13 Images Of Life On The Home Front During World War II
After my tirade on women’s publications, you might be surprised to hear me pontificate on more positive reasons why I collect vintage women’s publications. Well, actually, it’s pretty much the same reason; it’s just the other side of the coin. Or, more to the point, this is far less snarky. *wink*
Magazines, like newspapers, provide context for periods of time. Reading the news, as it was delivered then, provides insights; but what fascinates me is the propaganda. Feature stories were selected not only for their adherence to the mission or values of the publication itself, but, especially at times of war, we see a cultural push for what’s perceived to be the best for the country. Public policy is seen in the editorial slant as clearly as it is in the advertising, and if one wishes to know what life was like on the home front during World War II, looking at women’s publications during those years offers heaps of information.
The following images are from Modern Woman Magazine, “a magazine published by the ice industry,” George M. Wessells, Publisher, during the 1940’s.
We being with Volume 10, Number 6, 1941, where there is no mention of the war at all. Instead, in this magazine full of home decorating ideas, cooking & other household tips, we find fashion a article on “How To Buy A Fur Coat: Practical hints on how to shop wisely for your next coat.” America is prosperous.
However, things change, and by Volume 12, Number 2, 1943, and articles shift from new fur coat purchases to how to mend and take care of fashions inexpensively. Inside the front cover is this large ad depicting the ice industry “working together” with Uncle Sam “protecting America’s food.”
We also have a feature story on “How Your Discarded Stockings Go To War.” The article contains official OWI (Office of War Information) and army photos, urging women to, “Get your old stockings in the fight today!”
On the facing page, an OWI comic by Bo Brown. It shows a woman in a hospital bed and a nurse delivering flowers. The caption reads, as if the nurse is speaking, “It says on the card ‘From your fellow riveters!’”
Volume 12, Number 4, 1943, has a Coakley comic for OWI: “1943’s Lady Of Fashion.”
Headers for the tips sections now regularly feature “The War And Your Home”, with an editor’s note proclaiming that this content has been prepared by the OWI.
In Volume 12, Number 5, we have another OWI comic, this one by Gregory d’Alessio. It features a more matronly woman brushing past her butler to tell her aged husband that she’s just received a raise.
As if that message weren’t clear enough, the Volume 12, Number 8, 1944 has an even louder message of, “Get to work, women!” This one is not noted as an OWI work, and the signature is very stylized, but I think it reads B. Kile. In it a man tells a florist, “I have to be particular because they are for a very special young lady who I hope will some day soon consent to become an employee in my store.” If one didn’t note the publication’s year, and context, this comic would have a far different take, wouldn’t it? (Note the “we use ice” sign; this was the ice industry’s publication, after all!)
In Volume 13, Number 1, 1944, the ice industry is trying to push it’s own services by plastering the back cover with a fearful message: “Food Is A Weapon. Save With Ice.”
The Volume 13, Number 4, issue of 1944 focuses on etiquette for the wartime bride. “With nine out of every ten weddings today involving at least one principal from the armed forces, marriage in haste has become the accepted order.”
In Volume 13, Number 6, 1944, the ice industry is boasting of it’s record setting performance of 80 million pounds of ice produced in the past year.
But by Volume 14, Number 5, 1945, the ice industry isn’t feeling so cool about it’s efforts… The back cover has a memo for customers, apologizing for any inconveniences suffered due to “man power shortages and wartime problems–plus the extra load of the summer months.”
Inside that same issue, we see that women also must battle “those pesky little moths!”
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