Denver During the War

My father's work with the Bureau of Reclamation brought us to Denver in 1940. Civil engineers often moved from project to project, but his expertise in concrete gave our family unusual stability. He became an authority in a field most people misunderstood. We learned early that cement was only one ingredient in concrete and that the quality of a structure depended on knowledge hidden inside what looked ordinary.^[1]

World War II turned Denver into a staging and transportation center. Servicemen moved through the city, families displayed flags for loved ones in uniform, and even a child knew that the country was organized around the war. Meat was scarce, butter disappeared, shoes were rationed, and anything made of metal or rubber had to be conserved.^[2]

My mother made use of what she could find. I remember beef heart and head cheese because protein could not be taken for granted. We took care of clothing and repaired things because replacements might not exist. These habits did not feel like a philosophy then. They were simply the way a household operated when the larger world needed nearly everything it could produce.^[3]

I do not remember the period as a deprived childhood. I remember kindergarten, neighborhood friends, school, and the excitement when ordinary goods returned. Rubber toys, tin cars, and Double Bubble gum seemed remarkable. Scarcity gave small pleasures their proper size. It also taught me to recognize abundance rather than assume it had always been there.^[4]