1942: The film ‘Hemp for Victory’ encourage farmers to grow as much as possible

Hemp for Victory is a United States government film made during World War II and released in 1942 to encourage farmers to grow hemp for the war effort because other industrial fibers, often imported from overseas, were in short supply.

The film shows a history of hemp and hemp products, how hemp is grown, and how hemp is processed into rope, cloth, cordage, and other products.

Before 1989, the film was relatively unknown. The United States government denied ever having made such a film. Two VHS copies were recovered and donated to the Library of Congress on 19 May 1989 by Maria Farrow, Carl Packard, and Jack Herer.

In July 1989, Jack Herer, together with Chris Wright, of the Grassroots Party, attempted to obtain a copy from the National Archives where it was listed, but the curators could not locate the film.

But in May 1990, the founder of The Institute for Hemp, John Birrenbach, recovered a copy of the film from the National Archives. The film is today freely available for download from the Internet Archive.

-ROBINSON, R. (1996) :  The great book of hemp: the complete guide to environmental, commercial and medicinal uses of the world’s most extraordinary plant. Park Street Press.
-Film: “ Hemp for Victory”

Research and text © Hempshopper Amsterdam.