Growingretro. In my book I have a page where I focus on two WWII victory gardens. The first image is of Home Run Inn Tavern's victory garden on 31st & Kildare in Little Village. The old tavern building is LONG gone and there would be absolutely no remnants of this garden.



The second image came from a woman who is like my surrogate grandmother here in Berwyn. This image is not that good because I was focusing on her father who was presiding over a victory garden ceremony on the corner of 28th & Kenneth in Little Village. There was a photo I had of just the garden itself but I gave it back to her without scanning it for some reason. I will try to get it. You still can see some of the garden in this photo.

Here is the caption from my book where I talk about the gardens.

"The war effort was enormous during World War Two. Just about every person pitched in doing one thing or the other. Factories were converted to manufacture items needed to fight the war. Many blocks in Lawndale-Crawford had "victory gardens," typically located on corners, where encased signs were posted with the names of block residents that were serving in the armed forces. These encased signs also indicated whether soldiers were killed or injured. Woman of the block would decorate the victory gardens with flowers in patriotic themes. Above is a victory garden ceremony being presided over by Joseph Peca (see page 48) on Twenty-eighth Street and Kenneth Avenue. Below is Home Run Inn Tavern's victory garden provided by the Grittani family on Thirty-first Street and Kildare. (Courtesy of Doris Peca Remp and Joe Perrino.)"



Here is one that is very special to me. This is my childhood home in Berwyn where my parents still reside after 34 years. By some amazing twist of fate, I ran into the niece of the woman that my parents bought the home from in 1976. Their family lived in the home from the early 1940s till 1976. She had an album of photo's of my house in the 1940s that she let me copy. The home is on a double lot with the empty side being on the corner. Here is the victory garden that was once assembled in my backyard.