LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — The Allen County Museum is giving visitors the opportunity to step back in time and experience what life was like on the American homefront during World War II.
The museum's "Life in America: 1940s" event explores why those who lived through the era are often referred to as the Greatest Generation. Visitors can pick up a ration card and learn how families adapted to wartime shortages while experiencing the games people played, the music they enjoyed and stories of courage from both the homefront and the battlefield. Re-enactors are also on hand to share firsthand accounts and demonstrate what daily life was like during the 1940s.
“1940’s is one of the most important to Lima as an industrial capital at that time and still today. That's when tanks started being built here and stuff like that. So it's it's a great time and we had the longest running canteen that started at that time too. We're highlighting both of those things here today. I mean, this was a time period where most men were gone. And so women were working in the tank plants and they were canning and everyone from the littlest kid to the oldest grandparent was doing a lot to make life work in the 40s,” says Hannah Bergstedt, curator of education at the Allen County Museum.
"Life in America: The 1940s" continues Saturday July 25 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Allen County Museum.
