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Decade - 1940s
This category has questions involving events, social trends, political beliefs, major discoveries, or general information related to the 1940s.
1,407 Questions
What would a day in the life of a father be like in the 1940s?
Up until 1944 my father was in the Air Force training pilots back East in Canada. My parents lived on Base which my mom detested (not much of a life for a wife.) I was born there and when my father's duties were over we moved to Vancouver, B.C. From my experiences growing up life was much simpler. Fathers were proud to be the bread-winners and didn't take kindly to their wives working because it would make them appear they weren't man enough to provide for their own family. Husbands/fathers ruled back then. My grandmother and my mother's diabetic brother lived with us in a large modest home in the City (that's when families really looked after family) and all the adults pitched in. Generally the fathers went to work (many working shift-work) and the wives stayed home to look after the children, elderly parents, cook and clean. Fathers "were heard" and if I was naughty then my mother would simply say, "Wait until your father gets home!" That did it! I would lay in bed waiting to hear my father's car come into the driveway and waiting for my mother to spill her guts about what a bad girl I was (nothing too serious) but it never came. My father would sneak into my room (I'd pretend to be asleep) and tell me he loved me and as he was leaving my bedroom would say, "You know I know you're not sleeping!" That was the end of that. When I started Elementary School I didn't start until I was 7 (generally it was 6 years old) but since my birthday was in January I had to wait the extra year, but my parents self taught me at home so I would be more prepared when I entered into Grade 1. The first year I started school I seemed to get every disease known to a child ... measles, chicken pox, mumps, my tonsils and adenoids out and I had to be failed the first year. My father was so worried about me when I had the mumps he went against the doctor's orders and broke the quarantine ruling (big sign on our front door to stay out ... mumps.) He stayed in my room and read me stories. The next thing I knew he was laying down beside me sicker than a dog and I can remember saying "Daddy, you're a big baby!" I had no idea adults got the mumps worse than kids. Homework was a must! Often if I didn't do my homework my father would be very angry with me and "no homework, no going out with your friends." If I didn't do well on my school work then I had to buckle down and there was no playing around or buying me things to get good grades. You just did! Fathers were extremely protective of especially their daughters in their teens and I was no exception. Even at 14 I couldn't go to the corner store unless I had jeans on and a T-shirt (no bathing suit top or shorts.) You were taught to be a lady and you'd better act like one. My father gave me a book on Etiquette (I thought he'd blown some brain cells) and demanded I read it and practice it and he'd test me on it! I am so glad he did do that to this day. I got caught with lipstick on at age 15 and my father scrubbed my face so hard I thought the skin had been peeled off. He said I looked like a circus clown! Dating was unacceptable until you were 16 and the father wanted to meet the boy you were going out with. There was no guy that would set outside revving up his car or honking the horn. If the guy didn't come in to meet dear old dad then you couldn't go out with him. There were curfews and you'd have to tell where you were going and be given a specific time to come home and if you were late (no matter what the reason) you were grounded for 2 weeks. Fathers and sons seemed to take more time together back then. Of course there were slack dads even in this generation, but, for the most part my father took my brother fishing often and on trips to Banff. The odd thing is I loved fishing and would have given anything to go, but of course it was a "guy thing." My father wasn't quite as hard on my brother as he was me, but my brother (cute and full of the devil) got some spankings. Fathers took the family camping. No grand trips to Europe or Hawaii for most of us. Everything my brother and I had we had to work for ourselves and that's what my father taught us. We had to not mow only our lawn, but other neighbors lawns if they were elderly and also shovel snow and there were no ifs, ands or buts about it. You did it! If too many things were just given to you then you wouldn't appreciate them as much. There were rules, rules and more rules, and there times my brother and I detested them, but most of them sure made sense as I grew up. In general the times were simpler and neighbors could be trusted. Kids were off the street by dark. On Halloween with the dark and fog there was no fear of being abducted and all of us kids had a blast. At the end of the evening the parents would take turns having all the kids over to let off fireworks. If course the fathers did the lighting of the fireworks. During the summer months was the most fun. My father would play games with my friends, my brother and myself with the garden hose as we raced around in circles seeing who would or wouldn't be squirted. We went to the beach often and to see the circus and playland. Dear old dad took us on Sunday drives after we helped cut the lawn and then off to a drive-in restaurant for burgers and shakes or stay home for Chinese food. We had to learn to swim! My father sent me to a program to learn swimming and I was terrified of it. One day at the beach he took me out into the water (age 8) and tossed me in and said, "Sink or swim!" I was madder than a wet hornet at my father, but, I did swim! Of course now I know he would never have let me drown. I didn't speak to him for over a week after that one. My father surprised one of my boyfriends by flipping gears in a shaved-off coupe faster than the speed of light and leaving a trail of black rubber a block long (my mother was beside herself and embarrassed the neighbors would see him.) Not only did dear old dad make me proud of him, but my boyfriend was most impressed. LOL My father died young (59) but I wouldn't trade one second of pleasing/displeasing him for anything in the world. He taught me much wisdom and racism had no place in our home and religion and honor were high in our home. He didn't have time to go to church because he worked hard and at nights, but he did make sure my brother and I had a religious up-bringings and also I thank him for that. Of course my mother had something to do with this as well. We were told when we were of age we could cease to go to church or pick our own religious beliefs, but I stuck to them while my brother wandered away from it. No matter my father's failures, illness' or disagreeing with my mother or my brother and I, he was my hero and still is to this day. I believe that many adults today that were brought up in the 40s have many fond memories of their fathers back then. Father's during that time was hitting a bar with their friends or belonging to a Legion for Servicemen. Fishing, some went hunting, but mostly, it was all hard work to provide a decent living for your family. One movie I never miss seeing is "The Christmas Story" done in the 1940s. That was my family to a tee and it brought back so many fond memories for me. I bought the DVD and when I'm blue, I'll put it on and it cheers me right up. Sometimes I wish the kids today had it as lucky as us kids had it in the 40s and 50s. That was the generations of innocence.
The end of world war 2 in Europe was in 1945 when Germany signed an Allied instrument of surrender on 8th May. The war was fully over when Japan surrendered on 15th August 1945.
What were some things that a teenager did in the 1940's?
In the U.S. and most European countries formal education ended much earlier than now. The vast majority of kids finished their schooling at age 14 and went straight to work. In many ways they were expected to behave as adults from then on. The concept of teenagers (and of adolescence) was still emerging.
How much is a 1940 S wheat penny worth?
1940S Wheat Penny: very good condition-$ .05, mint condition-$1.50, uncirculated-$5.00 .15-6.00
What was the ideology of American Cold War policies and practices the late 1940s to the mid-1950s?
The cold war ideology changed wartime alliances after WWII by bringing the two super powers, the United States and Russia, head to head on opposing sides even though during the war they were allies with a common enemy. During the war, both super powers were set against Nazi Germany, but they both had different ideas as to how the world should be ran afterwards and came to blows over it.
beryl1963
What is the value of a 12 gauge Browning shotgun serial B17577?
What is the value of a 12 gauge Browning shotgun serial J68824?
What is the value of a Browning Sweet 16 gauge shotgun purchased in 1948?
Take it to your local gun dealer, they should be able to give you idea what it maybe worth? I would think you should be able get $500 dollars? -- I'd Imagine So -- It all depends on condition and originality. I turned down a Sweet 16 that had been horribly reblued with a variable choke added, offered at $300. On the other end, I would easily pay $800 for a solid rib mint condition Sweet 16. sales@countrygunsmith.net
What were farms like in the 1940s?
It is believed that in the 1940's farms were converted to agricultural areas to techno-like party rooms. Many farmers soon were called "favors" to gvie it more of a vibe. Raver most likely orginated from this new name.
How did the GI bill of the 1940s affect the US economy?
The G.I. Bill both then and now provided money for the education of soldiers.
This higher level of education provided soldiers who were re-entering civilian life with better skills and thus higher paying jobs. Higher paying jobs, more money to spend etc...
The GI BIll of Rights was one of the United States Government's most important and impacting programs of the 20th Century. It was basically the Country's investment in its own future. Before World War Two only the sons and daughters of wealthy families could afford to go to college. The rest had to do with a high school education. After the war millions of young men and women got free educations, partly as a reward for serving in and putting their live's on the line fighting for their country. This group constituted the country's next generation. And what an educated generation it was -- millions of them. They and their educations helped enormously in making this country, today, the greatest country in the world. If you don't believe this check back on what the country was like BEFORE World War Two -- and what it is like today!!!!!
The GI Bill also included provisions for low-cost mortgages to veterans so they could purchase houses. This created a housing boom. This, and the increased earning capacity, coupled with pent-up demand for consumer goods, resulted in the prosperity of the 1950 and 1960s.
What was life like in World War 2 in fashion music culture art etc?
If you really want to see what the fashions and music and art were like I suggest you watch the movies made during the wartime. There are probably a hundred movies you could see. There are books in the Library too. Hair was curled in curlers and worn curly and wavy. Straight hair on women was curled but the young girls had their hair braided. Some of the women braided their hair too. Many women had short, wavy or curly hair. The men had the hairstyle with the left hand part and it would be consider cut close to the head. Men wore suits, women wore dresses and no pants unless doing manufacturing for the war effort. Kids: The girls wore dresses and sometimes pants or shorts. Boys wore striped tee shirts or button down shirts with blue jeans and sneakers. The girls wore Mary Jane dress shoes or sneakers. Music was the swing band style music like Tommy Dorsey did. Women wore aprons over their dresses when they worked in the house. Some wore them from the time they got up until they changed into nightgowns or flannel pajamas. Many people fashioned themselves after the Hollywood stars.
We are building a Conoco museum which started out as Marland Oil, then Standard Oil Company by E.W. Marland. Contact The city of Ponca City, OK and ask somebody about who is in charge of the research or you can contact the Oklahoma Historical Society.
What wars or major events happened directly after World War 2?
look it up jap now has a public train that floats using electromagnetic energy
and Germany are the worlds largest supplier of resources in the majority of all resources
America and Britain didn't really win the war
Let's Put the Cynicism Aside
The most significant event that happened immediately after WWII was probably the great divide between the two largest former allies: the United States and the Soviet Union. On the European Front, Stalin continued to occupy the land they took from the German army (the Soviet Zone of Germany and the East of it), and in response, the rest of the Allies also maintained their military and later on economic presence in Western Europe. On the Pacific Front, the US supported South Korea in the Korean War (which led to the "equal" division of the Korean peninsula), and patrolled the Taiwan Strait after the Communist takeover of China. In addition, the US administration in Japan also turned its support from the Communist and Socialist fractions in Japan to the more conservative (or some say nationalistic) Liberal Democratic Party.
The seemingly "generous" financial aid to Germany and Japan after WWII was a result of at least two issues:
(1) After WWI, according to the international protocol of the time, Germany was heavily fined for war damages, which ruined the Weimar economy (with hyperinflation) and was arguably a direct reason for the rise of the Nazi regime (Hitler was elected as the Chancellor because he promised not to pay war fines and to restore the German economy). In response to this, by the end of WWII, the Allies agreed that Germany and Japan should be rehabilitated into the international order not via punitive measures, but by economic and ideological assimilation.
(2) Both Germany and Japan are literally in the middle of Europe and the Pacific respectively, thus making them strategically crucial in the Cold War. Both countries recovered economically because of the war industries, and later on, the conversion of some of these resources to heavy industries (most notably, car and machine making).
Despite their economic growth, Germany and Japan faced huge political and social challenges, and the paths toward what we now perceive as economic miracles were often traumatic to many people who physically worked for them. From their perspectives, their post-war economic affluence certainly did not match the economic and political prowess of the US and the UK. It is often deceptive to look at signs of material modernity as an index to how well a country fare.
Where can you find a list of men who served in World War 2 in 1943?
I don't know if the records are broken down by year anywhere or not but you do realize that, even if you are talking about just the United States armed forces, you are talking about some 8,000,000 men? Michael Montagne A total of 16,353,700 men & women served during WWII -- 407,316* died and 670,847 were wounded *(292,131 killed in action and 115,185 died of other causes)
You need to re-check which the model number ofyour rifle. The Model 72 is a bolt action gun and they were not given serial numbers.
How much is a 2002 Louisiana silver quarter with an S mint stamped on it worth?
Assuming your silver proof quarter does not have any visible nicks or scratches, it is worth $3-$4 -- otherwise it's worth about $1 (Deleted my previous update. Since the S mint mark only appears on proof coins this could not be a circulation strike. The first answer above is correct as it stands.)
Where can you find information about a Southern Arms Co Cracker-Jack from the 1930s or 1940s?
I also have one of these and I am interested in findind out anything concerning this make and model shotgun. sorry its no help someone ? anyone? Vorisek's List shows Cracker-Jack Southern Arms Co as a Crescent Firearms product and Southern Arms Co Cracker Jack as a Harrington and Richardson.
What are some medical discoveries were made in the 80's?
the creation of the hepatitis B vaccine (1981) and haemophilus influensae type B vaccine (1985.
Was aspirin ever used as a means of contraception?
Not successfully.
There's plenty of myths, misunderstandings and wishful thinking around sex and contraception, so someone, somewhere has probably tried anything that you can ever think of as a method of either avoiding, or ensuring pregnancy.
