American Home Front

Men and Women during the Great Emergency

Urgent demands of World War II swept millions away from their regular rigors of peacetime work. Life in the Home Front was no picnic.

Scarcities and changes appeared. This was an emergency. The following is about a world some 75-80 years ago, when the two greatest industries of the time were ship building and the aircraft industry, for as mentioned in volume two of Valentine's series A Toast For You and Me, whatever you build, if it can't get over there, what's the point? Also, before 1945, one must be reminded, there existed no nuclear bombs or nuclear radiation.

The majority of people in the United States lived in cramped quarters—those owning homes found themselves renting a room or two to war workers or servicemen—worked extremely long hours, and stood in line to buy what they needed at “undermanned” and often under stocked stores. And, yet, what was produced was awesome. Sixty-five per cent more factory workers turned out more than double the amount of pre-war manufactures.

The so-called arsenal of democracy of planes and ships and myriad things that roll or shoot or move, brings one to focus on a world that from its beginnings may seem a little thing but, made all those impressive stats work: the drama of the machine tool industry was heralded by the hope and the persistence of individuals who honestly believed it was their hearts and minds that what they could accomplish, could bring important changes to the world.

When it started, say 1940, the miracle of production was not so great. For example, in 1940, the American industry produced 6,019 military aircraft for the U.S. Army and Navy. [The air force in WW II was integrated in the army.]

Other nations outproduced us. The United Kingdom produced 15,049 military aircraft in 1940; Germany 10,826 the same year. At that time, even though the growth was large, compared to the first year of World War Two, it was marginal when compared to other nations and to what the American people did in 1942-1945. [You know, I am tempted to state something on a different topic. In a modern world that was swamped by COVID-19, during the first few weeks of the pandemic, things were not only dismal in terms of preparation, it stinked, both in terms of healing those infected with the virus and the production of very important items, like ventilators and masks. However, people became ingenious and stories of what people did regards production items hit the news like wildfire and we all saw how things changed. We were able to see what common Americans could do when they put their hearts and minds to action. The months of 2020-2021 were a unique period in history and many of you livied it.] Nevertheless, the principle of putting our hearts and minds to action is a theme of what WW II stands. Were it not for the engineering and coordination of the machine tool industry coupled with all its anciliaries and the people themselves, the 19,433 production of airplanes of 1941, valued near $1.8 billion, would not have been seen . . . and that was only the start of something big.

The key to victory were the people. The acceleration, the dedication and loyalty on and to the job was a key ingredient. In the series of author Valentine's books, one learns about the tremendous expansion of the machine tool industry, as well as other branches of production.

Roosevelt's administration from the first year of industrial mobilization to 1943, spent millions on designing and building special tools to do particular jobs. Machines to make machines were steadily improved and special ones to accomplish the vital purposes were designed. One vital part was to increase worker's efficiency and productivity. Secondly, new tools were made for women to perform heavy operations with a minimum of exertion. The number of women in industry shot up to 18,240,000, and they literally had the right tools for the right job. From July 1, 1940, to August 15, 1945, a total of $4,315,079,000 in machine tools was delivered to war industry.

While there were no hardships in the United States, or all of the Americas, to compare with those of the rest of the world or of the armed forces, there was a genuine self-denial of accustomed habits. An excellent source material on all these topics is found in A Toast For You and Me, America's Participation, Sacrifice and Victory by our author Mr. Valentine; specifically vol. #2 on 1942—the rest of the war years are forthcoming.

In short, the most widespread form of these was rationing of scarce foods and supplies. Rationing was handled by the Office of Price Administration. Rationing commenced with sugar, then coffee, then meat, canned goods and fuel oil. Things got so critical, OPA even found it necessary to add shoes to the list of scarce articles. By 1943, gasoline and rubber, especially rubber tires, became rationed; the OPA also functioned as a price control authority, establishing ceilings on consumer commodities as well as rent.

Oil and synthetic rubbers in WW II

The Allies, fortunately, possessed vast supplies of oil throughout the war, and the chief problem was that of transporting it to the fighting front. Japan had no shortage supply until 1945; Germany had an inadequate supply, but compensated by Ploesti (an oil plant that was deep in Rumania which was first hit in August of 1943, but not knocked out til 1944), and by production of large-scale production of synthetics from lignite and coal.

Oil is the lifeblood of any modern industrialized society if you think about it, and it was also the lifeblood of mechanized war. In 1940, the Axis controlled 146,050,000 barrels of oil produced during the year; the Allies controlled 2,003,328,000. By 1942, petroleum production available to the Axis plummeted to 68,200,000, while United States production of 1,385,000,000 barrels accounted for 69 per cent of the world’s total of 2,043,600,000 barrels.

In many areas, especially during 1943-1944, there were acute shortages, especially in the area of petroleum when U-boats were still enjoying a good time blowing up Allied shipping. So, the "Big Inch" project was completed to alleviate the losses of oil at sea. The Big Inch were two petroleum pipelines that carried oil from the East Texas oilfields to the East Coast. The accomplishment was an amazing example of Government-oil-industry cooperation achievement. Maintaining the flow of oil was crucial. The construction funds were channeled through the Defense Plants Corporation, a subsidiary of the RFC. It was managed and run by the War Emergency Pipelines, Inc. It even had a provision in its charter that prohibited its stock holders from making any profits.

Not many people know that oil turns into rubber, and that huge plants near the Gulf were critical in the production of synthetic rubber from the principal components of butadiene and styrene. The petroleum industry met America’s essential civilian needs, providing 75% of the raw material for the production of synthetic rubber—which by 1943 reached 800,000 tons.

Five synthetic rubbers had been developed by the middle of World War II: Butyl, Neoprene, Thiokol, buna and buna S.

To a large extent, they could be manufactured out of such varying materials as coal, salt, petroleum, limestone and even water. The people of the United States expanded her manufacture of synthetic rubber, particularly buna S, under the American Synthetic Rubber Research Program. (At the bottom to this link is a nice series of illustrations in color how that was done.) With rubber scarce—it took 1,250,000 pounds to equip one B-17—Americans turned in old tires and other rubber articles in special collected drives for Uncle Sam.

Sometimes, however, scrap rubber would be unsuitable for industry needs, because unfortunately, the rubber had been “reclaimed” before. SO, the production of rubber became very important. With the Allied troops on the other side of the world having enough, civilian supplies were curtailed considerably. More than any prior conflict in history, World War II was a home front war.

Of the greatest contribution to the war’s home front, the participation by the American woman would be no doubt the most.

Characteristic of the home front by 1943, moreover, would be the improving acceleration of the war plants, rationing techniques, the combined variety of the war-workers and most important, their diligence in their hard-work ethic, and their mobility. Speed held a top priority.

Industrial Employment

Shortages were acute and often unpredictable as emphasis in production shifted from one weapon to another with the progress of war.

To meet the emergency, many different ways of life were changed. The War Manpower Commission (this was its title) and its subsidiaries, imposed curbs on job shifting, and these were tied into the Selection Service System. From nineteen forty-two onward, America’s factories worked on day, night and graveyard shifts: 24 hours non-stop. The story of change in industrial factories explained to a civilian audience in 1944 that there was a lot to learn.

In my forthcoming book, I will not only tell you about the so-called miracle of production, but the varied little things that kept people from going cuckoo. (Have you ever worked on overtime for some period of time? Working on a job to an excessive degree can drive you crazy.)

More than 22 billion dollars alone were expended for expansion of industrial facilities—of this total about eight billion were privately owned with the remaining larger sum coming from government expenditures. U.S. workers’ hours rose from an average of 37.4 per week to 45.4, and even so, many worked longer hours in critical fields; weekly earnings naturally increased.

Thousands trekked across the country; in fact, 15 million by wars end packed their bags and moved by crowded train, bus or car from places such as New York, Tennessee and little New England to coast cities, like San Diego or Seattle or Huntsville, Alabama, and newly formed strategic sites. Link to railroads at war. From the small to the big. Rain or shine, an estimated 30-40 million people left their homes and pre-war jobs and schools for work in unfamiliar states and cities and places. The theme of unity really was not enough. What gave the extra kick was how unity transcended. The end result? simple: an epic shift in world order. Yet, before reaching it, unity faced a transformation that kindled the flames of doing something meaningful for week after week, month after month! A national heartbeat evolved that became the unity of purpose on the American Home Front. That was the key; not just a theme with the word unity. It was the unity of purpose. A gallery of information on the Home Front can be found at this link, which is titled The Arsenal of Democracy, from The National WWII Museum's official website, showcasing the Museum's newest permanent exhibit. A film for Home Front audiences on Fortress Europe.

Can you believe it? but in the last year of war (1945) the number of teens in school decreased by 1.2 million as they too were swept up in job employment. That is a little known fact.

More Emergency Facts

No single product was put to more universal or diversified use in the World War than steel, and that came out of huge furnaces.

Huge guns of warships, and ad infinitum were made of steel. New types of steel were developed, including a special family of alloys called national emergency steels. Pennies were not made of copper but were made of this national emergency steel. It has been estimated that for every American soldier in the war, it required a fabrication and delivery of five tons of metal to make him an effective fighting person.

Aluminum was another vital war material.

More than 825,000 metric tons were processed in the United States. While people remember the Academy Award movie Casablanca and the Technicolor cartoon Education for Death, The Making of the Nazi, released by Walt Disney and RKO Radio Pictures, both in 1943, Housewives (or homemakers), in providing quantity for production, gave up their pots and pans to the tune of 11,173,979 pounds in 1943. Toward the end of 1943, moreover, the capacity of primary aluminum plants in the U.S. was 1,000,000 short tons a year, a remarkable aggregate.

In 1943, American production of aluminum forgings was forty-five times as great as in 1939; tubing, thirteen times; rod and wire, twelve times; aluminum sheets, seven times. Huge generating plants of the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) supplied the great amounts of electric power required to obtain aluminum from bauxite. The shipshaw hydroelectric development was another complex serving the process for aluminum in the war, at Arvida, Quebec, our Canadian neighbor.

Direction of household scrap paper into proper collection channels was the work of some 17,000 volunteer committees affiliated with local CD Councils. More than a million salvage volunteers reached eight million homes. By March 1943, some 200 foods were rationed, items like dried fruits and vegetables, meat, butter, all canned and frozen foods, fish and cheese. The Second World War forced people to rely upon themselves, whether they liked it or not.

Adventuring American imagination grasped new ways.

People learned to heat homes with kindling and logs; learned how to salvage fat; learned to fix plumbing, learned to fix their own or their neighbor's automobiles. rode more bikes than automobiles; incidentally, a gallon of gas cost 15 cents. The American public wrote letters instead of phoning; found out how to read public transportation time-tables and schedules; learned how to sharpen knives and scissors instead of just buying a new set; tried to make-do without radio music; just to name a few of the little things. Press arrow for a short clip of Dinah Shore singing America the Beautiful.

V-gardens

There was also the victory garden task which you could say was really a campaign of sorts.

Nationwide, V-gardens were common indeed. Intended as supplementary substance, the American public responded overwhelmingly.

People grew their own fresh fruits and vegetables to the tune of 20 million (20.5 to be exact) Victory gardens in 1943 alone. They were all over the place, from homes with big back yards to apartments.

An estimated forty-two percent of all vegetables consumed fresh were from Victory Gardens. In the following year a total of 3,400,000,000 quarts of vegetables and fruits were canned at home.

One major reason in making vegetables and fruits top choice to diet was to offset the loss of other foods, especially beef. Examples of food which were common no longer, were most especially bacon and eggs, butter, coffee, European wines, luncheons like salami and frankfurters, hamburger and steak.

Where did it go?—mostly, to the Services and overseas via Lend-Lease. You had millions of people that were in need, and many young people today forget that. Perhaps, they think that America was only into the realm of gun, airplane, tank and ship production.

Prodigious numbers of guns, planes, tanks, shells, trucks and jeeps, balloons, aircraft carriers, and myriad other tangibles of modern warfare were indeed made however, no doubt important. They were needed to supply the fighting forces of our own country and those of our allies.

Labor and industry, like commerce and government, was brought face to face with unprecedented responsibilities and tasks, and production was the key problem. Everything had to be delivered right away and correctly; and all this needed people to make’ em, inspect’em, ship’em—for our two ocean fronts.

World War II was a Home Front War. Civilians in all lands worked as vital auxiliaries of troops in battle. The factories. The fields. The kitchens and Red Cross depots. Men and women all over the world fought the war, thought about the war, lived the war.

The war, in all its kaleidoscopic themes lasted until 1945. A few were unique in Europe: the midnight Gestapo raid, the concentration camp horror, the Russian Soviet women who fought in their frontlines, and just as easily lost arms and eyes, and had their legs torn apart by gun-shrapnel. World War Two was no subjective thing in the mind. All this and in people’s minds, it was not over til it was finally over. It was very real some 80 years ago. It would have most probably been a longer world war had not the determination, self-sacrifice of many people, besides prayer, been accomplished. One must remember, in many Allied lands, civilian casualties ranked with those of the military; but the U.S. was spared.

Below is an interesting bit of history. A new housing complex was dedicated in Washington DC in Oct of ’43, called Arlington Farms. Nothing to do with farms, they were temporary housing for wartime workers; single and double workers—pretty famous in 1944-45; 40% housed WAVES, 60% government employees. Nicknamed "Girl Town." Perspective captions: reading paper outside Idaho Hall, Girls Town; time for a refreshing drink; and time for looking for a date.

Reading paper outside Idaho Hall, Girl T

Time for a refreshing soda Girls Town.jp

Side to side, north to south, east to west prodigious numbers of Americans,

men and women, were to leave the home front, the avenues of safe cities, bustle of many factories, the shows and theaters, the serenade of a moonlit night toward myriad destinies of a daunting world war all over the world. It could be the mysterious Far East, the perils of a European front, toward the sands of some beach or North Africa, or soar above the Alps or the Himalayas.

World War Two was no subjective thing in the mind. (Scenes below.) Boat yard at Alameda, California March 22, 1944. In b-w, from the bow of the USS Wisconsin looking at the stern of the hospital ship Bountiful sailing back to America. A pose of women volunteers, the splendor of Home Front in rare color. Launching at a shipyard, coincides with the ship's christening, and the ship enters the water for the first time. Myriad avenues of travel, from truckloads to gangplanks to a steamed streamliner of a very real world some 80 years ago.