Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture

Vancouver Sun Victory Garden Contest Winner 1942

Sent to us by Ben Willis
partyof5@shaw.ca

Ben Willis wrote us with some wonderful food garden history: "My grandfather (Jack Reading) won 1st prize in the Vancouver Sun Victory Garden contest in 1942. I have photos of the garden, the prize letter from the Sun and the original newpaper clipping with all the various winners names." We have included these documents below.

Ben's grandfather left Vancouver for Penticton at the end of WW2 and became an orchardist on Three Mile Road halfway between Penticton and Naramata on Okanagan Lake.

Sun Victory Garden Winners Announced (1942)

By The Garden Man

Victory gardens of Mrs. L. E. Candy, 3375 Radcliffe Avenue, West Vancouver and Jack Reading, 2308 East Thirty-ninth Avenue, won the first prizes of $15 each in the Victory Garden Competition sponsored by The Vancouver Sun, results of which have just been tabulated.

Mrs. Candy's prize was for a 33-foot lot and under and Mr. Reading's for a 66-foot lot and under.

There were a large number of entrants and quality of the gardens was so high that several had to be revisited several times before final judging. A particular factor in judging was the time that the contestant had available.

An example of how close the competition was in the 66-100 foot lot class, it was impossible to decide on the winner. Several people were called in and the same number of points were arrived at with the result it was decided to take the first and a second prize and devide them between the first two.

All the contestants I saw yesterday were delighted to hear of their success and all seemed to think that they were going to spend the money on their gardens, either in the way of new tools or seed for next year.

Owing to the number of contestants and the keen competition, The Vancouver Sun will award Certificates of Merit to runners-up.

Kenneth Eastwood, 11, was winner of a special prize, for he had been ill for a long time, yet put his garden into excellent shape.

(See list of winners in newspaper JPEG below)

Victory Garden Information on the Internet

• Ministry of Agriculture Allotment and Garden Guides - 1945
  "A series of 8 pamphlets published by the U.K. Ministry of Agriculture at its wartime base at the Berri Court Hotel in Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England. The pamphlets were published for January through July and December 1945 '...to help you to get better results from your vegetable plot and your fruit garden.' " Posted January 19, 2003

• A History of Victory Gardens in W.W.II-era

• Grandpa's Victory Garden

• The Garden Warriors of 1942

• The Smithsonian Institution invites you to visit its new Victory Garden

• Victory Garden Posters

• A New Victory Garden Movement

• The War Garden Victorious
  
  This rare book (1919), about the USA food gardening program during World War I, is being republished chapter by chapter on the Internet. "The United States government strongly encouraged everyone to plant a garden to provide their own food so that food, transportation and other resources could be freed up for the war effort." - "The sole aim of the National War Garden Commission was to arouse the patriots of America to the importance of putting all idle land to work, to teach them how to do it, and to educate them to conserve by canning and drying all food they could not use while fresh. The idea of the 'city farmer' came into being."
  Posted June 1, 2002

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
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