CONCEPT, Vol. XXXIX (2016) 1 From the Frontlines to Silent Spring: DDT and America’s War on Insects, 1941-1962 1 James Erwin Schmitt History In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Americans flocked to their local shopping centers to purchase the latest and greatest consumer goods. Thanks to higher wages, the GI Bill, and a booming job market, consumers used their new spending power to purchase a wide array of products, including televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, toaster ovens, and vacuum cleaners. Among the most desired of these postwar products was the latest in bug-killing technology, a chemical known as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). The new “miracle pesticide,” as some called it, had proven to be an effective tool for the elimination of malaria and typhus in the European and Pacific Theaters and consumers were eager to get their hands on the insect-killing war hero for use in their homes and gardens. In the fall of 1945, lifted wartime restrictions on domestic DDT sales, consumers around the country rushed to their local hardware stores and supermarkets, where they shopped for a number of DDT-laden products, including bug bombs, aerosol sprays, paint, and wallpaper, which featured a myriad of designs ranging from Mickey Mouse for the children’s room to floral patterns for the living room and dining room. As a 1946 article in the Nebraska Farmer noted, “After winning a glorious victory during World War II over the insidious insect foes of G. I. Joe, DDT has shucked its military clothes, wrapped up its world-wide service bars, and come back home to take over the No. 1 spot in America's bug battle.” 2 The bug-killing fervor that thrust DDT into consumer markets in the postwar era was a continuation of attitudes that emerged early in the Second World War, prior to the existence of DDT. Throughout 1942 and early 1943, Allied forces stationed in the South Pacific fell to insect-borne illnesses at an unprecedented rate. In November 1943, American troops in New Guinea reported six hundred malaria cases for every thousand troops, and by January 1943, four divisions stationed in The author would like to thank Dr. Marc Gallicchio, Daniel Gorman Jr. and Paige Barker for their helpful comments and suggestions that made this essay possible and Dr. Paul Rosier for his guidance in the field of environmental history. 1 Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Boston: Riverside Press, 1962). 2 Keith Carter, “How About D.D.T,” Nebraska Farmer, July 6, 1946, 13.