Courtesy of Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives

“Everybody does their share in the Victory Garden,” according to the July 5, 1942, Maine Sunday Telegram caption that ran alongside this photograph. “Gardens this year are needed weapons for the feeding of folks at home, leaving other vegetables for the U.S. Armed Forces. Here is shown Judith Putnam, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Putnam of this city (Portland), and Judith and Patricia Piper, children of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Piper of Higgins Beach, with their implements of war on weeds.”

John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

A similar scene from July 23, 2014, shows Stephanie O’Neil (in the white shirt) conducting a gardening class for mothers and their children at her farm in West Pownal.

The Portland Room of the Portland Public Library is in the process of organizing and conserving the archival collection of original Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram and Evening Express photographic negatives — a major collection that spans from 1937 to 2005. Find more photos at www.pressherald.com/flashback/.