The Memories Keep Coming In

Memories from the History Harvest:

This summer, the staff of The National WWII Museum have been working to reinvigorate and expand our Kitchen Memories project. Through our public outreach program and collections drive, referred to as a History Harvest, we have been able to collect several new stories and memories having to do with rationing, cooking, and food in general during WWII! The following stories were submitted by Candy Adams of Defiance, OH during the June 16^th History Harvest at the Museum. Ms. Adams recounted the stories she heard from her parents who lived during WWII.

The Cat Sneezed in the Butter:

“While Dad was stationed in Norfolk, VA during WWII, my mom managed an apartment building that housed officers. They often hosted pot-luck dinners and one lady brought a cake, with the disclaimer, “The cat sneezed in the butter so I baked a cake.” She didn’t want to waste and thought baking would kill the germs!”

The Bird Colonel:

“My father served as an Army officer on the Navy base at Norfolk. His “real” job was to distribute V-disks (Victory Disk = record of the popular big bands) to Canteens and USOs. But the word got out that Dad was raised in Ohio and knew about everything about chickens since his mother owned a chicken hatchery in Defiance, OH. So, orders came down from a General that he wanted Dad to build his wife a chicken coop. He did and his mom put boxes of chicks on the B & O Railroad from Defiance to Norfolk. Dad helped this General’s wife raise the chicks (often getting middle of the night calls if a predator got into the hen house or if the chickens got sick). Since having their own stock of chickens gave her the ability to entertain more often (without using her meat ration coupons), other officers’ wives got on the bandwagon and got their husbands to commandeer Dad to build them chicken coops and stock them with chicks. His nickname became “The Bird Colonel.””

Keep an eye out for the Kitchen Memories booth in the Museum’s Louisiana Memorial Pavilion if you would like to share your stories, memories, or artifacts. We will be conducting History Harvests on alternating Friday and Saturday mornings. The next one will be Friday, June 29th from 9-11:30am.

You can also share your stories, memories, pictures, recipes, etc. on our Kitchen Memories site today!

Post by Anna Wysuph, Education Intern at The National WWII Museum