They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow or guns to bear
I was always there right on the job
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow or guns to bear
I was always there right on the job
They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?
-E.Y. Harburg
There were such lines as this when my grandmother was a girl, during the “great war,” as they called it. Funny now to think that people actually believed such nonsense.
She told me that her mother gave them rags to chew as they went to bed, lest their beliies make them cry in the night and wake the others who shared the house.
All the women worked in a munitions plant, their hands died ochre from the sulfur.
They’d finish work and wait for a chance to buy bread. Not the bread itself, mind you; just the opportunity to buy it.
Dear Josh,
Ah the war to end all wars. How’d that work for us? Well done as always.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I liked the linking of the past and the present in the first line
There would always be a fear of supplies running out?
During the first world war, the Germans especially felt the pinch of famine as early as 1915
Tough times for the general public.
I’m convinced the majority would not fall for such rhetoric when it comes round again…but then, what do I know?
It is an important piece of history, and one I’ve heard from friends who’d grown up in countries in the world where to stand in line for bread (that may be there or might run out by the time they reached the store) was a more recent thing. And I have friends who work with refugees who walk for days, sometimes through war zones, to get to where they might be allowed to stand in line for hours for the possibility of bread or rice or maize.
We have not won that war on hunger yet. And some are still perpetuating the hunger in their profiteering.
May humanity rise above it.
…and we think we live in difficult times.
A thought provoking piece, well told
Thanks
Perfect poem to go with this story of the grandmother’s life. She survived it and I bet you she doesn’t waste a damn thing.
Very well done, Josh.
Somehow war is never the answer to anything. I hope such a time never comes again.
Nicely said – not bread but an opportunity to buy bread. Those were certainly bad days.
That “chewing on rags” bit is just heart-wrenching. It’s unimaginable what people have to endure.
Interesting take on the prompt.
A sad reality… I remember reading of such desperation in my Gr. Grand’s journals. How they sucked rocks, just to pull out what minerals they could… .gives “stone soup” a whole other meaning as Gram’s journals told of how they would boil rocks and grass to make a broth…survival at it’s hardest. I’ve done this during survival trips…it’s disgusting. But you do what you need to do.
Good piece, we could all take a leaf out of your grandmother’s book I think, what a woman!
Wise words.
Same old same old. It’s what happens when we agree to let the government take care of us.
Chewing on rags, is heart-breaking.
We live in such good times, yet all we do is complain.
It’s such a grim spin on reality that was.
Lovely take on the prompt.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Natasha
https://natashamusing.com/2019/09/the-show-must-go-on-friday-fictioneers-natasha-musing/
A good story, Josh. My dad was in the U.S. Navy before, during, and after WWI. He then went to work in a rubber shop so he always had a job. It was harder during the Depression when he was laid off from the fire department. Until he got back on, his stepfather found jobs for him. The house was saved when President Roosevelt put a special bill through. That was all before I was born but they told me about it. —- Suzanne
Heart-wrenching tale! And it was a reality that we can only imagine today! Beautifully and poignantly told. Lovely take on the prompt.