A Day in the Life of the Massmans

[LizzieMaine]

In December 1943, Esther Bubley, a photojournalist working for the Office Of War Information spent an entire day with Hugh and Lynn Massman, a young, working-class married couple living in a small, basement apartment in Washington D. C with their infant son Joey.

Hugh was a Petty Officer Second Class in the US Navy, attending a Washington-based radar training school, while Lynn was a skilled seamstress. Documentation of their daily life was part of an OWI project showing how typical American families were coping with wartime life. These photos have been available for years thru the Library of Congress, and have occasionally been featured on Shorpy. We've shown a few of them in the Powder Room Everyday Women thread, but I don't think they've yet been gathered together in one place for discussion and comment. So -- here they are, a Day with the Massmans.

Hugh was up early, having a fast shave before leaving for his first class of the day.

Lynn has breakfast alone, keeping a close eye on Joey.

If you wanted orange juice in 1943, you had to work for it.

After the breakfast dishes, Joey's diapers had to be boiled and rinsed on the kitchen stove.

With no playpen or bassinet, the kitchen table was the best place to keep the baby while Ma did her chores.

Feeding time.

After lunch, Lynn bundles Joey into a laundry basket and puts him out to swing for a bit in the courtyard.

To Be Continued in the next post...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Continuing from the first post...

Catching up on correspondence with friends.

Socks need darning.

A quick primp before heading downtown.

Leaving Joey with the landlady, Lynn does her grocery shopping.

Self-service markets were a time-saving innovation.

To Be Continued in the next post...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Continued from the previous post...

Back home, it's time to start supper.

Hugh takes off his uniform blouse to avoid staining it at the table. Joey is always close by.

While Lynn gives Joey his evening feeding, Hugh does the dishes.

Get that flatware clean!

After the dishes are done, it's Joey's turn in the dishpan.

Family time: folding the diapers.

Babies sleeping in bureau drawers wasn't just a comic-strip joke: it was a reality for many working-class families.

According to various postings from their children on Shorpy, the Massmans would go on to raise seven kids. After the war, they moved to Montana, where Hugh attended college on the GI Bill, worked for the government for a while, and ultimately became a successful lawyer. While raising the children, Lynn also worked as a professional seamstress, teacher and tailor, ran her own tailoring shop, and became active in Democratic party politics -- eventually running for the State Senate. She was only 61 when she died of cancer in 1983. Hugh survived until 2002. Joey, sadly, passed away in 2000, but his brothers and sisters survive -- and remember their parents with great fondness.

 

[LocktownDog]

This is fantastic, Lizzie! Much appreciated.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Joey Massman grew up to have a very distinguished life -- he served as a lieutenant in the Navy in the Vietnam War, and later became a lawyer in Montana, serving as a public defender for many years. He was also an avid WW2 buff.

He was only two months old when the above photos were taken.

Hugh Massman set out the pattern his son's life would follow -- his obituary (scroll down linked page) reveals the sort of man we like to think of as epitomizing the true values of the Era.

Hugh was a dedicated father and stepfather to 13 children in addition to several foster children. He was a tireless crusader for the rights of the dispossessed, the disenfranchised and the disadvantaged--an attorney who sought justice and equity over personal, monetary gain. Hugh Massman was a lawyer who chased bullies instead of ambulances.

I haven't found an obituary for Lynn, but her headstone offers a tribute to the sort of person she seems to have been ---

 

[Flicka]

Lovely! What a treasure!

 

[Undertow]

My goodness. This is a real slice of life! Thanks Lizzie!

 

[Talbot]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Fletch]

Catching up on correspondence with friends.

Those particular glasses add 20 years to her face. Lynn becomes Evalyn before our very eyes.

Joey Massman grew up to have a very distinguished life -- he served as a lieutenant in the Navy in the Vietnam War, and later became a lawyer in Montana, serving as a public defender for many years. He was also an avid WW2 buff.

I see he did OCS at Newport. My mom did, too, in 1957.

living in a small, basement apartment in Washington D. C.

Housing was unbelievably tight there during the war (so much so they made movies about it). They're lucky they had a window.

 

[R.G. White]

Thanks for sharing! It's always great to see pictures of everyday life from the past.