1942: how Americans collected scrap metal for the military industry

When the United States entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the world trade in raw materials was in a state of complete uncertainty and decline. Basic goods, such as rubber and fabric, immediately rose in price due to mass use for military purposes.

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Recycling collection points were organized all over the country, where citizens were encouraged to carry rubber - for the production of tires for jeeps, clothes - to make rags, nylon and silk stockings - for parachutes and leftover edible fat - for the production of explosives.

One of the most important materials to collect was scrap metal. After all, it took 18 tons of metal to build one medium tank, and hundreds of times more for one ship.

Recycling collection points and communities organized competitions among themselves, housewives brought aluminum pots and pans, farmers donated their old tractors, and cities and towns dismantled wrought-iron fences and historical cannons from the Civil War.

In Lubbock, Texas, a bust of Hitler was erected as a target, into which patriotic citizens threw dishes.

Walt Disney donated two iron sculptures of Bambi, the metal in which was said to be enough to produce 10,000 incendiary bombs or one 75-millimeter artillery piece.

Ultimately, the effect of these recycling collection points for real military production was quite insignificant. Their true value was in raising the morale of citizens and creating a sense of patriotic unity so that as many people as possible would feel a sense of belonging to the victory over the enemy.

"Steel cannot be made without scrap metal. Steel is just as impossible to make without scrap metal as it is to make cookies without flour or to make fruit water with ice cream without ice cream" (Kentucky Governor Keane Johnson, October 2, 1942).

Keywords: Recyclables | Metal | Scrap metal | Industry | USA

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