What my grandmother told me about life in the 1940s.

[jonniangel]

My mother was born in 1922 and will be celebrating her 89th birthday next week. She was in her 40s when I was born but I don't remember thinking anything about her being about 20 years older than the other mothers because she was always so modern and stylish, always up to date. Our furniture was always the latest style too, she hated antiques. I always thought this was strange because I've always been drawn to antiques and couldn't understand why she didn't see the beauty but I've just recently realized that it was because of her experiences during the Depression.

My grandfather was a salesman in Wichita and doing pretty well so he'd just bought a whole apartment full of new furniture for his little family - my grandmother, mother and aunt. Then the Depression hit, his company went out of business and he lost his job with no hope of finding another. He had to move the family back to his father's ranch in Oklahoma.

Somehow all the new furniture ended up in my great-grandmother's house and my grandparents were put out in an unused outbuilding and given some old furniture. My mom doesn't like to talk about that time much, apparently my great-grandfather didn't treat my grandfather well, didn't pay him for ranch work and the family felt very impoverished even though they at least had a roof over their heads. I've finally come to realize that this period in her life affected her more than she knew and over the years she's equated antiques with poverty and want and that's why she always wanted new furniture and to be completely modern.

 

[W-D Forties]

My mother in law is of the same ilk. She grew up just after the war and has always like anything 'new'. Even if it's nowhere near as good as the 'old'. An example of this is recently she got into baking cakes using this new (weird) flour 'especially for cakes' It's absolutely horrid and makes all your lovely homemade cakes taste like cheap shop-bought ones!

My mum was also in her 40's when she had me but to her it was as if the war and rationing never ended. As a child I had one bath a week, with a limited amount of hot water (there was never enough for a top up), hair could be washed in between using a kettle of hot water (she refused to put the hot water on unless it was bath or washing day). Having a bath during your period was frowned upon too. As you can imagine, as a teenager in the 80's this was harsh, and probably contributed to the reasons we never got along.

Now I have my own house and family I make a point of having as many baths as I please, boiling hot!

 

[ThePowderKeg]

It's fascinating to me to see the different ways people respond to things like rationing/scarcity.

I mentioned earlier that my grandmother was born in 1922, the youngest of 7 sisters who grew up without a father. She had no trouble using plenty of hot water, but she was adamant that we didn't throw away food. To the point where my step-brother and I would complain we didn't want to eat sandwiches because ham shouldn't be grey and slimy..or smell like that...and she would get very stern. "WE DON'T WASTE FOOD IN THIS HOUSE!" Well, we don't deliberately poison ourselves either.

We'd tell her we wanted to eat outside, take the ham out of our sandwiches and throw it over the bank into the woods. I didn't understand why she would try to make me eat spoiled meat until I was much older.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I was eight, I ate half a hot dog, and threw the rest in the garbage can. My mother made me take it out, brush off the cigarette ashes, and finish eating it. I never wasted food again.

That's an extreme way of dealing with such things -- and one which would have had Social Services down her neck if it happened today -- but it does illustrate how very strongly these waste-not want-not values were inculcated. To this day I cannot throw away food.

My grandmother, who lived thru part of the Depression in a tarpaper house without electricity or running water, was a fanatic about saving things -- she wasn't a hoarder, by modern standards, but she never threw away a brown paper bag or a piece of butcher twine. When she died we cleaned out *bales* of paper bags, going back twenty years or more, all neatly tied up in string and stored in the cellar. "In case she needed them someday."

 

[Shangas]

My grandmother never mentioned rationing during WWII. She was more worried about Japanese occupation, her own personal safety and the running of her clothing-shop.

My uncle (born 1935) told me that rationing in WWII Malaya & Singapore didn't really exist. You didn't ration food...You went out and GOT whatever the hell it was that you could find, and that was your food for THAT day. If you wanted to eat tomorrow, you had to go out and do it all over again.

 

[sheeplady]

I've finally come to realize that this period in her life affected her more than she knew and over the years she's equated antiques with poverty and want and that's why she always wanted new furniture and to be completely modern.

Yeah, I've observed that too. Antiques being seen more as "used furniture" than "something valuable." One time my mother brought home a victorian picture album (one the the beautiful ones with a hand painted gibson girl on porcelian cover, my mother was quite proud) and her father said "why did you pay $5 for somebody's old (insert mild profanity)."

But to think about it, a lot that we consider antiques today *were* old used junk then. Antiques only become valuable with demand and some amount of rarity. If people didn't throw at least some of the common items out, there would be no shortage and therefore value.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Antiques don't become "antiques" until the generation that first owned them dies off.

 

[sheeplady]

Antiques don't become "antiques" until the generation that first owned them dies off.

Exactly. My grandmother bought a dresser during the late 1950s that was built around 1900 for a quarter. People always oohh and ahhh over that. Well how much would anyone pay for a dresser that was built in the 1960s today?

The key is that everybody here needs to rent a storage locker, buy lots of used furniture at yard sales form the 1970s and 1980s, stuff the locker full and deed it to three generations from now. Goldmine. I'd do it if I didn't think the stuff was so ugly. Or actually thought it was a good plan.

 

[TillyMilly]

she's equated antiques with poverty and want and that's why she always wanted new furniture and to be completely modern.

My Mum is the same- she associates Art Deco style with cheap old-fashioned furniture. She much prefers new modern style furnitiure.

My Dad had a part-time job with his Dad when he was a boy, which was to break-up old Edwardian furniture for the tip. He still talks about how it broke his heart to smash up all the old wardrobes which had silk lined cuff-link drawers and things- but nobody wanted them after the war.

My DH works for a second-hand furniture charity shop. He gets donations of Deco furniture and retro 60's furniture but mostly it all goes to the tip - as it seems that all anyone wants is cheap Ikea furniture. It really frustrates and upsets him - to take all this stylish stuff to the tip. He'd like to put it on ebay so it could be seen by a wider market -even if they take it away for free (as the shop has to pay to tip it)- but he's not allowed

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

Coming any day now, my niece or nephew will proudly show me the mirrored disco ball they bought of Etsy, and ask where they can get some shag carpet and a vintage bean bag chair! Ughh!

I had a bit of an opposite problem than some of y'all. While granny was born in 1906, she loved antiques and "fixing things". She upcycled WAY before it was a word. She scoured anyplace between Kentucky and Florida from the 40's to the 70's that looked like it might have something old for sale. It drove my grandfather nuts. He wanted new. One day she and I renovated some lampshades by stripping the fabric off, and wrapping the frames tightly in colored twine. He did not get the concept at all

But the downside of it was that I grew up surrounded by what she claimed were antiques, that by and large were simply nicely made early-mid 20th century furniture. I'd read some books, and what she said didn't jibe with what I had read. And we had a TON of it! I had a furniture epiphany while watching "The Best Years of Our Lives". I recognized our furniture! When she died, we sold most of it, and needless to say it was nowhere near as valuable as she said. Frankly, just thinking of what I went through still gives me a headache 8 years after the event.

I think the love of older/antiques goes in waves. When I was a kid (1970's), you could pick up some great stuff cheap; but in the late 80's early 90's it had become pricey. Now it's dropped again. And the cycle continues. And there really is plenty of it, at least in the U.S. I've been old that in Britain and Europe, a century old doesn't really count as antique, because they have some really old stuff there. Could one of British/European loungers correct me if that's not accurate?

BTW, my step-dad loathes antiques. He calls it "being surrounded by brown". And he grew up with it because it was all they could afford too.

 

[angeljenny]

From my Grandma! She was born in 1939.

Did you look up to any celebrities / movie stars like people do now? Yes, Elvis Presley, Johnny Ray, Pat Boone etc.

Were trousers acceptable / common to wear? Yes but I didn't wear trousers at work.

Did girls have pierced ears? Yes

Did all / most women / teens curl their hair? Yes

Did all / most women wear make up? Yes

What was a normal everyday outfit like? Trousers or skirt, blouse and jacket (like I wear now!!!!)

What was a Sunday best outfit like? If you were going out on Sundays you always wore your best clothes and when I was in my early to mid teens we wore small cotton gloves.

Did you go to church? Yes

What were common hobbies for girls? Sport (swimming, netball, tennis etc). Some people liked knitting. Youth Clubs. Looking for boys!

Did women have tattoos? No

Were there tarty girls back then? One or two, but not many.

Did you read magazines? yes, yes, yes.

Did you paint your nails? Yes, usually clear nail varnish or pale pink.

 

[W-D Forties]

When I was eight, I ate half a hot dog, and threw the rest in the garbage can. My mother made me take it out, brush off the cigarette ashes, and finish eating it. I never wasted food again.

That's an extreme way of dealing with such things -- and one which would have had Social Services down her neck if it happened today -- but it does illustrate how very strongly these waste-not want-not values were inculcated. To this day I cannot throw away food.

My grandmother, who lived thru part of the Depression in a tarpaper house without electricity or running water, was a fanatic about saving things -- she wasn't a hoarder, by modern standards, but she never threw away a brown paper bag or a piece of butcher twine. When she died we cleaned out *bales* of paper bags, going back twenty years or more, all neatly tied up in string and stored in the cellar. "In case she needed them someday."

My grandma always unwrapped any present you gave her, neatly folded the wrapping paper and put it away for reuse. Used to drive me nuts as a child, now I find myself doing the same!

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

My siblings and I were very close to my grandmother (my dad's mom). She was born in the teens. She passed away when I was about half way done with college. Especially now that I am getting older, I have become much more nostalgic about my family's history. So I regret all the things I never got the chance to ask my grandmother about life in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. I think a part of me was a little hesitant to ask because she, her siblings, and their mother were forced to live in the Japanese Internment camps during WWII.

I remember a rather humorous story my grandmother told me about her brother (my great uncle) after he had passed away. He was in a swimming race and came home to tell his mother that he had won second place. His mother asked him how many people were in the race. My uncle replied, "Two."

A lot of the time it was that way. Stories would come up as we were trying to remember the person's life after they had died.

The only people I have now to tell me of life back then are my parents, who were both born in the mid 1940s. I always used to joke with my mom about her birthday being so close to the surrender of Germany and she told me, "Yeah, that's what did it."

It's always a lot of fun when my uncles (my mom's brothers and my dad's brother) come over to visit because they have so many family stories to share.

This year, I lost my aunt (she was really a cousin, but my grandmother--my mom's mom--and her cousin grew up like sisters). She was pretty much the last of her generation. I never got the chance to ask her about life during those times because she had Alzheimer's.

We were trying to find a photo of her for a remembrance card for the funeral and my mom left me in charge of searching through several boxes of family photos. Many of the photos I had never seen before. There were tons from the 1940s and there were some from an earlier time. I think the cutest pictures I found were of my mom when she was very young and she had her baby bonnet on. There was a souvenir picture that my grandmother and my grandfather (he passed away when my mom was 16) at the place they went out dancing. Some more of my favorites in that bunch were of my great grandfather in his WWI uniform. My mom found a picture of him and told me, "I didn't know that grampy went to Coney Island." It was another souvenir picture and he was standing in a "cardboard cut out" of a tank and he was pictured with one of his war buddies. Both were in their uniforms.

Just about every picture we found that included my mom's family had either a dog or a cat in it (I always get a kick out of those because I love animals). I found more pictures of my aunt (the one that had passed away) with her brothers, and my grandmother when they were children. Then pictures of them when they were older at a wedding.

I remember when I found my grandmother's baby locket, I was really excited. Inside are some small photographs of my great grandparents. Even though I never met them (or my grandfather), I still feel close to them because there's always something to remember them by. Sometimes I'll pass by the Water and Power building in Pasadena (a great Art Deco building). My mom believes that's the water fountain (that's located in front of the building) her grandfather told her, "I help build that" (he used to work for Water and Power). Whether or not it's true, I always think about that every time I pass by there. I look and smile.

 

[rene_writer]

Being new to it, I noticed that in the vintage communtiy, keeping a very pale complection seemed to be popular. I asked my grandma if girls were paler when she was in high school in the fifties. Her answer: "Heck no! My girlfriends and I used to take splurge on a bottle of baby oil and lay out in the sun for hours. No sunscreen for us! If anything, you girls are much paler today. Particularly you, but you can't help it. It's a wonder anyone my age is alive after all the taning we did."

So... hmm. Maybe this was a California thing?

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

Maybe they took "fun in the sun" very literally.

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

You know that reminds me of a funny story my Dad told me one time when he was stationed in Vietnam. My Dad told me there was some down time and started sun bathing. A woman comes up to him and asks him, "You're from California aren't you?" My Dad replies, "How did you know?" lol