      As Ms. P recalls the effect of World War II on the Great Depression, she states, “the whole country came out of a serious Depression, Roosevelt was doing his best to fight with….and you know the work programs he did a lot of good, but it was really the war, the industry, the steel mills, you know that helped bring the economy of the country back.”

Conclusion

•          World War Two profoundly affected the world and the U.S. and still continues to influence us today in that this past historical event can provide a glimpse of what our future could look like or rather what we can prevent in the future.
•      This Oral History Project allowed us all to delve beyond factual information previously learned in high school and middle school and learn about the intimate relationships and characteristics revolving around those who lived during World War II.