We don't have all that many WWII vets left nowadays, and it shows.
The other day, I was absent-mindedly flipping through a mail-order catalog while I ate breakfast, and I found a section on "homestyle" foods. One of the items was for cans of creamed chipped beef. The description of the stuff was glowing and included a couple of testimonials from "reviewers." But what really made me raise my eyebrows was that the blurb read that creamed chipped beef was "lovingly called SOS by members of the armed forces during WWII."
Uh, sort of.
Dad (yes, he's a WWII vet) -- whenever someone makes a reference to this garbage -- still apologetically refers to it by it's "proper" military nickname, which was "sh-- on a shingle." Oh, that could be abbreviated to SOS, but not "lovingly." The stuff looked/looks like vomit and apparently is only one step better than starvation.
Yes, I know that sales people are supposed to make things look better than they really are, but either these writers need to leave their spiel at things like "fresh ingredients" or else they need a real history lesson. Pronto.
My stepdad, a USA Cpt, wwII and Korean vet frequently made sos for breakfast. A staple in our home. Soldiers love to complain. sos was better than powdered eggs. Great over toast and scrambled eggs. Well...maybe not 'great' *chuckle*
ReplyDeleteYes, I have heard about all the "foods" in WWII. Apparently, even the chocolate was bad.
DeletePerhaps SOS was improved by the Korean war. I doubt it could've gotten any worse.
PS. Maybe the writers cited the wrong war. Maybe "lovingly" and "SOS" would be appropriate for the Korean war vets.
DeleteIt's still a history problem.
We have a fascination with cottages in England and how lovely and cute they look. What people tend to forget is there used to be large families in them with no bathroom, no double glazing, no heating and the straw roof was full of spiders...hence the cloth caps.
ReplyDeleteSome rose-tinted views of the past need challenging.
Like many Americans, I think castles are awesome, too. But I bet they weren't much more comfortable to live in than the cottages to which you refer.
DeleteOut here in Utah, we had our own version of cottages: log cabins and/or dug outs (the latter with sod roofs).
I guess it shows, what ever it takes to sell a product. :)
ReplyDelete