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War Stories
Saving and sharing the memories of our past before they're lost and gone forever


Sanders' Bumpy Cakes Make Delicious Research!
Research for a book can be so many things – interesting, informative, fun, and even yummy. Yes, I said yummy! I am currently completing...
Mar 28, 20181 min read


Happy New Year’s from the War Song Series!
Happy New Year’s from The War Song Series! Have you eaten your collards and black-eyed peas yet? Wishing you a blessed and prosperous...
Dec 26, 20171 min read


Penny Toys to Toy Instruments – Christmas Toys of the 1940s!
What’s on your Christmas list this year? Song of Return spans from September 1946 to May 1948, and Christmas was as merry in those years...
Dec 19, 20171 min read


Let’s All Grow a Victory Garden!
Have you eaten any home grown vegetables lately? I must admit that I haven’t. After trying to grow my own tomatoes two summers in a row,...
Jun 20, 20162 min read


The Forgotten Heroes of the Home Front
The United States would not have won World War II without the millions of soldiers, nurses, and factory defense workers who served during...
Apr 15, 20161 min read


How Lucille Ball’s Teeth Helped Win the War!
This is bizarre story from World War II! In 1942, Lucille Ball, actress and future star of I Love Lucy, had several lead fillings put...
Aug 28, 20151 min read


Character Profile: Ava Stilwell
For those of you who have read Songbird and Song of Return, do you have an image of Ava in your mind? If you are like me, I am always...
May 31, 20151 min read


A Yankee Army Invades Ft. McClellan and the Hearts of Anniston
Before Songbird began in May 1943 and Edwin, Barry, and Sydney ever saw Ft. McClellan, the real-life 27th Division from New York made the...
Mar 30, 20152 min read


A Women’s Club Makes the News in 1941!
Today, we have women’s bunko groups, mommy and me groups, and painting parties. In the 1940s, they had garden clubs! I love reading old...
Mar 13, 20152 min read


Nylons Help Win the War!
Women sacrificed many things during World War II, including their nylon stockings! DuPont began producing the popular hosiery in 1939,...
Mar 5, 20151 min read


Party Like it's 1943!
A new year always makes me reflect on new beginnings and think back to old beginnings. Songbird begins on May 28, 1943. As we look...
Jan 9, 20151 min read


A War-Time Christmas List
Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? If you were buying for a World War II soldier, what would you buy? According to a 1941...
Dec 5, 20141 min read


The Art of War
Even in war, art must go on! Edouard Patte, a Red Cross Inspector, was surprised to find an art studio when he visited Fort McClellan’s...
Nov 21, 20142 min read


German Soldiers in Alabama!
German soldiers in Alabama! For those living in the state during World War II, it was a startling realty. In the summer of 1943,...
Nov 14, 20142 min read


Frilly Fashion is Gone with the Wind
In 1939, Gone with the Wind premiered, and women began to wear fuller skirted and more romantic feeling clothing. Nylon stockings were...
Sep 26, 20141 min read


War Halts Television Production!
When World War II began, television sets were just emerging onto the scene. Manufacturers were busy figuring out how to make the...
Aug 8, 20142 min read


The Dead Walk at Night - True Radio Entertainment
In the 1940s, radio was entertainment! I asked my grandfather, James Barry, about his favorite radio shows growing up. One of the first...
Jun 19, 20141 min read


We Can Do It!
Have you ever wondered just what exactly “Rosie the Riveter” did for the war effort? This fictional wartime heroine based on hundreds of...
May 22, 20142 min read


Love and War
While World War II produced innumerable soldiers, tanks, and warships, it also produced something else – marriages! With the...
May 15, 20141 min read


There are Big Opportunities in the Big City!
When Jason and I talked to older adults at the Fair on the Square a few weeks ago, they all had the same thing to say about Anniston, AL...
May 10, 20141 min read
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