Kentucky's role in the war effort

The notion of the war effort can be traced back to the French Revolution when leaders called for citizens to form a lavee en masse to prevent monarchist forces from reclaiming control of government. The World II version took a slightly different approach. People were encourage to feed their families with food they had grown so food could be shipped to the troops fighting overseas.

The Kentucky Extension Service's war production effort in 1943 included the canning of 86,392,244 quarts of foods, nearly 70 quarts for every man, woman and child on the farms in the state. Kentuckians also preserved 9,068,097 containers of butter, jams and jellies. A total of 114,452 families, nearly half of those living on Kentucky farms, grew 75 percent or more of their food supply.

Pictured above is Mrs. Guy Penick of Fayette Co., KY showing off some of the 1,200 jars she canned in 1943 as part of the war effort.