It’s
summer, and as fast as it goes in Wisconsin, it means it will not be long
before milkweeds are growing along the by-ways and in fields. On clear fall
days, we’ll see pods splitting and the floss, or silk, drifting in the breeze. Despite
the plant’s name, milkweed is far from a nuisance. The plant that attracts
monarch butterflies, bees, and other pollinators also provides food for
immigrating birds and overwintering birds. But there is more.
Although few are aware of it, milkweed plants saved lives,
and Wisconsin’s kids played a huge role in the lifesaving. It was during the
depths of World War ll – 1944 - that Uncle Sam asked the nation’s children to
collect 1 ½ million pounds of milkweed floss to replace kapok. What’s Kapok?
Kapok was the waterproof filling used in life jackets when
Pearl Harbor was bombed. Java’s Kapok was the United States’ best source,
however when Japan captured South Pacific Islands, Kapok was impossible to get.
Milkweed – found throughout Wisconsin – was discovered to have about the same
flotation ratio and suddenly what was once a pesky weed became a treasure.
Milkweed floss turned out to be vital as it was the only buoyant substitute for
Kapok, and it was found to be even better.
In August 1944, the Door County Advocate was
on the bandwagon touting the potential value of milkweed seed in exterior
paints, enamels, and baked finishes. It was thought new uses for waste products
of floss collection would encourage permanent milkweed cultivation after the
war. So valuable in preventing soil erosion, the hardy plant required little
attention after the first year. Optimum collection was when the pods were
turning brown, the stage that made the best floss. The remainder of the
versatile plant had other purposes. Oil and rosin came from the pods, and
livestock could eat the residue.
As it was, milkweed floss had been used for making pillows
and, in 1944, a 50-year-old milkweed floss pillow was on display at a Petoskey,
Michigan, floss processing plant, the plant to which collected floss was sent a
few months later. War Hemp Industries, Inc., Petosky, Michigan, was the agent
for Commodity Credit Corp. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or the WHI,
CCC, and USDA as the alphabet soup of the era referred to such agencies.
With that, the lowly milkweed plant earned a place in the
war effort when Algoma Record Herald, in 1944, reported the
War Food Administration (WFA) asked for the collection of at least
1,500,000 pounds of milkweed floss to fill urgent war needs. Since time was of
the essence, it did not permit developing such seed crops while the wild plants
were just about all over. Commodity Credit Corp. said highway rights-of-way
were one of the largest potential production areas. Prohibiting mowing of
rights-of-way until pods were harvested in 1944 was a boon to floss collection.
The WFA said milkweed was easily controlled in pastures,
though mostly found in roadsides, and advised farmers not to cut patches of
milkweed. Kewaunee County Road Commissioner Griese sent out the information to
county roadmen. No mowing. The highway department and county agent’s office
cooperated in the effort to collect, cure, and dispose of milkweed pods.
Sturgeon Bay Advocate reported in July
1944 that life jackets would be provided for armed service members while
getting rid of obnoxious weeds at the same time, although milkweeds were far
from obnoxious that summer. Door County’s plans included listing patches of
milkweed so volunteer groups could be assigned to pick at the right time. Those
aware of milkweed patches were asked to call County Agent Mullendore’s office,
the county home agent, school superintendent or conservation chairman.
Wisconsin’s milkweed goal was 300,000 pounds according to
H.W. MacKenzie, former director of Wisconsin Conservation Department. MacKenzie
immediately mobilized school children and others to collect the floss sorely needed
for airmen and sailors. Kewaunee County’s milkweed collection was
organized by County Agent V.W. Peroutky. Assisting Agent Peroutky were the
Mrs. Nona Bartel, May Smithwick, and Florence Bodwin, Herman Griese, Eugene
Nemetz, and George Gregor. The committee felt that many patches would not be
reached until the groups were given adequate collection bags. In
September, Kewaunee Enterprise told readers that government
officials claimed over two million kids were mobilized to collect milkweed seed
pods for Navy life jackets and other purposes.
Just after school started in September, the Advocate published
the Door County’s goal - a bag of milkweed for each man in service. Merchandise
prizes were to be offered for the best individual and group records, and in
December it was announced that East Maplewood school was doing its share in
winning the war when it collected 244 bags of milkweed pods. Astounding was
that Harold Fortemps collected 204 of the bags by himself.
At the September 1944 Kewaunee County teachers’
institute, Eugene Nemetz, the county farm labor assistant, hosted a
milkweed collection discussion. Materials were distributed and teachers
received their bags. A few days later, the Record Herald told
readership that county schools would be out picking in full force, although 4-H
clubs, and church and civic groups were encouraged to help. The paper again
pointed out that instructions came from County Agent Peroutky who said pickers
needed to pick up sacks.
It was
suggested pods be picked in pails or baskets and then dumped into the mesh
onion bags. Each picker was requested to hang his sack over a wire fence for
about 3 weeks for drying. Although pods in burlap sacks were known to mold,
even rain did not affect those in onion sacks. It was stressed that collectors
should not use closed containers.
The one-bushel mesh onion sacks held about one bushel of
pods, which meant 50-pound onion sacks held about 800 green pods. County Agent
Peroutky said plants averaged between 2 and 3 pods each although some had up to
15. They were found in fertile, moist areas and were to be picked when pods
were mostly brown.
School children were encouraged to pick milkweed pods as it
was a “real war job” that would help their older siblings who were serving in
the military. The WFA said the kids would be the chief collectors of the floss
used in manufacturing “Mae West” life jackets. Wikipedia says the vests were
called Mae Wests because those wearing them appeared to be large
buxom women, and actress Mae West was the most popular. Just how did the FWA
explain that to grade school kids?
Payment was 20 cents per full bag. Bags of green pods
brought 15 cents. Teachers were asked to keep records for payment that was far
from simple. Union State Bank of Kewaunee was in receipt of funds from the War
Food Administration. The bank paid for the work through the county agent’s
office, which paid the children via the teacher. Children were encouraged to
use their money to buy more war savings stamps or add their earnings to the
school funds. Non-students were paid directly and could accept payment or
donate it to the school fund. The website retirementsimulation.com says that 20
cents in 1944 has the same purchasing power as $3.41 cents in 2023, thus one
who picked several bags of pods might have been supporting the war effort while
saving money for a special purpose.
The Enterprise pointed out that rural
grade and high school students did most of the milkweed seed pod collecting.
Kewaunee County had 2,300 sacks to fill and each two sacks held enough floss to
fill a life jacket. That prompted a Record Herald headline
screaming, “County Filling Many Life Jackets; More Milkweed Than
Anticipated.”
Some Kewaunee County schools filled over 100 sacks when the
county reached a peak of 3,300 onion sacks. At least 400 more sacks were asked
to be delivered. With a shortage of onion sacks, Wisconsin turned to flour
sacks and burlap bags, however care had to be exercised to make sure air
circulated efficiently to prevent mold. Moldy pods were worthless.
Kewaunee and Door Counties, and all of Wisconsin, gave
generous support to the milkweed drive, however it seemed as if the State of
Wisconsin was overwhelmed by the all-out effort that came about. Michigan had
ideal soil and climate so it was thought that state would outdo Wisconsin. It
did.
When Ag Agent Peroutky reported to the Kewaunee County
Board in December, he included milkweed statistics just as he did
dairy, cropping, farm institutes and more. Door County Board was also
given a milkweed pod collection in annual report of Agricultural County Agent.
In November, the Record Herald gave
a shout-out and tip-of-the-hat to the kids when it said it was primarily rural,
graded, and parochial schools that collected 2,100 bags with an
average of 800 pods a sack, which made 1,050 life jackets. Agent Peroutky said
if 1,050 life jackets could save that many lives, the children had shown what
their patriotism and all-out effort meant. Twenty cents a sack did not reflect
labor costs, but it did reflect cooperation.
Red River Township’s San Sauveur school kids collected 40
bags, however the highest-ranking number of sacks per student was 5.5 at Red
River Graded. Ryan school had 5.4 with 4.7 at Hawthorn. Sandy Bay, Garfield,
LaFollette, St. Paul’s Lutheran at Ellisville, Jefferson, Luxemburg Graded, and
Phillips stood at 2.5. Peroutky said the heaviest pod yields were in
the towns of Red River, Luxemburg, and Montpelier, though medium in Carlton,
Lincoln, Casco, Franklin, and Pierce. There was not much in Ahnapee which,
Peroutky said, was not a milkweed production township.
Sacks were collected on Monday October 30 via county
highway dump trucks, overseen by the rural, graded, high and parochial schools.
Families with sacks were to have them at the schools by 8 AM. If seeds were in
burlap bags, the onion sacks would be available for transfer, and families were
asked to turn in any unused bag. Peroutky said seeds had to fit comfortably in
the bag. Crowding would cause shriveling.
Kewaunee Enterprise reported Wisconsin’s
children gathered 350,000 bags of milkweed to rank second in the nation.
Door and Kewaunee Counties shipped five carloads to the Michigan processing
plant while Shawano County was Wisconsin’s 1st place county
with 35,000 bags. Peroutky pointed out counties collecting more than
Kewaunee were far larger, while proudly saying Wisconsin’s boys and girls
gathered 350,000 bags of milkweed to rank so highly and do so much for the war
effort.
All that milkweed pod picking meant clothing stains. Edna
Baumann, assistant state 4-H leader, said to remove fresh milkweed stains, the
garment had to be soaked for 2 or 3 hours in cool water, rubbing frequently to
loosen the stain, followed by laundering. Gummy residue could be removed with
carbon tetrachloride cleaner. If the brown stains set in, the item was to be
soaked in cool water before applying glycerin, acetic acid or strong vinegar,
and bleaching agents. Acids and bleach affected color so testing the garment
was a necessity. Milkweed stains are nearly invisible at first but if not
removed, they turn rusty or light brown in time, or with ironing heat or alkali
soap, and are then difficult to remove.
In August 1945, it was reported that there would be no milkweed
collection because of the amount collected in 1944 and the recapture of islands
held by the Japanese. Supplies of life jacket material was meeting needs, and the
war was coming to an end.
A little over two years later, it seemed as if the milkweed
collection program was coming full circle on the peninsula with the appointment
of Charles F. Swingle PhD as research horticulturist at what is now the
Peninsula Experiment Station. Dr. Swingle’s extensive professional work history
earned an earlier appointment as assistant director of the milkweed life jacket
project at Petosky, Michigan, although Dr. Swingle’s Door County work would
focus on fruits. Swingle had a tie to Door County and knew something about it
as Dr. Ben Birdsall of East Maplewood was in charge of the Peruvian station
where Swingle worked for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture teaching farming
methods. Dr. Birdsall attended East Maplewood school years earlier and it was
at East Maplewood school where Harold Fortemps single-handedly collected the
whopping 204 bags of pods.
How many World War ll airmen and sailors owed their lives
to roadside weeds?
Sources: Algoma Record Herald, Kewaunee Enterprise, Oconto Falls Herald, Wikipedia, www.retirementsimulation.com; Picture from https://gracegritsgarden.com/2020/10/milkweed-world-war-ii.html
