Kin Blog

Another Monday means another Letters from Britain. Some of last week's letters were a little more serious, but this week's letters have a lighter tone. Hopefully, some of them will bring a smile to your face as they help show just how valuable the Milk for Britain campaign was to so many people. 

First up is a more humourous letter, from an 8 year old: 

"dear friends: I would like to thank you for the dried milk you have sent us. I think it is OK, in fact its [sic] so rich and creamy that we are all getting fat, our parents wont [sic] know us when we go home again. It is nice to know we have such good friends in Canada who think about us and send us such Good [sic] things from time to time. Again thanking you for your kindness to us all. I remain, yours faithfully."

From being "OK", to "it's so rich and creamy that we are all getting fat" - apparently it's hard to say what Canadian milk is like for this one little kid! 

However, it is nice to see the hope for returning home, and seeing that the kids are enjoying the milk. 

The next letter comes from a worker at a Wartime Nursery, with a comment from Hal Rogers to "note this one":

"The children of this Nursery would like to thank you very much for your generous supply of Dried Milk. It is being used most particularly for the five-weeks old son of a Canadian soldier.... and baby Ian sends his thanks for making him a bonny boy."

 While a lot of the focus has been placed on the effect that the campaign had on British kids, even through the original campaign materials that Kin still has, it's interesting to hear about the other groups that benefited - such as the adults and children from other countries that were in Britain during the war. 

Given the close ties between Britain and Canada that helped spur the creation of the campaign, with many family ties for Canadians leading back overseas, it's not surprising to hear about a Canadian baby benefiting from the dried milk. However, it is still nice to hear about - which would probably be exactly why the nurse decided to include it in her "thank you" letter. 

The next letter comes again from the Waifs and Strays Society:

 "I thank you so much for your splendid and speedy response to our S.O.S for Klim* yesterday. I am so grateful to you. In October, we admitted little Mary, age four months, weighing 8 1/2 lbs! Now she weighs over 14 lbs at 6 1/2 months. All due to Klim! She was unable to digest other food. And of course it is being invaluable to the 'Measlers'."

 *Klim, a Canadian brand based out of Toronto, Ontario, was the major producer of the powdered milk that was sent overseas. And yes, they intentionally made their brand name as "milk" spelled backwards, to emphasize the wholesomeness of their milk. At the time, Klim was owned by the Borden Company, though today, it is now a part of Nestlé's product line. Klim is still being manufactured and sold. 

 Hearing about children who actually gained weight and grew thanks to Milk for Britain's help is very touching, to say the least. It also says a lot about just how important the campaign was to the vulnerable groups that might not have been fed otherwise. 

With the launch of the documentary only about a month away, stay tuned for more Letters from Britain and other updates as we keep counting down to launch. 

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