Victory Kitchen Podcast: February 2023

Welcome to the supplemental material for Episode 30 discussing babies in wartime and all the shortages that affected their young lives from safety pins and diapers to food and formula.

One of the things discussed was babies in wartime propaganda and commercial/political art. Here are some great images that I found in my research:

National Archives (see Resources below)

Read Magazine, Jan 1945

I didn't have time to discuss it in the episode, but this great cartoon illustrates the huge childcare problem women faced during WWII. The government expected more women to enter the workforce, but it would be some time before enough childcare to meet the ever present need would follow.

National Archives (see Resources below)

So many shortages!

Life Magazine, 15 Feb 1943

One of the most concerning shortages: health care. Women were encouraged to learn home nursing to take care of their own children and basic community needs.

National Archives (see Resources below)

Farm Journal & Farmer's Wife magazine, March 1942

National Archives (see Resources below)

The following are some great baby ads I came across in my collections while doing research:

McCall's, March 1942

Ladies Home Journal, Nov 1944

Cookbook Feature: The Prenatal Diet, date unknown (but the inside has a patriotic theme characteristic of wartime booklets like this.)

Featured recipe: Scalloped Noodles and Stuffed Eggs

RESOURCES

Websites:

Who Took Care of Rosie the Riveter’s Kids?

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/11/daycare-world-war-rosie-riveter/415650/

Child Care: The Federal Role During World War II

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/RS20615/9

Cradle-Roll-Bond

https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/ww2/Documents/services-save5.pdf

https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/ww2/Pages/services-bonds.aspx

Black History Month: A Medical Perspective: Hospitals

The Black Hospital Movement (1865 - 1960's)

https://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/blackhistorymonth/hospitals

Segregation in United States Healthcare: From Reconstruction to Deluxe Jim Crow by Kerri L. Hunkele (This is a really fascinating paper with important findings!)

https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1189&context=honors

National Archives Images:

To Expectant Mothers: A Good Diet Will Supply Your Needs And Your Baby’s, 1941-1945

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/515835

How to Care For Your Child While You Are at Work, 1941-1945

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/514543

For Baby’s Future, Buy War Bonds, 1941-1945

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/514280

For Baby’s Future, Buy War Bonds, 1941-1945

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/514279

To Have and To Hold - Buy War Bonds, 1941-1945

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/515836