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The World Wars - Our Memories
Below are scanned photos of something I’ve carried around with my belongings for years. Some of us in our now in our late 60's remember little of the World War II. I remember my grandmother and parents discussing the war after they listened to the morning and evening radio broadcasts... broadcasts conducted by Edward R. Morrow, Vadeboncour, Lowell Thomas -- among the many. Once as a child living on what was called the Old Military Road by some, presently Evans Road in the Town of Hounsfield, I remember the blackout sirens, either from Dexter or Brownville, and even once I remember seeing a military contingent travel by our farmhouse, going from Sackets Harbor to Pine Camp via the Old Military Road (which disputedly was the name of the road we lived on). Certainly, that was a most memorable and frightening event for little girl. Scared me nearly to death!
I recall the ladies of our household making fruitcakes along about October. The cakes were packed up in coffee cans and sent to the many soldiers they knew from the neighborhood or church. And, as I've mentioned in the forewords to the diaries I've posted, hundreds of cards and letters went out from our rural mailbox.
When the soldiers came home on furlough, they were sure to visit my grandmother and my parents, sometimes staying for supper. They were always welcome. The shy, little girl of the household, sat listening in awe. Of course, at 5 or 6 years of age, I wasn't the cute little 3 year old they remembered when they went off to war. I remember being treated differently and that sometimes made me sad. There was a new baby in the household by then and sentiments and life had changed.
December 26, 2004: I just received a letter from the son of one of these World War II soldiers who spent much of his youth at the Conklin Farm and who corresponded throughout the War (II) with my family. It was nice to become acquainted via E-Mail with Terry Schweitzer and two of his sisters, Sue Arnold and Lori Smith. They tell me they also have a brother, Greg. My grandmother's diaries speak of their Dad. I happened to remember a photo taken on an occasion when their Dad visited us on furlough. The photo is indicative of our primitive ways in those days, but the children were pleased to see it. Click here. The little girl is yours truly, Dad and Mom on the porch swing, along with their honorable visitor, George Schweitzer. I was really pleased to correspond with the now deceased soldier's children. Terry wrote that his father landed in Morroco, went through Sicily and ended up getting wounded on the Normandy beach during D-Day and was then sent home.
And how many of you can remember the day when World War II ended? How many of you took a trip into the city to experience the hype. I do remember that. We parked our car just west of the County Orphanage on Court/Coffeen St. This was a very exciting night. It was a bit dangerous to be out among the throngs of people that night. My brothers asked permission to stay in town for a few more hours. Oh, how my mother worried about those two boys.
Now to the item I’ve carried around for so many years. It was called a ration book and, frankly, I know little about rationing except that some items were hard to come by in 1943. I believe what I’ve scanned and shown below is a ration book for shoes because I notice the “Size 12” on the front of the booklet. I have no idea how frequently these books were released, nor for how long they were valid. However, the book I own has most of the stamps still intact. We had Canadian relatives in Gananoque, Ontario, Canada -- just across the St. Lawrence River from Jefferson County, N. Y. where we lived.
About twice a year, we’d hop into my Dad’s 1937 Ford and pay a visit. Lordy, how I hated those trips -- I’d get carsick before we got to LaFargeville (12 miles away). Those few miles appeared longer to me as a carsick kid than going from Ohio to California now. I think my parents bought our shoes in Canada -- real leather shoes, which, for some reason were plentiful in Canada. This may account for the fact that my stamps weren’t used up. I think there may have been other products for which these ration stamps were needed -- perhaps sugar and coffee. Maybe someone can tell me more about these rationbooks. Would love to hear from you.
Please check out my new section called My Readers Remember. The first item contains a very comprehensive letter from a reader about the rationing era! It's a Must Read!!
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