Moonshine making during WW2?

[p51]

Does anyone have any idea how strong the efforts were to bust up moonshine stills in the US during the war? Did the Feds just put that on the backburner for the duration to focus on more important stuff?
I can't find any historical references to moonshining between the end of the depression and the 50s.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Does anyone have any idea how strong the efforts were to bust up moonshine stills in the US during the war? Did the Feds just put that on the backburner for the duration to focus on more important stuff?
I can't find any historical references to moonshining between the end of the depression and the 50s.

Moonshining was difficult during wartime because of sugar rationing. I remember hearing old 'shiners in the Appalachians talk about it. A group would have to pool all their rationed sugar to make a batch.

 

[Stearmen]

Moonshining was difficult during wartime because of sugar rationing. I remember hearing old 'shiners in the Appalachians talk about it. A group would have to pool all their rationed sugar to make a batch.

That sounds about right. I know my family quit making it during the war. Now corn, well they all lived on Iowa farms!

 

[Stanley Doble]

Tom Wolfe did a story on stock car racing that included this:

"Cars and bravery! The mountain-still operators had been running white liquor with hopped-up automobiles all during the Thirties. But it was during the war that the business was so hot out of Wilkes County, down to Charlotte, High Point, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Salisbury, places like that; a night’s run, by one car, would bring anywhere from $500 to $1000. People had money all of a sudden. One car could carry twenty-two to twenty-five cases of white liquor. There were twelve half-gallon fruit jars full per case, so each load would have 132 gallons or more. It would sell to the distributor in the city for about ten dollars a gallon, when the market was good, of which the driver would get two dollars, as much as $300 for the night’s work."

From another source I don't remember, they described how gangsters from New York would bring a tractor trailer load of black market sugar down south and go back with a load of moonshine. Moonshining went from a local craft to big business and quality suffered. But the profits were enormous. Suddenly people who couldn't afford shoes were driving around in Cadillacs.

I don't recall hearing of any increase in law enforcement. Most likely with manpower and other resources in short supply they were overwhelmed and not able to exercise much control.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Liquor was in short supply at every level during the war. In addition to the sugar shortage affecting the make-your-own crowd, most distilleries had to convert some, or even all, of their production to industrial alcohol for military use. Whether or not rationing of liquor was imposed was handled on a state-by-state basis.

Beer and wine production and consumption increased sharply thru the war because breweries and vintners were not suitable for conversion to industrial alcohol production. Distribution of these products faced the same challenges as any other, but they were easier to get than hard liquor.

 

[Fading Fast]

Far from a scientific study, but as an all-too-regular viewer of war-time movies and reader of contemporary books of the period, I regularly catch references to domestic (home front) shortages of food - meat, sugar, butter, etc. - coffee, gasoline, nylons, silk, shoes and housing (in cities with war industries or agencies), but can't say I remember any reference to liquor - hard, beer or wine - shortages other than the occasional reference to some wealthy person having stocked up before the war on some imported wine or champagne that, I assume, wasn't flowing (tee-hee) over from Europe during the war.

I have no doubt at all that Lizzie's above post is accurate, and I'll now pro-actively look for evidences of a shortage of hard liquors vis-a-vis easier availability of wine and beer in books and movies of the period. Of course, a good director that wants his angst-ridden and desperate character to order shot after shot of whiskey isn't going to let reality get in the way of the movie's film-noir vibe.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

My mother spoke of taking a bus from San Antonio to Corpus Christi during the war. The road took her right through Sugarland, TX, which has that name for a reason. She passed miles of giant warehouses and sheds, all of them stacked to the ceiling with bags of sugar. That was when she understood that there was no shortage of sugar. Sugar rationing was maintained to give the people at home a sense that they were sacrificing something for the cause. It was propaganda. she suspected that much of the other rationing was the same. Of course, when rationing was imposed the authorities had no way of knowing that it would all be over in less than four years, but by '43 it should have been clear that most rationing was unnecessary, petroleum products and rubber being the exceptions.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Many of the rationing shortages were due to packaging concerns-- canned goods were rationed not necessarily because there were shortages of the contents of the cans, but shortages of the metals used to make the cans themselves. This shortage reached a critical stage in late 1942 and led to the point rationing of processed foods. These shortages continued thruout the war.

Sugar rationing was imposed in the spring of 1942, when the United States was losing the war in the Pacific, cutting off imports from the Phillipines, and shipping difficulties reduced the amount that could be imported from Hawaii. That cut the US domestic sugar supply by approximately one third, and much of the remaining two-thirds was warehoused for military purposes. Result -- rationing of the civilian supply. The situation didn't recover enough to lift sugar rationing until June of 1947 -- it was the last item to be rationed in the US, and the sugar shortage thruout 1946 was even more severe than that during the actual war period.

 

[p51]

I've been into the 40s for most of my life but in recent years I've realized how little has really been written about stateside life in WW2...

 

[EngProf]

I've been into the 40s for most of my life but in recent years I've realized how little has really been written about stateside life in WW2...

It's a particular interest of mine, and I *partially* agree. I think that overall a lot more print has been devoted to WWII battles, generals, weaponry, etc., but I have been able to find quite a few books and articles about the Home Front by diligently visiting used book stores and antique stores.
The total number of titles and print volume is sufficiently low that I consider each book on the Home Front that I find as a sort-of gold nugget. Buy it, read it, save it...
Also, and this is speculation, but I wonder if there is less Home Front historical material way out West where you are than back East. Around here people still write books and articles (and tell first-person stories) about the great Tennessee Maneuvers of 1941-45. (Those are a part of my family's history in several ways.)

 

[Fading Fast]

I've been into the 40s for most of my life but in recent years I've realized how little has really been written about stateside life in WW2...

One very good book on one aspect of the Homefront, "Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland" was written by a fellow Lounger, Melissa Amities Marsh. I highly recommend it.

This is the review of the book I wrote and posted after I read it:

I just finished "Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland" by Melissa Amateis Marsh - our fellow FL member AmeteisGal - and wrote the below review to encourage everyone to go out and buy a copy because (1) it is an outstanding book, (2) it is great to support one of our own and (3) it will inspire people to write more histories.

"Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland" by Melissa Amateis Marsh (aka AmeteisGal to us here at Fedora Lounge)

If you aren't familiar or, like I was, are only vaguely familiar with the who, what and why of POWs in the United States during WWII, then you'll find "Nebraska POW Camps" enlightening and enjoyable. If you are well versed in the mainstream WWII history books, then this book will add a niche element of the story to your overall war narrative.

As Amaties points out, the book is neither a straight scholarly study nor general history, but a combination of the two. As a reader, you'll notice that some parts are fact-based like scholarly papers and can be, not boring, but more "dry", while other parts sing with the anecdotal stories and personal observations that make history come alive.

While the scope of the POWs in the US - about 400,000 Germans, 51,000 Italians and 5,000 Japanese - wasn't small, the detailed historical record, as Amateis highlights, is thin, especially as she focuses on just those POW camps in Nebraska. That said, her diligent work brings out the details needed to understand the story behind why they were brought here - the UK was running out of room and resources (could not have been fun for the British official who had to call and ask the US for one whopper of a favor) - and the logistical and political challenges of housing POWs in the US.

As you move through this relatively short book, you'll learn how the camps were built, who commanded them, who guarded them, the day-to-day lives of the prisoners and the US military's compliance with the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of POWs (overall, taken very seriously, if for no other reason than the US wanted American POWs treated well in Axis POW camps). You'll also learn about the work the POWs did while here - mainly much needed agricultural, but also, at least one example of - and in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions - munitions factory work. Further, the book analyzes how the system dealt with the hardcore Nazis (mainly by corralling and isolating them from the rest of the POW population) and what efforts were made at re-education (sincere, inconsistent and lacking the necessary records to make conclusive statements as to their effectiveness).

Away from all that, you'll get an intimate feel for the life of the POWs and their interactions with the local populations that they were, quite often, working for day in and day out. Here is where the fun stories and humanity come through the loudest: despite the rules, farm families were constantly giving the POWs extra food during long work days (strawberry shortcake parties were a hit) or having marksmanship competitions (yes, shocking, but it highlights the trusting bonds that were formed). Ameteis also relates how many POWs kept in touch for decades with their American friends and some - when able - emigrated to the US and moved to Nebraska to start new and successful lives after the war.

This last fact is less surprising -- Ameties points out that she could find no instances of prisoners complaining about their imprisonment. It seems that many POWs were happy to spend the duration of the war in POW camps (escape attempts were rare), the US military, largely, played by the rules and the local populations who employed the POWs were good to and happy with (actually, desperate for) the added manpower.

While WWII histories are usually about colossal battles, ideological and philosophical conflicts writ large, massive loss of life and treasure, geopolitical machinations and out-sized personalities and leaders, "Nebraska POW Camps" provides a poignant view into a very human, somewhat removed and, at times, quixotic corner of the 20th Century's defining war.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think a big part of it is that a great deal of World War II history is written by men, for men, from a male perspective -- the emphasis is on the battles and the guns and the tanks and the planes and the ships and the generals and the admirals and the abstract strategy of it all. The emphasis in such history on the actual fighting, not on the vast homefront support structure that made the fighting possible.

You won't find many books written on how a ration board worked, or what went on behind the scenes at the OPA because, well, there weren't any battles or guns or tanks or planes or ships or generals or admirals, and nobody serving on a ration board wore a snappy uniform. And the majority of the people serving on local ration boards were women, which from the perspective of a lot of people makes the whole subject about as interesting as a home-economics textbook.

Perhaps the best book ever written during the war about homefront life was Elizabeth Hawes' "Why Women Cry," an unflinching look at what it was like for women working in war plants -- it's a book barely known today even among feminists, and it's completely forgotten by just about everyone else. Which is a pity, because it's pungent, poignant, informative, funny, and strips away every bit of what you "think you know" about Rosie The Riveter.

Some men, though, have written effectively about the homefront. Three men who live in my town who were teenagers during the war years wrote a book in the '80s documenting what homefront life was like here, drawing on the memories and experiences of those who were adults then. One of the three was a trained newspaper reporter, and he was able to do a lot of archival digging to come up with overlooked details. The book, "Home Front On Penobscot Bay," isn't a scholarly history, but it's one of the most detailed examinations of everyday home front life in a specific place that I've ever seen.

 

[p51]

I'll keep an eye out for that "Why Women Cry" book, thanks for the suggestion.
If anyone knows of any good books that cover the home front in the general area of the Appalachians, please let me know.

 

[52Styleline]

Although it might be challenging to obtain a copy outside Western WA, I recently read "Cohassett Beach Chronicles" by Kathy Hogan. World War II in the Pacific Northwest.

A collection of weekly newspaper "home front" articles about every day life in a small beach community during the War. Gives an excellent portrait of what it was like to deal with rationing, blackouts, shortages and military presence on an routine basis.

 

[p51]

Although it might be challenging to obtain a copy outside Western WA, I recently read "Cohassett Beach Chronicles" by Kathy Hogan. World War II in the Pacific Northwest.

A collection of weekly newspaper "home front" articles about every day life in a small beach community during the War. Gives an excellent portrait of what it was like to deal with rationing, blackouts, shortages and military presence on an routine basis.

I live south of Olympia and have read that book.
But as the war impacted people differently in different places, I'm hoping for something that covers the area I'm interested in...

 

[EngProf]

I live south of Olympia and have read that book.
But as the war impacted people differently in different places, I'm hoping for something that covers the area I'm interested in...

"In the Presence of Soldiers" is a great book about the Tennessee Maneuvers. They didn't extend as far to the East as the Appalachians, but closer than most other such wartime activities. They did cover the eastern half of Middle Tennessee.
I know the author and can put you in touch if you want a copy or possibly to communicate directly. He may be aware of other information about what happened in the State during wartime that may be useful/interesting.

For a local (me) whose family comes from the middle of the Maneuver area the book is priceless. I found out that if I had been standing in front of my Dad's business in mid-war I would have seen a complete armored division come right by our front door.
It mentions that the locals (my relatives) supplied - against regulations - home-cooked meals for the soldiers.

My mother and two of my aunts worked in a small garment factory, which after the war started shifted over to making uniforms and field jackets. To save gas and tires, the company would send a small open-bed truck out to the various farm houses and pick the girls up for work, and then deliver them home in the afternoon. My mom said that after the maneuvers started they had to go down the road with truckloads of GI's parked on the side of the road. She says they would wave and yell at the truckload of young girls and write their contact information on C-ration boxes and pitch them into the truck.
The girls would get in touch with some of the lucky GI's who would get invited to Sunday dinner or a picnic.

We still have photos in the family album of my mother, my aunts, and their girlfriends on such social events. One that I particularly like has my mother sitting on the fender of a jeep with a GI in the driver's seat.

 

[Stearmen]

Slightly off topic, but dealing with the home front,
From Maine to Mexico: With America's Private Pilots in the Fight Against Nazi U-Boats Louis E. Keefe. About the Civil Air Patrol during WWII.

 

[Stearmen]

V for Victory: America's Home Front During World War II [Stan Cohen]

 

[Stearmen]

Home Front U.S.A.: America During World War II Allan M. Winkler

 

[Stearmen]

THE US HOME FRONT 1941-45 Elite Serise OSPREY BOOKS