A picture of a distant past…

Local man Don Bottoms, of Devine, brought in this treasure of a photo taken during the “Salvage for Victory” campaign launched during World War II, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was just a young man then (pictured on the far right), and in the photo above he and his buddies are collecting scrap metal to be melted down and used to build ships, airplanes, ammo, and other things associated with the war effort.
“We would go from home to home asking ladies if they had any pots and pans they didn’t use or any kind of scrap metal or steel,” Bottoms recalls. “In the picture you can see an old lantern, bicycle rim, hot water heater, and car parts. We would take it to the drop off site, and the Army would pick it up and melt it down to be used for guns, airplane parts, whatever they needed.”
Thanks to Mr. Bottoms for sharing this piece of local history!