More information on the aluminum scrap drive to support the US Government and homeland defense, from 1941.
The Great Aluminum Drive is over, and Troop 2 certainly feels that it did its share. The big bin in Jackson Square was filled to overflowing, and two big carloads were then taken to South Weymouth, filling the bin in Columbian Square. In this work the Scouts were assisted by Cubs, Miss Elkingtons Girl Scout and the Campfire Girls of Weymouth Heights. Sixteen teams, aggregating about seventy boys and girls, took part in the drive and the collection was practically over in four hours. The territory covered was all of East Weymouth and Weymouth Heights, the central part of South Weymouth, and all the area between Columbian Square and the Rockland line.
Response from householders was whole hearted and the variety of material collected was legion. A spoon made in Germany was a prize exhibit. Vacuum cleaners, radio parts, a heavy pressure cooker, pots and pans, swelled the total. There must have been a peck of hairpins. One lady, who had no aluminum, treated the boys to ginger- ale.
There was plenty of hard work in the drive and many of the boys and girls were tired and foot-sore from the long tramp. There was also a chance for plenty of noise and fun, which the people seemed to enjoy as well as the Scouts. The collection wagon drove along the streets with Scouts perched all over it. Some wore kettles instead of hats. Some had pots for drums and others discovered that a couple of covers made a delightful substitute for cymbals.
Then there was fun throwing the utensils into the bins. If they landed outside, so much the better, They could be thrown in again. This performance always emptied the stores and laughing spectators lined the square in all directions. The other troops in town did equally well in their own areas and perhaps deserve more credit than Troop 2, for they were handicapped by lack of numbers and transportation facilities.
