“Urban gardening may be catching on now, but today’s urban gardeners have nothing on their grandparents. During the World Wars, the U.S. government urged citizens to plant their own small vegetable gardens. It was a super positive spin on “We don’t have enough war rations.”
I don’t know what people would do today if the government asked them to grow cabbage in their front yards, but people back them were ready. Around 20 million families planted victory gardens. They grew 40 percent of the country’s vegetables by 1944.
Naturally, the government wanted to remember this successful project, so it kept a collection of photos. I happened upon them the other day, and I couldn’t stop looking. Some were sweet, some were inspiring, and some made me a little sad … even uncomfortable. I thought you might like to check them out too. (The 1940s captions are way too good to get stuck in tiny text.)”
SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE: “TreeHugger.com“
