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A photograph of Tina and Ronald Jorden.
1939
Alberta

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Innisfail changed a little during the War years, in that they were then building the air base near Bowden, now the Bowden Penitentiary, which resulted in a fair amount of people moving to the area. The community grew some during the war, but picked up considerably afterwards.

Tina and Ron owned a 3 acre lot near where the hospital now is. They moved to town and lived above the Globe store for awhile before moving to the farm, which was west of town. On the farm they had a Jersey cow, and sometimes neighbours would buy cream from them which helped to supplement their income. They also had some chickens which Tina quickly gave up trying to dress and sell.

There were new buildings being erected regularly, and it was a stressful time with everyone watching and waiting to see if their boys would come back. News was delayed, so no one would know if their loved ones had been harmed until a considerable amount of time had passed.

The rationing during that time was particularly difficult. There was a limited amount of sugar, tea, gas, kids clothes (especially little boys clothing), flannelette for baby diapers, cheese, and jam. The rationing hit small families harder. People were allowed extra sugar at canning time, as they couldn't save fruit any other way and needed a certain amount for health reasons. They also canned vegetables, fruit, and meat. Tina and Ron shared food with Ron's dad who, since he did not have a large family, struggled with rationing.

Canadians didn't suffer as much, from rationing and stress among other things, as people in Europe. When Tina's aunt visited, she couldn't get enough canned salmon because it had been cut off during the war, while in Canada it had been a staple and they had longed for food stuffs OTHER than canned salmon.

Ron and Tina had two children, Dean and Beverly, and Ron continued with his teaching career.