With pots and pans, the Valley was in hot pursuit of Hitler

By RENE TORRES

National Aluminum Week meant that pots, pans trays, pitchers, kettles and a variety of household utensils were critical in the war effort and each Valley community was expected to contribute to the effort.

Texas Governor W. Lee O’Daniel reminded his fellow Texans that each family should donate from five-eighths to three fourths of a pound so that Texas’s share of the national goal of 15,000,000 pounds may be reached.

Special pens were placed throughout the Valley—giving every man, woman and child the opportunity to show their patriotism by giving aluminum, which along with rubber and steal, were critical in defeating the Fehr.

Brownsville, along with San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, Amarillo, Forth Worth and Austin, were selected as concentration points in Texas for aluminum.

The material gathered in the Valley was weighted in each community and sent to Brownsville for final packing to the smelter destination.

On a Monday in July of 1941, the army of Valley citizens began its march to collect aluminum, and it was not alone.

As hundreds of Valley Boys Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girls Scouts set out on a Monday morning making house calls for aluminum— in some cases, the calls were preparatory, asking housewives to check their kitchens and have the materials ready to be picked up another day.

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