WWII scrap drive

[bcp]

Bruce

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep... the war effort was great for recycling... being a car collector it's amazing as many cars survived.

 

[ovrszd]

Great pic.

Hard times.

 

[ArlyA]

Lots and lots of neat things got recycled that shouldn't have. Welcome to the world of war.

 

[stuckmotor]

I was born in '51 and the first I knew of the scrap drives came through an Our Gang comedy on TV. I remember being amazed that they had a use for old tires.

 

[Frankenkubota]

My dad said, as kids, they HAD to to collect toothpaste tubes etcetc for the war effort. I guess the tubes were metal?

 

[MossRoad]

They were made of tin and lead....

Here kid, scrub your teeth with some lead laced paste....

History of the world in 52 packs | 6.Toothpaste tubes

 

[MossRoad]

Apparently they used the lead from the toothpaste tubes to make bullets...
http://www.bigforkdental.com/docs/articles/TRIVIA-Dental.pdf

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Yep... the war effort was great for recycling... being a car collector it's amazing as many cars survived.

I was pretty small, but I do remember much of it. You couldn't buy a new car after the war started, unless you were maybe a physician or had a very pressing need; consequently, a lot of the old cars in the wrecking yards were resurrected and put back the road again. My Dad had a '36 Plymouth that had seen its better days, he told me he saw the war coming and ordered a load of parts for it, and overhauled it just prior to Pearl Harbor. There were a lot of aluminum, brass, copper and steel pots, pans and utensils that were recycled too. My Mom saved her grease from the kitchen; it was used to make explosives. Tin cans were saved and recycled. Old, used tires were recycled also. They were made from pretty much pure natural rubber, so they could be remelted I'm told. I know I've seen my Dad stop and pick up old tires out of the ditch and recycle them.

Tires were impossible to get during the war. My Dad was working on a defense project, and blew the two rear tires out of his car carrying equipment. He said he contacted the base commander and told him if he wanted his project done, he needed some tires. Somehow he ended up with two new tires! He bought two implement tires from the local IH dealer and put on the front of the car.

I remember shoes being made from cardboard; butter, meat and other things being rationed. It was quite a time, but the country was united like never before.

 

[stuckmotor]

My dad said, as kids, they HAD to to collect toothpaste tubes etcetc for the war effort. I guess the tubes were metal?

The tubes were definitely metal. I remember a 60's magazine telling how to cut and wrap them around around fishing lines in the absence commercial lead weights.