Second world war deprivations

I was elementary school aged during the second world war and remember some of the rules that made us think we were being helpful in "the war effort" wheather we were or not. 
We lived in a rented house 5 structures from the RR tracks on the south side of Center St.

Dad went back to his roots and planted a Victory garden. War Bonds and theater tickets were given away in a Victory Garden contest.
( I don't think we won).
Coffee rations allowed 1 and 1/4ths cup of Java per day. (Zowie!This would be tough for me now)
States imposed liquor rashions. 
Each community had controlled buying times for rashioned goods. These included.. Cheese, butter, canned fish and milk, coffee, sugar , shoes, gas, tires, fuel oil, meat  and eggs. Grandma Grace raised chickens so we benefited.     

Rapp ..Count writes to Anna during the second world war.

Dear  Anna,
I bet you think i'm homesick to see you. (yes).Shorty left sunday after
dinner. Won't be back until tomorrow (wednsday) night and maybe not then. Why don't you and Mag come up ? It's about time isn't it? (Mag is their friend).
Gee, I'm so awfully glad for you that Jess got to come home. Of course I'm glad for him too. He can come to you on half the fare that you could go to him.

(Count is Anna's older sister and Jess is Anna's army boyfriend).

You can send the skirt up if you want to but there's no need to.
Wish you could see my green dress- it can be worn in the spring as a suit. I don't wear it very much because I have to wear a girdle to make it fit real nice. 
Got a new Chicago mail order catalog.
My last letter from Wayne (their brother) said he hadn't heard from you for a long time and he wondered how you were. You should write to him just like you always did. I imagine he just about lives for our letters from home.
We'll be glad to get a snapshot of Jess in his uniform - whenever you send it.  
   Tell Mag hello, I sure enjoyed your letter. Write. Bye now, with Love, Count (and Shorty)

Background info leading up to our history in Indiana

The Treaty of Paris was concluded 1783.
Up until that time Indiana was part of Virginia.
Oct. 5, 1787 Congress elected Gen. Arthur St.Claire Gov. of the Northwest Territory which was, then, designated as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The Brits had been trying to keep this area from being settled. St. Clair was replaced by Maj. General Anthony Wayne. Soon "civilized"
inhabitants of the Territory estimated 4,875, 

1813 the Indiana state capitol was established at Corydon. 

1814 Ghent Treaty opened the gates for immigration to Indiana. Also Fredrick Rapp
(our ancestor on the Rapp side) founded the ill fated Harmony, Indiana.

Anglin family treeview

Some of you may have the Anglin Family Tree ..latest version ..which was put into a little red book in 1968.  Well, I am not updating it but you can. It resides in the Koscuisko County Old Jail Museum. Here is that version of what happened before we got here, and shortly after.

The Anglin Family Tree begins with our ancestor,
Adrian Anglin who was born  November 1762, in
the state of West Va.(not a state yet). His parents were Jane and William Anglin. The Anglins were 
known to be of Scotch/Irish descent. First Scotch ,
probably living in or near Strathclyde. Then after 
James I of Scotland fought the Irish of Ulster County, Ireland we most-likely moved to Ireland because of  the Government and church conflict.
Becoming dis-satisfied again some of them moved to America, France and other lands. Anyway , Jane and William made their way to Virginia where Adrian was born and grew up. He was listed in a historical register of Virginia soldiers , Rev. war
1775-1785. This just means he was known to be a soldier within that window. 
Another account of Virginia soldiers has Adrian's
grandfather Phillip coming from France. Who knows...they seemed to be ever looking for greener pastures.
In any event, the government awarded soldiers land in the west (including Indiana). However,
Adrian , late in life, waited until his married daughter and her family (the Samuel D. Halls)
had established a home in Indiana. The story is that Adrian brought his wife, Mary (McClung) 
Anglin and his three unmarried children across
the mountains, in a Conestoga wagon, to his daughter's home on the prairie, still there in Clunette, In.
  

How the Gasts enhanced our family.

.Marge and Bob with friends around the time of their wedding.

The person who had the most influence on my teen years outside the immediate family was my wonderful first cousin, Marge Gast. I have published several of her writings here starting with her account of growing up at Angleton. I have always been amazed about all the ways our family have connected with the Gast family which I will record after some background on how they got here. I found this description doing research at the Old Jail Museum.

Maria and Andrew Halbeisan came from Switzerland with two children. They moved to Freemont, Ohio before coming to Akron, In. Andrew was a shoemaker and often walked to Peru for supplies. In September,1855, twins were born, Andrew Almondo and Mary Helen. Nine children reached maturity and attended school with Indian children. 
Andrew Almondo, called Double A, married Laura Bell in 1879, but she died in 1884 after having two sons,Estil A. (Marge's father-in -law) and Thomas.
In 1886 Double A. married Flora Etta Bitters. They had Karl B (Brick)1887 and Whitney Kline 1885,Marie Kathleen (Talbot)1900 and Robert Purcell(R.P.) 1904.

Double A grew up and became a building contractor, road builder, and extensive land owner. Elected sheriff of Fulton county in 1888, he served two terms then became Postmaster in Akron. He also built, owned and operated the Opera House there. His brick mills supplied material for the high school in 1914 and for many homes and churches. (but wait, there's more)..Double A helped form the telephone utility plus Akron Heat, Light and Power Co. Both he and his wife "Ettie" lived 101 years.

Here is where we come into the picture. Many years before our Marge and their Bob (Double A's grandson) met and married, Gaylord Long (my husband, Glen's dad,) got a job with Gast Construction Co. working close to where Gaylord lived in Morocco, In. He stayed on with them when they won a construction job around Warsaw. During that time he met and married Glen's mom, Martha Hoover.

Fast forward to the early 1950s when I am living and working with Marge...kind of a live in nanny. (She stayed in my bedroom on Washington St. when I was a child and she was in her early twenties.)  I could not count how many times Marge and Bob were a beacon to me and a boon to this community.  

I heard a spring heralding robin's sweet clear song this morning. Yesterday was St. Patrick's day. When Chris' family left about 5:30, snow that resembled fine Styrofoam beads was coating the porch. That is Indiana for you.