Friends of mine on Facebook have been teasing one another about the spelling of their names. Rocky James Curtiss called out his friend and classmate Richard Curtis, about his missing S. So I hastened to point out the causes: "RE spelling, you have to remember the times back in the 40s. WWII caused all kinds of shortages. When I was born in 1943, there was a shortage of Es, so one might think I'm Rees Clark, not Reese Clarke, for that reason; however in reality my name comes from earlier family namesakes. In 1944 there was a shortage of Ss. So there are Curtisses and Curtises; it all depended on rationing rules that were set based on local availability. I'm surprised that the usually adept historian Jeffrey Handley didn't catch that. Now I know some people will attribute the differences to familiy legacy, but as any good Republican will tell you, it was all FDR's fault."
— Revised 2024 — RC