SAVE THE FAT!

Think about the kitchen in your childhood. Look around in the image. Do you see a fat can on the back of the stove or on the counter somewhere? Why do you think it was there? Was it a left over from the war years?

Let's look at fat rationing during the war. The War Production Board urged citizens to save the fat that came from cooking so that it could be used for making explosives. Housewives were reminded that glycerin, made from waste fats and greases, was one of the most critical materials needed for the war effort. Three pounds of fat could provide enough glycerin to make a pound of gunpowder. Nearly 350 pounds of fat was needed to fire one shell from a 12-inch Naval gun.
Until Pearl Harbor approximately 60 percent of the glycerin used in the United States had been obtained from fats and oils imported from the Pacific areas, most of which were under the control of the Japanese during the war.
In June 1943, Boy and Girl Scouts began a campaign to collect grease and fat from their neighborhoods. Hundreds of tin cans were cleaned and steamed for distribution among members of each group. Each can was identified with a sticker bearing the householder’s name and address as well as a phone number to call for the can to be collected when it was full. According to the plan, each child leaving the can would collect it when it was full and take it to a local butcher, who would pay them four cents a pound for it. Proceeds from the grease sale were given to the troop treasury for the benefit of the troop.

The question is, do you recycle?

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