One of my recent humanitarian trips involved enjoying meals in a military cafeteria. Their dining hall was decorated with old recruitment posters and other various ways the average American could help the war efforts. The posters ranged from the very early 1900s to the1990s. Some of the “food fight” posters caught my eye.
Most were on various ways to support war efforts from home and how food had a large roll 😉 to play in it. Times were tough in the early 1900s. Between the great depression and World War I & II the country turned to its citizens to help prevent famine.
I’ve ventured deep into the archives to find the best food themed wartime posters. Shout out to the University of North Texas, Northwestern University, and archives.gov for storing these public domain images
Make sure you flip through each slide show to see all 21 images.
Gardening became a way of life
Planting your own crops allows you to produce your own food without relying on others.
A large focus was placed on food preservation as well.
Canning and food preservation was also very important
It’s been pretty difficult to get canning supplies the last few years. Ways to preserve food were in high demand during the war, as well. Here are a few of the posters on food preservation.
I could get on board with this!
Butter was a food group!
Don’t forget to eat your donuts kids!
now that you have all that food, how will you prepare it?
Well, not everything has changed since the 1940s. Check out these food prep tips from the 1940s. It looks like milk spoiled if you left it on the counter too long back then too.
Food wasn’t the only thing they focused on saving
Gas, oil, rubber, and just about everything else needed to be saved. One less driving trip to town meant more fuel for the troops.
Now, where did I park my horse?
Even the president got involved
Is your family giving you a hard time about starting a garden? Remind them that even the United States President wants you to grow a garden! (In um… 1945) Thanks, President Truman!
Wrapping it up
The world was a very different place during the World Wars.
We can all hope and pray that things won’t require this level of action anytime soon. It’s really interesting to see what our ancestors did before us, though. If you enjoyed this, we’d love it if you share it with your friends.
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Some very cool posters you found!