INDUSTRIAL HEMP

DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE


WAR HEMP INDUSTRIES
      -- THE HELP WANTED AD'S

Although a bit mundane ("you’ve seen one Help Wanted Ad, you’ve seen them all" kind of thing), still these WW-2 era ads give us a great deal of insight into the times as they were back then.   And as can be seen, for good or for bad, things were changing and changing very rapidly.   Where just a few short months before these ads (shown below) began to appear, the great depression had assured a steady stream of willing and able workers.   Now, given the numbers being drafted into active military service, labor was at a great premium.   Thus employers were forced to start looking around at other, less traditional forms of labor.   In the words of Linda Lowen:
Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character featured in a propaganda campaign created by the U.S. government to encourage white middle-class women to work outside the home during World War II.   Although frequently associated with the contemporary women's movement, Rosie the Riveter was not supposed to promote change or enhance the role of women in society and the workplace in the 1940s. Instead, she was meant to represent the ideal female worker and help fill the temporary industrial labor shortage caused by the combination of fewer male workers (due to the draft and/or enlistment) and increased production of military equipment and supplies. -- Who Was Rosie the Riveter by Linda Lowen
A factor that becomes quite clear in the Want Ads shown below.   Just a year earlier, the ads would have read “Men Wanted” now they were reading “Men and Women Wanted.”


WaunakeeTribuneWisconsin1943-10-07p2


(Waunakee Tribune Wisconsin - 1943-10-07-1943p2)


HEMP WANTED --- NOW ---
Men to complete the hemp harvest.
An opportunity to assist with a vital war crop.
Light work and good wages --- Call the
Hemp Mill office, Telephone 145, DeForest, Wis.        1tp


ThomsonReview1944-07-27p5S


(Thomson Review - 07-27-1944p5)

MEN Wanted
For New
War Plant
At
Polo, Ill.
Top Wages
Steady Employment
Vital War Industry

Apply any day at the hemp Mill Office one mile south of Polo, on U.S. Highway 52.
All hiring in accordance with W. M. C.’s U.S. Employment Service Plan.       2t 8-3c


AmesDailyTribune1944-04-12p7


(Ames Daily Tribune 04-12-1944p7)


MEN WANTED
To work at Hemp Plant.
No experience necessary.
Apply in Person.
BOONE HEMP PLANT


EarlvilleLeaderIllinios1944-06-01p6


(Earlville Leader (Illinios) - 06-01-1944p6)


HELP WANTED
MEN AND WOMEN
At the
Earlville hemp Mill
-----
Apply at Mill Office for Hours and Wages.   All Hiring in Accordance with W.M.C. Regulations.
---
WAR HEMP INDUSTRIES, INC.
E.P. FLICKINGER, Manager

GalvaNewsIllinios1944-06-22p8


(Galva News (Illinios) - June 22, 1944p8)

HELP WANTED
At
GALVA
HEMP MILL
*
Both Men and Women
Needed For Full-Time Work
*
Apply between hours of 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. at hemp mill office.


AlgonaUpperDesMoines1943-05-13p4


( Algona Upper Des Moines - 05-13-1943p4 )


LABORERS WANTED
--- At the ---
Hemp Mill

Rye & Henide Construction Co.
----
Apply at U.S. Employment Service
Algona Chamber of Commerce


WarHemp2


Help Wanted!
--- By ---
War Hemp
Industries, Inc.
----
Men and boys over 16 years.
women and Girls over 18 years.

------
Apply at Company Office at Plant
1 mile west of Jackson on Highway No. 16


The above ads were selected primarily because we were able to locate them via old newspaper archives as oppose to there social commentary.   And due to limited resources they probably only represent a small fraction of the ads run by Hemp Mills looking for labor during the war.

COOL LOOKING ONE PAGE AD

(Click To See Ad)


This is by far the coolest looking Hemp War Industries Ad we’ve run into yet.   A complete one page ad containing multiple pictures of tanks, Hitler, etc.   It tries to encourage farmers to grow Hemp for the war effort.















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