Maggelina Corsaro
Alex Corsaro
Interview Transcript
Maggelina Corsaro was twenty-six years of age during World War II. Her husband, Daniel, and her brother, Phil, were sent away to fight in the war. Besides the men being away from home, life on the homefront changed as well.
How old were you during World War II?
-“Well, I was born in 1914, so I was twenty-six years old.”
Did you know anyone who served in the war?
“Yes, my husband and brother bother both did. Your grandfather was positioned in Idaho and your Great Uncle Phil was at the Great Lakes Naval Bases.”
Did they survive?
-“Yes, they both lived.”
How long did each of them serve?
-“Well, Danny (her husband) served for six months, and Phil served for a lot longer time, but I’m not sure.”
How did life around your home change?
-“We prayed as much as we could. We went to church everyday, sometimes twice a day. We cleaned, swept, and washed dishes a lot. The government would freeze your rent at the price you were originally paying, so landlords couldn’t take advantage of you. I forget the amount it was though. A certain amount of money was sent by the army each month to each soldier’s family, but I don’t remember that amount either.”
When the men left did you help out with the family business?
We had to help out our father because none of the boys were around. We loaded bananas onto the trucks and delivered the produce to grocery stores. I also worked at P.R. Mallory’s. We worked on different things. I made different parts that would be put into motors for war airplanes.”
How did the rationing of goods affect you and your family?
“Each family was given coupons for groceries. You could only buy so much meat at one time. Different foods took different amounts of coupons, and the coupons only lasted a certain amount of time before you had to get new ones. Everyone was told to save their recycling, especially metal. The metal would be turned in at different places and used to make things for the war. Also, only so much gas could be purchased at a time. Clothing cost quite a bit too.”