Food Will Win the War

Educational Shorts by Walt Disney

* = Created for Canada to sell their war bonds.

** = CIAA films (Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs) created to combat the German Nazy influence that was widespread in Latin American in the early 1940s.

1941
THE THRIFTY PIG * - animation from Three Little Pigs cartoon adapted, with the Big Bad Wolf wearing a Nazi hat and armband.
THE SEVEN WISE DWARFS * - animation from Snow White adapted to show dwarfs buying war bonds.

1942
DONALD'S DECISION * - uses animation from 1938 Donald Duck cartoons "Donald's Better Self" and "Self Control" to convince Donald to buy war bonds.
ALL TOGETHER * - uses animation from several sources, including The Band Concert (1935) and Mickey's Amateurs (1937) to show several Disney characters in a parade to sell war bonds.
THE NEW SPIRIT - Donald is encouraged to pay his income tax to help the war effort.
FOOD WILL WIN THE WAR - Stresses the importance of farmers to the war effort. Includes the Three Little Pigs leading a long line of pigs.
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRING LINE - Minnie & Pluto star in an effort to show how important it was for housewives to save kitchen fats and greases for the war effort.

1943
THE GRAIN THAT BUILT A HEMISPHERE ** - Tells the history of corn and its importance to the world.
THE SPIRIT OF '43 - Donald Duck resists Nazi propaganda and pays his taxes to support the war effort.
WHE WINGED SCOURGE ** - The Seven Dwarfs point out ways to defeat the malaria-carrying mosquito.
DEFENSE AGAINST INVASION ** - Shows the human body's ability to fight off germs through vaccination.

1945
CLEANLINESS BRINGS HEALTH ** - The difference between the Clean Family that is happy and healthy and the Careless Family that is unhappy and unhealthy.
WHAT IS DISEASE ** - Shows what causes disease and how to protect against disease.

1946
PLANNING FOR GOOD EATING ** - Careless Charlie is used to teach a family about good dietary habits.

Disney Wartime Images

This illustration appeared in the September 1942 issue of Coronet magazine. Disney artist Hank Porter created this piece and the art is one of my favorite Disney wartime images. The legend identified the characters as follows:

A Bambi Squirrel represents the importance of food in winning the war. (Coincidentally Disney released a film titled Food Will Win the War in the summer of 1942)

Donald Duck as a Marine leads the parade. He symbolizes the adage that today the pen is equal to the sword. Flower is a member of the Chemical Warfare Service. Thumper is a member of the Signal Corps. Owl is an officer in the Army's Communications Section. The fighting spirit of the U.S. eagle represents the nation's mood. Dopey does his bit by buying war bonds. Two of the Three Little Pigs shoulder their muskets as members of the Home Guard. Practical Pig carries the tools of industry into battle. Minnie Mouse is a member of the Red Cross. Bambi is a member of the Radio Section. Doc is a member of the Medical Corps. Mickey Mouse heads the Tank Corps. The Flying Tiger and Mosquito Fleet insignia were designed by Disney artists.

Let Your Fruit Trees Save Sugar

Let Your Fruit Trees Save Sugar

World War I Poster, 1917-1919
R.M. Brinkerhoff, Artist

The U.S. (P)reserves of soldiering jars of jams and jellies are on march beneath the proud gaze of Mrs. Patriot's Fruit Tree while Mrs. Waster's Fruit Tree stares helplessly down at the rotting and wasted fruit at her feet.

Helplessly Rotting
and Wasted fruit at her feet
Avantgardning ku

War Time Cook Book

The Sun, New York. "War Time Cook Book. Menus, Recipies and Canning Information to Help Make Your Ration Points Go Farther." 25 cents, By Edith M Barber Famed Food Editor of The New York Sun

WWII

1942

WWII Ration Coupons

Save the Products of the Land

Save the Products of the Land

WW1 US Food Administration; WW1 Food Administration poster by Charles Livingston Bull, famous wildlife illustrator. This poster encourages those on the homefront to eat fish and save meat for the soldiers (what we now realize is a healthy diet for other reasons!)

by Charles Livingston Bull

c. 1917

Food is Ammunition

WW1 US Food Administration Poster by J. Sheridan, reminding Americans that food conservation was essential to the war effort

by J. E. Sheridan

c. 1918

Herbert Hoover, former head of the Belgian Relief Organization, lobbied for and won the job of administrator of the Food Administration. Hoover had made clear to President Wilson that a single, authoritative administrator should head the effort, not a board. This, he believed, would ensure an effective federal organization. He further insisted that he accept no salary. Taking no pay, he argued, would give him the moral authority he needed to ask the American people to sacrifice to support the war effort. As he later wrote in his memoirs, his job was to ask people to "Go back to simple food, simple clothes, simple pleasures. Pray hard, work hard, sleep hard and play hard. Do it all courageously and cheerfully."

Just What the Hoover Food Control Means; Article from New York Times, 1917.

Join the School Army Garden

Join the School Army Garden

Vintage WWI poster for school gardens

WWI Food Administration poster; Uncle Sam as the Pied Piper leading young children to join the School Garden Army

by Maginel Wright Enright (sister of Frank Lloyd Wright)

1919

“Every boy and every girl… should be a producer…Production is the first principle in education. The growing of plants and animals should therefore become an integral part of the school program. Such is the aim of the U.S. School Garden Army.” With these words, the federal Bureau of Education (BOE) launched the United States School
Garden Army (USSGA) during World War I.

Raised 'em Myself

US School Garden - Raised 'em Myself

Issued by the U.S. School Garden Army Bureau of Education, Department of Interior

Horatio Alger type school boy showing the vegetables grown in his school garden. Rare.

WWI

c. 1918

The United States School Garden Army (USSGA) was created in 1917 as a way to encourage gardening among school children. By encouraging children to garden, the U.S. government hoped that a food crisis might be averted, and that America's food system might become more locally-oriented and sustainable. The USSGA was funded by the War Deparment; food was, and still is, an issue of national security. By Armistice Day, several million children had answered the nation's call to service, enlisting as "Soldiers of the Soil."

Liberty Sowing the Seeds of Victory

Liberty Sowing the Seeds of Victory. Write for Free Books to National War Garden Commission, Washington D.C. Charles Lathrop Pack, President, P.S. Ridsdale, Secretar

DuMond, Frank Vincent, 1865-1951, creator, artist

WWI

1917

The Lever Act of 1917 represents both the normal working of American government and the extraordinary circumstances of World War I. The process of creating the Lever Act certainly followed the "legislative dance" outlined in the Constitution and congressional custom. Entries in the indexes to the New York Times for 1917 testify to the accepted but various interests of members of Congress in supporting or opposing the legislation; other entries show the range of lobbyists interested in supporting or opposing the bill. In this, the legislative dance seemed typically American: proposed legislation, support or opposition from special interest groups, legislative revision, and congressional hearings. In August 1917, the dance ended. Congress passed the Food and Fuel Control Act (40 Stat. 276), also known as the Lever Act.

Food Will Win the War

Food Will Win the War
Issued by the United States Food Administration

The United States Food Administration appeals to new immigrants, urging them to do their part in food conservation for their country.

by C. E. Chambers

WWI

c. 1917

US School Garden

US School Garden - Helping Hoover
Printed by the American Litho Company in New York for the U.S. School Garden Army Bureau of Education, Department of Interior

Original WW 1US Food administration poster: sweetly naive image of school children growing vegetables in response to Hoover's declaration that "food will win the war."

WWI
c. 1918

Get a second growth of Cabbage

When you cut a cabbage, make two nicks crosswise on the top of the stump, and within a month or six weeks it will sprout again and give you a crop of tender greens.

Ministry of Agriculture Allotment and Garden Guide - June 1945

Grow Your Own

This 1943 cartoon shows a patriotic householder.

Mangez Moins de Viande

Mangez Moins de Viande
French School Children Series

WWI French series of conservation posters, all designed by school children in support of the war effort: "eat less meat to save out livestock"

by Marthe Picard

1915

...Three Years and Still No Crop

Early Cucumbers and Melons

For early melons or cucumbers many plant the seeds on inverted sods cut about four inches square. The sods are placed in a frame of any kind, and covered to the depth of half an inch with mellow, rich earth. The plants root firmly in these sods the same as they would in small flower pots, and may safely be transplanted as soon as the weather becomes settled and warm. For melons this is an excellent plan, since our seasons are scarcely long enough to ripen them before the cool nights of autumn, when the seeds are planted in the ground in the usual way.

The Farm and Household Cyclopædia - circa 1888

We'll Make Our Own Victory Garden, Boys!

Synopsis:

Donald is trying his best to establish a victory garden but the crows are giving him a hard time.

Comments:
During World War 2 it was common for families in many countries - especially occupied ones - to grow vegetables wherever they could find a suitable strip of land. This was done in an attempt to be at least partly self-sufficient in greens. In the USA these gardens were commonly known as Victory Gardens.

Other stories:
During the first half of the war Barks was employed in the Disney Studios where he - foremost as a story director - contributed to several films carrying war themes. Some of the released animated shorts were Donald Gets Drafted and The Vanishing Private. Furthermore, Barks worked on shelved films such as Madame XX and Donald's Tank. All 4 films are from 1942 and more details can be seen Here.

Plan for Small Garden

Raise More Food for Defense

50 more Chickens, Two more Milk Cows, another Brood Sow

Avantgardner

1943 Golden Gate Park. Over 200 gardens.

Substitute for Bean Poles

A New England farmer says: "In my own gardening I have found a most satisfactory substitute for bean poles, which latter are not only expensive, but a source of trouble and care. I plant a sunflower seed by each hill of beans, the stock answering the same purpose as the ordinary bean pole, besides providing an excellent feed for my poultry. I have been using for this purpose a mammoth variety of sunflower seed, many of the flowers of which measured fifteen inches across the seed bed."

The Farm and Household Cyclopædia - circa 1888

1943 Victory Garden in Front of San Francisco's City Hall

San Francisco's city hall 1943 vs. 2008

Victory Gardens Pictogram Instructions

Making Pumpkins Grow Fast

A good way of hustling the growth of pumpkins, marrows*, etc., is to feed the fruits with water. It is only needful to secure some pieces of round lamp wick. Holes are made in the stalk of the fruit and, into these, one end of the wick is inserted. The other end of the wick rests in a jar of water which is kept well supplied. The pumpkins grow at twice the rate they do normally and are ready for cutting much sooner. In this way the produce secured from the plant is largely increased. The plan is well worth following out.–S. Leonard Bastin from: The Garden Magazine - June 1918

*squash - this would likely work with most melons and squash

Dig For Victory Leaflet No. 1

Garden Guides

12 monthly Guides published in 1945 by the Ministry of Agriculture at their wartime base at the Berri Court Hotel, in Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire. As far as is known, this is the only complete series available. It surprising that these leaflets are so scarce. Click Here to Visit

Barney Bear’s Victory Garden

I just can’t get enough of the great Victory Garden material made over 60 years ago! This 1942 Barney Bear’s Cartoon was directed by Rudolf Ising. Barney unsuccessfully attempts to keep a mole out of his Victory Garden.

"Grow Your Own Be Sure!"

"Grow Your Own Be Sure!", 1941 – 1945. US National Archives & Records Administration, Item from Record Group 44: Records of the Office of Government Reports, 1932 - 1947 [electronic resource]

"Grow Your Own - Can Your Own"

"Grow Your Own - Can Your Own", 1941 – 1945. US National Archives & Records Administration, Item from Record Group 44: Records of the Office of Government Reports, 1932 - 1947 [electronic resource]

Vegtables to Grow for each Member of the Family if Garden Space is Unlimited

Community Gardens in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Photograph by John A. Fritz, Chairman,
Lancaster County Victory Garden Committee

Victory Gardens Handbook

Victory Gardens Handbook of the Victory Garden Committee War Services, Pennsylvania State Council of Defense. April 1944

The Victory Garden movement and its significance in our wartime economy, both as a means of releasing food to our armed forces and of improving the nutritional status of civilians can be appreciated only by those who study the statistics and translate them into homely, every-day meaning. When we hear that Americans produced eight million tons of vegetables last year in home gardens, a quantity which was one-fourth of the entire vegetable production of the nation, it can be seen readily what would have been the state of civilian nutrition if the Victory Garden had not functioned.

As a means of increasing our nation's food supply, both fresh and canned or otherwise conserved for winter use, the Victory Garden has more than justified itself. Not only have people had more food as a result of this home effort, but also they have learned lessons of food selection and preparation, of food values, of human nutrition and its dependence upon proper food selection, which would never have been taught so well in any other way. Millions of dollars of advertising by commercial firms could never have been so effective in teaching the consumer the value of vegetables in the dietary as has the wartime experience of home vegetable production. Marion Margery Scranton, April 1944

World's Finest Comics

World’s Finest Conics #11 (DC 1943) The World’s Finest team of Superman, Batman, and Robin bring in a bumper crop in this World War II “victory garden” cover illustration, by Jack Burnley. Those pint-sized defenders of freedom, the Boy Commandos are featured inside, with art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Other features include a Batman story by Jerry Robinson, and appearances by Green Arrow and Zatara.

1. The City of Hate (Superman) -- 2. The Land That Wasn't There (Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy) -- 3. A Day In Africa (Drafty) -- 4. Coupons of Cutthroats (Zatara) -- 5. Sand Dunes of Death (Boy Commandos) -- 6. The Man Who Came Back (Flight Control Command) -- 7. The Criminal Who Reversed Time (Green Arrow) -- 8. A Thief In Time (Batman & Robin)

"AIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE - - !"
"A grisly fate, but one that he deserved."
"Right, Batman! Let's go for ice cream."
"Ice cream is not good for young, healthy boys, Robin. Instead, let's have some 100% American steaks served with vegetables from our Victory Garden."

Warner Brothers Victory Garden cartoon references

In both World Wars, Americans were encouraged to plant vegetable gardens to assist in stretching food supplies, which millions in fact did. Thus, the jokes about Victory Gardens in Jack Wabbit and the Beanstalk (Freleng, 1943, where the Giant catches Bugs using an axe to chop down a giant carrot), A Tale of Two Kitties (Clampett, 1942, in which Babbit is seen watering a Victory Garden), and Buckaroo Bugs (Clampett, 1944, where Bugs has pinched all the carrots from the Victory Garden maintained in a small San Fernando Alley town) would have registered with audiences. A Victory Garden, fueled by horse manure, is also seen in the Private Snafu short The Home Front (Tashlin, 1943).
"Our story begins when the west was young and early pioneers settle down to never more roam and make the San Fernnando Valley their home. Masked murader strikes again. There he goes. Catch him. He got away with everything. What he get? All the money from the bank. No! All the carrots from the Victory Garden! The side-wind'n-bushwacker." Bugs Bunny, Buckaroo Bugs

This was Bugs Bunny's second appearance in the Looney Tunes series. His first was a short cameo in Porky Pig's Feat, but was not a starring role, therefore making Buckaroo Bugs Bugs' first starring role in a Looney Tunes short.

Holder family in Maryland lays out a quarter acre Victory Garden during World War II

A video of the Holder family in Maryland lays out a quarter acre Victory Garden during World War II. Click here to view

¼ Acre Plot
Early Garden

Four rows early potatoes, then
Two double rows peas early, medium, late
One row cabbage
Double row of carrots & beats ½ row of each
One double row greens spinach, mustard, turnips & chard
Tomatoes early & late, wilt resistant
Peppers ½ row
Radishes, lettuce, onions next to house
Asparagus, rhubarb beds at the side
Pole beans, three rows
Four rows of sweat corn along fence, and finally
Two rows of lima beans, complete the early garden

Now for the late Garden, after each of the early crops has harvested. A planting of another crop is to be made so as to have a succession. For convenience of illustration all early crops except for tomatoes and chard are removed from the model. Here are the later Crops.

Four rows US # 5 beans refuge beans
Two rows squash along the fence
Three rows of late potatoes
Late Cabbage
Carrots & beats ½ double row of each
Three row of turnips
A of row spinach
Kale & Collards ½ a row each complete the late garden

Here they have a garden plant that will serve the family plan this year. In succeeding years they will want to rotate crops within the plot.

ABC of Victory Gardens

Published in 1943 by the United States Department of Agriculture, this 32-page educational booklet purports to be "an authoritative guide to help you grow vegetables". It explains in detail why growing a victory garden is "a patriotic duty", how "you will save a lot of money", and why gardening is about to become "a new hobby for millions". A cute relic of the war years, with good advice to modern-day gardeners, as well. To quote one of the pages: "Vegetables for Victory!"

Situation Normal, All Fouled Up

Fun cartoon, with a positive twist. Victory Garden references three fourths way into the film
Click here to view

Private Snafu imagines the good times his family is having back home while he's stationed in the Arctic. Technical Fairy First Class shows that even his family is helping with the war effort - his dad building tanks, his mom planting a Victory Garden, Grandpa riveting battleships, and his girl joining the WAC's and even the family's horse is pitching in.

This is one of 26 Private SNAFU ('Situation Normal, All Fouled Up) cartoons made by the US Army Signal Corps to educate and boost the morale the troops. Originally created by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Phil Eastman, most of the cartoons were produced by Warner Brothers Animation Studios - employing their animators, voice actors (primarily Mel Blanc) and Carl Stalling's music.

The Life Aquatic with Bruce Mozert

Mozert rounded up some garden tools to mark Silver Springs’ spring cleanup.