December 8, 1941

Imelda


DECEMBER 8, 1941

Yesterday, all was confusion.
Today we got out the big map
of the world and laid it flat
on the table so we could see.

We found the Hawaiian Islands.
Pearl Harbor was there somewhere,
but, it wasn’t marked. We saw
Hawaii as a stepping stone.

"Look at Japan," said Mother.
"How tiny it is compared to America.
There shouldn’t be anything to worry about."
Then just after noon, the president spoke...

"Yesterday the Japanese Government also
launched an attack against Malaya...
Hong Kong…Guam…the Philippine Islands...
Wake Island…Midway Island..."

We all went back to the map
and studied the Pacific area.
I learned more geography today
than I have all year at school.




© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Pearl Harbor photo courtesy FDR Library. Poster stamp from author's personal collection.

Bundles for Britain

Edith


BUNDLES FOR BRITAIN

For nearly a year now
we’ve been sending
Bundles for Britain;
packages for Aunt Isabelle
and her two children.
We’ve always sent
a shirt or socks for
each cousin and a little
something for Auntie, too.
Things to keep them warm
in the underground shelters
where they are forced to stay
while the Germans bomb
the moxie out of London.

Now, we’re at war with Germany.
And Japan. And Italy.
All our Allies are in
the thick of it.
Sometimes I wonder
who will be left to send
Bundles for America?


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Oh Boy!

Tommy


OH BOY!

Oh boy! Oh boy!
We’re gettin’ a puppy!
Dad sent a picture
of himself at camp.
He’s holdin’ a puppy!

He didn’t write
that it’s mine,
but I know it is.
Dad knows how
much I want a dog!

Oh boy! Oh boy!
We’re gettin’ a puppy!
I can hardly wait!


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Xenophobia

Alice


XENOPHOBIA

The word was on the
blackboard in chalk.
"It’s pronounced,
ZEE-NO-FO-BEE-AH."
I stuck my hand up and asked,
"What does it mean, Miss Lehrer?"
"It means being
unnecessarily afraid of,
or hateful toward, foreigners."

She made us think of examples:
--Posters showing Japanese soldiers
with big buck teeth.
--Townspeople refusing to buy
milk from the old German milkman.
--The rumors that went around
saying the DiMaggio brothers
wouldn’t be playing ball because
their father came from Italy.

"But why do we have
to know such a big word
in the sixth grade," I asked.
"Because, Alice," Miss Lehrer said,
"my father is the milkman."


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Air Raid!

Walter


AIR RAID!

eeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

At the sound of the first siren,
Daddy leaves the house
to take his post as
Civil Defense block captain.
The rest of us run around
putting up black-out curtains
(sneaking a peek outside) and
turning off unnecessary lights
(a bathroom light is a necessity).

eeeRRRReeeRRRReeeRRRReeeRRRR

At the second siren,
we move the kitchen table
away from the window
(but within reach of the cookie jar).
Before the siren stops,
Mom, Josephine, and I
crawl under the table.
Mom starts to pray.
Josie and I pretend to pray,
but really, we play a game
of stealth-kicking until

eeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

All clear!

We climb out from under,
take down the black-out curtains,
turn on the lights,
move the kitchen table back
to its place by the window.
By the time Daddy
walks in the door,
dinner is on the table
but we’re too full of cookies
to eat.

















© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photos courtesy Library of Congress: home scene, air raid warden. Poster courtesy National Archives.

Square Dance

Cora


SQUARE DANCE


I’ve always watched
the hands of women
as they sat on front porches
knitting and crocheting.

The dance of wool and needle
is a mystery to me.
I’m a lefty and somehow
my hands don’t dance.

But now I’ve got a
good reason to master
the complicated steps—
the Ladies’ League.

The Ladies’ League
is collecting squares.
Six inches by six inches.
Knitted or crocheted.

My square will be
joined to someone else’s.
And ours to yet another’s
until a blanket appears!

A snuggly warm blanket
for a cold and lonely soldier
who dreams of once again
dancing with a girl.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress. Poster courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Revenge!

Richard


REVENGE!

To put it plainly,
the Japanese have been
whuppin’ us.

Pearl Harbor,
the Phillipines,
and then the Coral Sea.

Pounding us silly.
Killing our boys.
Humiliating America.

But at Midway
our glorious Navy downed
more than 300 planes.

They destroyed
the Kaga, the Soryu,
the Hiryu, and the Akagi.

Three of these carriers
had surprised us at
Pearl Harbor.

Now it’s our turn
for surprises!
Revenge is sweet.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command.

Boarders

Sallie


BOARDERS

I sure don’t like sharing
my house and my mama
with the rest of the world.
But, for the duration,
we will have boarders
'cause as Mama says,
"We gotta keep body and
soul together, somehow."


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

I Don't Even Know Him

Harry


I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM

Dad said, "Uncle Sam
called and he needs me."

Grandpa said, "He owes
it to Uncle Sam to go."

Who is this Uncle Sam?
He's never come by the house.

He's never been at Grandpa's
for Thanksgiving dinner.

Mama can't say his name
without busting out in tears.

You know what? I don't think
he's my uncle at all.

There's one thing I do know--
he's taking daddy away.

And I don't like him.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Poster courtesy National Archives.

The Bus

Emily


THE BUS

The bus is fairly crowded.
A dark-haired girl
of about my age
sits alone in the seat
opposite mine,
her face turned
toward the window.

A woman of my mother’s age
climbs aboard.
She could be
anyone’s mother—
a typical American woman.
She walks down the aisle.
The girl turns to face her.

The woman stops.
Her face contorts.
She purses her lips.
"Ptttt!"
A glob of spit flies across the aisle.
"Go back to Japan!" she hisses
as the girl wipes her face.

It’s funny how everyone
on the bus suddenly
finds something of interest
to look at through the window
or down at their feet—
including me.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Infinity

Patsy


INFINITY

The number of hours it takes
to fill a potato sack to the top
with milkweed pods.

The number of life jackets
that can be stuffed with the fluff
collected by seven girl scouts.

The number of sailors
who will not drown because
they’ll have new life jackets.

The number of movie stars
my friends and I can name
in an afternoon spent picking pods.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Children with milkweed pods photo courtesy UNH. Ship photo from author's personal collection.

The Clean Plate Club

Peter


THE CLEAN PLATE CLUB

In the Great War, Mom was a member
of the Clean Plate Club. She says we
have to be members, too. "It isn't
voluntary--it's mandatory!" She tells us
over and over. And over, again!

I never had a problem being a member
of the Clean Plate Club, I love to eat—
even vegetables. My little brother, though,
is always being scolded and called,
"Hitler’s Helper." That’s what happens

when you’re fussy. I cannot understand
what cleaning your plate has to do with
winning the war. As a matter of fact,
I think Stevie’s lima beans should be
saved and sent to the troops as ammo.

When you let them sit on a plate long
enough, they become deadly. Stevie
and me have a plan. From now on,
he’s going to sneak his vegetables
under the table to me. That way we’ll

both be members of the Clean Plate Club,
Mom can stop nagging, and Hitler will
have to find another new helper.






















© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Lima bean can label from author's personal collection. Posters at the top and bottom courtesy Northwestern University Library.

Scrap Metal

Nancy


SCRAP METAL

We took the wagon round
to the back of the barn
and dug through the trash heap
to find dozens of old tin cans,
a rusted tractor seat, one
cracked iron skillet, two
bent bicycle wheels (from
George’s daredevil days),
snippets of bailing wire too short
to use, and an old umbrella
with just a tatter of black cloth
on its ribs. These we piled upon
the wrought iron gate that
had guarded the graveyard
that held the bones of
grandma, and her mother and father,
and the baby that had died
before daddy had even been born.
We hoped mama wouldn’t see it,
but if she did, we’d say it was
for Georgie. For bullets to
keep the enemy away. For tanks
to stop the enemy’s advances.
For anything that would help
keep my brother out
of that family graveyard.




















© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress. Poster courtesy Northwestern University Library.

Better Than New

Milly


BETTER THAN NEW

I go to the movies
to look at the fashions.
I study Schiaparelli’s designs
in the magazines.

Lucky for me, Mother
and Grandmother never
throw anything away.
They’ve kept their old dresses
and using a little
Yankee ingenuity
I take apart those frocks
and make them over

better than new.




© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. July 1943 Vogue fashion spread, and poster stamp, from author's personal collection. Photo courtesy University of Maryland.