Written by the public and gathered by the BBC

A selection of letters:

Edinburgh allotments
By Elizabeth Gray

At the beginning of the war I was registered as a botanist at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens.

I was enlisted as a gardens allotment volunteer and would go round advising people how to grow food. The same thing happened in the 1914-18 war. Ground was dug up and made into allotments at Blackford hill and Inverleith Park and round about the Meadows in the heart of Edinburgh.

Most folk in Edinburgh weren’t gardeners and we showed them what to do. There was a limited number of seeds and plants and I used to take some seed from my own garden to give to people.

To get a plot people had to apply to the headquarters at St Andrews House.
Supplies of grass seed dried up at that time completely. It was used up to sow runways all over the place.

In 1943 I went to Aberdeen and was a pioneer in working out how to store potatoes indoors because there was no wheat so there was no straw.

Link here.

Dig for Victory.
By Dr. Colin Pounder

One major ploy of the enemy was to starve the population and U boat attacks on the Merchant Fleet were horrendous. As elsewhere Cotmanhay had allotments on which we grew our own food. This was called the Dig for Victory Campaign. At the top of Wesley Street across to Ash Street were allotments. Just below where Truman Street joins Bridge Street was a shop and nearer the bridge an old Smithy (With all the Blacksmiths forge and bellows). Between the Smithy and the Laundry was a track leading to allotments which reached from behind the Bridge Inn to those reached from Richmond Avenue. These latter were bounded by Bennerley Rec. Most are now the schools playing field. Potatoes were a staple crop along with cabbage and peas, rhubarb, celery, lettuce, runner beans, black currants, leeks and one year my Dad grew something called sweet corn which everybody watched come to fruition – though it tasted nice it was eaten with some suspicion because we hadn’t a clue what it really was. Each year the mayor or some such character came to judge the efforts of men who worked, fire-watched, and Dug for Victory. Prizes I cannot recall but Dad had several red 1st prize cards and we got something to eat of course.

Various livestock had always been kept in the back gardens to provide eggs and a cockerel for Christmas – though the murder, feather plucking and disembowelment of one of my friends leaned me heavily towards vegetarianism at an early age! It is not that people were cruel necessity demanded it. We also had a pig but the end of her I leave to the imagination. Apart from some ancient fantail pigeons my favourites were Banties (Bantams). Each day I went to the top of the garden with my Mam to feed them in their wired run. On Wesley Street a telegraph post stood next to the first houses above Len James` garage. Wires from it crossed the end of our garden to a post in a garden of a house on Milton Street and from that post to one in Milton Street itself. I remember it was a bright sunny day and Mam was throwing feed to the black bantams strutting and clucking in their run. I cannot accurately describe the noise, a kind of scream combined with a monstrous roar and a German plane just cleared the top of the house, went overhead and out of sight over the houses in Wesley Street. Immediately afterwards was a high pitched screaming roar as a British fighter plane came after it.

In my memory is the sound, the dark shapes, the panic stricken cackle of the bantams hurtling themselves upwards and my Mam clutching my shoulders. It was a moment of total and absolute terror in which we were powerless. Later Mam told Dad, Grandma and her brothers that both planes went beneath the telegraph wires and the bantams seemed to have reached as high as the planes. (I have gone cold and tearful writing this now — realisation as to what might have been I suppose.)

Link here.

Location of story: suburbs of London, England
By Joyce Gibson

During the first few months of World War II, known as the “Phoney War” we prepared for the worst. We lived in the suburbs of London and, in response to the admonishments to “dig for victory”, my mother grew more vegetables in our small garden, although she didn’t know how to control the maggots and they were often inedible. Amongst her successes was a twenty-two pound pumpkin, which, when displayed in the window of a small café in Central London, (incidentally next door to Sweeney Todd’s barber shop) raised over twenty pounds for the Red Cross. Customers, in return for a small donation, were asked to guess the weight. The prize? To become the proud owner of the huge pumpkin.

My mother was also a great fan of Dr. Charles Hill, the Radio Doctor. Every morning he would broadcast food tips to ensure the best possible use of the little food we had. One message got across very well. We ate raw white shredded cabbage every day for the rest of the war! I have only recently been able to look raw white cabbage in the eye, no doubt because I am lucky enough to be able to obtain the ingredients for a tasty dressing. I remember too, a terrible yearning for a big juicy orange! Sadly, they wouldn’t grow in our garden.

Link here.

Location of story: Denbigh
By Emrys Williams

In 1942 the Government brought out a theme ‘Dig for Victory’ which was intended to encourage everyone to grow their own vegetables.

In our back yard there was a piece of land with a large plum tree – but it never seemed to produce any plums. My brother and myself were encouraged by our parents to dig the land around the tree and to plant vegetables. Our biggest problem, as I recall, was the tree roots, which we had to cut out in order to achieve a good patch of soil. As children we were afraid that the tree would fall down, but that did not happen of course. To our surprise, not only did we have potatoes, beans and the like, from the new garden under the tree but for the first time the branches hung heavy with large ‘Denbigh plums’. A good crop resulted from our having pruned the roots of the tree!

In response to the government’s call to ‘Dig for Victory’, the mayor of Denbigh town arranged for prominent gardeners of the town to hold Flower and Vegetable show in the County Hall, Denbigh in summer 1942, with a view to encouraging local people to contribute and to nurture an interest in gardening. This was the launch of the Denbigh Flower show.

I was honoured to be the show day President when the show celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1992, in recognition of my having been secretary of the Flower Show for 40 years.

The show celebrated 63 years on 27th August 2005.

Link here.

By Twigs Way
Shire
2008

The humble allotment has a surprisingly turbulent history. Initially the right to an allotment was proposed as a charitable means by which the poor could grow their own food and stave off starvation, but it quickly entered political and social debate. During the World Wars the allotment became the focal point on the home front, as families took part in the Dig for Victory campaigns. The post-war years saw a decline in the popularity of the allotment as the supermarket took over from home-grown produce. Successive governments condemned allotments in favour of new housing.

Recently, however, with increased concerns about the environment and the organic movement, allotments are in vogue once more. This book charts the rise and fall of the allotment – and the factors behind its most recent resurgence. Drawing on original documents and illustrations, the author explores the fascinating and surprising history of the allotment within the context of its social and political history.

Contents
Introduction
Plots and Politics
The Allotment Army
The Post-War Slump
A Future for Allotments?
Allotments Worldwide
Organisations
Index

See the book here.

Gardening Inspiration from Wartime Garden Guide

‘Allotment and Garden Guide’, written by Twigs Way

November 02, 2009, Press Dispensary. ‘Allotment and Garden Guide’, written by Twigs Way and published in December 09 by Sabrestorm, brings to the 21st century Britain’s essential month-by-month wartime gardening guide , as relevant to today’s amateur gardener and vegetable grower as it was in 1945. Twigs Way has compiled a full 12 months’ editions of ‘Allotment and Garden Guide’ – the flagship title in the wartime government’s ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign – and adds commentary and insight, not only into gardening but into the war years, with the urgent threat that food might simply run out counterbalanced by the timelessness of seasonal routines.

In 1938, Britain imported 55 million tons of food. Just a year later the country was at war, shipping lanes were closed and the country’s larders had to be filled by amateur growers: householders who tore up garden lawns, public parks and town squares to grow cabbages and potatoes. Under ‘Dig for Victory’, the ‘nation of shopkeepers’ had to transform itself instantly into a nation of gardeners, entailing a massive educational programme which took these novices through the basic tasks for each month in the near-desperate hope that sowing and planting by the inexperienced would actually lead to productive harvests.

See the book here.

See Twigs Way’s website here.

By Twigs Way & Mike Brown
Sabrestorm
December 2010
240 pages

Beans as bullets’, ‘Vegetables for Victory’ and ‘Cloches against Hitler’: these slogans convey just how vital gardening and growing food were to the British war effort during the Second World War. Exhorted to ‘Grow More Food’, then to ‘Dig for Victory’, Britain’s ‘allotment army’ was soon out in force, growing as many vegetables as possible in suburban allotments, private gardens, even the grounds of stately homes.

Richly illustrated with contemporary photographs and ephemera relating to the ‘Dig For Victory’ campaign, this expertly researched, highly engaging and informative account also includes archive images of home front gardening, garden produce and advertisements.

Twigs Way is a professional garden historian, author and freelance lecturer, whose credits include Channel Four’s ‘Lost Gardens’ and, for Sabrestorm Publishing, ‘Allotment & Garden Guide -A Monthly Guide to Better Wartime Gardening’. Mike Brown is an author, broadcaster and authority on the Home Front, whose books include ‘The 1940s Look’, ‘The 1950s Look’ and ‘Air Raids & Ration Books’ (Sabrestorm).

See the book here.

Also see Twigs Way website here.

There were many poultry magazines 100 years ago, perhaps as common as our computer magazines today. They were full of photos, stories and ads for a large audience. The North American population was closer to its rural roots then. But even during the First World War, people looked back to a time when they were more involved in agriculture. Mike

From the Editorial
Everybodys Poultry Magazine
September 1917

“… to increase the production of poultry and eggs, to increase the general interest and especially to, in some way, bring back the thousands upon thousands of small and backyard breeders who flourished years ago, who kept high grade standard-bred stock, and were in part at least, producers as well as consumers.”

“There are great questions requiring consideration and united action, but this one of the backyard breeder in city and village alike is foremost of all.

This year thousands have come back, necessity has best illustrated their worth to themselves but we want more, all should return and thousands more, there is room for all and if fifty percent of the families kept from 15 to 25 fowls each it would total half a billion dollars in value to our national resources and a billion dollars more to the value of the food supply.

You can look back through issues of Everybodys Poultry Magazine here.

1918 Advertisement

Uncle Sam Expects You To Keep Hens and Raise Chickens

Two Hens in the Back Yard for Each Person in the House Will Keep a Family In Fresh Eggs

EVEN the smallest back yard has room for a flock large enough to supply the house with eggs. The cost of maintaining such a flock is small. Table and kitchen waste provide much of the feed for the hens. They require little attention only a few minutes a day.

An interested child, old enough to take a little responsibility, can care for a few fowls as well as a grown person.

Every back yard in the United States should contribute its share to a bumper crop of poultry and eggs in 1918.

In Time of Peace a Profitable Recreation

In Time of War a Patriotic Duty

Flash from the past – 1979 article in City Farmer Newspaper

By Kerry Banks
City Farmer Newspaper
Vol 2 No. 1, October, 1979
(City Farmer began in 1978 by publishing a newspaper. Kerry is a founding member of City Farmer. He is an award-winning freelance writer and journalist. See bio further on.)

(1979) – Dr. Donald Flather and his wife Grace have one of the more unique vegetable gardens in Vancouver. It’s the last remaining ‘victory garden’ from the city’s World War Two home food production effort.

Beginning back in the early forties, the Government of Canada made a concentrated effort to get city and town folk involved in growing their own food. Large advertisements were placed in the daily newspapers.

“Plant a wartime garden,” they urged. “Home production of vegetables is needed now more than any time during the war. Help by growing the vegetables your family needs.”

The Flathers responded by obtaining permission from the city to make use of the vacant B.C. Hydro right of way boulevard in front of their Kerrisdale home. The garden they planted in 1942 still flourishes today; a 37 year old artifact from a time when being a city farmer was synonymous with being a Canadian patriot.

“The ground wasn’t very good originally,” remembers Dr. Flather. “It was full of stones and bits of broken brick and glass. Apparently there’d been a big greenhouse on this site before we moved in.”

“The first year our garden was only a marginal one, we planted carrots, onions, parsnips, … that sort of thing. But it grew in size each year as we gradually built the tilth up.”

“Our front lawn at the time was reserved exclusively for raising potatoes. Our neighbours on either side of us did the same.”

Dr. Flather can recall that during the war years the B.C. Hydro right of way that extends down their street was covered with vegetable gardens. “They ran up and down the boulevard on either side of our garden for 100 yards,” he says.

Title: River Scene. See more of Donald Flather’s work here.

At the time, the Flathers had just one of the many productive gardens in the city. A report released by the Federal Agricultural Supplies Board for the year 1943 valued the 31,000 tons of produce taken from 52,000 victory gardens in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster and North and West Vancouver at 4 million dollars, the equivalent of 20 million dollars worth of supermarket produce today.

In Dr. Flather’s mind, the figure of 31,000 tons of produce is likely an understatement. “In those years you could find at least one good sized victory garden on every block in the city.”

One has to wonder why people gave them up.

“In our neighbourhood,” says Dr. Flather, “there were those gardeners who died, others that moved away and some people who became too affluent.”

What was commonplace in the war years of the 1940′s is today an object of curiosity. Passerbys are constantly stopping to gawk at the Flather’s victory garden.

“So many people stop and get out of their cars to stare, one of our neighbours suggested we could put up bleachers and sell tickets,” jokes Mrs. Flather.

We don’t consider our garden fabulous,” states Dr. Flather. “I’d say it’s rather average actually. We grow for productivity, not show.”

That’s no idle boast. The Flather’s 18’ by 50’ garden supplies a harvest of over 20 different crops, including corn, carrots, onions, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, celery, rhubarb and parsnips.

This summer they‘ve harvested a year’s supply of potatoes, collected 15 pints of beans and canned so many tomatoes that they no longer have any shelf room left.

“We have a 22 cubic ft. freezer in our basement,” notes Mrs. Flather. “We can just get the lid closed.”

“Over half of our food we‘ll have to give away to friends and relatives. We couldn’t possibly eat it all ourselves.”

Do they ever buy any vegetables?

Yes, avocados. But not too often, we’re really not that fond of them.”

Title: Mount Robson. See more of Donald Flather’s work here.

Each year Dr. Flather tries a different type of crop in his garden. This past year he’s enjoyed success with a new type of tomato called Ultra Grow. Those varieties of vegetables that prove unproductive or unflavorful he drops from his repertoire.

Dr. Flather helps his vegetables along with a combination of compost and chemical fertilizers.

“Not many people know it, but if you ask them, the City will deliver a load of leaves free of charge to your doorstep. l’ve found them to be an excel- lent conditioner for the garden.”

His leaves are mixed into the compost pile with grass and other green vegetable cuttings. Employed as a mulch and spread in the garden as needed, the leaves have a blotter effect, helping to retain valuable moisture in the soil. As well, leaves serve as a soil texturizer, supplying aeration and retarding the growth of weeds.

“Some people will tell you that you shouldn’t use cedar needles in the garden, but that’s basically an old wives tale,” states Dr. Flather. “Cedar needles might take a little longer to rot down, but they won’t harm your plants. That was scientifically proven in a series of Saanich Island experiments done using 12 different wood mulches in 1951.”

Dr. Flather uses the more concentrated forms of chemical fertilizers such as 16-20-10 and 16-16-16. He claims the milder mixtures are mostly filler and “diluted so the greenhorn won’t kill his plants.”

He applies his fertilizer in parallel strips about 2 inches from the young plants – roots can easily reach when they need nutrients.

He doesn’t believe chemical fertilizers to be hazardous if properly applied. “A plant,” he says, “can’t distinguish between natural and artificial minerals.”

The Flathers have not restricted their horticultural efforts to the victory garden. Their backyard resembles a commercial nursery. There is a greenhouse here for starting seedlings, dozens of scattered planters, several thriving beds of flowers and dwarf fruit trees, a trellis of sweet peas and another of grapes, plus a variety of healthy fruit trees. The Flathers harvest fruit from cherry, pear, peach, nectarine, and apple trees and from their strawberry and raspberry bushes.

The 30 year old apple tree is the backyard’s centerpiece.

By careful grafting techniques the Flathers now possess a tree which provides them with no less than 28 different types of apples!

I asked ‘the doctor if he could forsee anything causing a return to the tremendous productivity of the victory garden years in Vancouver. “There’s at lot of wasted potential here,” he suggests, gesturing down the grass covered boulevard. “There could be food gardens extending all the way along here as far as 57th Ave.”

“Sometimes I wonder if the higher prices of vegetables and the slump in the economy might not be a blessing in disguise. Harder times I’ve found, usually help bring people to their senses.”

“The Secret Life Of Donald Flather”

Written by Daniel Wood
Beautiful Bc Magazine
Spring 1999

Excerpt:

As David Flather, then 28, stood in the doorway of his grandparents’ Vancouver home four years ago, he was struck by a sense of erieness. His grandmother, Grace, had just died. His grandfather, Donald Flather, had passed away in 1990. Together with his aunt and uncle, David was there to begin the task of emptying the cluttered home of 54 years of occupancy. His grandfather had been a Vancouver school teacher and packrat of the first magnitude. His grandmother had rebuffed every effort to clean the house after her husband’s death. She wanted nothing moved, believing her husband was still there, still inhabiting the place. And in a strange way, she was right.

The livingroom walls were covered with Donald Flather’s paintings — large, abstracted landscapes that had a familiarity David couldn’t quite define. A half-dozen more paintings were stacked — like a firescreen — in front of the fireplace. In the hall, in the diningroom, in the bedrooms, every wall held more of his grandfather’s artwork. When he pushed open the door to the upstairs studio, where David on occasion had watched his grandfather paint, he paused and asked himself: Where do I put my feet? Dozens of large, framed landscape paintings stood on edge, filling the room from wall to wall. They leaned against each other and against the room’s shelving where hundreds of slide trays, jammed with Flather’s travel photos, were stacked among the musty collection of art books. In the corner by the north window stood Flather’s easel.

Read the complete article here.

See Donald Flather’s bio here.

Kerry Banks – Bio

From the Trent University Alumni Magazine
Fall 2011

Kerry Banks has been a freelance writer and journalist for over 30 years. During his studies at Trent, he majored in history and wrote for The Arthur – and he credits his involvement with the student paper for giving him the exposure, confidence, and technical skills he needed to become the writer and journalist he is today.

After graduating from Trent, he applied the skills he learned from The Arthur – writing articles, creating layouts, taking photos, and writing headlines – at the Peterborough Common Press, a local weekly newspaper that was published in Peterborough in the 1970s. However, in 1977, he started working as a freelancer full-time and moved to Vancouver, where he lives to this day.

Over his career, he has won several national Magazine Awards and Western Magazine Awards. His work has appeared in Vancouver Magazine, Equinox, Western Living, WestWorld, and Maclean’s. In addition to writing articles on business, arts, culture, travel, and the environment, he has written several sports books.

Link here.

Thousands upon thousands of vegetables were given out

“Another Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) activity was centred on our shores. Men in minesweepers and small naval craft were often unable to spend long enough on shore to get fresh vegetables. In East Anglia, WVS members approached people who have been evacuated from their homes for permission to collect the vegetables from their gardens and take them to the docks. All around the coast and in Northern Ireland the scheme caught on. Thousands upon thousands of vegetables were given out. In winter cakes and mince pies were added to the hampers.”

Excerpt about the WVS from Wikipedia:

The Blitz

By the time of the Blitz, women in the WVS were adept at providing food and drink around the clock. While ARP wardens and firemen fought the fires, women in the WVS set up mobile canteens to keep them refreshed, thus placing themselves in serious physical danger with collapsing buildings a constant threat. When the raids ended, the WVS also played a part in looking after those who were injured and had lost their homes. Records indicate that the WVS dealt with and helped over 10,000 people every night of the Blitz.

As the Blitz lasted for 57 nights, the WVS helped in total a vast number of people who went to their rest centres. Some people stayed just for a night–many stayed for much longer and stretched the resources of the WVS to the limit. In Barnes, one WVS member fed 1,200 bomb victims in just one day, cooking in her own kitchen.

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the work done by the WVS during the Blitz: the rest centres provided a roof, food and, importantly, sanitation. But working so near to the centre of the bombing inevitably led to casualties. 241 members of the WVS were killed during the Blitz and many more were wounded. 25 WVS offices were destroyed.

More here.

Project re-cultivates urban agriculture in West Ridge

By Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune
September 2, 2010

Excerpt:

A vacant lot at Peterson and Campbell avenues in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood has blossomed this summer into a vibrant urban garden — and something of a living historical monument. Once the site of a World War II victory garden, the long-fallow property near the northern edge of the city is blooming again with everything from tomatoes to corn.

Reviving the nearly 70-year-old wartime campaign to replenish scarce produce, the Peterson Garden Project is true to its roots, but also reflective of a growing trend toward localized, community-based agriculture.

Heidi Joynt, 28, of Evanston, was among the first to sign up, securing two plots to work on with her husband.

“I think the history of Americans taking their food source in their own hands in a time of need is really inspiring … it’s something that we shouldn’t lose sight of,” said Joynt, a youth farm coordinator for the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, who is growing cucumbers, squash, kale, peppers and an abundance of tomatoes.

“During World War II, Chicago really led the nation in the victory garden movement, and I think we can do it again,” said LaManda Joy, the West Ridge resident who organized the effort. “We need to take care of ourselves and be a little more self-sufficient.”

Read the complete article here.

Feeding food scraps to livestock in World War II

This practice is not common today and it is banned in most countries due to animal health concerns. But in England during the war, the activity was promoted and seniors, who grew up in England, remember the Pig Man.

Revised extracts from ‘A Sheltered Childhood ~ Wartime Family Memories of an East Acton Child’
Contributed by Brian Brooks
The Brooks family lived at 18 The Green, East Acton, West London.

“Not only paper and metal had to be salvaged but now food swill to feed animals, such as pigs, as well. This would help meat rationing. A round metal bin and lid, nick-named the ‘Pig Bin’, was put by the lamppost opposite The Bye, beside the path to the public air raid shelter on The Green. This was for everybody’s food scraps and meat bones. The bin was emptied every few days by unhappy-looking POW’s in a very smelly lorry.
The bin became very dented and the lid wouldn’t fit on properly. It also split and smelly yellowy gunge oozed out. People started to avoid walking too close to it because of the smell, unlike the flies which loved it. It was my job (more war work for me!) to take the food scraps to the pig bin.

This wasn’t bad on cold days but on hot days the bin stunk really bad. Clouds of bluebottles would be buzzing around it, which then dived onto your bucket and buzzed round your head. It was a mad scramble to empty the bucket into the bin, get the lid back on and escape while holding your breath. Pheww! All the other kids would be watching and laughing out loud. Yuk! But their turn would come!”

Source.

A Little Boys Memories by scholarKipper

It was very frightening some times when the pig man came because I don’t think his horse had been trained to other traffic, and at the slightest noise, or if a dog ran into the street near to him, he would rear up and gallop off down the street pulling his cart full of swaying pig bins behind him. The problem was, the street was a dead end and across the street was a fence of iron railings with spikes on the top into which he would crash. This would upset him even more, because he could not escape at all from his heavy cart. The bakers horse was by far the most docile, and the baker had always got a piece of bread for me to feed it with. But the best time was with the grid cleaning lorry, it would amaze me how much rubbish came out of each grid, but I suppose that all depends how much us kids dropped down! One of our favourite things was scrumping apples from the local farm (this is where the pig man kept his pigs), but you had to be so careful of getting caught, so we used to go at dusk when it would not be so easy to see us.

Source.

‘War on Waste’ and the Communal Pig Bin

In the ‘war on waste’ people saved kitchen scraps for the communal pig bin or to feed hens for eggs. A Ministry of Food advertisement summed up the situation in this poem about pigs:

‘Because of the pail, the scraps were saved,

Because of the scraps, the pigs were saved,

Because of the pigs, the rations were saved,

Because of the rations, the ships were saved,

Because of the ships, the island was saved,

Because of the island, the Empire was saved,

And all because of the housewife’s pail.

See Australian ban on Swill Feeding today here.

See New Zealand ban on Feeding Food Waste to Pigs here.

Blind Victory Gardener – Hats Off! 1940

Note: The commentator says Mr Sharper has won the ‘Dig For Victory’ Diploma.

Several M/S’s of elderly gentleman Mr Sharper kneeling down picking potatoes from his allotment in Manchester. The commentator says that he is actually blind. M/S’s of the man wheeling a barrow round his garden.

See the video here.

See more films on the next page.

How Does Your Garden Grow? 1945

London. Several night shots of blazing London during blitz.

Young boy riding small three wheeler through the street. Flowers growing on London blitz site. Young boy crosses blitz site. He arrives to a garden. Children working on allotments on blitz site. Various shots of the children working in garden. Several good shots of vegetables in allotment and after being dug up. Children keeping rabbits. Several good shots of the rabbits. Children taking their vegetables home.

See the video here.

Plan before you plant – 1944

Item title reads – Ministry of Information. Government official.

Various shots of a mock-up military operations room, the officers inside are very vague about what to do and when to mobilise and do not have any plans. One of them telephones his “troops” and tells them to go when they are ready. Then we see a man in camouflaged helmet riding a tricycle along a country lane. The narrator says this is what could happen on the garden front if you fail to plan, shot of ladies looking disappointed when greengrocer puts up sign saying there are no fresh vegetables. M/S of the “Dig for Victory” leaflet which tells when to plant seeds to have fresh vegetables all year round.

See the video here.

London. M/S of Westminster cathedral, the camera pans across to a bomb crater near it which has been turned into a garden. M/S of Mr Hayes who has grown and tended the flowers and vegetables. Various shots of him in the garden.

Various shots as girls of the National Fire Force walk into a big allotment with their gardening tools. The garden has been grown where rubble used to be and now boasts a variety of vegetables. Various shots as the girls tend the garden. C/U’s of little tomatoes and apples. M/S as cabbages are gathered.

See the video here.

See more films on the next page.

War Garden Parade 1914

World War One; home front; agriculture; war work; war gardens. Produce from village war gardens on display. Opens with parade. Man leading horse pulling a wagon of produce and Union Jack stuck on front. Boy Scouts walk behind the wagon carrying gardening tools and flags. Then a local marching band. This procession comes marching into town square; as other people watch. CU lots of lettuces; other vegetables piled high on truck; pan to men standing beside truck; and another truck loaded up with marrows and potatoes and things — less leafy than the other one; continue pan to more people and another truck — this one is sort of decorated with vegetables and flowers hanging on it!

Shot of rally/ meeting with crowd gathered in front of a building — line of priests stand on platform in front of building’s long porch and a long balcony overhead is also packed with people. More of people bringing produce — a small donkey hitched to wagon; little Boy Scouts sit on curb; more horses; wagons; food.

See the video here.

Bomb crater allotment at a house in Bayswater 1942

London. Various shots of a house in Bayswater. Various shots of a bomb crater in the garden, the owner has adapted it into an allotment which grows vegetables and flowers.

See the video here.

Royal Visit to Allotments – Queen Mary and King George V – 1914

Shot of King and Queen along with Mayor and probably Mayor’s wife; heading up a group of people on this tour; walking along through a garden. Pan as they pass rose bush. Next a man is holding up a piglet. The Queen laughs, pats the critter and scratches its ears.

Shot of the King and 5 other men standing in a garden. George points with his cane at what seems to be a huge prize lettuce. Pan to Queen. Then CU Queen Mary in a line with others; looking down at something.

Note: Queen Mary looks positively jolly in some of these shots! Location of events unknown – somewhere in Britain.

See the film here.

More films on the next page.

Holiday Push Allotments 1914

World War One. Homefront. Location of events? British civilians preparing wartime garden allotments. Old man using shovel, younger man and a woman turning up soil, others in background also working. MS 2 elderly men digging a narrow ditch. Man weeding, woman planting. CU same woman kneeling, planting & securing string to divide plots, other women with rakes in background, little girl wandering around. CU man planting potatoes into ditch, other man rakes soil over them.

See the film here.

Digging For Victory 1943

Ministry of Information trailer – Digging for Victory.

Filmed in a studio location. Man is played by comedian Ted Ray.

Quirky comedy sketch: man sits a vegetable patch which has been elevated to look like a table. Man calls out to waiter and man dressed as Father Time steps forwards. Father Time makes a crop of lettuce magically appear on the vegetable patch. Father Time asks man if he would like to order his winter course now? Man jeers and sends him away.

Man sitting at vegetable patch, this time it is covered in snow. Man looks distressed and shouts to sky: “Father Time, bring me some food”. A plate of earth appears and man looks disappointed. CU poster “No Winter Greens Today – signed Father Time”. Man curls up on vegetable patch. Father Time appears and lays a lily on him, he then speaks to camera about the importance of planting a winter food crop, he points to a Ministry of Agriculture leaflet.

See the film here.

The Ministry of Food at the Imperial War Museum, Britain

The Ministry of Food examines how the British public adapted to food shortages during the Second World War, learning how to be both frugal and inventive on the ‘Kitchen Front’.

Marking the seventieth anniversary of the introduction of food rationing in Britain, the exhibition shows that growing your own food, eating seasonal fruit and vegetables, reducing imports, recycling, and healthy nutrition were just as important in 1940 as they are today.

The exhibition runs from 12 February 2010 – 3 January 2011.

Issues of Allotment and Garden Guide from the War.

See the excellent Ministry of Food website here.

The Book

The Ministry of Food tells the fascinating story of how people coped with wartime food shortages and, in the process, became healthier than ever before. With step-by-step illustrations showing how to grow your own vegetables, tips on collecting food for free, baking, preserving and lots of thrifty family recipes, this practical handbook is packed with invaluable lessons from more frugal times.

From a review:

“This book is so much more than a recounting of the war and the hardships endured, it certainly has such anecdotes aplenty and one cannot help being moved by the extracts from selected diaries. It somehow manages to transport us back to a bygone era where an egg is a luxury and a banana is unheard of, the spirit of survival is almost palpable and should give inspiration to all who read it. The tales of rationing are depressing yet to learn how the people coped with it is uplifting. I love the recreation of the old public information advertisements with lines such as ” A clear plate means a clear conscience ” and ” Food is a munition of war, don’t waste it “.

With a generous littering of wartime recipies like : Rabbit pie, nettle soup and mock duck, one may not be running to the kitchen to recreate. However if the recession lasts any longer these forgotton dishes could be on the menu once more. And I believe this generation could learn a lot from this book on how to make the most of the lean years, self sufficiency is a dream nowadays of many but in the 1940′s it was a matter of life and death. This book is a joy to read on so many different levels , it’s a must have.”

Link to book.

Dig For Victory

Ministry of Agriculture
Britain 1941

“During the Second World War, getting the most from your little plot of land was crucial. This film, produced by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1941, explains how to prepare an area of ground for growing your veg, and shows why not having space is simply no excuse.”

From Toons At War.
1940′s image.

Disney licensee W.L. Stensgaard produced a Victory Garden sign that featured Donald Duck chasing pests from his garden. The sign was available in two sizes and was sold in five and dimes, hardware and grocery stores.

One version of the sign featured the illustration printed on a masonite board attached to a 24-inch long stake. This sign was produced in six oil colors and had a wholesale price of $10.80 per dozen. The suggested retail was $1.69 each.

The second version was printed on 100-point fiberboard, was produced in four oil colors and was mounted on an 18-inch stake. The fiberboard signs wholesaled at $7.80 per dozen with a suggested retail of $1.00 each.

A promotional flyer sent to retailers stated: “Everybody will want to identify their victory garden with this colorful, durable, outdoor marker. Creates a new spirit for gardens. Thousands will buy for own use, also gifts and prizes.”

See more at Toons At War here.

28 Minutes of classic radio humour by two of the greats.

Listen here:

Gracie: You were right George, we’ll just a have a sweet little Victory Garden.

George: Good. We’ll plant some asparagus.

Gracie: And we’ll plant some beets on top of it.

George: On top of it?

Gracie: Ah huh. So when the asparagus start to come up, they’ll tickle the beets on the bottom and they’ll come up sooner.

Complete with music by Paul Whiteman’s orchestra – they play appropriately “That Old Black Magic” (soil reference) – and ads for Swan Soap, Gracie and George discuss setting up an urban farm.

Postman: You’re going to have a regular farm.

Gracie: We’re even going to raise chickens. In fact George is inside sitting on the eggs right now.

Postman: Your husband is going to hatch the chickens?

Gracie: Yep. But he doesn’t know it. You see I hid the eggs under the cushion of his easy chair.

Gracie: Ahh, I wonder if it will be hard for me to change from Gracie Allen the beautiful, sophisticated city girl to Gracie Allen the farmer?

Alternate link to the radio show here.

Although there is no story to accompany this graphic in the 1941 edition of the comic, it is a wonderful promotional image, which would have reached millions of kids during the war. Superb!

Your car – like your Victory Garden – is a national asset these days. So care for it wisely! Spare it excessive wear with stem-to-stern Marfak chassis lubrication.

WWI Home Garden Seed Advertising by Haskell Coffin 1919

Haskell Coffin (1878 – 1941) A versatile illustrator, gracing covers for several magazines, Redbook and The American being two long-term stints. Becoming famous as a portrayer of American beauty, the Coffin girl could be found on note cards, sheet music, calendars, decorative boxes, fashion catalogs. His “Joan of Arc Saved France” WWI poster is well known.

Teaching With Documents: Sow the Seeds of Victory!
Posters from the Food Administration During World War I

Excerpt from the National Archives

“To achieve the results, the Food Administration combined an emphasis on patriotism with the lure of advertising created by its own Advertising Section. This section produced a wealth of posters for both outdoor and indoor display. One proclaimed: “Food is Ammunition-Don’t waste it.” Another featured a woman clothed in stars and stripes reaching out to embrace the message: “Be Patriotic sign your country’s pledge to save the food.” A third combined patriotism with a modern healthy diet message. At the top, the poster encouraged readers to: “Eat more corn, oats and rye products-fish and poultry-fruits, vegetables and potatoes, baked, boiled and broiled foods.”

“At the bottom, the poster concluded “Eat less wheat, meat, sugar and fats to save for the army and our allies.” All of these posters, now part of Record Group 4, the Records of the U. S. Food Administration, testify to the intent of the government to mobilize the food effort during World War I. As much as possible, it did so under a banner of volunteerism, rather than coercion. In doing so, the Wilson administration created a program that did affect the everyday lives of Americans during World War I.”

See the complete article here.

1918 Cabbages and Queens
Women wearing bloomers, working in a vegetable garden.

Farmerettes of 1918, 100 years after birth of Mrs. Bloomer. In the early Victorian era, the American, Mrs. Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894), caused quite a stir when she wrote an article for her feminist publication ‘The Lily’. She tried to promote the idea of women abandoning their petticoats for a bi-furcated garment later known as the bloomer fashion. She suggested that woman would find trousers, like those worn by Turkish women, easier to wear than their voluminous heavy skirts.