MORE 1939 People, Clothes IN COLOR

[Marc Chevalier]

Everyone seems pretty thin too.

Great Depressions have a way of doing that.

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[scotrace]

Stix

Those shooting sticks must be in every fashion illustration in every Esquire for a 10 - 15 year period. That and a camera or binocular case.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thousands of these shooting sticks (or "cane seats") were sold at the 1939-'40 New York World's Fair. If you look closely at the first photo, you can see the logo of the World's Fair on the seat itself.

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And here's a woman at the Fair carrying this seat:

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[Marc Chevalier]

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In case anyone hasn't seen Part One of this theme, you can get to it here: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=12283

Lots more color images!


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[Lauren]

This is fabulous, Marc!!! The main thing I'm enjoying to be honest, is how REGULAR people look. It's not at all like the uber clean and polished look portrayed in movies and magazines. You think that these people had few clothing, and something terribly interesting especially if you want to reenact the time period is that they were not all neatly pressed and spic and span, the clothing HAD wrinkles, was sometimes too big or too small, and the women are wearing trousers, flats with socks, etc. I am thankful for this real life portrayal of life in that time period.

And I want this lady's hat:

 

[Marc Chevalier]

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Yes, I agree. These images (and especially the home movies they're taken from) show unscripted reality in all its prosaic glory. They touch us through the power of recognition: the folks we see here are so much more like us than are the characters in (most) old Hollywood films.

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[Marc Chevalier]

And I want this lady's hat.

You mean this one?

 

[Lauren]

Yup! that's the one

 

[CharlieH.]

Eeeegh! That old lady with the cane seat looks ALOT like my 3rd grade teacher (I swear she was a nazi!)... and speaking of doppelgangers:

Who knew ole Benedict XVI went to the fair?

And another thing - in one of those films, there is indeed people wearing ballcaps... the Detroit Tigers!

 

[Girl Friday]

Those are great. Atomic Glee posted some pictures from the Texas State fair going on right now http://www.bigtex.com/. Anyone planning to attend should go check out the downstairs hall at the Hall of State, the display down there is "History of the Fair" and lots of great pictures and memorabilia. The upstairs is a History of the Accordion presented by Mundo Latino...if anyone likes accordion music. I prefer the bag pipe myself!

 

[clevispin]

Its nice to see normal folks, families, old and young. Girls in dresses - girls don't wear dresses anymore - maybe a skirt but never a real dress.

m

 

[Matt Crunk]

One thing that struck me as gloriously missing from all those vintage crowd scene photos were the brand identification or product advertising we see on everything nowadays.

How gullible are we today that we actually pay extra for the privilege of advertising for someone with so many fashion products we buy?

-MC

 

[Shanghailander]

Even the most casual dressers in the crowd seem so much better attired then. Great photos Marc. Thanks for the hard work!

Looks like everyone dressed for an EVENT.

Do you know what a crowd would like like at a similar event today? Baseball hats, tee shirts, cutoffs, etc.

The other night I attended a wine tasting dinner at a local restaurant. Not exactly five star, but at $75 a head I figured it was an event. Out of about 60 diners, exactly two people (I was one) wore a suit; no one else wore a jacket or tie, and I wore the only hat.

 

[Jay]

Even when you wear a tie, shirt and slacks, however casually, you will stand out and get compliments it seems. I kind of like that look. Top button undone, slackened tie, hat tilted back on your head. It seems real laid-back like.

 

[cookie]

Automobiles

Yup. I myself was awed by the sight of a parking lot filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of 1930s cars.


Does anyone else notice anything of interest?

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Amazing the level of car ownership in the USA at the end of the Depression. A photo of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in that era shows so few cars crossing. The general look of all the visitors is one of prosperity. What time of the year is this? A lot are wearing wintery type clothes and others the sort of clothes like we now wear in summer.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The images come from home movies made by two different families. One of the films was shot in the summer of 1939; the other was made in the early spring of 1940.

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[Orgetorix]

She's adorable. It's weird to think she's probably 70 or 71 now.

 

[Chickpea]

On the wall behind the lady is a huge map of Norway and it says Norway over the entrance. Funny!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

That was the World's Fair's Norway Pavilion.

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[StanleyVanBuren]

These are pretty amazing.

Sad to see what society has lost.