During the early years of World War II, as
rationing and shortages ravaged the nation, plucky Americans responded by
filling nearly every vacant lot, backyard and even window boxes with "Victory
Gardens" filled with vegetable plants. Some have estimated that there were
nearly 20 million such Victory Gardens throughout the nation.
Pelham was no exception. Vacant lots and backyards
throughout the town were filled with lush Victory Gardens carefully tended by
armies of patriot citizens.
Victory Garden Poster
Printed During World War II
According to one list published in 1943, Pelham gardeners
grew the following in their Victory Gardens: beans, beets, broccoli, brussel
sprouts, cabbage (early, medium, late), carrots, celery, chard (swiss), chicory,
chives, collards, cucumbers, celtuce, dill, eggplant, endive, escarolle,
finocchio, garlic, kale, kohl-rabi, lettuce, mint, okra (gumbo), onions,
parsley, parsnips, peas (early and late), peppers, radishes, romaine, squash,
salsify, spinach (New Zealand), tomatoes and turnips. On larger lots, gardeners
also grew such plans as potatoes and corn. See Many Varieties of Vegetables in
Marshall Lot, The Pelham Sun, Vol. 33, No. 16, Jul. 22, 1943, p. 4,
col. 7.
The rise of Victory Gardens was not left to chance in
Pelham. Rather, citizens of the town developed a well-organized system for
encouraging and supporting the planting of Victory Gardens. The Town was
organized into districts based, generally, on the organizational structure of
the local Parents and Teachers Association (PTA). The Town's War Committee
oversaw efforts to support the gardens. A station wagon was purchased to deliver
fertilizer and other such items to the larger gardens and an "assistant" was
hired to transport such material.
Civilian Defense Poster Published in Pennsylvania
During World War II Urging Citizens to Plant Victory Gardens.
One of the most interesting collections of Victory Gardens
in the Town of Pelham was planted on a rocky hillside behind The Pelham Picture
House on Wolfs Lane that extended from Wolfs Lane to Manning Circle. The gardens
were known as the "Barkswill Gardens" and consisted of about a dozen or so
garden plots to produce contributions to the family tables of Pelham residents.
The name of the gardens seems to have been a contraction of the last names of
two of the men who maintained plots: John Barksdale and Dudley Wilson. Others
who maintained plots at the location were Harold J. Moore, John Gibson, Sr.,
John Gibson, Jr., Betty Beamish, Everett Gray, David Dunlop, Leonard Knapp and
Harry E. Peterson. Perhaps the most interesting and ingenious part of the
Barkswill Victory Gardens was the fact that condensation from the air
conditioning system of The Pelham Picture House was channeled down the hill in a
rock-lined trench to a lovely pool so that gardeners could use the water to
maintain their crops. See Cooling System Of Pelham Picture House
Irrigates Victory Gardens Of "Barkswill" Plot In Clovelly, The Pelham Sun,
Vol. 33, No. 14, Jul. 8, 1943, p. 9, col. 1.
It was not enough to create a functional garden for those
who maintained the Barkswill Victory Gardens. Rather, they sought to develop "a
rustic resting place, where one can be seated in peace and quiet and fail
utterly to realize that a busy main thoroughfare is but a few yards a way and a
motion picture theatre exhibits its films to hundreds daily on its border
lines." Id.
An interesting description of the garden appeared in
The Pelham Sun on July 8, 1943. It said:
"In a plot halfway up the hillside, a man is bending over
his crops. His basket is nearly filled with Swiss chard, lettuce, radishes,
onions and carrots. The beets are not yet ready so he comes down with his basket
to where his wife Mrs. Harold J. Moore is waiting. John Barksdale, the
originator of the Barkswill Gardens is sitting under a tall tree near the rustic
gateway which gives entry to the gardens. He is viewing with satisfaction the
latest development, a circular pool, built of cemented rock and brick about five
feet wide and two feet deep, into which we suddenly realize the overflow from
the cooling system of the nearby theatre is providing the gardeners with the
necessary water for their crops. The water winds its way along a rock-lined
trench down the hillside into the pool and around the pool is a collection of
rustic furniture of the rustickiest kind -- and under nearby trees an obviously
home-made table and picnic benches.
But -- about the crops. There is a division, about five
per cent. being devoted to flowers and the remainder to a wide variety of
everything one would expect to find in a kitchen garden. The grade has been
stepped off every few yards by a rock embankment a few inches high and each
one's holdings are well defined.
At the entrance to the garden there are rustic arches
surmounted by wooden figures of farmers and pigs, cut with a scroll saw.
It is here that neighborliness is at its best. The eternal
topic is the proper application of this and that to ensure a good crop, and once
in a while a note of discussion of local problems is introduced. Regret is
expressed that the first ripe tomato of the Victory Gardens was not picked from
Barkswill Gardens, but hope is voiced that before the season closes the
approximate value of the crops raised will be spoken of in terms of hundreds of
dollars." Id.
"Grow for Victory" was the slogan coined to motivate
gardeners throughout the nation during the War. Pelham did its part. The
Barkswill Victory Gardens were merely one of many such gardens developed
throughout the Town as everyone did their best to support the nation during its
difficult time.
