Project History of Trends (1940-1950) Introduction/table of content Introduction/table of content2 First Half decade 1940-19503 Second half of decade 1940-19504 Inventions in 1940 till 19505 First Computer5 Fashion in the 40’s6 The ‘Sweater girls’ and ‘Pin-up’ girls7 The New Look7 Theatre de la Mode (theatre of fashion)9 The birth of the Bikini9 Cosmetics10 Hairstyles, Turbans and Snoods10 Literature11 Music12 Music12 Movies13 Dominant styles in art15 Architecture17 Furniture / Interior Decoration17 First Half decade 1940-1950
The first half of this decade was dominated by World War II. At the beginning of 1940, although the European war had been on for several months, extensive bombing and fighting had not started. In France, the couture houses presented their spring fashions in February to an international audience in an atmosphere of ‘business as usual’. The American press, who had expected to report sensational war news, called this period ‘The Phoney War’. In May 1940, Germany began the invasion of Holland, Belgium and France. The ‘Phoney war’ was over.
By the end of June France was defeated and Paris as the international center of fashion had to close down. The second World War affected civilian life far more than the First World War in 1914 till 1918. Many parts of Europe and the Orient were severely bombed. Food and Consumers goods were scare and often strictly rationed. [1] Women were needed to replace men who had gone off to war, and so the first great exodus of women from the home to the workplace began.. In most countries women worked in war factories to make war materials. 75,00 women joined the Land Army in Britain to help grow more food.
In 1941 women between the age of 19-30 had to register for war work Women who joined the forces were mostly secretaries, drivers, cooks and mechanics. Lots of them also joined the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (W. R. V. S. ). They provided meals and clothing etc. for survivors and rescue workers. World War II ends on September 2, 1945 World War II’s basic statistics qualify it as by far the most costly war in history in terms of human casualties and material resources expended. In all, 61 countries with 1. 7 billion people, three-fourths of the world’s population, took part.
The total number of civilian losses includes the 5. 6 million to 5. 9 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Of all the nations that participated in World War II, the human cost of the war fell heaviest on the USSR, for which the official total, military and civilian, is given as more than 20 million killed. The United States, which had no significant civilian losses, sustained more than 400,000 deaths. Second half of decade 1940-1950 The second half of the 1940s marked the beginning of the Cold War. This was a period of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The reconstruction of the – by war effected- countries started. Of large interest was the Marshall-help that the Americas offered to Europe. [2] The men returned after the war from, having seen the rest of the world. No longer was the family farm an ideal; no longer would blacks accept lesser status. The GI Bill allowed more men than ever before to get a college education. [3] Women had to give up their jobs to the returning men, but they had tasted independence. But to help built up the country again, many women left wartime work to concentrate on child-bearing and child-rearing.
Marriage became again a cultural and career norm for most women, and one result was babies. In 1946 the ‘Baby Boom’ started. In some country’s, total fertility rate almost doubled. [4] The Economics where growing fast and people started to enjoy there free time. Inventions in 1940 till 1950 1944: Electron spectrometer: Deutsch Elliot Evans 1945: Nuclear weapons (note: chain reaction theory was made in 1933) 1946: Microwave oven: Percy Spencer 1946: Mobile Telephone Service: AT and Southwestern Bell 1947: Polaroid camera: Edwin Land 1948: Long Playing Record: Peter Carl Goldmark 949: Atomic clocks [5] First Computer On 5th of June, 1943 the first computer was showed to the world. ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer. It was the first general-purpose electronic computer. Precisely, it was the first high-speed, purely electronic, Turing-complete, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems, since earlier machines had been built with some of these properties. ENIAC was designed and built to calculate artillery firing tables for the U. S. Army’s Ballistic Research Laboratory.
ENIAC was conceived and designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania. The team of design engineers assisting the development included Bob Shaw (function tables), Chuan Chu (divider/square-rooter), Kite Sharpless (master programmer), Arthur Burks (multiplier), Harry Huskey (reader/printer), and Jack Davis (accumulators). [6] Fashion in the 40’s The effects of the Second World War had made fashion less exclusive and clothes became more democratic. The fashion designs for 1940 were more practical than the frivolous styles of 1939, but were still designed with a touch of elegance.
The war did give a shortage of fabric and rationing between clothes, which made the women creative in making their own clothes. The motto was ‘waste not- want not’. Women made their clothes by recycling. Although the material could be used or old, women’s clothing was simple and functional, but never flattering. During the war women wore narrow designs with emphasised shoulders and knee-length skirts. The broad shoulders and the cuts were detailed inspired by the soldiers uniforms. The dresses stressed the waist. The materials silk, wool, cotton and linen were used in garments.
In Paris the lady’s wore real silk, in the mean while other countries had to wear fake silk. Whatever the state of the world was, Paris lady’s stayed fashionable. Women in Paris wore the colours red, blue and white to revolt the war. In the rest of Europe muted colours where used. Evening dresses acquired drapings, tunic and peplum effects. The tight waistline bought a revival of the corset and stiffening of the body. The evening dresses were slightly influenced by the fashion of the early 1910s with the drapery an peg top effects. Men’s fashion continued to be conservative in colors and patterns.
The standard suit was double breasted. In the post war years the suit jacket became longer, and broader on the shoulders, but remained narrow at the hips. Trousers had a wide cut and turn-ups. In these years the duffel coat appeared. Men wore soft felt trilbies, peaked caps or berets. The ‘Sweater girls’ and ‘Pin-up’ girls Pin-up girls were mostly fashion models, actresses or glamour models witch were used for mass produced pictures, billboards or for advertisements. Most of the pin-up girl’s were considered as sex-symbols. In America the sweater was a real fashion item.
Lana Turner, the original ‘sweater girl’ started this trend when she wore a tight, good looking sweater in the movie ‘They wont forget’ in 1937. Women wore the sweaters constantly and this gave a big problem in the working industry; men couldn’t do good work when these nice ladies in tight sweaters were walking around. In 1974 haute couture was revived in Paris, and gave the opportunity for Christian Dior to show his creations, which led to the new needed New Look. The New Look Designer Christian Dior made a shocking entrance in 1947 with his first haute couture collection.
This collection existed of wide flared skirts together with tops with rounded shoulders. The rounded shoulders flattered the figure. The soft shapes, the narrow waists and the shocking amount of material were so different at the time it was a complete revolution in fashion. Carmel Snow, the head of Harper’s Bazaar gave the name ‘New Look’ by saying; your dresses have such a new look. The New Look collection was such a shock because everybody was still into ‘saving’ after the 2nd World War; there was no material to be spoilt. The New Look was characterized by a below mid-calf length, full skirt, large bust and a small waist.
The New Look was both warmly and sophisticated. Dior also presented the tight skirted silhouette, the pencil line, which also had a mid-calf length. Elegant and feminine tightly fitted tops together with long, narrow skirts presented an alternative for the flared skirts. The New Look made the hats smaller and gave them softer shapes. Most of the hats were decorated with flowers of feathers. In clothing the shoulders were very sloped, which emphasised the downward line. They were cut under the armhole in a dolman shape. Sleeves were often three-quarter length and worn with long gloves.
These gloves gave the lower arms a very feminine appearance. The New Look gave a strong X line; special bras needed lifted the breasts and boned corselet’s minimized the waists. Petticoats were used underneath skirts and dresses to give it fullness. Cristobal Balenciaga The Spanish fashion designer Christian Dior was the designer who got all the attention about the New Look, but it was Crisobal Balenciaga who was the real renovator in fashion. Balenciaga was the designer who introduced couture shapes for women. Within two years after moving to Paris the press lauded him as a revolutionary.
Balenciaga played with the cuts of the garments; he had a typical renew way of cutting patterns (a strong H line to a V line). Next to this the combinations between materials were recognisable Balenciaga’s; for example black lace on bright pink. [7] Pierre Balmain The French fashion designer Pierre Balmain was known for sophistication and elegance designs. Balmain followed the statement ‘dressmaking is the architecture of movement’. Balmain created perfumes, including Vent Vert and Ivoire. Balmain won the Drama Desk Awards for the movie Happy New Year.
Balmain designed costumes for many movies. The fashion house Balmain was known for it classic and luxurious designs. Today the house is led by Christophe Decarnin, who makes more modern and edgier designs. [8] Jacques Fath The French fashion designer Jacques Fath was a strong influencer in the haute couture, together with Pierre Balmain and Cristobal Balenciaga. Fath learned most of his knowledge his self and out of books. The designs of Jaqcues Fath were a bit …. then the other designers. This made him more popular with people in the show business.
In his salons he worked together with young designers. Typical Fath were the fresh designs for the young and chic Parisienne. Fath used non common materials like hemp sacking and sequins made of walnut and almonds shells. During the 2nd World War Fath was known for wide fluttering skirts. These skirts were a relief for the women, they could bike easily. [9] Theatre de la Mode (theatre of fashion) Because the missing of material fashion houses couldn’t show there designs in big fashion shows. Couturiers came up with the idea to show there creations on miniature dolls.
The 200 metal dolls had faces and hair of rope. The garments were made like they would be in big; miniature pockets, linings, buttons and even hats and belts. The painter Christian Berard designed this original fashion performance and the matching stage. The show started in Paris, and because it was so successful the tour contained in America. The tour collected old and new customers. The birth of the Bikini In 1943, the US government calculated that 10 % of the fabric of a woman’s swimwear and off went the skirt panel, and out came the bare midriff.
At beaches across the country, men paid special attention to women doing their patriotic duty. Three years later Louis Reard, a little known French designer called his two piece design “bikini” – after the American nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll (He predicted the burst of excitement over the swimsuit would be like the atomic bomb). [10] Louis Reard shrunk his suit down to 30 inches of fabric – basically a bra top and two inverted triangles of cloth connected by string – and put the navel on center stage. Reard’s “bikini” was so small, in fact, that no Parisian models at the time would wear it on the runway.
He hired Micheline Bernardini, who had no qualms about strolling around in a bikini, seeing as her day job was a nude dancer at the Casino de Paris. Bernardini was not what you’d a classic beauty, but after photos of her in a reclining pose hit the press, she was swamped with fan mail, close to 50,000 letters. [11] Micheline Bernardini helps introduce the modern bikini. Cosmetics During the war the cosmetics factories had to turn over to production of aircraft parts and sea-water purifiers. The output of cosmetics fell to a quarter of their pre-war output.
Some manufactories were refilling old lipstick tubes. Few women had more than two lipsticks to last the war and others even used beetroot juice to stain their lips! [12] Women were told to use potato flesh, lemon juice or egg white to tone the skin. Egg yolk instead of shampoo and vegetable oil could be used as foundation. However, as food was rationed, this advice was far from practical. [13] Hairstyles, Turbans and Snoods Movie-star Veronica Lake was famous for her “peekaboo” hairstyle, with locks cascading over one eye. This was thought to be dangerous for women working in factories.
Bending over machinery, the hair could easily get tangle and she was persuaded to publicly change her style. Instead, her hair was swept up, out of harms way. [14] Hats were increasingly replaced by head scarves and turbans – which had already come into fashion in the 1930’s. Another variation was the snood. Snoods were either made from fabric or crocheted or knitted out of yarn and held the hair in place at the neck. [15] Sports in the US World War II had its effect on sports as all able-bodied men between 18 and 26 were expected to serve in the military.
Professional sports were encouraged to continue, to improve the morale of the troops. [16] The 1940’s were the heyday of boxing. Boxing was big money, mainly because of gambling, and was ruled by gangland boxing czar Frankie Carbo. Joe Louis was the heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1948, in part because major boxing titles were frozen from 1941 to 1946 ad four thousand professional boxers joined the military. [17] Basketball was less affected by the war than other sports because a player’s height often made him ineligible for military service. [18]
Literature The decade opened with the appearance of the first inexpensive paperback. Book clubs proliferated, and book sales went from one million to over twelve million volumes a year. Many important literary works were conceived during, or based on, this time period, but published later. [19] 1949 in literature – George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman 1948 in literature – Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead and Graham Greene’s The Heart of the Matter 1947 in literature – The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank 946 in literature – The Iceman Cometh – Eugene O’Neill 1945 in literature – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is sentenced to eight years in a labour camp for criticism of Stalin. 1944 in literature – Our Lady of the Flowers – Jean Genet; A Bell for Adano – John Hersey 1943 in literature – T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets published together for the first time; Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game) – Hermann Hesse 1942 in literature – The Stranger – Albert Camus 1941 in literature – Between the Acts – Virginia Woolf 940 in literature – Native Son – Richard Wright; For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway; The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers Music As the World War II dominated the 1940’s, European artists and intellectuals eluded from direct themes as Hitler and the Holocaust, bringing up new ideas created in disillusionment. This sort of production pulled the world out of the Great Depression[20]. During the 40’s decade the music in Europe remained more classical, whereas in America it reflected the enthusiasm tempered with European disillusionment.
The European emigrants such as Bueno Walter, Bella Bartok, Arnold Schoenberg introduced classical dissonance, the American born composers lingered on more traditional way of music with Aaron Copland’s Rodeo (1942) or #3 (1941) and #7 (1949) symphonies by William Schuman. At the beginning of 1940’s the popular music was dominated by Big Bands led by Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. It didn’t take a while since smooth voices of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore and Perry Como led the parade of music.
By the end of the decade Be-Bop as well as Rhythm and Blues (R&B) grew out of the Big Bands era. Bebop “Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody”[21]. The birth of bebop in the 40’s is often considered as the beginning of the modern jazz. The style grew out of small swing groups, however rather than paying great attention to singable melodies and straightforward compositions, a high importance was paid to technique and more complex harmonies[22].
Alto saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker and a trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie “Diz” were the originators of this movement. Dizzy also helped to introduce the Afro-Cuban music, with rhythms such as mambo. The classic bebop consists of piano, drums, trumpet, bass and saxophone. The bebop players began diverge from popular music; Picture 8. Charlie Parker. Therefore, bebop was not intended to be dance music. To the jazz musicians and jazz music lovers, bebop was an exciting and beautiful revolution in the art of jazz[23] Movies
The beginning of the 1940’s did not seem to be promising for the film industry especially in Hollywood, where attack of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese took place, which made an impact for a great loss of foreign markets[24]. However, advances in film technology (sound recording, lighting, cinematography, use of colour and special effects) made the movies “modern” and more watchable. These changes in the movie industry made the forties the heyday for movies. “The Office of War declared movies an essential industry for morale and propaganda”[25]. For this reason most of plots had a predictable set of morals.
Leading actors of the decade were Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepbum, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Lana Turner. |Picture 9. Betty Grable | Most of the actors and actresses of the time had a significant impact on popular fashion. Glamorous Rita Hayworth, an American actress who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era’s leading sex symbols, was famed for her long wavy red hair, which she tossed about so provocatively in Gilda. Lively, red-haired girls afterwards were often described as looking like Rita Hayworth[26].
Lana Turner’s curves showing under a tight sweater got the name of “The Sweater Girl”, which later reflected in the calling “Sweater Girls” for those, who similarly endowed and wore tight sweaters[27]. Another actress Betty Grable was known for her remarkably good legs, which pictures decorated war planes. Afterwards, girls who had good legs were often complimented on having “Betty Grable” legs. Marlene Dietrich warned about fashion: “Don’t ever follow the latest trend, because in a short time you will look ridiculous, don’t follow it blindly into every dark alley.
Always remember that you are not a model or a mannequin for which the fashion is created”[28]. The greatest movies of the decade were: The Philadelphia Story (1940), Citizen Kane (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Wolf Man (1941), Casablanca (1942), Lassie Come Home (1943), My Darling Clementine (1946), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Three Musketeers (! 948), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and All the King’s Men (1949)[29]. The forties was the beginning of the Walk Disney’s career, where he presented animated cartoons such as Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942) )[30].
Probably the most famous film made during the WW II was Casablanca. It promoted the new restricted American fashions and gave the trench coat – a garment that was earlier worn by villains – the look of something that a “good guy” could wear. Anna Karenina (1948) with Vivien Leigh, Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1947) reminded the audience of a time when women wore bustles, corsets and loads of material. For some years, Hollywood had promoted full-figured women, which started with The Outlaw in 1943, by Howard Huges. 31] This leads to Hollywood seeming to anticipate Dior? s New Look. Picture 9. Movie Posters. However, the boom of movies started fading in 1948 with the start of the television. Revivals of popular radio shows and comedies created a great demand for televisions, which grew from 5,000 television sets to 17 million. In 1949 the first sitcom made its appearance with The Goldbergs. With the television advent a new phenomenon of the TV Dinners appeared – a compilation of the refrigerator, the frozen dinners and boom of the TVs.
Dominant styles in art Tachisme Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word tache – stain) was a French style of abstract painting in the 1940s and 1950s. It is often considered to be the European equivalent to abstract expressionism. Other names for this movement are l’art informel (similar to action painting) and abstraction lyrique (related to American Lyrical Abstraction). After the World War II the term School of Paris often referred to Tachisme, the European equivalent of American Abstract expressionism.
Important proponents being Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Soulages, Nicholas de Stael, Hans Hartung, Serge Poliakoff, and Georges Mathieu, among several others. Tachisme was a reaction to cubism and is characterized by spontaneous brushwork, drips and blobs of paint straight from the tube, and sometimes scribbling reminiscent of calligraphy. Abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and also the one that put New York City at the center of the art world, a role ormerly filled by Paris. Style Technically, an important predecessor is surrealism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation. Jackson Pollock’s dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor is a technique that has its roots in the work of Max Ernst. Another important early manifestation of what came to be abstract expressionism is the work of American Northwest artist Mark Tobey, especially his “white writing” canvases, which, though generally not large in scale, anticipate the “all over” look of Pollock’s drip paintings.
The two major types of Abstract Expressionism are Action Painting and Color Field Painting. Action painters such as Jackson Pollock wished to portray paint texture and the movement of the artist’s hand. Color Field painters such as Mark Rothko were concerned with color and shape in order to create peaceful and spiritual paintings with no representative subject matter. Abstract Expressionism emphasized the depiction of emotions rather than objects. Most painters of the movement favored large canvases, dramatic colors, and loose brushwork.
The movement was put into motion by Arshile Gorky whose paintings were derived from the art of Surrealism, Picasso, and Miro. As in Surrealism, the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung provided the basis for the intellectual and internal subject matter. The movement’s name is derived from the combination of the emotional intensity and self-denial of the German Expressionists with the anti-figurative aesthetic of the European abstract schools such as Futurism, the Bauhaus and Synthetic Cubism. Additionally, it has an image of being rebellious, anarchic, highly idiosyncratic and, some feel, rather nihilistic.
The philosophy of Abstract Expressionism searches for answers to the questions of human existence. It addresses personal psychological battles, the external struggle between man and nature, and the hunt for spiritual comfort. All of these concepts were expressed through abstraction, finding meaning in relating the act of painting with a release of subconscious feelings and desires. The movement had a profound impact on later generations of American artists, particularly in their use of color and materials. Although it is true that spontaneity or he impression of spontaneity characterized many of the abstract expressionists works, most of these paintings involved careful planning, especially since their large size demanded it. With artists like Paul Klee, Vassily Kandinsky, Emma Kunz, and later on Rothko, Barnett Newman and Agnes Martin, abstract art clearly implied expression of ideas concerning the spiritual, the unconscious and the mind. The abstract expressionist school spread quickly throughout the United States, but the major centers of this style were New York City and California, especially the San Francisco Bay area.
Regionalism: (1930 – 1945) The American Regionalism movement, also known as the American Scene Painters, began during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The movement is divided into two groups of artists with different approaches. The Social Realists were devoted to depicting the social troubles of the suffering urban lower class. The Regionalists painted more positive subjects, hoping to lead the nation out of the depression by providing hope for a better future. This group often painted midwestern rural scenes with themes of hard work and self-preservation.
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts working class activities. Many artists who subscribed to Social Realism were painters with socialist (but not necessarily Marxist) political views. The movement therefore has some commonalities with the Socialist Realism used in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, but the two are not identical – Social Realism is not an official art, and allows space for subjectivity. In certain contexts, Socialist Realism has been described as a specific branch of Social Realism.
Social Realism developed as a reaction against idealism and the exaggerated ego encouraged by Romanticism. Consequences of the Industrial Revolution became apparent; urban centers grew, slums proliferated on a new scale contrasting with the display of wealth of the upper classes. With a new sense of social consciousness, the Social Realists pledged to “fight the beautiful art”, any style which appealed to the eye or emotions. They focused on the ugly realities of contemporary life and sympathized with working-class people, particularly the poor. They recorded what they saw (“as it existed”) in a dispassionate manner.
The public was outraged by Social Realism, in part, because they didn’t know how to look at it or what to do with it. Architecture In architecture, nonessentials were eliminated, and simplicity became the key element. In some cases, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s famous glass house, even practicality was ignored. Modern glass-and-steel office buildings began to rise after the war ended. Pietro Belluschi designed the prototype Equitable Savings and Loan building, a “skyscraper” of twelve stories. Eliel Saarinen utilized contemporary design, particularly in churches. The dream home remained a Cape Cod.
In the U. S. after the war, suburbs, typified by Levittown, with their tract homes and uniformity, sprang up to house returning GI’s and their new families. The average home was a one level Ranch House, a collection of previously unaffordable appliances surrounded by minimal living space. The family lawn became the crowning glory and symbol of pride in ownership. Furniture / Interior Decoration When we talk about the furniture/interior decoration in1940’s and 1950’s it is “an era that most people can remember, if not from their own childhood (or adult life), then at least from the homes of their grandparents. It is a wonderfully nostalgic look that creates the memories and feelings of childhood, of a comfortable and comforting, safe, family home – safer and simpler times. • It is not a perfect, strict, ‘finished’ style, but mixes and matches different looks and styles. It includes treasured family heirlooms, handed down, and items of many different eras and styles. • After the War, people did have to make-do and mend – so this led to furniture that was repaired or made-over, and lots of hand-made goodies – like patchwork quilts and crochet. ? Characteristics of 1940’s Homes The use of wallpaper for interior design became more prevalent. Carpeting was used more often as well, most likely because of its ability to help insulate a home. Furthermore, installing a carpet in rooms of a home could be thought of as an alternative form of creative expression. Asphalt was sometimes used in homes, as indicated in home want ads of an early 1940s newspaper. It was primarily used for kitchen tiling and/or roofing. Bathroom fixtures were quite often made of chrome during this time. [32]
Additional amenities of a 1940s home would include items that are thought of as necessities by today’s building standards. For instance, a hot water heater, barbeque patio, double garage, and/or heating system would be included in the sale of a specific home. The exterior of a home built during this decade was often of a red brick siding, and the interior home flooring was often of hardwood, just as it was in earlier decades. Other luxuries of 1940s homes included newly-installed roofing, kitchen cupboards, spacious rooms, and thermostat controlled heat.
Tile flooring and walls in bathroom as well as duel gas furnaces were also characteristic of some of these homes. Furthermore, these homes were often placed on large lots with fertile soil. Tenement homes and other multiple units were also springing up during this time period. Furnishings After the war, housing materials and furnishings were more lavish than during the war. Chair and foot rest sets were very common, and they were made with spring seats, rounded cushions, and/or heart-shaped back. Another signature furniture piece of the 1940s was the seven-way floor lamp, which at the time only sold for $9. 5 new. The image below can help you visualize how tall these lamps stood Characteristics of 1950’s Homes Although it took the world quite awhile to recover from the affects of World War II, the 1950s were more of a prosperous time than in times past. Vast improvements in housing were made during this time. A priority was placed on building homes for war veterans and families. In the early 1952, several homes were placed on the market and those homes were primarily purchased by families. Some of the most attractive homes that were built during this time were ones located in Oakland California.
These homes were complete with one or more of the following features: Attached double garage, central heat, cedar roof, brick and stone trim, 100 feet of land with trees, large front and rear covered porches, spacious rooms. Careful attention to interior decorating detail was given during this time. Additional attributes of these homes included brick fireplaces, hardwood floors, ranch-style kitchen, and/or garbage disposal. What made these homes so desirable is their convenient location near elementary schools as well as police fire stations. Safety Equipment Efforts were made to ensure home safety.
For example, fire extinguishers were made for and installed in kitchens. What Was Used to Heat Certain Homes One of the units that was used to heat homes looks just like in this picture below: This particular heating system costs a little over $189. 00. Some people still operated the models of furnaces that they may have purchased in the late 1950s as well. (See 1940s models of furnaces. ) Kitchen Interiors If you want to get an idea of what 1950s kitchens may have looked like you would look like then you may want to take a look at these images: Furniture and Accessories of The Times
Some of the items advertised in local newspapers during the 1950s include items such as sofa chair covers for the living room or 72-inch (or 81-inch) curtains that did not need to be starched or pressed. [33] In order to understand more what furniture was like during these times you can take a look at these black and white photos and/or drawings of living room and/or dining room furniture and design. Please view the images below (edited photos from various 1950s newspapers): [pic] ———————– [1] http://nl. wikipedia. org/wiki/20e_eeuw [2] http://nl. wikipedia. org/wiki/Wederopbouw [3] . ttp://nl. wikipedia. org/wiki/1946 [4] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Post-World_War_II_baby_boom [5] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#20th_century [6] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ENIAC [7] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Balenciaga [8] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pierre_Balmain [9] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Jacques_Fath [10] THE NEW LOOK, – The Dior revolution [11] http://www. bikiniatoll. com/Bikiniwaxing. html [12] THE NEW LOOK, – The Dior revolution [13] THE NEW LOOK, – The Dior revolution [14] THE NEW LOOK, – The Dior revolution [15] THE NEW LOOK, – The Dior revolution 16] http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu/decade40. html#book [17] http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu/decade40. html#book [18] http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu/decade40. html#book [19] http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu/decade40. html#book [20] http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu [21] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Bebop [22] http://www. outsideshore. com/primer/primer/ms-primer-2-3. html [23] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Bebop [24] http://www. filmsite. org/40sintro. html [25] http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu [26] David Bond. The Guinness Guide to 20th Century Fashion. Guinnes Publishing Ltd. , London, 1992. Pg. 121. 27] David Bond. The Guinness Guide to 20th Century Fashion. Guinnes Publishing Ltd. , London, 1992. Pg. 121. [28] home. snafu. de/fright. night/marlene-dietrich-wardrobe. html [29] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1940s [30] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1940s [31] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1940s [32] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1940s [33] Nigel Cawthorne. The New Look. Reed International Books Ltd. , Hong Kong, 1996. Pg 82-83. [34] http://www. interior-design-it-yourself. com/vintage-interior-design. html [35] http://www. thepeoplehistory. com/ ———————– [pic] [pic]
