Editor’s note: The information and photos in this story were compiled by the Poulsbo Historical Society
As the Allies headed toward victory over the Axis, the effects of the war overseas definitely came to root on the homefront. News of service men and women — enlistments, commissions, the comings and goings of wounded, those on furlough, as well as those who died — was a regular fixture in Poulsbo’s hometown paper. While those who braved the war over there were remembered and revered, life rolled steadily along as Poulsbo began to get comfortable in its own skin.
Industry gets shell-shocked
In mid-April, 1945, Poulsbo was making a name for itself as a seafood industrial mecca of sorts. The big scoop about town was an oyster shell processing plant just on the northern outskirts of town. The 7-year-old plant “consumes large quantities of oyster shells which are fed into a primary crusher where they are broken into smaller pieces. From the first crusher they pass through a 20-foot oven, heated on the inside by a commercial oil burner, where the broken shells are dried so that they may receive further crushing in grinders at the opposite end of the oven,” according to the Kitsap County Herald’s April 13, 1945 issue.
Shining some light on the topic
In a story that sounds eerily similar to one ongoing at Kingston High today, the school board was considering installing lights at North Kitsap High’s athletic field. The student body and the school board footed the bill for the lights, which were in use by the the fall 1945.
How come no one does this anymore?
Also in 1945, Poulsbo’s corner drug stores shut down for a week each to give the owners and employees vacations. In a pre-agreed arrangement, one store shut down for a week, then the other followed suit. “Due to the unusually long hours these two stores have remained open, the health of the owners and their employees is suffering and has always suffered. The health of the public is also in danger because pharmacists living under the strain of too long hours are likely to make mistakes which might prove fatal,” stated the Herald on May 11.
It’s over, over there
There was reportedly a 10 minute pause between the time news of the war’s end was heard and when it was celebrated. The party “was touched off by a lone car wildly honking it’s horn started the bedlam that reigned for several hours,” as reported in the Aug. 17, 1945, Herald. A impromptu parade and mass celebration ensued. No injuries or deaths were reported. As a result of the victory, the local ration board closed its doors about five weeks later, on Oct. 1.
Hi speed, low class
Living up to the reputation of the uniform, two sailors made headlines with their drunken shenanigans. Two men, ID’d as enlisted sailors, made chaos with beer bottles and two-by-fours at the Hi-Speed Tavern at Poulsbo Junction. As reported in the Dec. 13, 1945, Herald, two men were injured in the melee. The sailors made haste out of the establishment and disappeared into the night.
