Here’s a video that every marijuana prohibitionist should see, Hemp for Victory. This film was produced and released by the US government in 1942 to promote growing hemp used to support US forces in World War II. The durability of the hemp fiber makes it a great choice for many military and industrial applications, in fact the cable cars in San Francisco use a hemp-core cable to this day. Hemp for Victory specifically calls out Kentucky and Wisconsin as places growing hemp for the war effort.

Hemp for Victory (Official Full 1942 Video) Highlights

Philippine and East Indian Hemp is in the hands of the Japanese in WWII [1:53 mark]

How to grow hemp in the US in 1942 [2:43 mark]

How and when to harvest hemp used for fiber [4:56 mark]

The “bowstring stage” [7:55 mark]

“In 1942 14,000 acres of fiber hemp were havested in the United States. The goal for 1943 is 300,000 acres.” [8:50 mark]

Processing of Hemp for fiber [9:00 mark]

Spinning Americna Hemp into rope, yarn or twine [10:08 mark]

Military products made from American Hemp in 1942 World War II [10:49 mark]

Industrial Hemp

For the uninformed, hemp provides an amazing industrial fiber. Long before synthetic alternatives like nylon were available, hemp was the go-to crop for rope, sails, and even durable clothing. In fact, the word canvas is derived from cannabis. There are a few reasons that hemp is so good for industrial applications. A couple of the basics are: it grows like a weed in just about any climate and the fibers are long and strong allowing for production of very tough materials (sails and rope).