Because World War II ended when I was in the second grade, I was too young to remember much about it. I do remember, though, that when my sister was born in 1942, our family qualified for additional ration books and stamps. Thanks, Linda. I remember also that when the war ended some of my neighborhood friends were excited because they knew that they would soon be able to get blue jeans and bubble gum. But because I didn’t have older siblings to tell me about such luxuries, I wondered what the big deal was.
And then I recall that when the Korean War began five years later, my mom bought a 10-pound bag of sugar and hid it in a cold air duct. She just wanted to be sure that when the anticipated shortages and rationing began she wouldn’t be caught short.
Now when I see empty toilet paper aisles in the stores, I wonder if rationing might not have been such a bad idea after all. I’m sure there are folks out there who have their basements filled with TP. And I bet it won’t be long before they will try to sell it for $5 a roll. But then maybe see a car with a trunk full of toilet paper and a for sale sign on it. That’ll be when World War III begins — right here in Allen County, Ohio.
Tongue in Cheek – I guess,
Jacob Early, Cairo
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
