Where Have All the Trees Gone?

With the recent oddly strange shortage of toilet paper, I decided to look into shortages from our past.

In the 1500s, England began to find itself short of firewood. A population explosion, bigger cities, paper products, and construction, the forests of England were being decimated. The growth of the forest couldn’t keep up with the demand.

The shortage hit the poor hard. Unlike the landed gentry, they didn’t have vast expanses of land to cut for their own firewood, and as the shortage became more dire, the price of wood rose faster than any other commodity of the time. No firewood meant no fire, no food or warmth in the brutally cold winder months.

The poor had two options: wait for an answer or freeze to death.

Because of this hopeless situation, many decided to take their chances in the colonies. While England’s forests were being depleted, the situation in America was the complete opposite. Early settlers were met with an seemingly unlimited supply of trees available for the taking.

England did find a solution as they soon resorted to coal for heat and cooking.

A similar situation hit Germany in the 18^th century. Wood became so scarce that, in winter, fence posts, steps and all kinds of wooden objects, that were expendable in the short term, were burned as firewood. 

The recent deluge of fires in Australia aren’t the first. The Black Friday bushfires of 1939 saw brushfires burning for the whole summer and ash fell as far away as New Zealand. Approximately three-quarters of Victoria was affected by the disaster and the entire county was badly damaged by fires and extreme heat. As of November, 2011, the event was one of the worst recorded bushfires in Australia and the third most deadly. Over 4,900,000 acres of land in Victoria, and 71 people were killed, and several towns were completely obliterated. The Royal Commission stated that “it appeared the whole State was alight on Friday, 13 January 1939.”

Such a sad commentary that brought tears to my eyes when I read it, especially given the recent devastation from brushfires in Australia. 

Other historical tidbits that I dug up revealed decimated forests in France, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, all across the world all across time. Seems that trees and our various usage for them (fire for warmth and cooking, building, paper products, just to name a few) is one of our most prized possessions. And while they are renewable, they don’t grow overnight, do they?

And, remember the recent toilet paper shortage? 

Yep, TP comes from trees. Go figure!

CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com

WHY ARE THERE NO NEW CARS?

ANNE GREENE here. I’m in the last week of a deadline for my World WarII novel, Angel With Steel Wings, so this will be shorter than usual.

In my research for this book I’ve discovered so many fascinating things that it is my joy to share a few of them with you today.

For instance, did you know a wartime edition of American Woman’s Cook Book contained revised recipes that gave advice on dealing with food shortages?

And, According to Life Magazine, April 20, 1942, Uncle Sam took on the role of fashion designer. The government put tough restrictions on yard goods for women and girls. They restricted the length of hems and belts to two inches, and they eliminated cuffs on sleeves.

Do you know why Americans collected old tires, old rubber raincoats, garden hoses, and bathing caps? Because the Japanese had seized the plantations in the Dutch East Indies that produced ninety percent of America’s raw rubber. The government confiscated all automobile tires in excess of five per driver.

There was also a huge need for steel. So the government unearthed auto graveyards, tore up abandoned railroad tracks and bridges, but still needed an additional 6,000,000 tons. They asked the American people to put every unused item containing steel in collection bins. American did not have enough steel to provide weapons for her solders. They reported that even one shovel would make four hand grenades.

How would you have liked to drive back in the days of the war? The government set the national speed limit at 35 miles per hour to conserve rubber and gasoline. Warner Brothers’ cartoons had Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny exhorting the audience to Keep it under 40!

January 1, 1942 as former auto plants switched to producing military vehicles, new car production was banned.

For those on the home front, rationing was one of their contributions to the war effort. Everyone was involved.                                  

Each person in a household received a ration book, including babies and small children who qualified for canned milk not available to others.   

March, 1942, dog food could no longer be sold in tin cans, so manufacturers switched to dehydrated versions. In April, to purchase a new toothpaste tube, a person had to turn in the old one. All sales of sugar ended in April-but resumed in May with a ration of one-half pound per person per week. In November coffee joined the commodities rationed at one pound every five weeks.

By the end of 1942, typewriters, gasoline, bicycles, footwear, silk, nylon, fuel oil, stoves, meat, lard, shortening, oils, cheese, butter, margarine, processed foods, dried fruits, firewood, coal, jams, and jellies all had also become rationed.

 The ration coupon book became the second most important book in the house. The Bible remained the first. To get through the tough times, people turned to God. Everyone had a loved one fighting overseas.

So, how would you have liked living through that war against tyranny and murder? Leave a comment for a chance to win one of my books. Be sure to leave your email, so I can notify you if you win.