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 Davidson County, 1940 – 1945: Local newspapers describe life on the WWII homefront”
This text has been modified from a book written and copyrighted by J.M. Daniel in 2005. The Museum presented two exhibits about WWII that year and Daniel’s research accompanied the first exhibit, A Band of Families: The World War II Home Front. Compiled from local newspaper articles published during the war in The Dispatch (Lexington), and The Times (Thomasville), the book reflects the extraordinary level of patriotic engagement citizens at home made in support of the war effort. A subsequent exhibit, Our Own Band of Brother: Those Who Served, told the story of thousands of Davidson County men and women who saw military service during WWII.
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 1943 - Learning to Cope
Residents in Davidson County, North Carolina fought World War II on two fronts – for every local citizen who served his or her county in the military, family and friends remained behind to wage their own war on "The Homefront." The information presented is from Davidson County’s local newspaper accounts from late 1939 through shortly after the end of WWII in 1945. The information was gathered from headlines, editorials, classified ads, and the society pages printed in "The Times" in Thomasville, NC and "The Dispatch" in Lexington, NC. What emerges is a picture of everyday Davidson County citizens learning to cope with the reality of world war. There are stories of tireless volunteers and scrap drives, fund raising and blackout procedures. And, as with any other county in America, you’ll also find a bit about those who sought to evade the draft, the difficulty of conforming to ration restrictions, and even the authorities attempts to discourage wartime bootlegging.
1/7/43 -- Community Service Agent for Davidson County War Price and Rationing Board explains new food rationing system.
-- Tech Sgt. Elmer Howard reported as POW in the Philippines (first mention of American POWs).
-- Maurice Beauty Shop announces arrival of “Cold Ray” curling process.
-- Due to localized gas shortages in 17 states, “pleasure driving “ to be banned. Includes sports and social activities. Lexington golfers question how they will get to Municipal course. Decline in traffic already noted.
-- Ad – Eugene Weaver, Virgil Craver, J.B. Tarlton, W. A. Tritt advertise for lost gas ration books.
1/8/43--125 white men inducted from District 2.
-- Gasoline on Paris, France black-market said to be selling for $145 per quart.
1/11/43-- Basketball game with Statesville canceled due to “pleasure driving” ban.
-- 5 military prep courses to be offered in city schools: general, production service, community service, air service, sea service.
-- As a result of “pleasure driving ban”, horses, ponies, mules, farm wagons, ice wagons, surries, buggies, carts, and 1 “Hoover cart” seen downtown. Lexington golfers hire Ice company team and wagon to take them to golf course. Fishing at High Rock abandoned due to transportation ban.
1/14/43-- Red Cross calls for more workers to do knitting and sewing.
-- Men 18-45 required to carry their draft cards.
-- Mrs. Carrie Link of Lexington has 5 sons in service.
-- 140 whites called from Lexington District. Most are 19 years old.
-- Replacing one can of food with home grown produce saves ¼ lb of steel.
1/18/43-- Point rationing for food will use ration book #2.
-- Miss Callie Sue Mize joins WAAC.
1/21/43-- 3 Lexington drivers fined 4 gas ration tickets each for non-essential driving.
-- Selective Service seeks delinquent registrants.
-- Ad – Community Bank of Lexington advertisement "Pay bills by check. Save gas and tires and avoid errors that may be caused by short-handed companies."
1/25/43-- More than 200 women working at Red Cross. 1,565 garments already completed this year. No longer putting cards in utility bags due to cost.
-- ½ page advertisement Leonard Troutman Auto Service "You can get recaps"- photo of recapping process.
1/28/43-- Rumors untrue… Red Cross is NOT giving garments to local welfare.
-- Victory Book Campaign seeks “high quality books”.
-- Public warned that picking up baby sitters is not an essential task.
-- Ad – Call a cab only when necessary – avoid peak times when workers are being transported.
-- Ad – Parker-Miller offers 32 piece china set for $5.95. Crystal at $0.30 per stem.
2/1/43-- New Air Raid rules received – 1 blast of two minutes is first alert. Certain radio stations to stay on air to broadcast emergency news. Germans rumored to be building a 6 engine bomber that could reach U.S.
-- Willie R. Williams turns in “Mrs. Miniver”. 1st book in Victory Book Drive.
-- Editorial refers to German confiscating Jewish property.
2/4/43-- Interviews to be held locally for War Department jobs in D.C. Pay is $1,440 to $1,800 annually.
-- Motorcycles to be included in the non-essential driving ban.
-- Euterpe Music Club votes $10 for purchase of victrola for troop transport.
-- Editorial – Ground Hog predictions remain censored.
-- Dispatch, noting diminishing social news, adds column “With Davidson Women”.
-- Article notes that women “do not lose their femininity at work”.
-- Local women to sell Valentine’s nosegays made of Defense Stamps. Called “Dainty, Lacy, Alluring”.
-- Movie ad - “Prairie Gunsmoke” at Granada.
2/8/43-- Dr. Ed Cathell promoted to Lt. Colonel in charge of a hospital at Ft. Jackson.
-- Shoe rationing to begin. 3 pair per person per year. No limit on repairs.
-- Only graduates and their parents authorized to drive to Davidson County graduations.
2/11/43-- War Bond purchases declining in Davidson, only $145, 000 of $172,000 quota.
-- Local ministers meet and agree which church activities are essential. Meetings in private homes declared non-essential.
-- Few Davidson county jobs categorized as “essential”, although many work at defense-related jobs. Married men between 18 and 38 especially concerned as they may be exposed to draft.
-- Boys under 18 urged not to register before their 18th birthday.
-- Thomasville raises $9,000 in one day for Red Cross War Fund.
-- Marine Captain James M. Hayes, Jr. speaks to Rotary club about Guadalcanal. Predicts Germans will be defeated before Japanese.
-- Coble Dairy begins production of powdered eggs.
-- Ad – Government forbids charging gas to individuals… no credit accounts.
2/12/43-- 12 violators of “pleasure driving ban” brought before ration board. Several lectured, several penalized stamps, and one loses his ration book.
-- Red Cross surgical dressing room opened for rolling gauze. 180 million
needed nationally by 3/15.
2/14/43 BATTLE OF KASSERINE PASS FOUGHT BETWEEN GERMAN AND U.S. FORCES.
2/15/43-- Lexington High School students make model Northrop A-17A aircraft for defense identification training.
-- Women may be asked to serve as air raid wardens.
-- 2 stills found in Emmons township using molasses.
-- 85 white men sent from Lexington district. Most 18 or 19.
-- Air Raid signals to be: 4 blasts twice = threat; 4 blasts four times = air raid eminent.
-- Local citizens must inventory canned foods and declare same as part of rationing registration.
-- Movie ad - “Flying Tigers” with John Wayne back at Granada.
2/18/43-- Rationed foods include” canned and bottled fruits and vegetables, frozen and dehydrated foods, canned soup, baby food.
-- 30 African-American men called from Lexington district.
-- Man rescues dog from well then has to be rescued himself.
-- Surgical bandage quota enlarged. U.S. calls for 180,000,000 from nation by March 15th.
-- Food rationing to begin Feb 22nd. Registrants must declare on hand stocks.
-- Paper includes Food declaration form.
2/22/43-- Armed Healing Springs mother fatally shot trying to prevent arrest of two deserter sons.
-- Recapped tires no longer rationed.
-- Bond sales spurt with Nylon Hose incentive. 90 pair went quickly. “hose treated as heirlooms”.
-- Women’s “military unit” planned here for Civil Defense work. Must be 18 up. Requires 20 + hours volunteer work per month.
2/25/43-- Local markets collecting waste fats.
-- ½ page ad – Food ration point chart.
-- 16 women attended first meeting of “Women’s Defense Military Corps”. Marine Sgt. Stanley Logemann of Abilene, Texas told of his captivity and subsequent escape from the Japanese.
3/1/43-- “Sgt. Logemann” is taken up as a deserter. Is actually a private who had seen no overseas service.
-- Sheriff notes that no African-American men from Davidson have deserted.
-- Married men with children conceived after December 7th, 1941 are no longer deferred.
-- “Victory Book Campaign” concludes with 226 books collected including “War and Peace” and “They Were Expendable.”
-- “Women’s Auxiliary Guard Service” holds first aid class.
-- Ad – Notice, due to shortage of help there will be no further drug store deliveries or curb service.
3/4/43-- “Navy Recruiters seek Women here”.
NOTE: there are more items of war news and more photos than previously.
-- Movie ad - “China Girl” starring Gene Tierney at Carolina.
3/5/43-- Ad – Firestone “War Model” bicycle $32.50.
3/8/43-- Those in service are not subject to state income tax.
3/11/43-- 34; African-American men called from Lexington. Largest group to date.
-- “Ride sharing” to work emphasized by Civil Defense.
-- Stray dogs being shot on sight to reduce rabies threat.
-- Shoe restrictions: medium heels, no frills, colors to be black, white, russet, and brown.
-- Thomasville man, Royce T. Webb held as POW in Philippines.
3/12/43-- District 2 Honor Board has 1,200 names but needs to be enlarged.
3/15/43-- Movie ad - “At the Front in North Africa”, 40 minute Technicolor film by U.S. Army Signal Corps to be shown at Carolina.
3/16/43 GERMAN U-BOATS ACHIEVE THEIR LARGEST TONNAGE TOTAL OF THE WAR OFF COAST
3/18/43-- Complete blackout sought in practice tonight.
-- “Pleasure Driving” ban lifted but gas rations cut in ½ to 1 ½ gallon per week.
-- Thomasville ships 55,200 surgical dressings.
-- Ethel Barrymore to appear in play “The Corn is Green” for one night in Winston-Salem.
3/19/43-- Traffic congestion noted in Lexington when pleasure driving ban lifted… Editorial says that wasn’t not seen in Thomasville as it never halted.
3/22/43-- Permits required for animal slaughter as part of food rationing. Rationing of meats, butter, fats, cheese, to begin 3/29/43.
-- Over 100 lbs of old silk stockings collected and shipped to be reclaimed to make parachutes.
-- “Chief White Eagle’s Indian Museum” on Thomasville-Lexington highway robbed of artifacts valued at $2,000.
-- Despite local decline in purchases, War Bond quota raised to $145,588 for March.
-- In past 6 months, 42 local men and women sent to war production jobs after NYA training. Lexington has 1 of 20 such shops in N.C. Local shop is dedicated to wooden aircraft manufacture.
-- Editorial – Publishing of names of selectees to be censored. Only those who are accepted may be listed.
-- Red Cross output high locally – clothing and utility bags.
3/25/43-- “Share the Ride” program installs bulletin board in front of March Hotel to facilitate ride sharing.
-- Thomasville also installs “Share the Ride” bulletin board.
3/29/43-- Family of Lt. John C. Bower receives Silver Star for his service in Pacific. He was shot down and is M.I.A.
-- 250 local women working in jobs once held by men.
-- Full page ad – Join Car Sharing CLub.
-- Photos – Women’s three pair of shoes should be “smart, comfortable”.
4/1/43-- “Ride Sharing” membership mandatory for renewal of class A and B gas rationing books.
-- Movie ad - “Casablanca” at Carolina.
-- Weekly meat ration to be about 2 lbs per week per person = 16 ration points per week.
-- Junior Order Home lists 75 in service.
-- Ad showing ration point values for canned goods: 1 lb dried pintos = 4, 46 oz can of tomato juice = 22, 19 oz can of tomatoes = 16
4/2/43-- 6 blackout violators cited in Thomasville.
4/5/43-- G.W. Mountcastle to head up bond drive with goal of $1 Million in 18 days.
4/8/43-- Aircraft Observation Posts put on 24 hour duty. Problems with access and safety have prevented establishing a post on top of Carolina Theater.
-- Ad – 1 lb lard = 5 ration points at A&P.
-- NYA expects to provide aircraft workers to plants in Winston-Salem and Burlington.
4/9/43-- US Army K rations provide 4,200 calories per day.
4/12/43-- Supplies for 30,000 bandages on hand. Volunteer workers asked to report for work.
-- Dispatch says it will cease publication of photos of servicemen due to lack of zinc for plates (later editions of the paper show no evidence that that this happened).
4/15/43-- Boy Scouts to take over collection of waste fats from houses in Lexington.
4/16/43-- 60 white men from District 2 drafted.
4/19/43-- Davidson County man among 8 charged by FBI for “sabotage”… he was a welder in the naval yard in Baltimore who knowingly made substandard welds to increase his output and, thereby, his pay.
4/22/43-- Raymond L Tysinger reported as in Japanese POW camp. Captured at the fall of the Phillipines.
-- Dispatch mentions little-known cemetery for children victims of smallpox epidemic in front of 2nd Evangelical and Reformed Church on N. Church street.
4/26/43-- 125 white men from Lexington District inducted … about 1/3 married… government rules that it’s ok to publish inductees’ names again.
-- Local lawyer to defend local man charged with “sabotage” in Baltimore.
4/29/43-- 41 African-American men draftees leave from District 1 – largest levy to date – number of eligible men of both races nearing exhaustion.
-- Victory Loan (Bond drive) quota set at $1.85 million.
5/6/43-- New state wide speed limit – 35 mph.
-- Boy Scout collection of waste fats going well.
5/13/43 REMAINING AXIS TROOPS IN NORTH AFRICA SURRENDER TO ALLIES
-- Unsubstantiated reports of ceiling prices being exceeded in local stores.
-- Ad – Which would you rather have 112 biscuits or 1 pork chop? – compares ration point values
-- General note: There are more photos from the war in the paper than before.
5/20/43-- All employees are “frozen” in current jobs… can’t quit, can’t change jobs without approval.
5/22/43 GERMANS SUSPEND U-BOAT OPERATIONS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC DUE TO STEEP LOSSES
5/27/43-- Local man accused of “sabotage” gets 18 years in prison.
-- Battleship Oklahoma raised at Pearl Harbor.
5/31/43-- Industrial Bank sends case of cigarettes to soldiers in Aleutians.
6/3/43-- Hedrick’s Grove Evangelical and Reformed Church erects community Board of Honor listing those in service.
-- Workers for Navy yard in Norfolk sought here – pay is $5.36 daily.
-- Bus travel is being severely restricted by shortages. Travel on space available basis. Over 200 held over in Greensboro.
-- Thomasville district sends 150 men.
-- Red Cross in Lexington has served 2,470 meals from 7/1/42 through 4/30/43 -- 28,000 hours volunteered, 456 knitted garments, 1005 sewn garments, 175,600 bandages. -- Municipal pool opens – admission $.05 and $.15.
-- Ad – Raylass stores offer ladies 2 piece slack sets at $3.98.
-- Mention of fire in Courthouse during federal occupation in 1865.
6/4/43-- 143 white men from District 2 inducted.
6/7/43-- Town boys between 12 and 16 sought for work on local farms due to labor shortage (the Victory Farm Volunteer Program.)
6/9/43 ALLIED FORCES LAND ON SICILY
6/10/43-- Community canneries being established at Welcome, Arcadia, and Denton schools, can produce 1,500 cans per day, will provide canning services on a cost basis.
-- OPA making checks on rumors of black market gas sales in Lexington.
-- Classified ad – E. C. Sechrist offers to do a welding job for whoever will return his auto tags.
-- ¼ page table of ration values effective June 6th.
-- Soldiers on furlough to be allowed 5 gallons of gas.
-- Editorial: “Folks who accuse others of using the war for their own political ends may simply be voicing their own inner desires to make hay”. A defense of FDR’s policies.
6/14/31-- 39 African-American men from District 1.
-- Lexington couple collecting junk jewelry for troops in the Pacific to trade with natives.
-- Civil Defense holds meeting to discuss gas warfare.
-- Linwood man noted wearing suit he bought in 1892.
-- Dehydrating touted as an alternative to canning.
6/17/43-- “Surprise” blackout drill goes well although there was a problem in the “all clear” signal which was to be signaled by turning on the street lights…about 1/3 of the lights weren’t functioning.
6/18/43-- Article predicts that after war you’ll be able to buy a complete meal in a single package.
6/21/43-- Effective immediately you must have tire inspection certificates to get gas ration stamps.
-- Workers in defense industries locally to be fingerprinted – applies to Lexington Silk Mills, who make: aircraft insulation, engine covers, wing covers, propeller covers, parachutes, underwear, shirts, tarps, coveralls, webbing, glider wing and fuselage fabrics, etc.
6/24/43-- 23 killed, 700 wounded in race riots in Detroit.
-- Local taxi gas supply depleted until July 1st.
-- No gas available at pumps in Lexington.
-- Women sought for WAAC radio service.
-- Thurman Fry has 4 sons in service.
6/25/43-- Governor Broughton orders county sheriffs to visit places where “loafers congregate” to ask why they are not at work.
7/1/43-- “A” gas ration card holders no longer eligible for tire purchases.
-- Ad – B.F. Goodrich offers all synthetic tire.
7/2/43-- USS DE-529 (William C. Miller) launched at Boston Navy Yard. Mother, Father, Sister, Mayor Pope, and several JayCees attend.
7/5/43-- C. Adam Berrier has 4 sons in service.
-- 45 whites, 20 African-Americans from Lexington District – lowest quota in many months.
-- Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) becomes Women’s Army Corps (WAC).
-- 2 Denton men receive steep fines for failure to comply with blackout .
7/8/43-- County commissioners agree to halt liquor and beer sales on Sunday. Town councils expected to follow suit.
-- Labor shortage intensified by chronic absenteeism.
-- No tires of any kind to be available for several months.
7/12/43-- County canneries receive equipment.
7/16/43-- Sunday beer sales banned in Thomasville in keeping with rest of Davidson County.
-- Supplement on Canning included with Thomasville paper.
7/22/43 AMERICAN FORCES TAKE PALERMO, SICILY
-- Ad – Women wanted for war work loading shells.
-- ½ page ad showing defense items made by Lexington Silk Mills.
7/26/43-- Local Civil Defense reminded that need for scrap is ongoing.
7/29/43-- Belk –Martin has window display of Lexington Silk Mills defense goods.
-- Local scrap drives to be continuous. Tin cans sought. Boy Scouts and local groceries collecting waste fats.
7/30/43-- Thomasville Red Cross has shipped 1,087 garments in a year.
8/2/43-- Two local men who had taken glider pilot training and returned home awaiting orders were apparently lost in the shuffle. After 6 months, they contacted Congressman Burgin who followed up on the situation. They then received orders to report for further training. Both had taken jobs in the interim. “We don’t want people to think we were sitting around all this time because we wanted to.”
-- Preparing cans for collection: Remove label. Wash and dry. Remove both top and bottom and insert in can. Mash flat. Cans to be collected on the 1st Wednesday of the month beginning in September. Sanitation crews are donating their time on their Wednesday 1/2 day off to collecting the cans.
-- Davidson County waives poll taxes for those in service.
-- Lexington American Legion Auxiliary to hold “Molly Pitcher Day” selling bonds.
-- Movie ad - “Bataan”with Robert Taylor at the Carolina.
8/5/43-- 78 men drafted from Thomasville district.
-- Blackout “all clear” signal to be a 15 second blast of factory whistles.
-- Fathers aged 18-38 with children born before Pearl Harbor to become eligible for draft.
-- No more coffee rationing according to A&P ad.
-- Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys to appear in tent show in Lexington on 8/6/43.
-- Nationally, the Red Cross has made over 22 million garments.
8/6/43--78 men inducted from District 2.
8/9/43-- Still broken up near Wallburg using corn syrup as a sugar replacement.
-- If you lose your ration book, you must advertise for it, then wait 60 days. This is causing hardship so the waiting period may be eliminated.
-- Industrial absenteeism still of concern. Halt in Sunday liquor sales was expected to have greater effect on absenteeism than it has.
Problem is believed due to the 20% tax placed on wages after a certain amount has been earned. Workers are working to that point then not showing up. Up to 15% absenteeism in some cases.
-- 54 “town boys” working regularly on farms.
8/12/43-- Percy Walden reported previously as prisoner of the Italians is now in a German prison.
-- Davidson falling short on bond purchase goal. $118,000 of $173,000.
-- Wall family has 25 acre Victory garden at site of old Wall Lumber yard on Cotton Grove Rd.
-- Churchland installs a community cannery.
8/16/43-- Local temperature reaches 105 on 8/14/43.
-- Lexington’s Honor Board now triple original size.
-- Local team wins state horseshoe tournament in Winston-Salem.
8/17/43 USAF SUFFERS STEEP LOSSES IN BOMBING RUN ON BALL-BEARING PLANTS AT REGENSBURG AND SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY
8/19/43-- Sanitation grades to be posted in Davidson County restaurants and groceries.
8/23/43-- Plan proposed for airport in Lexington with eye to post war commerce.
-- Full page ad – Ceiling prices.
8/26/43-- Labor Mobilization Board to inventory unemployed labor force. Those refusing work may be prosecuted.
-- Christmas parcels for servicemen may not exceed 5 pounds.
-- Editorial states: “Many congressmen are fully convinced that the Armed Services have set too high a figure for fighting strength”… resulting in need to draft men with dependent children.
8/30/43-- Erlanger offers “pay vacation”, an extra week’s pay but no time off.
9/2/43-- Lexington fails to receive blackout notice in drill.
-- Squirrel season opens but shells scarce – farmers should get priority to halt predation.
-- County school enrollment down by 600 – 700 due to service and defense manufacturing.
-- County canneries to begin canning meat.
9/3/43-- 16 African-American men, 52 whites from District 2 drafted.
-- “Surprise blackout” causes “numerous” violations in Thomasville.
9/6/43-- Collection of used silk hose to end. 46 million pair collected nationally.
-- ½ day mid-week “holiday” for food stores to be extended to “year round.”
9/8/43 NEW ITALIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES ITALY'S SURRENDER
9/9/43 ALLIED FORCES LAND IN SALERNO AND TARANTO, ITALY.
-- 3rd War Loan drive to begin with goal of $15 billion nationally.
9/11/43 GERMAN ARMY OCCUPIES ITALY
9/13/43-- Mrs. J. Frank Beck has 7 grandsons in service.
-- National milk production in 1942 was 668 Million quarts.
-- Social Security (now 5 years old) may be continued after war.
-- Ad – Square dance to be held at Wade Tysinger’s Service Station on Hwy 64 East.
-- Full page ad – 3rd War Loan Drive – “Back the Attack”.
9/16/43-- Truck delivery of packages less than 5 lbs banned. No Sunday deliveries except ice, milk, and cream.
-- Sufficient pressure cookers on hand to fill demand.
-- Lexington War Bond sales through Carolina Theater reach $253,918. Purchasers receive ticket to “So Proudly We Hail”. County’s quota is $2.3 million.
9/17/43-- Thomasville groceries to serve as collection points for tin cans (tin is used to make morphine syrettes).
9/20/43-- 2/3 of last levy from District 1 rejected. Many had recently been reclassified from 4-F.
-- Committee to meet and discuss building a Lexington municipal airport to capitalize on aviation in the post war era.
-- War Loan sales reach ½ way mark with only 10 days remaining.
9/27/43-- Bond sales continue to lag in Davidson.
-- Shoe ration reduced to 2 pair per year per person.
-- Skilled workers sought for Navy yards in Norfolk and Pearl Harbor. Wages $0.88 to $1.69 per hour.
9/30/43-- Davidson County $232,000 behind Bond Goal.
-- Gas ration tickets stolen from 3 local stations.
-- 8 men arrested for theft of sugar from Coble’s Dairy. Sugar believed to have gone to moonshiners.
-- Ad – Peoples Insurance Agency offers $25 bond to entrant who predicts score of Carolina-Duke football game.
10/1/43 ALLIES TAKE NAPLES
10/4/43-- County reaches bond sales quota.
-- 105 white men sent from District 1.
-- “A” gas ration increased from 1.5 to 2 gallons per week.
-- Local volunteer aircraft observers receive gold wings with A.W.S. (Air Warning Service).
10/8/43-- Esso “War Map II” released. Shows mostly Africa, Europe and western Asia.
10/11/43-- Davidson County man charged with failure to work regularly.
-- Tin can collections called “disappointing”. 2 tons in September; but only ½ ton in October.
-- Lexington High School freshman Alton Lee Cutting wins a 3 month movie pass for selling 200 War Bonds.
10/14/43-- Grocers cut deliveries to 3 days per week. 1 delivery per house per delivery day.
10/21/43-- “Practice” blackouts likely to be discontinued.
-- Canned jams, jellies, preserves to be rationed.
10/28/43-- To expedite the process, school children will take ration book applications home and return them on completion.
-- Thomasville raises 1/3 of new bond quota in 1 day.
-- 3 cases of Scarlet fever reported in county.
-- Ad – Full page on Tin Can salvage.
11/1/43-- Numerous violations of Sunday delivery ban noted.
-- Classified ad – Piedmont Café offer lunch with 2/3 vegetables for $0.30/$0.35.
11/4/43-- 80 white men from District 1- first draft of men with dependents born prior to Pearl Harbor.
-- Welcome school opens their shop to farmers to repair farm equipment. Their cannery is open 2 days a week and is canning pumpkin, salad, and meats.
11/5/43-- Davidson County population down by 4,100 since previous year... men in service and defense workers in other locations probably cause.
11/8/43-- There is a large local campaign to enlist women in SPARs (Coast Guard Women's Reserve).
11/11/43-- Ration office moves to a 35’ x 60’ “large store room” alongside Conrad & Hinkle.
-- State Guard cooperating with schools in providing preliminary military training.
-- 3 Lexington area women join SPARs.
-- 3,800 class “A” gas ration books issued.
-- Ration office distributing pamphlet, “The Truth about the Black Market”, admonishing housewives to not participate.
11/12/43-- Toy dealers face shortages. They are involved in war work and shortages of metal, wood, and cardboard make manufacture difficult. Lionel to produce a cardboard train set.
11/15/43-- 2 fathers of 6, 1 father of 5 in last levy.
-- Lexington woman collecting furs to make linings for Merchant Marine coats.
12/17/43-- 55 men drafted from District 2.
11/18/43-- Photo - 5 serviceman sons of Mr & Mrs Cicero Kimel, all together at home on furlough.
11/22/43-- Lexington Red Cross reports 1,140 volunteer hours in October.
11/28/43 "BIG THREE" OF ROOSEVELT, STALIN AND CHURCHILL MEET AT TEHRAN
11/29/43-- Lexington Girl Scouts helping roll bandages.
12/6/43-- Editorial noting 2 years at war... millions now in uniform, 419 ships built in 1943, 8,759 airplanes in November 1943 alone.
-- Lexington Silk Mills sends “bonus checks” to 128 employees in services.
12/9/43-- Public is reminded that retail delivery regulations do not affect bicycle deliveries.
-- It’s estimated that 871 lbs of tin cans are used monthly in Davidson County.
-- Lexington Red Cross seeks more knitters. 650 lbs of wool on hand.
12/13/43-- Ceremony at Carolina Theater marks posthumous Award of Medals to family of Clyde W Carlton, killed in air raid on Ploesti, Rumania.
-- Paper publishes Christmas greetings received from Italy sent by Texans who visited Thomasville and Lexington for a weekend in the summer of 1942.
12/16/43-- Dispatch notes that 5,000 from county have entered service.
12/20/43-- 2 local groceries cited for price ceiling violations.
-- About 100 discharged veterans are entering, or have entered, the local workforce. Most discharged for medical reasons but not wounds received in combat.
-- 55 white men drafted from Thomasville District.
12/23/43-- 41 African-American men inducted from District 1. Many are pre-Pearl Harbor fathers.
-- Local postman makes special delivery effort when there is mail from overseas.
12/31/43-- No gas available in Thomasville for over 24 hours.
Copyright J. M. Daniel, 2005
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