Last time you talked about shortages during the war.
Right. And because of the shortages, we did a lot of recycling. Except that back then they called it salvaging. And we Boy Scouts helped out.
Who is “we”?
Oh. Two of my friends and I did it. George E. and Jack B. We had joined the Boy Scouts at age 12. Just after the war started. Hey, I even have a photo of the three of us in uniform.
That’s us. From left to right. George, Jack, and me. It’s one of those frowned-upon “firing squad” photos. But, at age 12, what did we know about photography?
It’s still nice to have.
Yep. Sure is. But, anyway, back to the recycling. Or salvaging. So much material was going into the war effort that we salvaged as much as we could. There were even designated places to bring the materials.
So we three went through the neighborhood with wagons and asked people if they had any scrap materials for salvaging. And there were a lot of posters aroind to encourage it.
One of the most important was scrap metal. As in tin cans. Of course, they’re actually steel cans with a tin coating. But, I guess, “tin can” has become a part of our vocabulary.
Another material needed in the war was paper. For packaging, for instance.
And there was rubber. So we collected old tires too. Those that were beyond hope of retreading.
And then there was one kitchen waste that was needed. Fats.
Somehow they were used to make explosives. So we were urged to save, for instance, the fat that came from cooked meat.
We would pour it into a tin can and refrigerate it until we could collect it.
We’re urged to do that even today. Especially in the winter.
Right. So that it doesn’t congeal in our drainpipes.
So I guess you did quite a bit of salvaging back then.
Right. Today it’s called recycling. But we did it then, and we helped win the war.
I think that’s all I have to say about the war effort. Next time I’ll say a little more about what we Boy Scouts did.
Okay. See you then.