Peterson A.T., Hewitt V., Vaughan H., Kellogg A.T. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing through American History, 1900 to the Present. Volume 1: 1900-1949
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GROWING UPINAMERICA
At the beginning of the 1930s, a man’s life expectancy was 58.1 years and
a woman’s was 61.6. By the end of the decade, a man could expect to live
to be 60.8 years old, and a woman’s life expectancy jumped to 68.2 years
(U.S. Census Bureau 2002). The rapid extension of the lifespan was only
one small indicator that life in the United States had changed greatly.
Medical advances meant that children were more likely to live through
child birth and infancy.
Although the times were hard, people had the simpler life that many
of them had desired during the madcap twenties. Life had its good points
and bad: young people did not spend so much time in bars or clubs, yet
some children could not go to school because there was not enough
money to pay the teachers. Many girls and young women returned to the
pursuits of their mothers, which were tending to the household, children,
and famil y. Most young people did not have the opportunity, or the
money, to ‘‘fritter away the night’’ at a nightclub.
Children had unprecedented access to their grandparents and older
siblings. In previous decades, these relations would live in other residen-
ces, whereas they moved in with their extended families during the
Depression. Many children had more adult oversight than ever.
During the Depression, most urban kids attended school. It was diffi-
cult enough for adults to find jobs, so children worked much less during
this period than in previous eras. Children filled their free time with radio
adventures, such as Little Orphan Annie, and comic books. Many popular
classic toys were launched during the 1930s, including Scrabble, Sorry,
Monopoly, and the Viewmaster V iewer.
THE
1940S
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Keeping up morale for the men and women in service as well as those on
the home front was everyone’s job throughout much of the 1940s. Men
went to war, women went to work, and children were just as eager to do
their patriotic duty in collecting recyclables and earning money. Daily life
during the war years centered on the war and surviving it. A book entitled
So Your Husband’s Gone to War provided practical advice in 1942 for how
to write a letter, how often to write, and the vital role that mail played in
building and sustaining morale. Many young women would write to every
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THE INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY
young man they knew out of patriotic duty to keep up the spirits of those
fighting for the country. Servicemen enjoyed receiving letters and took
time to write back sanitized versions of battlefield experiences.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many couples delayed
marriage and families because saving and frugality were a way of life.
WWII motivated people in different ways. Some believed the war was
the answer to a new economy, and marriage gave both men and women
something to hang on to as a promise of better things to come as the
men left for the battlefield. Some, afraid they would not return from the
war, wanted to enjoy marriage even if briefly before they left. Needless to
say, the marriage rate increased dramatically as a result of the United
States entering WWII. Naturally, a baby boom followed.
During the 1940s, the baby boom started as returning G.I.s started
families. Families in all socioeconomic and racial groups contributed to
the boom. Child-rearing methods of the past regarded proper ly disci-
plined children as ‘‘seen and not heard.’’ Doctor Benjamin Spock changed
the way parents raised their children in 1946 with his book The Common
Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. Spock identified children as individuals
who should be treated with natural affection. This was a revolutionary
concept in child rearing, and his books became indispensable to parents
throughout the remainder of the for ties and fifties. Parents, who as chil-
dren felt deprived, vowed they would give their own children everything
they did not have as children. Some believe that the flower children of
the sixties are the result of an undisciplined child-rearing approach advo-
cated by Spock.
SEXUALITY AND MORALITY
Little girls were restricted in their activities as to what was proper for lit-
tle girls in this still conservative society. Young ladies were taught when to
speak and what was appropriate conversation. Although dating was an
approved social activity, it was usually in groups or double dates. In public,
any visible sign of affection between a man and woman was avoided. Both
clothing and activity were conservative so as not to draw attention to one’s
sexuality. Girls and women wore dresses because showing the shape of the
entire leg was considered vulgar. On the farm, however, girls did wear
bagg y slacks.
WWII changed the role of women in the family. During the war,
nearly every family had a man in uniform, and women were taking on the
responsibilities traditionally held by men. Severe labor shortages on both
the farm and in factories could only be alleviated by employing women.
The 1940s
141
Women were proud to do their par t to support the war effort and were
encouraged to join the workforce by Rosie the Riveter posters. Traditional
barriers clearly defining men’s work and women’s work and the conven-
tions of dressing up quickly broke down. Trousers required for work in
the factories became acceptable to wear outside of the factory, because
there simply was not enough available fabric for an extensive wardrobe.
Women in the workforce did create issues for the men who were man-
agers and the older men who were not serving in the military. Although
most factory clothing was not flattering, management wanted to be sure it
stayed that way so as not to distract the men. Slacks and jumpsuits were
practical for factory work, but they could not reveal a woman’s form.
Work had to be done and women should not tempt men with provocative
clothing.
The Vought-Skilorsky Aircraft Corporation sent fifty-three women
home on moral grounds that the sweaters the women wore were too sexy.
When the union pointed out that sweaters had been approved for office
workers, the company then cited safety reasons. The National Safety Coun-
cil confirmed that sweaters could attract static electricity and start fires. The
dichotomy persisted of good girls not dressing in a provocative manner, but
it was all right for performers who were doing their patriotic duty. In fact,
when zippers were reintroduced with stretch pants after the war, they were
located on the side because a front zipper was considered too provocative.
Men found female motivation from women who were very different
from Rosie the Riveter in her jeans, rolled-up sleeves, and bandana. Pinup
posters of Bett y Grable and other starlets adorned the walls, tents, and
lockers of young men around the world. Hollywood assisted the govern-
ment in boosting the morale of the men and boys at the front by sending
USO tours with lots of pretty girls. As a partner in the war effort, Holly-
wood design had to pass a censorship board to guard against provocative
costumes. It was not considered to be in the best interest of the country
for men at home to be distracted or tempted by women.
Along with boosting morale by sending showgirls around the world,
the government also provided news reels and information warning soldiers
about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases. The idea was to help
the men remember their wives and girlfriends at home to motivate them
to fight for freedom.
GROWING UPINAMERICA
Young people in America spent much of the early 1940s contributing to
the war effort. Victory gardening and recycling became a patriotic way of
142
THE INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY
life. One way the youths could participate was to tend the gardens and
collect paper and tin cans for the war effort. In many ways, the war kept
children from having a childhood. Instead, they were expected to fulfill
the responsibilities of the war effort. School enrollment went down as
teenagers enlisted and took jobs to help out. Boys and girls were taught to
respect adults and authority.
Families went back to their frugal ways of the Depression years as they
dealt with rationing of basic goods. Hand-me-down and homemade
clothing was typical. Clothing was often handed down from one sibling
to another and was modified from boy’s to girl’s when necessary. It was a
milestone for young boys to wear long pants, and some of them had to
wear the knickers that had been fashionable in the 1930s because it was
all the family had.
Growing up during the war often meant living with extended families
and sharing whatever was available. Families generally stayed in the same
towns and even the same neighborhoods. It was quite common for cousins
to grow up together and for family activities to include aunts, uncles, and
cousins each weekend.
While adults scrimped and saved to get by, children learned not to be
wasteful and not to ask for treats or special items. Children were some-
times able to get odd jobs such as clearing lots and picking vegetables
because all able-bodied men were at war. This type of work did not pay
much, but it allowed children to help make ends meet during a time of
rationing and low wages. Boys looked forward to the opportunity to serve
their country by enlisting as soon as they came of age, whereas girls
flocked to see Humphrey Bogart at the movies and spent their weekends
at the USO dancing with soldiers on leave to the music of Frank Sinatra
and other numbers from the Hit Parade. Many boys lied about their age
to enlist early. Some did this out of patriotism, some for escape, some for
want of adventure, and some to choose a branch of service before the gov-
ernment chose one for them. High school graduation classes were dispro-
portionately made up of girls, because the boys were drafted or enlisted.
Emphasis now was not only providing for the family but volunteering
for efforts to support soldiers and sailors overseas. Young women went to
work outside of the home, some as young as 15 years of age. This pro-
vided not only income but exposure to life ‘‘off of the farm.’’
As young couples delayed marriage and starting families during the
Depression, the war changed that trend and attitudes. Marriages right af-
ter high school were common as young men rushed off to war with the
anticipation that life would be better after the war was over. With the
continued need for factory workers in defense plants, single women were
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143
soon joined in the workforce by married women who were soon allowed
to work.
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The 1940s
145
PART II
Fashion and the Fashion
Industry, 1900–1949
6
The Business of Fashion
The business of fashion experienced innovations and changes to its char-
acter during the period from 1900 to 1949. Haute couture, the French
high-end fashion business, was at its height for most of the period. Amer-
ican designers copied French fashions line-by-line, and French designers
competed against each other to produce the original styles that shaped
trends.
Haute couturiers extended their reach into American markets with
inventive marketing techniques and licensing opportunities. They distrib-
uted booklets of their designs and held fashion shows. They created per-
fumes and name-brand accessories such as gloves and stockings to
entrench their names in Americans’ minds. Although the two world wars
and the Great Depression cut off the influence of haute couturiers from
Americans, they resumed their dominance after each event.
At the beginning of the century, ready-to-wear clothing was worn pri-
marily by the working class. Readymade clothing helped immigrants
quickly adopt an American look. By the 1920s, the popularity of ready-
to-wear clothing had increased. Most sportswear was readymade, and the
growing numbers of working women adopted pr^et-a-porter clothing. The
simplified silhouettes of the 1920s and 1930s meant that ready-to-wear
garments fit better and were easier to make than they had been in the
past. Efficient wartime production during WWII led to more efficient
149