The top left hand corner is Weathervane, which is the block Gladys Hill made in 1937.
Gladys Horn was a school teacher when she married Leo Hill, a rancher at Spokane, Washington. Gladys and Leo were each twenty-nine years old. It was Gladys' first marriage but Leo was a widower. His previous wife Ethel died shortly before their third wedding anniversary. Ethel was also Gladys' older sister.
In 1937 Leo and Gladys had four children, two boys in high school and two girls in elementary school. Five years later Gladys still had her two girls at home but her boys, now young men, were serving their country while the whole world was at war.
Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Denmark in April 1940 and then advanced on Belgium, Netherlands and France. The Allied forces were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in June 1940. Bombs were falling on London in September 1940.
The United States began to strengthen its own defences and focused on manufacturing and farm production. The increase in defence spending picked up the economy as a whole after the ravages of the depression years. In the autumn of 1940 the Selective Services Act required all American men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register for the draft.
Pearl Harbor was bombed on 9 December 1941. 2400 sailors, soldiers and civilians were killed. The U.S. declared war on Japan and the European Axis forces declared was on the United States.
The draft now expanded to include males from 18 to 45. Gladys' boys were 19 and 18; the elder joinded the Navy and the younger enlisted in the Army.
Leo's ranch was working overtime. Farm prices rose in 1940 and 1941 but labor costs rose too. The ship building yards in Portland, Oregon and the aircraft factories in Seattle, Washington paid top wages, and the canneries and lumberyards of the Pacific Northwest couldn't compete over pay. Gladys and the girls had to work on the ranch to keep up with the demand for their beef.
Women and students were encouraged to join for the Women's Land Army and work in agriculture.
Fortunately for the Hill family, both boys came home, both girls grew up, and Gladys and Leo enjoyed their grandchildren and each other.
