Your Grandma [Helen] was an excellent baker. Her pie crusts, made with lard, were great. After WWII she purchased lard several times and it was terrible, so she started to use Spry (we preferred it instead of Crisco). It took her quite a while to get adjusted to the use of Spry in making pie crusts, but she mastered it!
During WWII our upstairs neighbor, Mrs. Young, was preparing a meal with her pressure cooker. Something went wrong and the cover blew through the kitchen ceiling and the pot dropped to the bottom of the stove; of course, making a big hole. She had to get a permit or whatever they called it, from the rationing board to get a new stove. Luckily no one was hurt.
We had ration books for meat, canned food, butter and dairy products. Each family had so many stamps per month.
Clothing (that is, decent clothing) was hard to get. We had to wear lisle stockings (saved our nylon’s for “good”). They were heavy stockings and wrinkled badly. Some dresses and blouses were made of rayon material, which was of very poor quality. Even today I cannot buy the rayon, thinking how awful it was back then!
When the war ended, we all went down to Gratiot and Sheridan and everybody was happy and kissing anyone near them.
Right after WWII, our landlord sold the home we were renting and we had to move. Housing was very difficult to find and with Grandpa not working, it was more difficult.
During World War II your dad [Edward] wanted to join the Marines; but because of his age he had to have Grandpa’s [Florent’s] signature, which Grandpa would not do. In 1945 your dad was inducted into the US Army and served one year in the Philippines. Remember your dad telling the story of a sergeant throwing a book at your dad, saying “Keep this machine running.”
After getting out of the service Ed got a job at the factory at Chrysler’s. He wanted to get a car; much to the chagrin of Grandma [Helen], Grandpa and me [Dorothy], he bought an 8 passenger Chrysler to $850. A real gas guzzler! Sold it soon after your mom [Lorianne] and dad were married. Can remember the story of your mom having to push this monster of a car when it got stuck in the snow in Connecticut.