From free V-mail to e-mail: times have changed, but messages are the same
Lilah Hoeft Elowski, 74, of Belknap remembers when times were simpler, but circumstances were similar to today?s events. It was back during World War II, ?The Big One,? as it was called back then, and times were not sophisticated, but Lilah remembers the day after Pearl Harbor, when she went to school and found out the event had occurred the day before.
?It was 1941 on a Monday. We didn?t have electricity and the radio only worked when it wanted to,? Lilah said. ?That?s when I found out, the day afterward at school. It became more apparent how serious Pearl Harbor was as parents and older people got together and spoke about the war.? Lilah said she could remember worrying about whether her father would have to go to war, but he never did, as they had five children and he was a farmer, and was deferred.
Lilah was born in Moltke Township and lived there for nine years before her parents moved to Montmorency County where she went to school. She met and married Norman Elowski, a born and raised Belknap Township resident. They married on June 25, 1949, and raised two sons, David, now 54, and Dale, 51, who gave them grandchildren Benjamin, Andrew, Erin, and Rachel, and eventually a great grandchild named Noah, almost one.
TIME MARCHES on, but back then during the war years, Grandma Elowski had four sons and two served in the armed services while two remained on the farm. Folks buying boxes of ?Free Mail? stationery that was called V-Mail solved the problems of communication. The similar name to today?s e-mail is coincidental but strange nonetheless. ?I don?t remember how much it cost, but once it was purchased, you wrote your letter on the page and folded it up into an envelope and put on three cents postage for ordinary mail and six cents for airmail oversees,? Lilah remembered.
?Then the letters were photographed or copied and shrunk down to this small size (about 4? x 5?) and sent in a special envelope,? Lilah said. ?The servicemen wrote for free?all they had to do was write the word free across the stamp area on the envelope.? Lilah said that sometimes the letters would arrive with words or sentences blocked out from the censors. ?You had to be careful what you wrote, times were very uncertain back then,? Lilah said. ?We had rationing back then. You applied for books of stamps to purchase sugar, meat, and dairy products. ?You needed three ration points for a pound of lard and six points for one pound of butter. The stamps were in little books.? Today we complain about the high price of gasoline, but it?s still available upon demand. Back then gasoline was restricted to only three gallons per week. ?Of course people didn?t drive so much back then. People got together to support the war effort. School kids and families collected newspapers, paper, rubber, steel and aluminum for recycling the scrap for the war.
?MILKWEED pods were collected for life jackets and parachutes?nylon wasn?t invented yet and ladies? stockings were scarce.? Lilah said a tan liquid could be painted on the legs to look like silk stockings and an eyebrow type pencil-paint could be used to make it look like a seam down the back of the leg. ?It didn?t really look like a seam, though,? Lilah said. ?Anything with sugar in it was hard to come by and syrup was used instead. Fresh fruit and bananas were a luxury.
?I was on my senior trip in 1947 and one of our classmates bought a huge bunch of bananas and shared them?it was one of the most memorable moments of the entire trip!? During the war months, tires or anything made of rubber were at a premium, before synthetic rubber was invented. Clothing also was difficult to come by and only two pairs of new shoes were permitted per year. In the spring of 1943, Lilah graduated from eighth grade and was confirmed from St. John?s in Royston. ?My dress had to be made but there weren?t any buttons so they had to be borrowed. There wasn?t much in the way of money and goods. For the first time, women began to work in the factories to help out.
?Agricultural products went to the war effort and everybody was involved. Civilians planted ?Victory Gardens? for fresh produce. Any imported items were very scarce.? The schools received government aid with cases of grapefruit, juices, lard, flour, and apples and half-gallon containers of soap. ?The rural K-8 grade Babcock School in Montmorency, taught by Myrtle Bonner (still living) baked cookies, made baked beans and whatever else we had from the government program for hot lunches,? Lilah said. ?We used a kerosene stove with a portable oven set on the burner in a corner of the school.? THE TIMES called for creativity on the part of everyone. The lack of supplies on the home front encouraged people to work together to overcome problems and find ways to ?make do? while going without many items. ?You had to use your imagination when cooking and canning because of the limited sugar and other staples. Syrup could be bought in quart and gallon pails so the kids used them for lunch boxes at school. Today?s e-mails sent back and forth are probably similar to the V-mail received by Lilah back in April 17, 1945 from her cousin Pfc Norman J. Brege stationed in Belgi
?DEAR LILAH, Received two letters from you, & also want to thank the aunt and uncle for the swell birthday card. It doesn?t make much difference to me whether you write or type your letters, Lilah. ?I can read both of them very well, so whatever is best for you suits me. OK? ?Got ?hooked? for the night shift tonight and I?ll probably be plenty sleepy before morning rolls around. There isn?t much work tonight, but I still have to stay in the garage. ?Hope Carol Sue is getting along OK now. I was very sorry to hear about her accident. The relatives seem to be having their share of tough breaks recently.
?Won?t be long now until school will be over for another year, and you?ll have to start in at that work again, hey? ?Well, Pete & I did finally meet! Had a grand time, and really ?talked it over? in the 3 days we were together. ?Hope this finds you well & God bless you. Love, Norman.? Remember those who served and are serving their country this Memorial Day weekend.