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Amy T Peterson, Valerie Hewitt, Heather Vaughan, et al

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by The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through American History 1900 to the Present (pdf)


  ity starting in 1931, attributable in large part to several winter carnivals

  and travel promotions. The Winter Olympics in 1932, held at Lake

  Placid, brought skiing further into the limelight. Less active games and

  fads spread across the country as well, including miniature golf starting in

  1930, as well as card playing and jigsaw puzzles.

  Despite the inability of most people to travel for leisure, the thirties

  saw a host of travel innovations that aided in getting people to more

  remote locations in much quicker and luxurious or convenient ways. The

  Greyhound bus line was inaugurated in 1930, and the largest ocean liner,

  the Queen Mary, was launched in 1934. In 1938, the Queen Mary

  crossed the Atlantic Ocean in just over three days, a record at the time.

  World’s Fairs were popular travel destinations during this period: Chi-

  cago in 1933, New York in 1939, and San Francisco, also in 1939. These

  fairs offered an opportunity for attendees to see the latest in technology,

  entertainment, art, and architecture.

  Leisure time was filled with inexpensive pastimes. Many families played

  board games such as Monopoly, enjoyed card games such as Bridge, and

  completed cardboard jigsaw puzzles. Reading, listening to the radio, and

  writing letters were popular as well.

  In December 1933, Prohibition was repealed and drinking was again a

  legal activity. Consequently, the price of alcohol decreased and therefore

  became more commonplace. Taverns became popular places to gather for

  the working class, whereas the middle and upper class preferred to drink at

  home. Cigarettes remained popular and were still seen as a chic accessory.

  T H E

  1940S

  ‘A Successful Victory Garden is a Blow to the Enemy’ could be found on

  government-issued posters along with Rosie the Riveter and Uncle Sam.

  Growing vegetables locally eased wartime demands on the transportation

  system, as well as augmenting available produce for processing C-rations and

  108

  DAILY LIFE

  K-rations for the troops. The Department of Agriculture called for 18 mil-

  lion victory gardens beginning in 1943 to help feed the military and allies.

  Individuals and communities responded, producing close to two-thirds of all

  the produce consumed in the United States between 1943 and 1945.

  Significant contributions made by people on the home front included

  salvaging and recycling materials. Recycled kitchen grease was collected to

  help make explosives, medicine, rubber, and nylon for parachutes. During

  the war, empty cans and license plates were collected to help produce

  tanks. Toothpaste tubes were saved for the lead content. Another govern-

  ment slogan was, ‘‘Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.’’

  Americans were encouraged to contribute 10 percent of their pay to-

  ward the purchase of war bonds. Despite emerging from the Depression,

  this was not generally difficult for many Americans. More people had

  more income than ever before. Although the salaries were low, there was

  not much available to purchase because of war-time rationing.

  Every neighborhood had a civil defense warden. Thousands of men

  and women volunteered to protect the country by making sure their

  neighbors followed air-raid and blackout precautions during drills and

  scheduled blackout times.

  Most everyone who had a telephone during the 1940s had a party line.

  With this type of line, several residences would share a phone number,

  and the number of rings would indicate which family should answer the

  call. Although listening in on other people’s calls showed bad manners, it

  did occur and it was often the source of town gossip. High school days

  were not filled with much dating because most young men were serving

  in the military, so party-line eavesdropping was a substitute for entertain-

  ment. Girls would also go to the movies in groups, sobbing through the

  news reels that had current combat films from all over the world. This

  was calculated propaganda to inform the public of the conditions of war

  brought on by America’s enemies, in turn creating a strong determination

  from the public to support the war effort.

  Attending grade school in a one-room schoolhouse was still common

  outside of the bigger cities. The country was still mostly agrarian aside

  from key manufacturing industries. Many farm children were unable to

  attend school during the war because extra help was needed running the

  farms. Summer vacation was in response to farms that needed children to

  help with the chores and harvests. Many of the one-room schoolhouses

  had no running water or heat. Children would take turns going out to the

  pump and using the necessary house, one for boys and one for girls. In

  the winter, the boys would take turns bringing in coal or wood to stoke

  the pot-bellied stove that produced heat for the classroom. City kids

  The 1940s

  109

  generally had larger schools with indoor plumbing, even some laboratory

  equipment in the higher grades.

  SOCIAL OCCASIONS

  American society was disrupted by the war. Spare time was dedicated to

  the war effort in many different ways. The USO and Red Cross provided

  opportunities for civilians to contribute to the war effort. Established in

  1940, the USO included the Young Men’s Club of America, the Young

  Women’s Club of America, Salvation Army, National Catholic Commis-

  sion Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, and the National Travelers

  Aid Society. The USO operated mobile and stationary canteens, visited

  hospitals, and entertained the troops around the world. The Red Cross

  served understaffed hospitals, sent relief parcels to the troops, and col-

  lected blood plasma.

  Everything in support of the war effort became a social occasion. Neigh-

  borhoods would work together to collect tin and rubber and in victory gar-

  dens and sharing produce. Ladies’ community and church groups taught

  each other how to ‘ make, do, and mend.’ They would turn men’s suits into

  ladies’ suits, make hats for church and going into town, and put up canned

  goods. Even shopping and cooking economically became a social occasion.

  Like adults, teenagers contributed to the war effort. Some worked in fac-

  tories after school, whereas others volunteered to make care packages for the

  troops. They still found time to socialize. Dances, movies, and sing-alongs

  were group activities for all to enjoy. Dances were held in high school gyms

  and the USO on weekends. Thanks to big bands and swing music, the jitter-

  bug became the favorite dance of teens. Neighborhood dances became quite

  popular, with speakers strung outside around the block. Churches and high

  school gyms were also favorite dance halls for local teenagers.

  Movies were usually attended in groups or double dates. The movies

  helped the teenagers to both connect with the war and escape from it.

  Sing-alongs were another popular diversion from the realities of life dur-

  ing the war. Teenagers would sing together sitting around a campfire or

  gathered in someone’s living room. They wou
ld sing wartime favorites

  such as ‘‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B’’ and ‘‘Don’t Sit Under

  the Apple Tree with Anyone Else but Me.’’

  HEALTH AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES

  Leisure activities were limited during the war. Every effort went to sup-

  port the war, and baseball was no exception. War bond drives were

  110

  DAILY LIFE

  Jitterbug. The Jitterbug referred to vari-

  movements. Fuller skirts, low-heeled

  ous types of swing dances, such as the

  shoes, and bobby socks were commonly

  lindy hop and the East Coast swing, that

  worn by women. The mambo, a dance

  were popular during the 1940s. These

  that emerged during this period, com-

  energetic dances were done in nightclubs

  bined the athletic moves of the jitterbug

  and dance halls to the sounds of big

  with the smooth flow of the rhumba.

  bands. The dances had fast, bouncy, and

  The jitterbug was extremely popular

  sometimes acrobatic movements. It was

  with service men. Whenever they had

  not uncommon to hear about jitterbug

  leave, they were found at nightclubs and

  injuries for those who were unfamiliar

  USOs, jitterbugging the night away.

  with the moves. The clothing worn for

  They popularized the dance in both

  this style of dancing needed to be com-

  England and France when they were

  fortable and allow for exaggerated, large

  stationed there.

  sponsored by baseball teams. Baseball provided entertainment on the

  home front and served as a connection to home for those serving around

  the world. Equipment was gathered and shipped to the troops overseas,

  and many coaches, umpires, and players enlisted, including Joe DiMaggio,

  one of the greatest hitters and centerfielders of all time. Baseball games

  were considered so important to morale that the Japanese tried to jam ra-

  dio broadcasts of the games.

  By 1943, half of the professional players had enlisted. Older baseball

  veterans and even a one-armed outfielder, Pete Gray of the St. Louis

  Browns, were recruited to fill the void. Wood was in short supply so it was

  difficult to find bats. Rubber went to military use, so baseballs became

  soggy and unresponsive. Baseball, the American game of games, made an

  interesting diversion during the war.

  With most able-bodied men between 18 and 26 off at the front, the

  favorite American pastime turned to who was left: women and African

  Americans. The emergence of the All-American Girls’ Professional Base-

  ball League helped. A pioneering new sport for women, this was a tough

  sell to the public. These ladies not only had to exhibit enough athletic

  ability to keep the game interesting, but, in the conservative society of the

  1940s, they also had to show refinement and become proper role models

  for young girls. The image of the sport and its participants was so impor-

  tant, the league prepared a document titled, A Guide for All American

  Girls. Suggestions in this document included the necessary components of

  The 1940s

  111

  a beauty kit including a daily beauty routine, exercises for beauty, fitness,

  posture, relaxation, wardrobe choices, etiquette, sportsmanship, and public

  relations. The greatest emphasis was to appear wholesome and polite.

  Major League Baseball had lost its excitement because of inferior

  players and equipment. The league did not allow African Americans to

  play, so they created their own leagues. The Negro League packed games

  across the country. African Americans were kept out of many military

  occupations, and, thus, more experienced players were able to stay in the

  game. They became very popular during the war and competed in a Ne-

  gro World Series that pitted the winners of the Negro National League

  against the winners of the Negro American League. The series was played

  every year from 1942 to 1948.

  The African-American players were so good that the Major League

  began scouting the Negro League. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier

  when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. That was the begin-

  ning of the end for the Negro League as more players crossed over.

  When the Japanese first attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,

  three scheduled National Football League games were underway. At New

  York’s Polo Grounds, the public address announcer interrupted a celebra-

  tion for star running back Tuffy Leeman, telling all servicemen to report

  to their units. The same announcement was heard at Chicago’s Comisky

  Park. Reporters were told to check with their offices at Washington’s

  Griffith Stadium. The announcer paged high-ranking government and

  military personnel in attendance but did not mention the attack.

  As with the other professional sports teams, hundreds of football play-

  ers enlisted to support the war effort. More than $4 million in sales of

  war bonds were driven by the National Football League in 1942, and a

  halftime rally at the Steagles-Bears game in 1943 raised an additional

  $364,150 (Algeo 2006, 98).

  Football was so popular and important for morale that innovative tac-

  tics were taken to preserve the game. Travel restrictions attributable to the

  war effort made it impossible for fans to follow their favorite teams. To

  keep the excitement up from the crowd and give fair advantage to both

  teams, during the 1942 Army-Navy game played in Annapolis, half the

  midshipmen were assigned to cheer for West Point (USA Today 2007).

  Teenagers’ free time was usually spent in team sports in school, outdoor

  activities such as hiking, camping, swimming, skating, and sledding, church-

  sponsored activities, or neighborhood get-togethers and dances. Golf

  and tennis were supported mostly by upper-class families and private

  high schools, but courts were not regularly available to lower-income

  families.

  112

  DAILY LIFE

  Whereas boys could choose from a number of organized activities

  including baseball, soccer, swimming, sailing, rowing, basketball, and

  football, girls often had only badminton and basketball available as a com-

  petitive sport. As the All-American Girls’ Baseball League emerged, so

  did the All-American Girls’ Basketball League. Winter sports were popu-

  lar in the northern part of the country. Sleds and toboggans slid through

  the snow, and Americans skated on any frozen pond or creek. In addition,

  skiing was available in mountainous northern states.

  Postwar activities were influenced by a rising standard of living, techno-

  logical advancements, and new fashions and fads. Cross-country skiing was

  more popular than before the war thanks to returning soldiers who used it

  as a necessity throughout Scandinavia and the Alps during the war.

  Generally speaking, the upper and upper-middle class spent more time

  in museums, dining out, at the theatre, concert hall, golf course, and col-

  lege football games. Lower-class families tended to appreciate baseball,

  boxing, and horse racing. When Detroit re
sumed production of automo-

  biles in 1946 and gasoline was no longer rationed, the open roads pro-

  vided opportunity for ‘ escape’’ and Americans took to the highways. With

  movies still a key entertainment venue, drive-in movie theaters sprang up

  across the country to meet the needs of Americans on wheels.

  People had the freedom to move about the country and the means

  with which to do it. Getting away for a weekend or week of vacation was

  becoming popular. People went to the beach, to the lake, to the moun-

  tains, just getting away. The end of the war brought a sudden upswing in

  the number of national park visitors. Visitors to the national park system

  jumped from 11.7 million in 1945 to 25.5 million in 1947 (Sellars 1997,

  173). Favorite driving destination vacations included Niagara Falls, Luray

  Caverns, and Yellowstone National Park.

  R E F E R E N C E S

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  York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.

  Baker, P. 1992. Fashions of a Decade: The 1940s. New York: Facts on File.

  Berkin, C., Miller, C. L., Cherny, R. W., and Gormly, J. L. 1995. Making Amer-

  ica: A History of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

  Best, G. D. 1993. The Nickel and Dime Decade: American Popular Culture During

  the 1930s. Westport, CT: Praeger.

  Bevans, G. H. 1930. Assembling the Layette. Chicago Daily Tribune, July 6, D4.

  Gordon, L., and Gordon, A. 1987. American Chronicle. Kingsport, TN: Kingsport

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  The 1940s

  113

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  don Limited.

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