Besides conserving metal, paper, and rubber products, during World War II, people worldwide were expected to do their part on the home front through conserving food.
In America, beginning in 1942, families were issued coupon books containing stamps, both red and blue, that correlated to specific types of items.
“I tell ya’, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.”
While he laments his name in the Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue,” he’s not alone—there are plenty of unusual names out there. Here are just a few, both surnames and given names that I’ve encountered in years of family histor y research:
Colorful.
The start
In 1848, sisters Kate and Margaretta Fox, preteens from Hydesville, New York, claim to speak with the dead in their reportedly haunted home. The communicator, they determine, is a ghost who answers questions via knocks and taps on a specially-designed tilting table. The spirit also, with the assistance of the Fox sisters, points to letters to spell out words.
It all started with an autobiographical sketch that my grandfather penned when he was seventy-six years old. On what’s now a tattered but treasured sheet of paper, he outlined the highlights of his life, including his birth date, the birth dates of his children, and what seemed to be the most exciting event in his lifetime—the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge.
On 28 July 1856, sixteen-year-old Peter Conover Hains wrote to the Governor of New Jersey and others seeking en-dorsements and influence for his application to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point: “I, who thus address myself to you, am yet a boy. A boy just entering upon the waves of for-tune. It has been the lot of me to be of humble origin. . .
While our ancestors may not have had all the educational advantages that we enjoy today, chances are they spent at least a few years in school when they were young. Some may have even attended college. If you haven’t yet looked at your ancestors’ school records, you might have a surprise in store for you.
The most rewarding research for two family historians was to honor an unsung hero who died far from home.
In 21 February 1945, an American fighter plane crashed down in the English countryside. Over the past five years, the little village of North Stifford in Essex had been no stranger to German, English, and American planes flying overhead. But this time a plane had fallen from the sky.
