As soldiers fought in battles across the globe during World War II, the citizens of Wyoming were asked to make sacrifices at home. The War Production Board launched campaigns to collect everything from rubber to kitchen fat.
When the call went out for scrap metals, Wyoming residents responded with enthusiasm. The state ranked third in the nation in per capita shipment of scrap metal to the national stockpile. In a single year, enough scrap metal was shipped from the state to build nineteen Navy cruisers.
On a less dense scale, the women of Wyoming were asked to contribute silk and nylon hosiery, which were to be made into parachutes. And kitchen fats were collected to be used in the manufacture of explosives. Hunters donated the fat of their game carcasses. The Casper Girl Scouts even went door to door on Halloween collecting fats rather than the usual treats.
Learn more about salvage on the home front during the Second World War by reading the T.A. Larson papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.