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Ref: MAR2_B03 |
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Part B -3 |
3. Economy: Controls, Prosperity, Business, Labor, GI Bill |
Excerpts & Historical Context:
Parallel Lives in Perspective
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Quotes from interviews of Wanda and Jack |
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Jack - Looking for
work1937-1940 JJK: I got out of college in 1937, I
never got a job until 1940. And this wasn't that I didn't try. I would be in 1. You are
just out of college you don't have enough experience. 2. You are
too old at 22 |
Wanda – Living Though
Tough Times WDK: An interesting time. But you know, you just live through those times and you don't find them too unusual because its gradual and it doesn't happen all at one time. …It was tough for you kids to go to college. But not nearly as tough as it was for your father’s generation to go to college. It meant nothing to a lot of people who later became lawyers and everything, to have two jobs and go to college full time. And they didn’t think anything of it. |
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Interview Abbreviations: JJK = Jack [John Joseph] Keefe; WDK = Wanda Davis Keefe; AKK = Adhiratha Kevin Keefe |
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Table of Contents 3. Economy: Controls, Prosperity, Business, Labor, GI Bill................................................. 29 S Depression, War Preparation
& Unemployment....................................................................................... 29 Business Benefits................................................................................................................................................ 30 Controls............................................................................................................................................................... 31 Wanda's glowing recommendation....................................................................................................................... 32 Rationing Effect Europe & North America..................................................................................................... 32 "Chiselers"........................................................................................................................................................... 32 War Bonds............................................................................................................................................................. 33 Wanda’s help for bond work, soldier & Jack...................................................................................................... 33 Labor...................................................................................................................................................................... 33 11. Accommodations for
Whitehorse staff, men & women................................................................................ 34 12. Camp food a plus.......................................................................................................................................... 35 13. Plan to Go back to Alaska, children?............................................................................................................. 36 14. Trappers Cabin and Jack’s chilly fall............................................................................................................ 36 GI Bill: Homes and Education.......................................................................................................................... 37 |
The economy played a big part in
the War buildup and re-conversion to civilian
production.
S Depression, War Preparation & Unemployment[excerpt for full see jk00ap16.doc para S] 44. JJK: For example it is the same thing in
1929.When the depression hit, they did everything to stop it. You can say
what you want. But that depression lasted from 1929 to 1941, when we got in
the war. And then we came out and started to build the planes and the ships,
then the depression ended. But don't let any one tell you that the depression
ended back in 1936 or 1930's. I got out of college in 1937, I never got a job
until 1940. And this wasn't that I didn't try. I would be in 1. You are
just out of college you don't have enough experience. 2. You are
too old at 22 45. AKK So they got you both
ways. They didn't want to give you a low paying job because you had too much
education for it. And they wouldn't give you a higher job because you didn't
have enough experience? 47. JJK If you got a job you
were lucky to get 12 dollars a week. And if you had something really to
offer, you got 14 dollars a week. But the real tycoons were making 18 dollars
a week but they were real geniuses. 48. AKK Those were coming out of
college or they were just regular guys. 49. JJK Just coming out of
college, Graduated Summa Cum Laude. All sorts of background. There were no jobs though. That was as
simple as that. Men were raising families on 18 or 20 dollars a week . |
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Re-integration & Consumer goods [excerpt, ,for full see jw00se30.rtf para 16] AKK: When the people came back from
the war, was there an initial fear of how they would be reintegrated? All these men coming back at one time? WDK: I don't remember that. Do you (Jack). There was so many jobs.. -- JJK: Well, there was a certain
concern. But you had the GI Bill,
whereby they -- I forget with the deal was -- they were given a certain
amount of money for 52 weeks. I think
it was $20 a week. 52 -- 20 and
out. And that $20 was a lot of money
in those days. Then a lot of the guys
went on to college, which they wouldn't have been able to do. They went under the GI Bill. AKK: Was that the same bill -- covered
both? JJK: I don't know if it was the
same bill but the GI Bill was there.
And they went on to college.
And then the economy started picking up because there had been no
action at all for years before the war and during the war. You had a shortage. |
Business Benefits
Mobilization and Re-conversion tended to work in favor of -- [business] Giants. . The Government provided subsidies, low-cost loans & quick tax write-offs for business to invest in production facilities [B03-N02]. Jack and Wanda discuss the countries preparing for the War and the conversion of industry to post war civilian production. However at the time there does not seem to have been much discussion or awareness in their circles of what type of incentives or subsidies may have been offered to business to meet the production targets. The understanding seems to be that government subsidies were needed for gearing up for war production but not for re-conversion.
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[excerpt, ,for full see jw00se30.rtf para 16] WDK: During the war all industry and
the manufacturing were (geared) towards war. The uniforms, the ammunition,
the guns, the planes, the cars everything like that --. When that ended the economy continued good
because now people needed cars at home.
You know everything had to change over. But the manufacturers would just change
what they were manufacturing. To peacetime. AKK: Was there incentive the
government was giving the manufacturers to change what they were producing
too? WDK: I don't think it was a
necessity. No.. JJK: I don't think so. I think it was just a natural growth, you
know. You come in with plastics. We didn't have plastics before. TV all of a sudden come in around 1947 or
thereabouts. We had no TV before when
we were kids. AKK: 0h maybe they were paid to
transfer to armaments. Then the
re-conversion wasn't as difficult to go back. WDK: Well there was -- don't forget
there was also experiments going on, on everything during the war, on every
different kind of thing. AKK: So that they could use that
experience? And now there was an
(super) demand. WDK: Right, right. AKK: Because if all these guys were
making $20 a week, they wanted to spend it. |
Controls.
Government price and wage
controls effected many different parts of the society. Jeffries notes that
everyone agreed on need to check inflation. However, most more easily accepted
limits on other people - while longing for more economic freedom for
themselves. Price control and rationing was a particular source of resentment
[B03-N03]. For example farmers and business disliked controls on their prices,
workers their wages, landlords their rents. [B03-N04]
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[excerpt, ,for full see jw00se30.rtf para 16] JJK: You had no cars during the
war, being produced [for civilian use] during war, you know. No radios, nothing. AKK: Because the cars were all being
like -- military jeeps? JJK: Sure, yeah. You could not get any tires. And all of a sudden the war is over, you
want all of these things. That was it. WDK: You couldn't get gas. The same
with food, it was rationed and all those things during the war. |
Wanda mentioned her displeasure with some controls
which influenced the way a Canadian national working for a
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[excerpt below,
for full see JW00au14.htm para 25] AAK: And wasn't
there some situation there or maybe another place worked, where you would
take a lot of guff from somebody and finely you stood up to him? WDK: Oh, that was
in the office in |
Wanda's glowing recommendation
But before
she left, Wanda did receive a glowing recommendation for her
work as an account with the company from
I had heard this family story of injustice on
a number of occasions. But now having been with the international civil service
for over two decades I understand better why many countries have a policy of
paying their national workers stationed out side the country more than they pay
locally recruited staff. This is part of the incentive to encourage nationals
to accept the discomfort of leaving their own country.
Rationing Effect Europe & North America
Most of the
civilian populations of the combatant countries were forced to make quite
severe sacrifices to support the war effort. Compared to European combatants
there was distinctly less "sacrifice" for North Americans who were
either supporting or soon to fight the war.
Kennedy notes that the extra rationing provided for
"Chiselers"
Growing up
in
War Bonds.
War Loan bond drives took in $135 billion.
Individuals bought about 1/4 of war bonds [B03-N08].
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Figure 12 = |
During the interviews Wanda mentioned in passing that she handled the administrative portion of tracking the war bonds sold to employees of the firm. There did not seem to be much need for discussing what the bonds were since they were so ever present during those years. It is however a cute story concerning offers of help from colleagues in administering the bonds and Wanda seeing a side of Jack's "take charge" personality. She was a bet shocked or embarrassed in this instance.
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Wanda’s help for bond work, soldier & Jack [excerpt below,
for full see JW00se04.htm para 08] WDK: I think it was that night I was doing the work on the bonds, because we sold bonds as well. AKK: To the workers? So they can save money? JJK: Yeah,
we take the money out of the payroll WDK: So
I was working on the books doing that and there was a young soldier I knew,
and he had come over. And he said he
would help me. He had wanted me to go, I guess to one of the dances. And I said no I couldn't, no I had to do
this. He said well I'll stay and help
you. So, he comes over (points to Jack) and he says I'll help too, I'll help you too. So then pretty soon he says , I don't
remember the guys name, he says to him, it's all right we don't need you
anymore, we will finish up. (Chuckle)
and he tells him to leave. (Chuckle) AKK: Where
you shocked when he did that? WDK: Of
course I was! I mean what do you say?
The guy was very nice, he was trying to help and he wanted me to go out. So I think you asked me then to go out with
you then to |
Labor
Jeffries
notes that in order to attract or retrain workers during the war time labor shortage,
businesses often found ways to offer incentives outside the usual means of pay
and remuneration which were strictly controlled. Usually the War Labor Board? [NWLB] allowed hidden
compensation as holiday pay, pensions, health insurance or supplemental unemployment compensation.
[B03-N09]. Wanda notes for instance, that the female staff were
well treated and this may in part have been due to fact it was difficult to
attract and retain good staff to perform this type of work in the Yukon.
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[excerpt below, for full see JW00se04.htm
para 10] AKK: So both
Canadians and Americans were on this staff? JJK: Oh yeah, they
lived in the same barracks. They had
the Canadians and Americans in the same barracks. And a woman's barracks was about 100 yards
from the men's barracks. You had the men's barracks, the woman's barracks,
the office and a mess Hall. |
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Inserted picture from
booklet: the |
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Sign --- Help Wanted :
FEMALE
[see doc JW44MY01 p.19] |
11. Accommodations for Whitehorse staff, men & women[excerpt
below, for full see JW00se04.htm para 11] AKK: What about the showers? They were all separate weren't they? WDK: Not in the
woman's. JJK: The woman
had their own showers. But then men,
the showers was about quarter of a mile from there, where we used to go. WDK: And you had
the washing machines down there that you could do your clothes and everything
too. And we had ours right in our headquarters room. AKK: Were you guys
all in one room or you had separate rooms for the woman too. WDK: Well, some of
them shared, there were four of them in a room, but I got -- JJK: You had
four in the woman's? WDK: Yeah, down at
the other end -- JJK: I only knew
two, WDK: Right, but
there were a couple of more, yes. I was one of the first girls to go up
there, one of the first six. So they
very kindly gave me a choice. First they kept me in the hotel down
in JJK: In the
men's barracks you just had a bed, period. AKK: Everybody was
in the same? JJK: Everybody.
Yeah, 40 guys. AKK: 40 guys! Not
even four to a room or anything? It was just all -- JJK: No, just 40
beds. And you had it heated with a
round bellied stove. You had three
round bellied stoves: One at this end, one in the middle, and one at that
end. The bull cook used to come
through all during the night and throw wood on it to keep it warm. And the son of a gun, he would get drunk
every now and then and he would not show up (chuckle) . When you get up in the morning it would be
freezing! At the other end of the barracks where I had my bed you also had
hot water. The water was in a big can
and they heated it. You would go up there,
get a little water and shave. And the
John was about 50 yards away from there.
If you had to get out in the middle of the night, you had to walk
about 50 yards through the cold and the ice to get there. AKK: Was that the
same with the woman's thing? Or they
had the John inside, indoor plumbing or latrine? WDK: Everything
indoor. JJK: Oh, they
lived high on the hog. They had it
right in there. WDK: We were
treated very nicely. |
Jack and
Wanda were in agreement concerning the importance of good food and skilled
cooks or bakers.
12. Camp food a plus[excerpt
below, for full see JW00se04.htm para 12] JJK: And the
food, the food was just great. After
being in WDK: It made all
the difference in the world having a good bull cook and a good baker. AKK: Because those
are one of the few things you had to look forward to? Was a good meal and people would relax,
sort of like the merchant ship? JJK: Yeah that's
right. |
Jack and Wanda
like many others did not have firm plans as to where they would settle after
the war. They originally thought they would be raising a family western
13. Plan to Go back to Alaska, children?[excerpt
below, for full see JW00se04.htm para 13] WDK: Now you can understand why I agreed to marry him and
come down on our honeymoon if we would go back to AKK: You wanted to
get the good food? WDK: Yeah,
(chuckle). And I wanted to stay up
there. AKK: And you
didn't have any intention of having children right away? WDK: What ever God
sent. AKK: Right. But you hadn't thought it through? WDK: No,
no. No, we were supposed to go
back. We were all ready to go back to |
As mentioned
in Paragraph B-02, even people stationed in remote places found ways to
entertain themselves. The environment where Jack and Wanda were stationed demanded
extra precautions during the long winter. Jack discovered this through
experience.
14. Trappers Cabin and Jack’s chilly fall[excerpt below, for full see JW00se04.htm
para 14] WDK: A Couple of my
friends and I found this cabin that had been -- it was a trappers cabin and
it had been abandoned. Because you
know, when you leave there, you didn't take things with you. There really was no way to take it out of
there. It was a not worthwhile. So it had tables and benches and chairs in
it and a stove and all that. But it
hadn't been lived in for a longtime.
So we got equipment and cleaned it all up. We used to go down there and cook
meals. A whole bunch of us would go
just for the evening. We get stuff
from the commissary. JJK: It was two
miles from our camp. We used to walk. WDK: And we would
walk down and have a big meal and sit around and talk and everything. Just enjoyed ourselves. Was it the first
night you went down that you fell in the water? JJK: No, no it
was after a couple of weeks. AKK: But, then you
knew what you were getting into? You
just didn't realize how cold it would be, or the snow? WDK: He was dressed
by then for everything. But, we were
going down this one night and everybody helped each other across. There were some streams that the water
wasn't frozen all the way through. The
water was off the river, it was like a slow brook off the river and it never
froze that winter the whole way. It
was moving so swiftly I guess. AKK: So, so across
the top there would be ice? WDK: Right, there
would be ice and everything. JJK: But, it
would be very thin. WDK: But, we had
logs that went across so we could walk across it. But, everybody helped each other. One person would give another person a hand
and then they would help them across.
But your father, "I can manage myself. No, I don't need a hand." And of course he had the brace and he
walked with a limp. -- JJK: I said as
long as I get my hands on these branches -- WDK: My "mitts
on these branches" . That's what
you said -- just before you went in (chuckle) JJK: I'll just
go right over, you know. What I
overlooked was the fact that the branches were going to break. (Laughter)
Then I 'm in midstream and all of a sudden it breaks and Boom! WDK: So, his leg
goes down into the water and every thing.
And we get down there and he takes his stocks and his -- JJK: I was very
concerned because you know it's below zero WDK: We still had a
ways to walk before we were going to get there. JJK: We had
about a quarter of a Mile to get to the cabin. WDK: So he took his
socks off and his shoes. And he put
the, it wasn't the brace leg. It
wasn't the leg you had the brace on. JJK: No. It was
my left leg. WDK: And he put
everything up by the fire. Then he's
talking and telling his jokes and everybody is --. Then all of a sudden, we go (sniff),
something’s burning. AKK: And it was
your shoes? JJK: My socks. (Laughter) AKK: 0h no! So you had no socks than either. Did you get them out of the fire? JJK: Oh, yeah,
sure, real quick. But they were a
little charred. (Laughter) WDK: So, he didn't
learn his lesson. On the way back, you
had further to go back to camp. On the
way back he does the same thing. I'm
saying to Jack, you know, take our hand.
"Naaaa, no, I'm fine, I'm fine." Down he goes again.
(Laughter) JJK: I must
admit, on the way back I was very concerned, because it was about a mile and
3/4 to go and it was -- cold. And I'm remembering all the stories they tell
in the barracks. Where you would sit
around and they would tell stories about guys freezing to death. Or losing their feet or their hands and I'm
0h,ohhhhhoo. |
GI Bill: Homes and Education
The Serviceman's Readjustment Act
of 1944 [GI Bill] was the transforming impetus for
many people who served during WWII. Jeffries notes that by providing educational
benefits and low interest loans for home ownership, business, and farming, the
GI Bill underwrote both prosperity and upward mobility in the postwar era. The
returning GI's were given keys to individuality and middle class status by a
grateful nation. . [B03-N010]
Schlesinger observes that students were probably never more serious,
intelligent and self reliant than in those years after the war. Many of the
post war students attendance was made possible by the GI Bill. [B03-N11] 1/5 of
new homes from mid 1940's to mid 60's were financed by the GI Bill.
As noted elsewhere, Jack and Wanda's work during wartime had
supported the war effort. Jack had served in a number of overseas posts and in
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[excerpt below, for full see JW00se30.htm
para 16] WDK: [During the war] You couldn't get
gas. The same with food was rationed and all those things during the war. AKK: When you were going to move
from WDK: Well there was also the GI
Bill. Where you could take a loan out
when we were buying a home. You could
get -- the GI Bill gave money to people who bought their own home. It became as cheap to buy a home as it was
to rent. JJK: That's when/how WDK: So, AKK: So, because they had that
money, they saw if they would take out a mortgage and put their $15 a week
into a mortgage or less it was the same as what they were paying for rent. WDK: Right. The dream was you wanted to own your own
home. An interesting time. But you know, you just live through those
times and you don't find them too unusual because its gradual and it doesn't
happen all at one time. AKK: And it is happening to everyone
else around you. WDK: Exactly, exactly. And the jobs
were really pretty plentiful right after the war. AKK: Must have been, especially
compared to everybody’s experience right before the war. WDK: Oh,
yeah. Well, I think just about going to college. I mean it was tough for you
kids to go to college. But not nearly
as tough as it was for your father’s generation to go to college. It meant
nothing to a lot of people who later became lawyers and everything, to have
two jobs and go to college full time. And they didn’t think anything of it.
And I think of kids who go to college today and who take out these big, big
loans and they wouldn’t push themselves to that point. Some did it then if
they wanted to go on to college and the majority didn’t go on to college,
that do today |
END Notes for B-03
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End Note [EN] Part-Sect-Note |
Author |
Source & Link to Bibliography in Part G |
Abbreviated reference to Source |
Page |
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B03-N01 |
Jeffries, John W.. |
WA |
Pp 018, 044 |
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B03-N02 |
Jeffries, John W.. |
WA |
Pp 020,052 |
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B03-N03 |
Jeffries, John W.. |
WA |
Pp 153 |
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B03-N04 |
Jeffries, John W.. |
WA |
Pp 027 |
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B03-N05 |
Cocagne, Keith J |
WK44Apr26 |
Pp 01 |
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B03-N06 |
Kennedy, David M. |
Freedom From Fear: The American People in
Depression and War 1929-1945 |
FOF |
Pp 647 |
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B03-N07 |
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. |
AL20C |
Pp 284 |
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B03-N08 |
Jeffries, John W.. |
WA |
Pp 035 |
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B03-N09 |
Jeffries, John W.. |
WA |
Pp 056 |
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B03-N10 |
Jeffries, John W.. |
WA |
Pp 065, 158, 175 |
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B03-N11 |
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. |
AL20C |
Pp 440 |
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