Vital To Victory
Poems by Amanda Laughtland
Copyright 2011 Amanda Laughtland
Smashwords Edition
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NAP CHAP 1
Ebook produced by NAP magazine & Books
NAPLITMAG.COM
Cover by Ryan Bradley
Care and Operation of Your Gas Range
No Amount Is Too Small to Save
Where Does She Get Her Energy?
Plentiful, Versatile, Healthful
Make Electrical Cords Last Longer
Personal Note from a Veteran Newspaperwoman
July’s Contest winner, Mrs. D.H. MacGregor
Our friend and frequent contributor,
Mr. Van Loos, supplies further
reflections upon the battlefield
of misinformation, countering
“expert” claims that Russia
has weakened. Betty makes her first
appearance on our cover in a hat
made just for us. She hails
from London, where her brothers
fly with the R.A.F. Her likeness
is drawn from a natural color photograph.
Our New Nerve Center
The world’s largest office building
houses thirty thousand military men
and frustrations over the maze
of finding one office in sixteen miles
of corridors. Some men feel
claustrophobic behind soundproof walls,
agoraphobic in the middle of lobbies
and hallways. Time will cure
both of these sensations. Everyone
will come to love the Pentagon.
Care and Operation of Your Gas Range
It is well-built and dependable
and reasonable care and operation
will see it through. When peace comes
there will be new gas ranges
available for you. Buy war bonds
in the meantime, while we are busy
supplying materials to defeat the Axis.
A Word from Bob Hope
snow and good fishing up north,
cornfields, smokestacks, the boardwalk
at Atlantic City, every last mile
of Route 66. I imagine each guy
as one small town—the new garage
on one corner, the old restaurant
on the other. He’s the schoolhouse,
the grocery, the tall water tower.
No Amount Is Too Small to Save
Members of the family, especially
children are more cooperative
about saving pieces of soap
if you paint a coffee can, cut a slot
in the top and station it near
the bathroom door. Children enjoy
dropping soap bits in the can
as they do pennies in the piggy bank.
America’s Smart, Durable Rug
This lovely rug is as practical
as its price. Its charm
captures gay coastal landscapes
yet it’s as sensible as it is good-looking—
sturdy, reversible and so easy
to clean, with a unique flat weave
that has no nap to catch dust.
Ask your dealer, and be patient.
More women than ever are wanting
these rugs, more than we can hope
to make rugs for in wartime.
Don’t Rob the Cradle
Though the low ration point value
of baby foods may be tempting
unfortunately there’s limited supply
of these specially prepared products.
Unless you have a junior at home
please walk right past those rows
of little cans. All companies
are following wartime restrictions
and the nation’s birthrate is rising.
Attention, Knitters
School days are here again. It’s time
to knit that pullover for John
and cardigan for Mary. We have yarns
for all ages, baby to grandmother,
in every weight and color, special prices
on hard-wearing khaki and navy
for big brother in the service. Tell us
your knitting needs and send ten cents
for samples of our yarns—ten cents
will be deducted from your first order.
Your Eyes, Your Secret Weapon
and if you are trying to work
without them, how can you
produce at maximum efficiency?
Stop to see your optometrist.
You owe it to yourself
and to your country to have
your eyes examined. Poor vision
on war work is sabotage.
Kill Them Dead
than bullets? Typhoid fever
can infect any possible place
from homes to Army camps. One fly
on the windowsill carries more
than 500 million bacteria. Make sure
you buy a fly spray strong enough
to kill them all. Use at least twice a week
to quickly, thoroughly, chemically
protect our food and health.
Please Drive Carefully
a machine making airplane parts—
slow down! Rubber is scarce
and bumpers use valuable metal.
Think of giving your car
a rest. How about some tokens
for the bus? Why not hoof it?
No Laughing Matter
After college everybody said she’d marry
in no time, but the whispered story
of her trouble made the rounds
as it always does. It simply
ruined her socially. This is exactly
what halitosis does to many a woman
without her even realizing it.
Invisible, Permanent, Prompt
Your stockings are vital to victory.
Put thirty-five cents in the toe of each one
with a run, slip into an envelope
and mail. One day service—generally.
Rayon, nylon or silk. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Depleted Skin Is Defenseless
with action against blemishes,
lines and coarse pores. Trade
high-priced, lengthy regimens
for what you can do yourself
with a single cream at night
applied with simple, upward strokes.
Dinner Ideas for Fall
September means some days hot,
some days cool, and meals
planned to change with the weather.
Dehydrated soups, besides
being flavorful, are extra versatile
for resourceful cooks. These days
you must be ready to improvise
to make up for scarcities. There’s nothing
more valuable in the cupboard
than an assortment of unrationed soups.
Dress Up Your Wartime Menu
This potato crust pie serves five.
Write for our booklet, packed
with stretching recipes. Yesterday’s meat
is today’s brand-new meal
with two tablespoons of dressing
to make a sauce with tang and zest
men will love. Add flavor to fish,
salads, sandwiches—the right dash
can make any dish delicious.
For Finest Results
using powdered pectin. It saves
sugar and fruit and has a faint
but pleasing taste. Our government
sends regular supplies to help
our food-short Allies. For health
and economy, make as much as you can
right away. Food authorities say
jellies and jams are not sweets
but energy-rich foods we all need.
Science Note
of physicists in a laboratory
built somewhere near his ranch
in New Mexico. He says the desert air
is good for his health. Everything else
must remain highly classified.
Advances in Medicine
Nurses have become integral to treatment
throughout air lifts, hospital care,
and stations in between. Penicillin,
blood transfusions, recent improvements
in surgery—all help tip the odds
in favor of the wounded. With destruction
comes valuable medical lessons.
Where Does She Get Her Energy?
It’s a question you’d ask, too,
if you could see how she bubbles
morning to night. Everything
is fun to her. Luckily she prefers
what’s best—fresh air,
sunshine, hearty breakfasts
of puffed wheat cereal with fruit.
Take Time for Beauty
your color and permanent wave
created with our permanent solution
and liquid rinse. So gentle
but with the strength to make
long-lasting waves and deep color.
We’re glad to do double duty
for the beauty of your hair, any
woman’s most fascinating feature.
Kitchen Tidbits
served piping hot and cold things
icy cold, but it’s these sorts
of simple things you might be apt
to forget these days. Even coffee
is a pitfall though it needn’t be—
relax and measure carefully.
You Can Can with Confidence
are never rationed and will solve
many problems. Safely can
your food supply using engineered
jars and caps, no rubber rings.
Send for free labels, tested recipes
and instructions. Careful canning
will insure against spoilage. Your care
in cooking will float battleships.
Is Garbo a Nazi?
Everyone knows how cold she is,
her accusers say. Why doesn’t Garbo go
on bond-selling tours? Isn’t she still
a Swedish citizen with an estate in Sweden?
Her friends know her feelings are
with suffering people everywhere. They say
Garbo is gay, naturally and charmingly,
when she’s with people who aren’t
the sort to mob her and tear her clothes
for souvenirs. She donates large sums
to the Red Cross. She’ll receive
her citizenship papers soon. Her real estate
is in Los Angeles. Garbo is gracious
and shy, which is why she won’t fight back.
Glamour Girls
as easily as the egg beater
in mother’s kitchen. Instead of baking
chocolate cakes, she cooks gears
for Army tanks. She sews parachutes,
not quilts. She cuts her patterns
from sheet metal. This year’s
best-dressed girls are wearing slacks
and doing women’s work
tailor-made for our enemy’s downfall.
Make It Yourself
can become new lamps. Paperboard
can take the place of hard-to-get
metal and plywood for jewelry boxes,
shelves, trays and tables. The importance
of hand craftsmanship? Confidence
in yourself and your future.
For His Birthday
A box of several little packages—
handkerchiefs, candy, smokes,
a series of clippings of cartoons
and quotations with an eye
on his tastes. The best present
is a long distance call if possible
or a short phonograph record
of birthday greetings. Recordings
can be made in many cities.
Plentiful, Versatile, Healthful
Thousands will thank their lucky stars
for abundant supplies of cornflakes
enriched with vitamin B, the need
for which we never outgrow. The role
of cornflakes goes beyond their use
at breakfast—in many recipes
cornflakes extend scarcities with ease.
For sausage balls, mix pork,
catsup and three cups cornflakes
to hold together the meat
and supplement its nutritive value.
For Good Cheer
More and more housewives are saving
refrigerator space by keeping
two quarts or more of extra pale beer
always chilled, always ready for serving
to tired husbands or fathers—
a he-man’s beer, but light and lively
for the women to enjoy, a beer
for pouring smoothly from a pitcher
into rugged mugs or fancy glasses,
a beer that goes nicely with food.
Keeping Up the Fleet
at the ready, everything’s
set for launching another ship,
inanimate steel animated to sail
to battle. Our nation is transporting
more men and equipment overseas
than ever. The government
stated its need, and private companies
took over, saving time when time
was precious at war’s beginning
and now, 800 bottles broken
last year over 800 bows.
Thanks, Judy!
When Judy Garland sent Joe Pot
to one grateful crew, her act
did more than twenty songwriters
could put into words. Joe Pot
is what a gob calls his friend
the coffee percolator, a friend
in need on late night watches at sea.
Make Electrical Cords Last Longer
To treat cords properly, anyone
can follow these illustrated directions
to replace worn coverings, splice
and make new connections
between plug and cord. Knowing how
to undertake simple repairs
will save you countless worries
over the electrician who can’t be there.
Personal Note from a Veteran Newspaperwoman
I have four daughters and one typewriter.
The typewriter waits on a card table
in the kitchen. I get a little writing done
in intervals. I wear size 14 dresses
having recently lost several pounds.
My eldest daughter is a riveter
in an aircraft plant with ambition to join
the ballet theatre. I volunteer
with a ladies auxiliary, packing cookies
to ship to servicemen overseas.
One of the Girls
might come to an end. I quit my job
in the dime store, moved to the city
and U.S. Steel. I wanted to be
with all those women from the newsreels
working alongside each other,
women like me. Everywhere
we find each other, busy with the war.
July’s Contest Winner, Mrs. R.H. MacGregor
of Montana but find it satisfying
to live in California, where the war
took my railroader husband. We have
twin sons. One lifetime is too short
for all I do. I lead Sunday school
and a troop of scouts. My hobbies
include bicycling, swimming and skiing,
at all of which my performance
is mediocre, my enthusiasm tops.
For a Fighting Man
surprises for the Nazis, his mother works
on her own surprise, a spot for Smith
to read and write, an attic room
lined in warm ponderosa pine.
Write the Western Pine Association
to meet other loving mothers
busy improving homes and lives.
On War and Industry
Our volume of production is so high
and its degree of secrecy
so great, we can share little about it.
When it can be told, this story
will fill several chapters in any history
of progress—new materials
like plastics, new sciences
like electronics. So many next-century
opportunities we can’t disclose yet.
Amanda Laughtland is the author of Postcards to Box 464 and editor/publisher of Teeny Tiny Press (http://teenytiny.org). Her poems appear in NAP 1.1. She lives in the Seattle area, where she teaches English where she teaches English at Edmonds Community College.