WWII scrap drive

ultrarunner · Mar 13, 2022

Elderly often have a need to simplify and decluttering is one way...

At maternal family farm they got rid of tons of stuff circa 1960... just clearing out things like horse drawn wagons, implements, churns, spinning wheels and the list goes on...

npalen · Mar 13, 2022

I heard a local story about cow bones being collected for the war effort. Anyone know what the bones were used for?

Edit: Did a quick bit of research and found this:
Bones were made into glue for airplane construction as well as being used in munitions.

Jstpssng · Mar 13, 2022

ultrarunner said:
Elderly often have a need to simplify and decluttering is one way...

At maternal family farm they got rid of tons of stuff circa 1960... just clearing out things like horse drawn wagons, implements, churns, spinning wheels and the list goes on...

My parents had to clean up both of their parent's houses and didn't want to leave their mess for us. Some things though, like the bulldozer undercarriage he'd even told me was good. If he wanted to throw the Oliver plow he would have tossed the entire thing rather than one bottom.

We cleaned the barn out about 12 years ago. There were things there which hadn't moved since I've been around. (The old horse tack still hasn't been moved since they sold the horse around 1950.) My parents also donated the family still to the local historical society...
until then I didn't even know that we HAD a family still.

ultrarunner · Mar 13, 2022

Family distant geographically?

When I would visit the maternal farm I was very interested in who I was related too and soon found that I from thousands of miles away knew more than any of my cousins...

We would drive somewhere and I would say we have cousins there and my cousins said no we don't... grandma would set the record straight say her aunt married into that farm in 1896... so yes cousins...

Grandma already gone 30 years but she said church was the fabric in farm life keeping everyone in contact and where information exchanged...

The community has grown exponentially but the hundred of year old church is no longer full for Sunday service... yet me 10 year old nieces can Instagram or Snap Chat with their second or third cousins when even in the 50's a letter could take weeks to be received and answered...

MossRoad · Mar 13, 2022

Jstpssng said:
... My parents also donated the family still to the local historical society...
until then I didn't even know that we HAD a family still.

Similar story here. When we were cleaning out my wife's maternal grandparents house, I found a little copper still in "the room under the stairs". I brought it out and my mother in-law said her dad used to make wine by the barrel. When the wine went south, he'd use the still to make it into brandy. And he'd make whiskey as well. She said he'd tape newspapers up on the kitchen windows so people couldn't see inside, then use the still on the stove. He told her not to tell anyone, so she never did... for 60 years!

I have that still to this day. Does it work? Maaaaaybe.

ultrarunner · Mar 13, 2022

Indiana Shine???

MossRoad · Mar 13, 2022

ultrarunner said:
Indiana Shine??

Maaaaaybe.

It was more of a 'let's see if this thing works' kinda experiment. Surprisingly, it worked quite well. I was kinda proud of myself for doing the research, and gave the late old grandpa a smile.

Jstpssng · Mar 13, 2022

State laws may vary. On the federal level it's lawful to make a certain amount of liquor for personal consumption. It's when you are selling without paying taxes that the government gets snickity, just as they do when you don't pay your income taxes.
The still my parents had came from an aunt who lived nearby about a century ago. My grandmother came to live with her in 1917. She was 14 when a relative helped her get on the ship to escape an arranged marriage.

Like other immigrants from Germany my grandmother always looked with disdain at people who came to live here, but didn't learn the language.

MossRoad · Mar 13, 2022

Jstpssng said:
State laws may vary. On the federal level it's lawful to make a certain amount of liquor for personal consumption. It's when you are selling without paying taxes that the government gets snickity, just as they do when you don't pay your income taxes.
The still my parents had came from an aunt who lived nearby about a century ago. My grandmother came to live with her in 1917. She was 14 when a relative helped her get on the ship to escape an arranged marriage.

Like other immigrants from Germany my grandmother always looked with disdain at people who came to live here, but didn't learn the language.

A lot of folks get this wrong.

According to federal law:

From here:

TTBGov - Penalties for Illegal Distilling

There is no personal use or home distilling exemption for Distilled Spirits. This page describes the penalties for making distilled spirits without a permit.

www.ttb.gov

You can make your own beer for personal consumption.
You can make your own wine for personal consumption.

You cannot distill for any reason, personal or not, anywhere but a TTB-qualified distilled spirits plant.

Liquor is distilled.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquor