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I often write about the years following WWII, but let’s go back 67 years to 1941. Like any young boy, I looked to when I could reach 16 and take my drivers test. That would happen on Dec. 4 1941, but what happened three days later would change things considerably. I was at a buddy’s house on Sunday afternoon listening to the radio, when an announcement was made that the Empire of Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. The next day Monday, the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Only one dissenting vote was heard and Dec. 7, referred to on Sunday as a “day of infamy” by our president would become history. One of the hit tunes of the day Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters had young men 18 years and over registering at their draft boards. Civilian auto production came to a halt on February 10, 1942, and trucks rolled on to March 3. New cars and trucks were strictly rationed, and to conserve a national speed limit of 40 mph was imposed, later cut to 35 mph. Gas rationing was ordered in the Northeastern states, and became nation wide on December 1, 1942. Most drivers got an “A” sticker, good for 3 or 4 gallons a week. War production workers got a “B” sticker good for more gallons and a “C” sticker went to Doctors, etc. But I remember that the black market had plenty of coupons available for a price. Gasoline and tires were rationed, and most civilians had to rely on caps. In winter time some of these top caps had sawdust and nut shells to give traction. I also think they wore out faster, and only top caps were available. In early summer of 1942 I finally passed my drivers test, it really didn’t matter, because with gas rationing and the rationing sticker on your windshield you did very little pleasure driving. On the upbeat for 1942, Bing Crosby sang White Christmas in the movie Holiday Inn, and other songs hit the list. One stayed with the war years, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition. I was a high school junior, and then a senior in 1943. My future was in the hands of the local Draft Board. 13 |