U.S. At War: That's All There Is

Only a fulltime hoarder, with unlimited bankroll, could keep up with the flood tide of shortages; no hoarder had the future really cased without a full stock of hair curlers and wigs, Easter lilies and lawn mowers, girdles and cod-liver oil, sugar and quinine, gin and tea, rubber diapers and bronze caskets.

As steadily as a butcher's slicing machine, the War Production Board trimmed new layers of fat off the U.S. standard of living. Out for the duration went all the kitchen gadgets which modern housewives had substituted for grandma's elbow grease: electric toasters,...

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