Caitlin Farrell(CF): Ok. What's the first thing that you think about when you think of World War II? What's the first memory that pops into your head?

Martha Erickson(ME): Well, um, we had quite a few blackouts. And, then you didn't get everything you wanted, you had to have stamps, for everything, yeah.

CF: Right. Was there someone in your neighborhood who was the blackout, the air raid warden or?

ME: No, it just went black. And when I was in the hospital with my first child, we had a black out there, too.

CF: Oh wow.

ME: Yeah. And, they just brought the baby in.

CF: Ok, so, would you say your strongest memories of the war would be the blackouts and the rationing?

ME: Yeah, yeah.

CF: Um, what was it like for you to have children during the war?

ME: To what?

CF: To have children during the war?

ME: Well, that wasn't hard. He was company for me. Yeah. And we'd go up to my mother's on the trolley car.

CF: And, you said your husband went away, for two years he went?

ME: Yeah.

CF: And did he go to Germany or Japan?

ME: No, he was in Texas and ah, oh gee, I can't remember where the other place is. He went overseas anyway.

CF: And he was gone for two years?

ME: Yeah.

CF: And what was that like to have him gone?

ME: Well, it wasn't very pleasant. But, the family helped me. The only part that I didn't like was I was on the third floor and I have to go down cellar to get the oil for the stove in the kitchen. You know, they had oil stoves in the kitchen, yeah.

CF: Mmhmm. Why did your husband enlist? Or was he drafted?

ME: He was drafted, but he was in the reserves. So, I imagine that was why he had to go in.

CF: Was he upset about going? Or did he feel it was his duty or?

ME: Well, I think he was a little bit, because we had the little boy. He's 65 years old now. [Laughs]

CF: Oh wow. Did you yourself work during the war? Did you have a job?

ME: No, I couldn't have a job with the little one. No.

CF: Did any of your women friends or sisters or sisters-in-law get a job or work in any of the factories here in the city?

ME: No.

CF: No?

ME: My father worked down Norton's.

CF: Mmhmm.

ME: No, we used to go up to my mother a lot and she helped me. I wouldn't want it to go over again.

CF: Right. What were some of the biggest changes in your life because of the war? Your husband being gone must have been big.

ME: Yeah.

CF: Was there an economic hardship because he was gone?

ME: No, I got along fine with what I got.

CF: Did you just get his soldiers pay?

ME: Yeah, and the stores were near.

CF: Do you remember how you heard about Pearl Harbor?

ME: About what?

CF: Pearl Harbor? Do you remember hearing about it that day? Did you hear it on the radio?

ME: I think I have something on Pearl Harbor in here (her scrapbook on the table), I don't know, I don't know.

CF: Ok. Um, what was your perception of the enemy? Of the Germans or Japan? What was your-?

ME: I never talked about that. No. I maybe read it in the paper, but I don't remember that.

CF: Did you get most of your information about the war from the newspapers?

ME: Well, no I really didn't, because I didn't, ah, I don't know if I didn't look at the paper or what, but I didn't get anything from it.

CF: No?

ME: No.

CF: Were you curious about what was happening or anything?

ME: I just went along day by day, that's all you could do.

CF: Right.

ME: And then when you got a letter, well, then you were happy. [Laughs]

CF: Was he able to write home often?

ME: Yeah, he tried to write as often as he could. Yeah.

CF: And, did he give you, kind of updates on what he was doing or talk about battles or?

ME: No, he didn't talk about that. No. He wasn't in the middle of it, you know. He was in the Reserves, I don't know what that means anyway.

CF: Right. What kinds of things did you write to him? Did you tell him about what was going on in the house or what was happening in the Village?

ME: Well, what we were doing and where we were going and. So, it's kinda hard to…

CF: Did you feel like the war was part of your everyday life or did you not even think about it day to day? Did you feel it's presence, kind of?

ME: I just thought, If they took him, they took him. He had to go in, cause all the fellas had to go in. Yeah. Regardless of if they had children or what. I don't think that was fair though.

CF: Yeah, that's hard. Did you have other family that had to go fight?

ME: Well, I had my sister that I went up to a lot. And we'd stay over night and they'd take us out.

CF: Oh, that's good.

ME: Yeah.

CF: Was there a strong feeling of community within the Quinsigamond area?

ME: Strong co-, what?

CF: Feeling of community? Like, did you feel like you were all in it together or?

ME: Well, yeah, they neighbors were very good, too. Yeah.

CF: With helping out?

ME: Yeah, yeah.

CF: Did you feel like there was a job for you as a person here on the home front? Did you feel like you had a duty to do anything to help out?

ME: No, I couldn't go to work cause I had the little boy, you know. And, ah, I didn't want to leave him alone. And my mother lived on Burncoat Street, so, it was kinda far. And I didn't drive.

CF: Was there gas?

ME: Hmm?

CF: Was there gas? Could you have driven? People weren't driving very much then, were they?

ME: No, gas was kind of scarce then, yeah. And they, they ah, kept track of what you had I guess.

CF: Yeah. Did you join any organizations like the Red Cross or any church groups or anything?

ME: No, I didn't, I went to church. But, I didn't join any of that cause I couldn't get out at night anyways, cause I didn't have a babysitter, you know.

CF: Right. Did you have any patriotic posters or anything to decorate the house?

ME: I had, ah, a flag in the window with a star in it. That meant my husband was in the service. Yeah.

CF: Um, did you feel like you or the Village or the city had to make any sacrifices because of the war? 'Course, you had to send your husband over, but did you feel like the city had to make any sacrifices?

ME: What do you mean by that?

CF: Like, was there anything that the Village or Worcester did kind of for the war effort that they gave up or that they lost or?

ME: No.

CF: No? You're, how old was your son during the war? He was too small for school, right?

ME: He was three.

CF: Three? So, he wasn't going to school.

ME: No, he didn't go to school.

CF: What did you tell him about why his father was gone?

ME: Well, I showed him pictures of him, you know. And he had, one day he put his hat, a soldier hat on him. And we took a picture, we took a picture. And we talked about him a lot. Because, I didn't want him to forget him, you know. Yeah. And he went to Sunday school down at the Lutheran Church down in Quinsig.

CF: Why, how did you explain why your husband had to go? How did you explain the war to such a little child?

ME: Oh, I don't remember that.

CF: Did he have a hard time understanding why?

ME: Did he have a hard- what?

CF: Did he have a hard time understanding why his dad had to go?

ME: No, I don't think so, because I showed him pictures and everything so, yeah.

CF: What was your understanding of why we were fighting the war, of why the United States got involved? Why did you think?

ME: Oh, I don't know about that.

CF: Just whatever you remember.

ME: It's just that the Ja- They had to go, that's all. They were drafted.

CF: Right.

ME: Yeah.

CF: But, do you know why the government called up the Army?

ME: I don't know.

CF: No?

ME: I had an uncle who was in the first World War.

CF: Mmhmm. What did you think of FDR? Of Franklin Roosevelt?

ME: Of the what?

CF: Of Franklin Roosevelt? Did you listen to him on the radio at all?

ME: Well, we listened to the radio, that's all we had of course. Yeah.

CF: Do you remember listening to the fireside chats of the President? Do you remember that?

ME: We didn't have any television then, but we had radio, didn't we? I don't think I listened to that.

CF: No?

ME: No.

CF: OK. What kinds of things did you do for fun during the war? What did you do with your son for fun?

ME: Just go visiting relatives, that's all. Because you couldn't go anyplace. Yeah. Go out for walks with the boy.

CF: Did you ever take him to White City?

ME: White City?

CF: Yeah, did you take him to White City?

ME: No. I didn't have a car.

CF: Oh, right.

ME: And that's all gone now.

CF: Yeah, there's none of it left.

ME: [Laughter] That was quite popular with the airplane. I know my sister used to take her son and my son down there. They went in the Fun House, and oh boy, that was awful.

CF: Um, was church a big part of your life during the war? Going to church?

ME: Well, I used to bring my son to Sunday School, yeah.

CF: Do you think that people went to church more during the war or was it just the same?

ME: I don't, I don't think they did. No.

CF: It was the same?

ME: Course, the church was just down on Greenwood St, so it was easy to walk.

CF: That's good. Now, what was the name of the street that you lived on?

ME: Stebbins Street.

CF: OK. Did you find that your parish supported the war? Was your pastor supportive of the war?

ME: The who?

CF: The Church, the church that you belonged to? Were they supportive of the war?

ME: I don't know. I think they were.

CF: Do you remember doing any bake sales or fundraisers to support the war or anything like that?

ME: I don't remember, no.

CF: Um, did you have a Victory Garden or anything like that?

ME: No, I didn't. I lived on the third floor.

CF: Oh right.

ME: That was the landlord that had that.

CF: But, your landlord had a Victory Garden?

ME: Yeah, yeah. My father always had a big garden, too. My uncle did, too.

CF: Um, I know Quinsigamond had a big Swedish population..

ME: Oh yeah.

CF: Um, was, did you feel more Swedish or more American growing up?

ME: Well, I think I felt American. When you're born here, it's different. I had been to Sweden though, yeah.

CF: I know, during the war, Sweden was neutral, they didn't participate. Did that influence the way you felt at all? The fact that Sweden was neutral and America was fighting?

ME: No, no.

CF: No? Didn't make a difference? Um, did you have any customs or cultural traditions that you did every year?

ME: Well, we celebrated Christmas the same way with the fish and everything and the (solta?) and all that stuff. My mother had it all the time. And then my aunt would stay overnight.

CF: Mmhmm.

ME: Yeah.

CF: Did any of that change during the war? Did you have to?

ME: No.

CF: No? The same thing?

ME: It was the same way.

CF: What was the hardest thing about the war do you think?

ME: The what?

CF: The war. What was the hardest thing for you?

ME: I don't think I had anything. Cause, I lived near a store, it was right up above me. And I could walk then. [Laughs]

CF: Right, right.

ME: And the church was nearer, too.

CF: Did you go to any parades or anything to support the troops, like when they were shipping out?

ME: No, no, I couldn't go to those. No.

CF: Um, how did you find out how the war had ended? Do you remember hearing about how it ended? From the newspapers or?

ME: Well, the whistles and horns and everything blew.

CF: Oh yeah? Was there like a big celebration?

ME: Oh yeah, yeah.

CF: Um, I know that a lot of people in the area worked for American Steel and Wire.

ME: Oh yeah.

CF: Did you know anybody that worked over there?

ME: I had a friend, ah, Peggy Soltburg. She worked there for years. And Mrs. Laport over there, that lived over there, she worked there, too.

CF: In the factories?

ME: Yeah. No, no, in the office.

CF: Oh, in the office?

ME: Yeah, yeah.

CF: Do you know any women who worked in the factories or no?

ME: No, I don't know anybody that worked in the…We were all Norton people. [Laughs]

CF: Oh, ok. Because that's where your father was?

ME: Yeah, yeah.

CF: Did a lot of women go to work for Norton during the war, do you remember?

ME: I think they did, yeah. In heels, yeah.

CF: What was kind of the perception of women who went out to work? Did you support them or was it different or weird? For women to work in the factories?

ME: I don't know. What did you say now?

CF: For women, a lot of women went to work in the factories.

ME: Oh yeah.

CF: Was that strange or were they supported?

ME: Well, I think it was strange at first to see the women go work in the factory, yeah.

CF: But, did you feel like it was there duty to go or just another job?

ME: Just another job I guess, yeah.

CF: Is there anything or any stories or anything that sticks out in your memory from that time that we haven't talked about?

ME: No.

CF: No?

ME: Nope. It was just hard being alone with the baby, you know, that's all.

CF: Yeah. And your husband was gone for two years you said?

ME: Pardon?

CF: Your husband was gone for two years?

ME: Yeah.

CF: So, did he come home before the war ended?

ME: Right after.

CF: Right after?

ME: Yeah.

CF: And was he Army or Navy?

ME: Army. He was in the Reserves, I think that's why he had to go.

CF: Right, right. So, he probably went to Europe then, if he was in the Army.

ME: Yeah. Isn't that funny I can't remember where he went?

CF: Did he have a lot of stories when he came home?

ME: Oh yeah, yeah.

CF: Did he tell you about all the places he-?

ME: But, I've forgotten all that now. That's water over the hill. Oooh. You have to live for the day I guess, and hope it won't happen again.

CF: Alright, well.

ME: My son was in the Navy, too.

CF: Oh, yeah?

ME: Yeah, he was drafted.

CF: For..for Vietnam or Korea?

ME: Um, he was down in Virginia I think. Well, he's 55 now.

CF: How many children did you have?

ME: I have two boys and a girl.

CF: Ok.

ME: And two grandchildren. And three great-grandchildren.

CF: Wow.

ME: But, they're not related to me. My sister married this fellow and he has three grandchildren. So, but, that's pretty hard.

CF: Yeah. Alright, well, I think that's all my questions. I think I'll shut this off and we can look through your scrapbook if you don't mind.

ME: Oh, sure, yeah.

CF: OK. Thank you.