As citizens of the United States we are blessed to be living in a land of plenty. During this past crazy year we were astounded at the shortages of toilet paper, paper towels, hand soup and all our familiar cleaning products. As long as we could remember the aisles in our super markets were always filled their entire length with everything we ever needed….and then some. Year 2020 developed quite a few empty spot on the shelves. In addition to some shortages eating out in restaurants was taken out of our lives and many in the trade lost their jobs. Eventually even the restaurants ended up having to close their doors.
It’s been a great number of years since we needed to live through shortages. But being one of the aged (86 years old) citizens, shortages are something we’ve lived through in the past. We grew up in the war years of WW2 and experienced shortages much worse than toilet paper. During the war the needs of the military came first and it created a multitude of painful shortages. No gas for the car……gasoline was dedicated to our forces to keep all the tank and airplane motors running. US citizens were given stickers to place on their windshields designating the owner’s status which indicated how much he was entitled to. Trips were almost impossible to take. To take an auto trip of any real length there was a need to beg, steal or borrow other’s stickers to obtain enough for the trip. Nylons for women were impossible to buy. Sugar to sweeten your coffee was also hard to come by. My grandmother who loved coffee and started me on it when I was only four resorted to using Karo Syrup to sweeten up her brew.
Even a fair share of horses disappeared and then were sneaked into meat markets as beef. All these various shortages forced the country to adjust its life style. We now became volunteers to gather materials needed for the war effort. Cigarette packs were wrapped in paper which had a metallic foil covering. Evidently the foil had a military use so we were asked find the empty packs of cigarette. I can recall scrounging up empty packs to peel the foil off the paper and rolling it up into a ball. It was fun to see how big one could create his or her ball. We even collected the fluffy stuff in milk weed pods because we were told it was used I the production of parachutes.
There was, however no shortage in finding work. The war effort put everyone to work. Women became essential in the effort. My mother-in-law became one of the first welders at Landers Frary and Clark in New Britain and my mother spent time at Pratt and Whitney as a grinder. Some very strange times in the 1940’s.
As bad as year 2020 was, there were some positive results. I always said that to every negative there exists a positive. 2020 gave us all the opportunity to take a good look at our lives and spend some time making the changes needed to adjust to a new lifestyle created by Covid-19.
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Today’s Recipe: Great soup for these hot, hot days. Made this once and served it to a group of about twelve Red-Hatters. There was nothing left in any of their containers…….a great test of the soups taste!
Southwestern Gazpacho
6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, cored and diced
1 large English cucumber, diced (peeling optional).
1 each red and yellow pepper cored and diced
1 large red onion diced
2 cups tomato juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of one lime
1 jalapeno pepper minced (optional)
1/2 bunch of cilantro
12 or more large shrimp
Mix all ingredients except shrimp (can use food processor to coarsely chop vegetables) and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight to cool and for all flavors to blend together. Grill shrimp with tail on and refrigerate separately from soup. Just prior to serving dice 1/2 avocado and add a few pieces to each serving. Garnish with cilantro, decorate edge with shrimp and enjoy. About 12 servings
Trivia Question: What was the first toy to be advertised on television? Answer: Mr. Potato Head
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