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Pages of History
ryon The month of February 1946 opened with an unusual storm during the early morning hours of Tuesday, Feb. 5.
The storm began with a strong wind accompanied by a severe electrical storm that roused people out of bed. The cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning were accompanied by a torrential rain that flooded low-lying property. The rain then froze coating the roads, streets, and sidewalks with a sheet of ice before turning to snow that continued throughout much of the next day.
President Truman asked the American people to quit eating so much because food was needed to feed the starving people in Europe. While Americans were consuming around 3300 calories per day, millions of Europeans were getting by on less than 2000; some as little as 1000.
Syndicated columnist H.R. Baukhage wrote: “I find it hard to realize what I saw in war-wracked Europe is other than an ugly nightmare. I am stunned Americans, who are the most generous and kindly people in the world, are not willing and anxious to help rebuild what has been torn down.
“Last winter people died of exposure in their own homes in Paris. This winter will be worse. Trees have been cut down and burned for fuel, clothing has been worn out, bedding has been fashioned into crude garments, and flapping sheets of canvas which patched bomb holes in roofs have been shredded by the wind and sleet.“ Many American soldiers stationed in Europe were shocked by what they saw. In a letter published in the Laurel Advocate, Knud Larsen, who was stationed near Munich, wrote: “This is pretty country around here, but they really have had a taste of the bombs. I didn’t believe it was this bad until I saw it.“ Many Americans also found it hard to believe because they had been told that U.S. planes targeted only military installations.
Sgt. Vernon Johnson, who was stationed at Atsugi airfield in Japan, did not mention the destruction or perhaps he did not see it. He did comment on how backward Japan was. “Japan is about as modern as the U.S. was 25 years ago. Many people of all ages, including women, use their backs for carrying heavy loads.“ While the war ended 80 years ago, American forces still have not pulled out of Japan. Atsugi is the largest U.S Naval Air station in the Pacific. Wonder what Americans would think if the Japanese built an air base in Florida? Incidentally, a Marine Corps radar operator named Lee Harvey Oswald was stationed at Atsugi in 1957-8.
“Meat rationing may return,“ wrote Advocate Editor Allison, “and one of the wishy-washy excuses offered is that we have to divide up with the starving people of Europe.“ Allison said the real cause of the meat shortage was not the European situation, but rather all the strikes in the packing industry and the transportation industry. “There is no need to blame Europe for this mess,“ he wrote. President Truman declared meat a vital product for the maintenance of American strength. But when CIO packing house workers refused an order to go back to work, Truman ordered the seizure of plants operated by Swift, Armour, Cudahy, Wilson, Morrell, and others.
With tractors rapidly replacing horses on the farm, one might picture Old Dobbin enjoying his golden years grazing in a nice pasture. Actually nearly 80,000 retired work horses were sent to slaughterhouses in 1945 to provide meat for American tables. The reason was that beef and pork were rationed. Horsemeat was not.
Congressman Karl Stefan noted U.S. warehouses were filled with millions of bales of cotton but there was a shortage of cotton garments. Woolen goods also were hard to find. Stefan said many people believed clothing manufacturers were hoarding garments waiting for higher prices in the future.
There did not appear to be any shortage of booze. An analysis of Bureau of Internal Revenue statistics showed that a record $2.4 billion was collected from the sale of alcoholic beverages in 1945.
Bill Macklem was cited in Jimmie Fidler’s nationally-syndicated Hollywood gossip column. Fidler had been poking fun at the fancy outfits worn by movie cowboys and cited a letter he had received from William Macklem, “an 81-year-old former cow puncher from Laurel, Nebraska.”
Macklem wrote: “I was a cowboy in West Texas 60 years ago, and if one of those make-believe cowboys had dropped in on us, we would have drowned him in the Cimarron River — and if we hadn’t, the Longhorns would have stampeded and run him out of the country.”
Land prices had increased 50 percent in the war years from 1939 to 1945. Farms were getting larger while the number of farmers got smaller.
“Farm sales are the favorite pastime at the moment,” said the Advocate. Four sales were advertised in one issue of the Advocate and all of the sellers were quitting farming. Forrest Most was moving to California. Henry Janssen was moving to Laurel. John Boeshart and Elmer Erlandson did not reveal their plans. The Janssen farm on the highway north of town was purchased by a Ponca man named Ray Dickey.
“Come March 1 there is going to be a continuous round of moving,” said the Advocate. “And when it is over, there is going to be a lot of folks with no place to go. There are few houses for sale and no chance of new ones being erected in time. Of course there’s a park if you have a boat to reach it and there’s lots of room for tents, trailer houses, and anything else that can be put up on stilts.“ Spring cleaning was about to arrive and housewives were advised the War Assets Corporation had 434,000 army surplus washboards they wish to dispose of. Apparently the army wasn’t just buying jeeps, tanks, and guns during the war.
Brookley Electric advertised they would rent Westinghouse vacuum cleaners at $1 for eight hourss. The era of pesky door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen soon would be on the way out.
