In previous posts, I wrote about my great grandmother Mae Arla (King) McKenzie and the letters she wrote to her daughter Cora.
As in everything, timing and context are important when analyzing the lives of our ancestors. To catch up on the life of Mae and her family thus far, take a moment to read my previous blog posts.
I have also included a timeline of the events in Mae's life, in the left sidebar or at the bottom of the screen if you are using a mobile device.
In this post, I am going to share two letters written ten days apart. Both letters are written from Mae to Cora. The first letter is written on March 18th, 1943, only seven days after Donna's letter to Cora. The next is written on March 28th, 1943.
What struck me the most about these letters was the feeling you get for what life was like for the people at home battling their own struggles created by the war going on overseas.
There is one front and one battle where everyone in the United States - every man, woman, and child - is in action and will be privileged to remain in action throughout this war. That front is right here at home, in our daily lives, and in our daily tasks.
---President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 28th, 1943
One common theme in these two letters is the struggle to financially make ends meet.
WWII started right after "The Great Depression" had ended, leaving many households, especially farming households, struggling with finances. I can imagine this was even more difficult for the McKenzie family because Mae's husband Orlie was having a difficult time finding and keeping a job due to the trauma caused by his time served during WWI. Today we would refer to this as PTSD.
If you would like to learn more about Orlie's life, please read some of my previous posts.
We have all heard about how hard the depression era was on our ancestors and the hardships that followed during the war years, but have you compared their struggle to your life today?
If you know me, you know that I have a degree in accounting and love budgets. So I decided to see if I could create a monthly budget for the McKenzie family based on what I found in these two letters and historical research.
This can not be considered an all-inclusive budget or a 100% historically accurate, but I do think it will provide us with a glimpse into what the letters can tell us about life and Mae's financial struggles.
We can see from Mae's letters that she did the washing and ironing for local women and neighbors.
Below are three examples of the type of work that Mae was doing to help provide for her family. Two examples are from letters she wrote in March of 1943, the other is from an earlier letter written in July of 1941.
I don't know if Mrs. Smith will give me more then six days (?) this month or not.
---Letter - 07/10/1941
As I did laura wash & ironing this week that will give me 75¢ to $1.00.
---Letter - 03/18/1943
I am doing the washing a week for Weaver & I got me a new hat & I gave Donna half of the money for doing the ironing.
---Letter - 03/28/1943
We know from previous letters that Mae was receiving money sent home from Alex's work at the C.C.C. camps. At the time of these letters, we know that Alex was no longer working in the C.C.C. camp but was serving in the Navy and Garnet had a job away from home. We can assume that both boys were sending money home to help with expenses. I am also going to assume that Orlie was bringing in some income made from the odd jobs he was able to find.
Based on the information from the letters and my assumptions, I figure that the McKenzie family's monthly income was about $10.00. Today that would amount to $152.06.
| Income | 1943 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Mae's work doing laundry and ironing | $6.00 | $91.23 |
| Other Income (From Orlie, Alex, and Garnet) | $4.00 | $60.82 |
| Total Income | $10.00 | $152.06 |
Now that we have a general idea of the family's income, let's take a look at their expenses.
| Expense | 1943 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| 10 lbs of Granulated Sugar | $0.75 | $11.40 |
| 2 Gallons Vitamin D Milk | $1.24 | $1.99 |
| 1 lb bacon | $0.45 | $3.99 |
| 3 lbs of Fresh Ground Beef | $0.90 | $11.97 |
| 2 Dozen Eggs | $0.42 | $5.98 |
| 3 Loaves of Fresh Bread | $0.30 | $8.97 |
| Total | $4.06 | $44.30 |
As you probably noticed, the amount of food included in the budget above was probably not enough to support a family of seven. During WWII, families used several other methods to supplement their food supplies. Some of these included victory gardens, home canning, and wartime recipes.
Use the buttons to the right to learn more.....
People were encouraged to grow their own food And these homegrown victory gardens helped lessen the negative effect of war rations. Individual homeowners and governors of public land all planted and tended these small plots. In addition to letting more of the overall food supply go to the troops in the war trenches, the victory gardens ensured that growing children would get enough servings of fruits and vegetables.
Victory Garden Promotion in the Saturday Evening Post
Home canning soared during World War II, reaching its peak in 1943, with over 4.1 billion jars canned in homes and community canning centers (Bentley, 1998).
Due to food shortages and rationing, families needed to be creative. War recipes were published and distributed to help.
War Cake Recipe from 1918
Using up Stale Bread
We had a very bad storm yesterday. Had to go to town to buy two new window glasses as our front dining room window blew out, broke all to pieces.
---Mae McKenzie
I made an assumption about the size of the window glasses that Mae had to replace, based on the standard windows in my 1950's home. It was almost impossible to know what someone would have paid in a small northern Michigan town. I used the next best thing available to me, The Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Catalog.
Based on the 1943 catalog, it may have cost about $.36 per window pane. Having to replace two window panes, it would have cost Mae about $.73.
Donna said I bought a new cost. Yes it is new to me, but I only gave 75 cents for it. It is all wool navy blue crepe has 6 buttons down the front princess style with a white collar. I bought it at Red Cross store it is second hand. I also bought your dad a pretty good pair dress shorts for 25 cents.
--Mae McKenzie
The coat pictured to the right is similar to the one that Mae bought second hand at the Red Cross.
I wished I could go and pick me out a new Easter outfit. But I will have a part of one I am going to try buying me a new hat.
---Mae McKenzie
Garnet wants a clock as he cannot get up in the morning. I don't know where to get him one. He has had a raise & a new boss & does good.
---Mae McKenzie
Mae mentions that her son Garnet, who is working away from home, would like an alarm clock. Although this seems like a simple request, it wasn't that simple during WWII.
I attempted to find the cost of an alarm clock in the Sears, Roebuck catalog but found an asterisk instead. When looking further down the page I realized why...
The asterisk indicated that it wasn't possible to purchase an alarm clock due to "the shortage of critical materials or manufacturing facilities".
Mae also talks about having to spend money, that she didn't have, to get her daughter Cora's dog fixed because it seems they couldn't keep the male dogs away. Reading her comments below, this seems to be an interesting story in and of itself.
I took your dog to Dr. Carney Tuesday to get operation as we have been having a terrible time with her. Carl Rises dog stayed here continuously & then someone shot him. Of course there was just I and the children home at that time but I felt as though they blamed me as Ida came up & asked about him. I think the game wardens got him as they have been killing dogs that are running deer. He said it was $5.00 to operate on her.
---Mae McKenzie
Mae speaks about wanting to get her sons each a suit for Easter. She talks about getting sport suits for the older boys and a navy blue sailor suit for her youngest boy Clayton.
I am going to try & send for each of the boys, a Easter suit those sport kind & Clayton I think a navy blue sailor suit.
---Mae McKenzie
| 1943 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Household Expenses | |||
| 2 new window glasses for the front window | $0.73 | $11.10 | |
| Used coat for Mae from Red Cross | $0.75 | $11.40 | |
| Used pair of dress short for Orlie from the Red Cross | $0.35 | $5.32 | |
| Vet bill for Cora's dog | $5.00 | $76.03 | |
| Total Household Expenses | $6.83 | $103.85 | |
| Wish List | |||
| Easter Dress | $3.00 | $45.62 | |
| Easter Hat | $2.50 | $38.01 | |
| Alarm Clock | |||
| Easter Suits for Vern and Herb | $14.00 | $212.88 | |
| Sailor Suit for Clayton | $5.00 | $76.03 | |
| Total Wishlist Expenses | $24.50 | $372.54 | |
| 1943 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Income | $10.00 | $149.52 |
| Monthly Food Costs | $(4.06) | $(44.30) |
| Household Expenses | $(6.83) | $(103.85) |
| Income after necessary expenses | $(0.89) | $1.37 |
| Wishlist | $(24.50) | $(372.54) |
| Income after Necessary Expenses and Wishlist items | $(25.39) | $(371.17) |
Seeing the financial struggles that Mae and her family faced in this format gives me a greater respect for her and the strength that she possessed. We take so many little things about the way we live today for granted. I believe that a little dose of historical reality helps put things in perspective.
I truly believe that by gaining a better understanding of our ancestors we also gain a better understanding of ourselves. I feel that these cherished letters help me to better understand my great grandmother, her life, and the impact that she had on future generations.
