A step back in time...1940

Our mother daughter banquet at church this year featured a fashion show including models from eras gone by. I modeled the 1940s and it was so much fun. This is a picture of the snood I wore. The ladies that worked in the factories to support the war effort wore these to keep their hair up and out of machinery and also to class up their factory overalls.

Fashion, economy, family and women were all altered on December 7^th, 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and America became fully engaged in World War 2.

Our entry into the war helped to get the nation's economy back on its feet following the depression. There were jobs for nearly everyone who wanted one. In one of his radio fireside chats, President Roosevelt explained that the United States would need women as well as men to win the war. Women were urged to work for the good of their country. Many a happy housewife hung up her apron and donned her factory overalls, some even joined the brave ranks of the army nurse corps, while others strove to win the war on the home front by holding scrap metal drives, planting victory gardens and participating in rationing programs. Women now viewed their roles as being supportive of their men over-seas and as they rationed their food, clothes and children’s toys, this became their motto: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.”

Many women found that slacks and flat heeled shoes were the most practical garb for their war effort jobs. Street wear took on a more casual look as women sometimes lunched and shopped together in mix-match separates, sweater sets and skirts. Broad shoulder padding in suits and even dresses created a military flare. Due to the government’s policy to save textile wastage, hemlines came to rest at a becoming length for most women: somewhere within that inch just below the knee, and the upper calf. In 1943 the U.S. government ordered that the fabric used in women’s swimwear was to be reduced by one-tenth as well and so, though a bare midriff was pretty racy in the ‘40s, the fabric covering the midriff was a war-time casualty, and the two piece bathing suit emerged. Nylon stockings, introduced in 1940, became very popular but two years later were scarce due to their use in making parachutes, tires, and other war materials. Stockings of all types were scarce during the war. Most women would resort to leg make up and a friend to draw a seam down the back of the leg with eye liner. After the war, in the late 40’s, the “new look” in fashion was a slimmer waistline, sloping shoulders and a longer hemline. Many women welcomed the more feminine look as they took their place again as women in society and gave up their jobs to the returning men. Some women however even three years after the war was over, protested the new look because of the expense of extra fabric.

Things were simpler in the 1940’s but not necessarily more convenient. Only 55% of homes had indoor plumbing but most all housed a radio. Though the movies were a big attraction, radio was the center of news and entertainment for 1940’s families. With the music of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey, the adventures of the Lone Ranger and the mystery of Sherlock Holmes, there was a program for every person in the family. Billy Graham began his radio program “Songs in the Night” in 1944 which aired for many years though Billy went on to organize many an evangelistic crusade where the gospel was preached and many souls were saved. His first crusade took place in 1947. Billy Graham was an honest man who loved the Lord very much and lived by the Bible.

The post war years were prosperous. Rationing ended one year after the war and some families, that had accumulated savings during the war years, were eager to purchase homes, cars and other luxuries denied them during the war. Televisions sets were soon added to the “must have” list but a 3” set was still priced at $100. ($1100 in today’s money) So by 1948, only one in ten Americans actually owned a TV.

After tasting independence, many women did not want to return to the duties of a homemaker. This working mother, combined with another new phenomenon, the refrigerator, led to the invention of frozen dinners and with the advent of television they became known as TV Dinners. Microwave cookers, Tupperware and aluminum foil also eased the post war housewives burden and diners. All women were happy to welcome their soldiers home and those that valued the important things in life were eager to get back to serving their families as a homemaker.