The Homefront

During wartime, the government encouraged its citizens to reduce their reliance on limited food rations and canned food by planting “Victory Gardens” in their yards, an initiative that became immensely popular and effective. At its peak, nearly 20,000,000 gardens accounted for roughly forty percent of all vegetables produced in the United States.

In 1944, Eleanor Roosevelt observed, “The many thousands of women who are...running their houses quietly and efficiently are contributing more to the war effort than they themselves realize.” 

Another way households could contribute to the war effort was by saving cooking fats for conversion to explosive ingredients. For example, one pound of waste fat equaled 1/10 of a pound of glycerine. In this poster by modernist artist Henry Koerner, the oil from a frying pan is turned directly into bombs.