"Victory Potato is Grown at Pythian Home"
Files
Dublin Core
Title
"Victory Potato is Grown at Pythian Home"
Subject
New Market (Va)
Hines Memorial Home (New Market Va)
Second World War (1939-1945)
Description
This newspaper article appeared in the Daily News-Record on July 17, 1942. During that time period, residents of Shenandoah County were fully mobilized to help fight the Second World War. On the Home Front individuals worked in war plants, harvested crops for soldiers, rationed their use of materials, and grew “Victory Gardens” to help reduce the amount of food they had to purchase. While digging in one such garden at the Hines Memorial Pythian Home in New Market, Mr. and Mrs. E.M. Rice discovered a potato imprinted with a “V.” To them, and members of the community, this fact indicated future success for the armed forces of the United States and the local service members serving their country.
At the time, any hope of victory was badly needed. In the eight months since the country had entered the war, almost all the news had been bad. The nation’s first real victory, at the Battle of Midway, occurred only a month before this article appeared.
Everyone who read this news knew the outcome of the conflict was still very much in doubt. Like today, anything that even hinted at a better way forward, including a “Victory Potato” would have been extremely important for morale.
The Hines Memorial Home where the potato was found was a New Market institution for many decades. It was founded in 1927 by the Knights of the Pythias, a national fraternal organization. The home was operated by the statewide Pythian organization and was designed to be a home for the elderly, widows, and orphans associated with the organization. In a time before modern welfare services, homes such as this often provided the best type of care for less-fortunate individuals. Hines Memorial’s site consisted of a large, colonial style building, over 50 acres of land, and a playground for children. A WPA report in 1937 noted sixteen orphans and one adult lived in the home.
After World War Two the Pythians moved Hines Memorial Home to Bedford County Virginia. The site in New Market then became the local depot of the Mason-Dixon Trucking Company. Today the structure houses an assisted living facility called the Shenandoah Valley Village.
At the time, any hope of victory was badly needed. In the eight months since the country had entered the war, almost all the news had been bad. The nation’s first real victory, at the Battle of Midway, occurred only a month before this article appeared.
Everyone who read this news knew the outcome of the conflict was still very much in doubt. Like today, anything that even hinted at a better way forward, including a “Victory Potato” would have been extremely important for morale.
The Hines Memorial Home where the potato was found was a New Market institution for many decades. It was founded in 1927 by the Knights of the Pythias, a national fraternal organization. The home was operated by the statewide Pythian organization and was designed to be a home for the elderly, widows, and orphans associated with the organization. In a time before modern welfare services, homes such as this often provided the best type of care for less-fortunate individuals. Hines Memorial’s site consisted of a large, colonial style building, over 50 acres of land, and a playground for children. A WPA report in 1937 noted sixteen orphans and one adult lived in the home.
After World War Two the Pythians moved Hines Memorial Home to Bedford County Virginia. The site in New Market then became the local depot of the Mason-Dixon Trucking Company. Today the structure houses an assisted living facility called the Shenandoah Valley Village.
Creator
Daily News-Record (Harrisonburg Va)
Source
Newspaper Clippings Collection
Publisher
Shenandoah County Library
Date
July 17, 1942
Citation
Daily News-Record (Harrisonburg Va), “"Victory Potato is Grown at Pythian Home",” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed April 20, 2024, https://archives.countylib.org/items/show/5929.
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