In early 20th century America, Halloween was a time for unruly tricks, delicious treats and all sorts of "hijinks" in between. In this spooky episode, Sarah dives into how folks celebrated this anticipated (and dreaded!) holiday in a unique wartime setting. Festive, cursed recipes are brewed up with mixed results and we hear a haunting recitation of some chilling Halloween poems from 1942.

In 1942, the luxury of alcohol became a casualty of war to make way for industrial alcohol for war purposes. This left American drinkers high and (sometimes) dry.

In this episode, Sarah examines the tangled web of alcohol rationing and how states balanced the shortages and demands. Wartime pizza (with anchovies) hits the oven and we hear the story of alcohol crusader Ernest Albright - "the second Paul Revere."

Misconceptions surrounding American WWII food rationing are swirling around on the internet. Were eggs rationed? What about wheatless days? Milk was rationed too, right?

In this episode, Sarah sits down for an experimental ChatGBT sesh to see what it has teach her about rationing (it's not great). She breaks down the rationing basics, goes over what foods were rationed and which weren't and answers follower's wartime food questions. Finally, she tries an interesting molasses frozen treat and we hear the story of fashion designer and war plant worker Elizabeth Hawes.

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Homemaking during wartime presented its own special challenges. Join Sarah as she interviews Corina of The Hopewell Homestead, vintage homemaking extraordinaire, to answer questions about how women during WWII managed to do so much and run a household at the same time. A delicious meat pie recipe is on the menu and we get a look at breakfast time in a busy wartime household.

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Two of the busiest workers on the homefront were honeybees and beekeepers! In this episode, Sarah talks about the insect/human dynamic duo and their important contribution to the war effort along with challenges they faced and solutions for those problems. Sarah tackles a couple honey recipes and a boy in 4-H discovers the joys of beekeeping.

Christmas in 1940s America conjures up a healthy dose of nostalgia for a lot of people even today. For this special holiday episode, Sarah peeks into traditions celebrated and wartime shortages folks experienced on the homefront from Christmas trees to chocolate. Hanukkah is given a special highlight and adorable children's letters to Santa bring plenty of cheer!

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Canning wasn't the only way to preserve food in the 1940s! In this final episode of Season 4, Sarah highlights the old community staple of freezer locker plants, how they served their community and why freezing was maybe more patriotic than canning. She tries out a meatloaf recipe enshrined in bacon and shares an amusing freezer story back when frozen food was still a novelty!

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Hospitals in wartime not only provided vital medical treatments and short- and long-term care for their patients, they fed them as well – but where did they get their food, especially in a time of war? In this episode, Sarah delves into the vague and completely unexplored aspect of American wartime food rationing: hospital farms. She looks at what they were, how they served the hospitals they were attached to and how World War II impacted them. Finally, she tries two unhealthy, but delicious recipes from a "healthy" ration cookbook written by a doctor.

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on the Victory Kitchen Podcast Substack.

War goods weren't the only thing that "rolled off the production line" during WWII. Babies swelled the U.S. population creating bottle necks for all sorts of goods from baby bottles to safety pins. In this episode, Sarah discusses not just baby product shortages, but how the little tykes were featured in propaganda, hospital vs. home births, and which baby foods were rationed and why. (Spoiler Alert: there are some despicable characters in this story!) Finally, Sarah tries out an interesting prenatal recipe for expecting mothers and highlights the incredible career of Black midwife George Anna Saunders.

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's blog www.victorykitchenpodcast.blog

**It's a special Thanksgiving episode!** With the world at war, America's typical Thanksgiving feast was a lot more subdued, if not more patriotic. In this episode, Sarah explores Thanksgiving attitudes from WWII, the heartfelt and the guilt-trippy. She gets the details behind turkeys, rationing and their price tags, and delights over the birth of our iconic cranberry jelly "log".

This podcast needs YOUR support! Become a Patron! Your generosity not only gives Sarah warm fuzzies of joy, it also helps her source the very best research materials to make each episode the best it can be. To share your love for her work and to sustain future episodes, go HERE.

Supplemental photos, recipes, and resources can be found on Sarah's blog www.victorykitchenpodcast.blog.