Eleanor Roosevelt had a victory garden planted on the grounds of the White House, one of 20 million planted during the Second World War. The gardens planted by private citizens collectively produced a harvest of fruits and vegetables that rivaled commercial production.
The Yarden brings us these fun facts about the prevalence of Victory Gardens in Chicago during 1943:
Here’s some of the surprising facts of the “army of gardeners” in 1943 who fed Chicago, kept up morale and did their part for Victory:
1. 90% of the people who grew Victory Gardens had never gardened before
2. 14,000 plots were gardened by children on Chicago Park District land
3. The largest Victory Garden in the country was in Chicago’s North Park neighborhood
4. 800 families farmed this gigantic garden
5. Victory Gardens produced 55,000 pounds of food during the summer of 1943
6. Chicago-based companies such as Marshall Fields and International Harvester donated seeds and garden equipment
7. A city ordinance prevented theft from Victory Gardens with fines of $600-$2,400 in today’s currency
8. An estimated 172,000 Victory Gardens sprang up in Chicago in 1943
9. 908 acres of which were on private/city lots or park property
10. Communities held dozens of “harvest festivals” in the fall of 1943 including a city-wide festival at Soldier Field attended by thousands of Chicagoans
There doesn’t appear to be any trace of the concept’s historical roots in this “Historic WWII Victory Garden,” whose contents appear to be inedible.
Name the nabe where we shot this wannabe anachronism and we’ll send you one of our highly-prized glow-in-the-dark YoChicago yo-yos.