Military & Wars
In the early 1940s there was a shortage of farm workers and many people stated that replacing these workers was hard to do. Thousands of our men took jobs in shipyards and airplane factories thinking they could be exempt from going to war and seek deferment because...
Military & Wars
In 1943, women on 175 Daviess County farms were doing more work than ever. Many were going to work in the fields in addition to carrying on what had always been the women’s share of the farm work such as milking, taking care of the chickens and gardening. They...
Military & Wars
In 1943, shoes were rationed and had to be purchased with ration stamps. However, in order for the merchants to rid some of their odd and end pairs, a “shoe holiday” was established which lasted for two weeks from July 19 to July 31. Some of its...
Military & Wars
In March 1942, the armed forces and the fighting allies were using about one-fourth of all the meat our country produced. Rationing became necessary on the home front. Civilians would have available only a little more than half of the amount they had consumed in...
Military & Wars
In December, 1942, while World War II was being fought, Gallatin was literally in the dark. For 20 minutes there wasn’t a light to be seen. There were no car lights and cars were parked along the roadside because the drivers couldn’t see to drive. There...
Military & Wars
In 1942, there was a big demand for scrap metal materials for the fighting of World War II. On Oct. 9, 1942, there was big scrap metal drive in Daviess County. It was estimated that 1.5 million tons of scrap lay useless on U.S. farms. Enough to build 139 modern...
Military & Wars
During World War II the government’s demand for rubber to use almost exclusively for defense purposes caused the need to ration tires on the home front. The Office of Price Administration (OPA) in Washington D.C. regulated the quota and the rules for tires and...
Military & Wars
Just as the sugar rationing was being put in effect in 1942 during the war years, Daviess County had taken steps to prepare to hand out ration stamps and ration sugar when they got the “go” orders. The supplies for the rationing were locked in a vault in...
Military & Wars
In the early 1940s, cars were coming on the scene and gas was utilized more and more. However, due to World War II, the military’s demand for gas caused a shortage on the home front. Gas companies were drawing on their reserves and using the oil faster than they...
Military & Wars
Not knowing that the “Day of Infamy” was just around the corner, Arthur Douglas, Daviess County’s first Negro draftee, reported at Ft. Leavenworth this week (March 13, 1941) for a year’s military service under the Selective Service Act. Why...