How much stuff did these 40's guys own?

[Viola]

My mom will always wash out disposable aluminum trays, and she's no Depression-baby, she was born in 1956.

Good glass jars with screw-tops tend to get saved as well, though it does give the horrifying image if you look in our pantry that we've eaten thousands and thousands of pickles. And we have, but over the years, not all at once. lol

 

[PeeWee]

fftopic: Oh funny story. My dad wore khakis to work every day. Ironed ones at that.
When I got married in 1975 my honey was wearing them also. He was like Clint Eastwood and still is man of few words. Anyone one day he finally asked me politely to please not iron his khakis. Seems in the port a potti on the construction site someone had wrote best dressed couple and put his name and someone else. :eusa_doh: lol Made my day for sure. Hilarious and no more ironing for me.

I send my khakis off to the cleaners for heavy starch

 

[Lincsong]

When my Dad was discharged in 1945 he had one suit and one pair of dungarees, three shirts and two pairs of shoes. When he got married in 1952 he had the same amount of clothes except he now had a leather bomber jacket.[huh]

 

[Lincsong]

He had a brilliant career ahead of him. But tragically he developed brain cancer in 1949 and died in 1953.

Wow! What a sad story.

 

[Miss 1929]

I can't speak for the men...

but for women, even in the Depression, a middle-class woman would try to have:
A work dress like a Hooverette for housework
A suit or tailored day dress for errands, shopping, etc.
A slightly more formal day dress for afternoons, church, daytime social events
A dinner dress (long dress with modest sleeves/neckline), one was expected to change for dinner even if you cooked and served it yourself
An evening gown (long and not so modest) for evening wear outside of the home
A day coat, and evening wrap
Practical day shoes, slightly fancier day shoes, evening slippers and boudoir slippers
At least two nightgowns/pajamas
About 6 changes underthings
Hats and gloves for the day outfits
Day purse, evening purse

So that is not a lot of stuff to hang and store!

They did try to get a new hat each season, a new coat each year, and so forth. The previous season's stuff was either kept for backup or more often, given to the help. Even modest-income middle class people usually had hired help during the day, if not live-in, until WWII, although it was already a huge cut from the era before WWI when they would have multiple live-in servants.
How times have changed!

Also our clothing washing habits have a lot to do with it - dry-cleaning was available but expensive, so you needed to be able to keep up with your wash load.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Even modest-income middle class people usually had hired help during the day, if not live-in, until WWII, although it was already a huge cut from the era before WWI when they would have multiple live-in servants.
How times have changed!

This is absolutely right -- in fact, the *definition* of "middle class" used by demographers in the twenties and early thirties was "Families employing at least one servant," most often a cook/housekeeper. If you didn't have a servant, you were considered working class. And a working class woman such as my grandmother might own --

Several cotton housedresses, usually homemade.
One or two day dresses for shopping/town errands, also homemade, perhaps supplemented by homemade blouses or skirts.
One good suit for church, probably homemade
A day coat
A "good coat"
One every day hat
One "good hat"
A couple pairs of gloves
Sensible oxfords for every day wear
One pair of "good shoes", resoled and re-heeled as needed
Undies, often homemade
Cotton stockings for every day
Silk or rayon stockings for church or special occasions
One nightgown, usually homemade
One handbag, used until it wore out.
Miscellaneous items like sweaters, etc -- usually homemade.

Not a big wardrobe, but a lot bigger than hubby's!

 

[dhermann1]

My mother was born in 1920. Her mother was a New York City school teacher, and her father worked intermittently as a jockey, exercise rider and/or horse trainer at Belmont Park, and other horse racing venues. So they had maybe one and a half average incomes and only one child in the household. They never were without a housekeeper. Their housekeeper in 1921, Gail Winkelman, aka Auntie Gail, became a life long friend of my grandmother. My mother told me that in her mother's family in the 1890's, even tho there were times when the sisters had to go without lunch money to have carfare to get to college (Normal College, now known as Hunter), they were never without domestic help. They were totally broke but still had a live in maid. I think there must have been a real class distinction, that not having help would have been a real step down. I don't know for sure.
I also read that a survey was done in England in the 1930's which found that in a country of 40 million population, there were 250,000 people in domestic service, 80% of whom were the only servant in the household.

 

[Lincsong]

My Mom graduated from high school in 1952. She said she had two dresses she for everyday use and one nice dress for church and three pairs of shoes.

 

[Fletch]

dry-cleaning was available but expensive, so you needed to be able to keep up with your wash load.

During the depression you could get glass carboys of benzene (which is highly toxic and carcinogenic!!!) and keep them on hand for spot cleaning. I guess it was the best they had and cheaper than going to the cleaners'.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It was also very common to dry-clean at home with common gasoline.

 

[Fletch]

 

[Bill Taylor]

I can attest to the fact that the "middle class" had hired domestic help and most of the other people I knew of had about the same setup. When I was growing up in the 1930's and 1940's, we had a cook/housekeeper, a maid, and a houseman who did the heavy stuff, yard, garden, livestock etc around the house in town and also worked sometimes on my Mother's farm which was about 7 or 8 miles away. The husband of our housekeeper was our farm foreman. My Dad was a lawyer and had no talent for or interest in farming. Even though my Mother was a lawyer, too (nearly unheard of for a woman in those times) she mostly ran the farm. Except during WWII when she not only ran the farm but also kept my Dad's law office afloat. And my brothers, my sisters and I pitched in, too. I picked lots of cotton and baled lots of hay during the WWII 40's. I'm glad I know how to do it, but "I ain't going to do it no more" - I don't need the practice.

The farm alone was a considable effort, since it was pretty large, about 6,500 acres and during WWII it was very difficult to find workers as they were all largely in the military, or other defense service. But never the less, Mother was so frugal, that during the war she never used my Dad's military paycheck which she received every month. She just put it in the bank and we didn't use it. When my Dad got out of the army he was very surprised to learn he had about 4 years of pay in a separate bank account.

Our home (one of my Sisters still lives there) was what is sometimes called a colonial revival style built about 1910 on about an acre lot, pretty good sized with 6 bedrooms, but with hardly any closets and all small and there was only ONE bathroom plus a half bath. Difficult with a family of five children plus my Mother and Father. We also had a privy (outhouse). as those were still allowed in town and it got used some. But no Montgomery Ward catalog for paper (an old outhouse joke that may be lost on younger members of FL). My Mother saved those catalogs to compare last years prices with the current year, for what ever good that might have done. I guess it was just part of the frugal attitude during the depression years.

We also had a windmill and it had a big water tank sitting on a 12 foot tall round rock base. The tank base had a door in it and a shower was rigged up in there. Well, actually, you just pulled a rope down and cold (usually icy cold) water came out of a shower head. My two brothers and I were the lucky ones who got to use that shower.

I think there is some use of "poetic License" by those living through the depression telling of the hard times. They were hard and unsettled. BUT, in 1928 the the unemployment rate was about 1.8%. 1929 about 3.9% and by 1932-33 about 19 to 25%. By 1935, it had dropped to about 15%, went down a little more then in the late 30's started back up. By 1940 or so, it did get back up to about 19%, but of course, by early 1942 it was less than 0 (i.e. there were more jobs than people to fill them). The other side of that picture is that probably about an average of 85% of the labor force during the depression had jobs. You can't convince me that everyone you ever talk to of that era was in that rather small 15% segment. It seems statistically improbable..

I know sometimes in the years afterwards my Mother would start telling of "oh, the hard times of the depression, yadda, yadda. Usually my older sisters, being also aware of the real events of the times, would say "can the BS". On the humorous side, as my sister tells the story, during the late 30's someone who didn't know my Mother well asked "do you ever use your law degree"? - and Mother replied, "Naw, not really, just when someone p%#es me off". Unfortunately, that happened more often than not.

Bill

 

[Weston]

Thanks for the stories Bill! I really enjoy the first hand accounts. Glad a thread I started so long ago can still generate good conversation.

That said, in the time since this conversation, I've fond the most "vintage" thing I can do is cut down on my stuff! I find it easier to live a simpler life by ditching what I don't need or use. I have accumulated a lot around here that I never use. eBay's been my friend these past few months, and I got several months rent and a new TV out of the bargain. Much as I like the vintage clothing and objects displayed by collectors here, I like to combine vintage objects (of which I have few) with a vintage "amount" of stuff. For instance, I have a wide brim brown fedora for rain or snow, a stingy brim brown for stylishness, and a grey fedora for wearing with navy suits or blazers. No massive collection for me.

I'd love to dress a bit more vintage, but I tend to keep my closet at a minimum of useful articles. 3 cords, 5 khakis, a couple navy and grey slacks, and three pairs of jeans. Numerous sweaters etc, but you see the pattern. I think people back in the day had the right idea – have just enough stuff and it won't own you!

 

[Choeki]

I've found this thread especially interesting because apparently the Japanese currently follow the same protocols as Americans once did during the Golden Age regarding their wardrobes and clothing care if the descriptions in this thread are compared to them. Mind you, I'm relating this to the average wage slave corporate "salaryman" and to some extent the general service industry worker.

It's common to see suits with an extra pair of trousers for sale to alternate for washing as most suits have polyester machine washable trousers and a wool or wool/polyester blend jacket. Clothes dryers are also fairly rare in Japanese households - even more rare than insulation, double glazed windows and central heating and air conditioning. However, since line drying is the norm in Japan most clothes are manufactured to be line dried and there is an amazing selection of clothespin contraptions to keep the form of clothing and other washables correct while swinging in the breeze. Add to this though that the technology of laundry soap, liquid starch, stain remover and fabric softener have advanced along those lines as well so it is actually possible to get superior results compared to going to a modern style laundromat with commercial dryers.

Also, since all service industry jobs still require a uniform, stores that cater specifically to working class uniforms are quite common. Many organizations provide clothing at cost to workers (at the minimum a smock for convenience stores) or rent them with a deduction from the paycheck.

For many people from abroad it's fascinating to see the majority of gas stations are also still full service (1950's style) and require the wear of coveralls. There's no tipping necessary though, since the gratituity is added to the price of the gasoline.

The exception to all of this however, would be casual wear. Trends go in and out of fashion very quickly in Japan so there is a huge surplus of used casual clothes that can be purchased very cheaply (if not a European luxury brand or American brand "hip hop" costume). While it may appear that a great number of Japanese youths wear an eclectic mix of patterns and styles of clothing - sometimes at the same time - there are still rules regarding the proper wear and selection of items for an ensemble. Oddly enough, sometimes these rules are more strict than those of business wear in Japan...

 

[reetpleat]

This thread has got me thinking. While it is obvious that clothing was more valuable, and many people only had a few pieces, what about the rich? What I am wondering is, if you were well off and into clothing, such as the type of man that might read apparel arts and have a tailor and outfits for sport, dinner etc. how long would you keep your clothes before getting rid of them? Would you keep stuff till it gets worn, or would you routinely change things out as the new seasons and styles come? Would they keep a closet full of old stuff, or keep only what they need for the various activities and seasons they used them for. Would they have a ten year old suit in the closet, or five years? or would that get given to the help?

Perhaps it varried, with some people being pack rats, and others being extravagant, and perhaps some guys simply had all the outfits as needed, while others actually got into having new clothes.

I wonder when, amongst the wealthy, the preppie style of wearing older clothes till they were worn and shabby as kind of a style came into vogue. Did they do that back int the twenties or forties, or did that evolve later?

 

[Valhson]

The person who wrote this must have been either a great optomist or a fellow with a great gift for stating the obvious.
First the depression hit. Next you have the war come up with all of its rationing. Then taxes were raised on luxury items such as watches and dress clothing to support the war effort. I think it can be reasonably assumed that the experts were right. The correlary would be that of today. I bet few men today 35 or younger own anything on that list of American standards aside from slippers that they wear as shoes, caps that they wear backwards and well, rubbers......they have a completely different meaning today. The funny thing is that they probably own more of those items than our grandparents. :kick:

Regards to all,

J

:rage: HEY HEY HEY :rage: I am 29! I never wear a cap backwards, only ever owned flat caps and never played baseball to boot.

lol lol lol lol

honestly though. I do keep my "stuff" at a min. I think it comes from my hate of clutter. My grandfather had nothing and I honestly looked up to him above all else. Then you go to my mothers side and that grandmother had every knick knack under the sun collecting dust. I hated that place, I couldn't do anything but sid and read... and she only had fiction books... BOOO.

I do keep all my stuff to a min and it fits in the old small closet quite nicely. It also helps that I put some shelves in the higher end for the sweaters.


Edit: text added

 

[jamespowers]

:rage: HEY HEY HEY :rage: I am 29! I never wear a cap backwards, only ever owned flat caps and never played baseball to boot.

lol lol lol lol

honestly though. I do keep my "stuff" at a min. I think it comes from my hate of clutter. My grandfather had nothing and I honestly looked up to him above all else. Then you go to my mothers side and that grandmother had every knick knack under the sun collecting dust. I hated that place, I couldn't do anything but sid and read... and she only had fiction books... BOOO.

I do keep all my stuff to a min and it fits in the old small closet quite nicely. It also helps that I put some shelves in the higher end for the sweaters.


Edit: text added

I couldn't keep myself to a minimum if I tried. I just had the closet organizer people come out to give me a bit more room in the closets---now on to buy more.
I suppose you are one of the few that don't wear their hat backwards then. I hope you take the holographic label off it though. All the tags I see still on hats--on heads--would make Minnie Pearl a happy camper. lol

 

[Valhson]

I was thinking about this last night. I think it does help that I grew up on boats. There was never any room for much of anything.

 

[Feng_Li]

Rubbers (1 pair every 3 years)[/I]

And here we have the real reason premarital sex was frowned upon. Times were so tough, even contraception had to be stretched. lol

 

[Lensmaster]

My Grandfather ran a small family farm in Ohio until the mid 80's. He wore overalls and work shirts most days. He had one suit for church and other occiasions, sometimes without the jacket for less formal occaisions.