The war was in Europe, but the newsreels and radio reports brought the war over here. President Roosevelt could be heard on the radio or seen in the newsreels commenting on the war or urging us to to our part in the war effort. Bugs Bunny even got into the war effort by promoting war bonds and stamps. Bonds were $18.75, and stamps were .25 cents or .10 cents. Mel Blanc comments on the effort. The Office of War Information provided posters to help us "tell the good buys from the bad." Americans did their part by rationing. We rode buses and trains, we walked, and we even devised our own unique methods of transportation. Gas was a rationed commodity. Some 40% of all vegetables were grown in victory gardens. Red ration stamps allowed people to get meat, cheese, and butter when it was available. Many people quit smoking or learned to roll their own because the ready-made cigarettes went to the GIs. Rubber tires, as well as girdles, were recycled because rubber sources were controlled by Japan. Nylon stockings could be found on the black market for $5.00 a pair.
Yet there were good times. Americans learned how to make do with less. There was almost no unemployment, and wages were at an all time high. There was lots of overtime. Prosperity brought an end to the depression. About two thirds of all production was war production. At the Henry Kaiser shipyard in Richmond, California, a new Liberty ship was produced every 12 days. Women were heavily involved in the production effort, although they had to prove that they could do the job as well as a man could. Rosie the Riveter became a popular icon. Donald Duck told us that income tax would now be taken out of every paycheck rather than in a lump sum once a year as had been done up to that time.
Many songs of the time were war songs, and many movies were war movies. Broadway had a war offering at the time, Irving Berlin's "This Is The Army." However, the biggest Broadway hit was "Oklahoma." Celeste Holm and Agnes de Mille (choreographer) both comment. Stage Door Canteens were popular for helping bring people together.
It wasn't all a bed of roses here on the home-front. Many blacks moved to the North to take jobs in the defense plants. But America was still a segregated country with colored waiting rooms, colored fallout shelters, and the like. Blacks who had gone to Detroit to work had to live in a slum area called, of all things, Paradise Valley, even though some other housing was available. Tension between blacks and whites caused a riot. It only lasted 24 hours, but the army was brought in to restore order. There were accusations about who did what to whom and what was done or not done by the police and rioters.
Japanese citizens were rounded up and sent to internment camps because they were seen as a security risk. One such camp was Manzanar, in California. Photographer Ansel Adams took a series of photographs depicting this camp. The government realized that this encampment was a bad idea, and allowed the Japanese to leave camp and join the war effort. They made up the 442 Regimental Combat Unit. They had to prove themselves and demonstrate their loyalty. Mike Nasaoki, one of the internees, tells of his experience.
Miscellaneous: Pennys were now made of zinc coated steel because copper had gone to war. Edward Noble, a wealthy candy maker, bought NBC's Blue Network which later became ABC. Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, died. The best seller that year was "Our World" by Wendell Wilkie.
Yet there were good times. Americans learned how to make do with less. There was almost no unemployment, and wages were at an all time high. There was lots of overtime. Prosperity brought an end to the depression. About two thirds of all production was war production. At the Henry Kaiser shipyard in Richmond, California, a new Liberty ship was produced every 12 days. Women were heavily involved in the production effort, although they had to prove that they could do the job as well as a man could. Rosie the Riveter became a popular icon. Donald Duck told us that income tax would now be taken out of every paycheck rather than in a lump sum once a year as had been done up to that time.
Many songs of the time were war songs, and many movies were war movies. Broadway had a war offering at the time, Irving Berlin's "This Is The Army." However, the biggest Broadway hit was "Oklahoma." Celeste Holm and Agnes de Mille (choreographer) both comment. Stage Door Canteens were popular for helping bring people together.
It wasn't all a bed of roses here on the home-front. Many blacks moved to the North to take jobs in the defense plants. But America was still a segregated country with colored waiting rooms, colored fallout shelters, and the like. Blacks who had gone to Detroit to work had to live in a slum area called, of all things, Paradise Valley, even though some other housing was available. Tension between blacks and whites caused a riot. It only lasted 24 hours, but the army was brought in to restore order. There were accusations about who did what to whom and what was done or not done by the police and rioters.
Japanese citizens were rounded up and sent to internment camps because they were seen as a security risk. One such camp was Manzanar, in California. Photographer Ansel Adams took a series of photographs depicting this camp. The government realized that this encampment was a bad idea, and allowed the Japanese to leave camp and join the war effort. They made up the 442 Regimental Combat Unit. They had to prove themselves and demonstrate their loyalty. Mike Nasaoki, one of the internees, tells of his experience.
Miscellaneous: Pennys were now made of zinc coated steel because copper had gone to war. Edward Noble, a wealthy candy maker, bought NBC's Blue Network which later became ABC. Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, died. The best seller that year was "Our World" by Wendell Wilkie.