The war years of the 1940s were full of movement. Congested cities hadn’t a free room even in private homes. Trains were so heavily booked by service personnel that civilians were implored to avoid traveling unless they were directly helping the war effort. Troops were sent to every far-flung place on earth. In towns and cities, civilians moved about as air raid wardens, nurses, canteen cooks, servers and factory assemblers—and more. Women met in churches and community centers to can fruit jams. Children went door-to-door collecting scraps. It seems everyone was out and about the business of war.

Help From the Homebound

But what about those hidden away at home with children, invalids or the aged? As it turns out, even they were encouraged to find ways to help. Periodicals like Progressive Farmer were filled with practical inspirations.

One of these was an advertisement that appears to have been the true experience of Mrs. Esther Carter, a stay-at-home mom of small children. Mrs. Carter was “tied down at home” but wishing she could be part of her country’s war activities. By happy accident, she found her niche baking light-as-a-feather cupcakes for her husband’s war plant coworkers. Mrs. Carter shared her story with radio personality Kate Smith and somehow it became an advertisement for Calumet Baking Powder.

The ad shows the wartime mentality of American civilians as the nation went to fever pitch producing goods for its Allies. “There’s more than one way to make ‘Food Fight for Freedom,” it says. “We can do it, not only by saving food, but by using it to lift morale.”

The Importance of Lifting Morale

Saving and sharing food were high priorities in other countries, too, and keeping up morale was considered downright patriotic. (That was the driving force behind 1940s red lipstick, incidentally.)

The Calumet ad included a recipe for Date Nut Sandwich Loaf, meant for sharing. The recipe uses only a small amount of rationed or hard-to-find ingredients. The sugar could be cut by at least 1 tablespoon. The egg could be replaced by 1 tablespoon of flax seed soaked in 3 tablespoons of water. Powdered milk would work beautifully.

The bread is dense and flavorful enough that at least half of the flour could probably be replaced with whole wheat flour, without altering the texture too much. The recipe uses less flour than a loaf of plain bread would and is filling enough to make the recipe stretch further.

Wartime Inventiveness with Food

I was surprised by the wonderful orange flavor and essence. It is easier to imagine Date-Nut Loaf as a dessert than as part of a sandwich but at the time, many cookbooks suggested sandwich combinations that would be strange to us—like peanut butter and onion, for example. There must be combinations that would be delicious. The bread alone has a great deal of nutritive value and would be a help to those working hard.

What sandwich fillings would you add to a rich, lightly orange bread loaf? Which ones do you think would be available in a time of shortage or war? It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Looking at World War II-era recipes proves it. Homemakers constantly found ways to make whatever food they could get as appetizing and health-giving as possible. They serve as a wonderful example to us.

References

Calumet Baking Powder advertisement, “‘Tied down,’ this Mother finds an interesting War Job” Progressive Farmer, Vol. 59 No. 5. May 1944, p. 34.

“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes! Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die! Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord! But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.”

Psalm 79:9-13