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

[Amy Jeanne]

I went to visit my grandmother today and I finally asked her some questions I've been meanign to ask her for ages about life in the 1940s. She was born in 1929 so she was a teenager then. Also, she comes from a very tiny, working-class town so her answers are not representative of everyone and everywhere.

This is also paraphrased becuase I didn't record it or anything. We were just having a good a chat and it evolved into this. Enjoy.

How were people in the 1940s compared to how people are now? Like, were people friendlier?
Yes. You could walk to the store and not have to worry about anything. I never locked my car or my house. I didn't have to. People were more respectful. Today kids walk in the middle of the road and if they see you coming in your car they won't move and give you a dirty look. That wouldn't have happened in the 40s. Also, people didn't "live together."

Did any women have tattoos?
<sternly> NO!
Not even a little rose on the shoulder or anything?
<sternly>No!!!
How about guys?
<thinks for a second>I can't remember any guys having tattoos back then.



Were there trampy girls back then?
<laughs> Yes, the ones who wore too much makeup!

Did women curl their hair every single day? Would any woman have been caught dead with straight hair?
Most of them curled their hair, but not all. There was a girl in my yearbook who wore her hair like yours (bob and bangs).

Was that swing music that evil devil music to the older folks?
No, the older generation never really said that about our music or dancing. Back then we danced close together. Today they don't even get near each other.

And that was the gist of it!

Here is my grandmother with HER grandmother. She said this picture was taken in either 1945 or 1946.

 

[Lauren]

So cool, Amy Jeanne! Thanks so much for sharing!
Funny, I was talking with my grandma tonight about the same thing about safety and friendliness... she didn't lock her car or door either.

 

[moonmatrix]

Really nice to hear that conversation. Must have been that kind of day. For me I have those conversations with my grandfather, my grandmother passed away when I was in highschool and not the chatty nor friendly type, sadly. Isn't it amazing that our Grandparents are mostly worried now about safety?

 

[zombi]

Thanks so much for sharing! I'll admit I'm jealous I haven't any relatives left that are old enough to remember the 1940s and so on. I wish my grandmother were still around -- I would have loved to ask her about nursing back then. I appreciate your sharing what yours told you!

It is interesting about safety and friendliness, that others say the same.

 

[ManicMagpie]

My parents were married in 1964 and one of the things they did together before I came along was travel up/down the California coast on his BMW motorcycle. From the cold blustery north down to sunny LA, they camped along the way with no ill treatment or problems. They alternated camping with motels and perhaps it was their Mod appearance vs. The usual Biker-look (what was that in '64?) or perhaps the aforementioned People Were More Polite Back Then had something to do with it.

My grandfather was born in 1900 and watched the world speed up from horses to cars, trains to planes. A good natured man, he was still a little taken aback by it all. His first time on a plane was sometime around 1978, because he didn't trust the darn things to stay in the air.
My mom's childhood was rural and lower-middle class, so even she has info to share. She remembers when they finally got electricity on the mountain where they lived. She talked about the old clothes washer that they had to manually wring clothes from and line dry. She recalls being little during WWII and how the had the airplane silhouettes that you were supposed to learn so you could report if the wrong country was flying over Oklahoma. A tad silly in my opinion, since the sighting of Nazis over the middle of America means it's prolly too late...

Anyway, manic babble aside, the older generations are a treasure trove of information. And I agree. People had much more Respect than now. Respect meant no need to lock your house/car. People treated each other better. All those complaints of every older generation. Our society is in decline. Why do you think so many of us feel drawn to the past?

Babble done for now. Sorry for the incoherence.
--Juliana

 

[Puzzicato]

Amy Jeanne, thank you for sharing that! How interesting.

 

[kamikat]

My grandparents lived in downtown D.C. during WWII and they said the same thing, that it was safer back then. As for tattoos, all my grandfather's brothers had them, but they were all of Army or Navy ensignias or something to do with the unit they served in.

 

[LizzieMaine]

AJ, if you ever get a chance, and she's willing to do it, you ought to think about recording some of these reminiscences. It'd be a lot of fun to have now, and it'd be something to treasure later on. I wish I had done it when I had the chance.

My grandparents didn't even have a lock on their front door -- and while there was a lock on the back door, the key for it was kept hanging in plain sight on a nail in the doorframe. They never bothered to lock the car, either -- and half the time they left the key in the ignition.

As for tattoos, the only person I knew growing up who had one was the guy who came to fix the refrigerator -- who had a coochy-coochy type gal on his forearm. But I bet my great aunt, the lady longshoreman, would have gotten one if the opportunity presented itself. (For all I know, she might have!)

 

[Amy Jeanne]

About 2 years ago my grandmother was held up at gunpoint IN BROAD DAYLIGHT by three 15 year old boys. She bascially told them to get stuffed and then laid it on her car horn. The wimps ran away. And the gun? A BB gun! They didn't get a thing from her except her wrath lol

My grandmother is such a strong lady -- she was LAUGHING about it and later that night went out dancing! She still laughs when she talks about it to this day, but she did mention it in our conversation. She said she wouldn't have had to worry about that in the 40s.

I'm going to see my grandmother again near Christmas so I think I will record her tales. The handy recorder on the iPhone will assist me there!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Alo, I want to compile some questions. If you gals have any suggestions I would love them. Especially girlie-type questions! Hehe!

 

[skyvue]

Anyway, manic babble aside, the older generations are a treasure trove of information. And I agree. People had much more Respect than now. Respect meant no need to lock your house/car. People treated each other better. All those complaints of every older generation. Our society is in decline. Why do you think so many of us feel drawn to the past.

Not all of us are drawn to the past because society's in decline--not by a long shot. It's been said here before, and often, but for everything you can name that was better then, someone else can probably name something that was worse.

Ask an African American, for example, how much more respect he or she got in the 40s than today. And how might it have been for an openly gay man or woman then?

As for traveling, I traveled cross-country alone in 1992. I was on the road for four months, traveled through all 48 contiguous states, camped out, stayed in cheap motels, drove back roads, including the length of Route 66 from Chicago to LA.

Experienced not a lick of trouble, and I feel confident I could do it again today with similar results. And the most frightened I was the entire time? When I spent the night at a hostel housed in a remodeled barn in rural Nebraska. I was the only guest, and it was creepy being out in the middle of nowhere all alone!

I think older folks tend to fear for their safety; it seems to have something to do with aging and with the world around them changing (not necessarily for better or worse, just changing). My mom, rest her soul, became much more timid and fearful in her later years than she had ever been--she was a go-getter who feared no one most of her life, but at the end, that changed some. She suffered with Alzheimer's, which played a role in that change, I've no doubt, but before the disease had really taken hold, she became much more fearful.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Our conversation was lighthearted and is only HER point of view from the town SHE lived. Some people here think the past was better and that is fine and others know full-well that some things were indeed better and some things were way worse. I didn't get too political with my grandmother during our conversation -- I mainly just wanted to know about my hometown and about "girly" type of stuff.

Please do not turn this into a "the past wasn't better because of XYZ" thread. If I wanted that I would have posted in the Observation Bar. Thanks.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Alo, I want to compile some questions. If you gals have any suggestions I would love them. Especially girlie-type questions! Hehe!

What sort of classes did you take in school -- what classes did you most enjoy?

What did you and your friends do after school? Were there local hangouts?

How old were you when you were allowed to wear grown-up stockings? When did you get your first girdle?

How did you learn the Facts Of Life? Did you and your mother have The Talk?

Did you worry a lot about the war? What was it like in your town when it ended?

Who were your favorite bands, singers, radio performers?

When did you see television for the first time? What did you think of it?

If you could go back and visit yourself as you were then, what advice would you give yourself?

 

[Miss Golightly]

This reminds me of a story my Mum told me about going to a dance here in Dublin in the 1940's - she had put some fake tan on her legs and had cycled in the rain to the dance - when she arrived the tan had run down her legs in awful streaks - she said it was one of the best nights she had and had never been asked up to dance so many times - "the more rakish the more takish" as she would say! My Mum has loads of great stories about growing up in Dublin during the war - we keep asking her to write them down - she says she'll get around to it some day!

 

[TillyMilly]

My grandparents didn't even have a lock on their front door -- and while there was a lock on the back door, the key for it was kept hanging in plain sight on a nail in the doorframe. They never bothered to lock the car, either -- and half the time they left the key in the ignition.

The other week my Ftaher was round at my sisters house and he he noticed that the window locks could do with upgrading and offered to do it for her - she replied that it was a good idea but maybe she should start locking her doors first!

Well she does live in rural Wales- the postman even leaves thier mail on a table in the living room for her! That makes me smile.

 

[TillyMilly]

How old were you when you were allowed to wear grown-up stockings?

Just thought I'd mention that my Mum went to a convent school and she said that they were made to wear stockings from a young age everyday beacuse it was lady-like- the Nuns even checked that they weren't wearing pantyhose (tights) which were strickly forbidden!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Good questions LM. I didn't even think of asking her about stockings.

I know her favourite radio programme was The Green Hornet, but I'd like to ask her more about radio and TV.

She also told me once that her Aunt Lillian took her to New York City to see a television display. She told me this had to have been 1939 or 1940 because she was kind of young.

Sometimes she doesn't like talking about the past. She's always very much been a "LIVE NOW" kind of woman. But she knows I love history and I think she opens up for me

When I lived in NJ I didn't lock my doors. I didn't need to. No one every bothered anyone in our neighbourhood and I think the last break-in was probably in the 1980s. In Philly, our neighbour left their door unlocked all day when they went on a trip to NYC so we could walk and feed their dog. No one has ever broken into this building in the 3 years I've lived here, but we have had muggings outside. I don't go out by myself after dark.

Good stories ladies! Keep them coming with what your ancestors have told you!!

 

[Drappa]

I have a good friend from Canada who lived in a small town and they never locked their doors and always left the keys in the ignition, and this was in the 90's. I remember being amazed at this when she told me.
When my mom first started dating my dad in the 70's, he took her to meet the family. After having told them that he was bringing home a Turkish girl, my dad's German family thought she'd be covered from head to toe and were very surprised that she turned up in a very short skirt and heels. My great grandmother, who in her youth was a serf and used to several layers of long skirts, lived with my grandparents (as I did I later). My mom tells me she was really freaked out about my great gran, because despite being over 80 back then, she kept touching my mom's thigh under the table. My mom didn't say anything right away, but later found out my great grandma was trying to determine whether mom was wearing stockings with her short skirt!
Years later she did it to my Turkish grandmother as well when she came to visit, and freaked her out.
I lived with my grandparents (and great grandma until she died) during the week while my parents worked, and they told me lots of things about growing up in the 20's, 30's and 40's. Their life was quite hard. My grandmother married three times because her first two husbands died in the war. My dad spent his childhood playing in the ruins and often got brought home by the police because him and his friends found bombs and grenades and turned them in, not realising how dangerous that was.
My great grandmother and grandmother fled from rural Prussia to Hamburg and my dad was born on the way - she literally got off the train, gave birth, then got on the train again. Hence my father has never seen his birth town, as it is now Poland and has been renamed. When my great gran and gran arrived in Hamburg with their relatives, they didn't know that some people were in fact Catholic and not Protestant like everyone at home, and they went to collect flowers and put them in holy water which they thought were empty vases.
Of course now I would have a lot of girly questions to ask my grandmother, things I didn't think of when I was younger, but she passed away years ago. I do know that she always wore a full girdle, no matter the weather, and often told my mom she'd be cold without one.

 

[ManicMagpie]

My mom remembers how Brand New Jeans were popular among the guys at her school. Her family never had much money and were expected to wear what they had til it wore out. Therefore one of her older brothers kept a new pair of Levis up in a tree... so he could sneakily change into them on his way to & from school! Your jeans had to be that unwashed look, not all faded as they are now.
Depending on your parents' age they can often have interesting tales to tell also.

How kids defied their parents, if at all, can be just as revealing as how they obeyed.

 

[kamikat]

Ask her if she ever wore jeans/trousers! My grandmother swore up and down that she never wore them, but when we went through her things after she passed, we found pictures of her wearing jeans.