# Late forties culture
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 27, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796 "2008-05-27T19:25:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/21 "2008-05-28T17:11:54Z")
For a survey of musical styles that were big in the 1940’s you could do worse than watching [A Song is Born](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040820/), a Danny Kaye movie where he plays a music professor writing an encyclopedia of music but is completely unaware of anything post-Stravinsky.
The first 1/3rd of the movie is Danny Kaye learning about the latest in musical styles and is a pretty fascinating survey of where American music stood in 1948. The final 2/3rds of the movie is a silly story about how he hooks up with Virginia Mayo who is on the run from some gangsters. There’s still some great music in the final 2/3rds, but really, the first 1/3rd of the film is the most interesting part of the film. I highly recommend it if you’re willing to watch a film to answer this question.
By the way, I just looked it up on Turner Classic Movies and it’s playing on July 9th at 8:00pm: [tw\_default - Sign In](http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=4841)
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### Author:  [@Jpal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpal)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/22 "2008-05-28T21:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=Internut]
I know that most older people arn’t so techie and wouldn’t be on the SDMB (on the average)..
So why don’t we ASK someone who was alive then?
I know many people who are in their 80s from where I work (I now work on a different floor, but I used to work exclusively with the elderly).. If I get a chance I’ll ask one today if they remember much from that time.
[/QUOTE]
Do this please. Movies are much too stylized.
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### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/23 "2008-05-28T21:59:48Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
I think of it as being a lot like the 1950s. Men wore fedora type hats more, thin ties and thin lapels, and dark suits.
[/quote]
Hate to break your bubble, but the thin dark look didn’t come in till the mid 50s. It was a reaction to the post WW2 style for men, which was wide lapels, shoulders, knees and hat brims, long collars and [very](http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/4026/ads/ads.html) bright wide ties, with a wide range of colors used.
> [@](#):
>
> For more casual wear, sport jackets with flat bottoms and sharp corners in the bottom (instead of the curved profile you see on a suit jacket) seem to have been fashionable.
Those were loafer or Hollywood jackets, which were less tailored than dress clothes and had shirt-type collars. Some were two-tone, of different colors or types of fabric.
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/24 "2008-05-29T01:11:25Z")
I can’t believe I’m the first person to mention the [baby boom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-World_War_II_baby_boom). When I think of the late 1940’s, the first thing I think of is the millions of babies being born. Dr. Spock’s _Baby and Child Care_ was one of the biggest bestsellers of 1946 (and for years after). If I were throwing a late 1940’s party, I’d decorate it like one big baby shower.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/25 "2008-05-29T01:38:41Z")
[QUOTE=plnnr]
IIRC, it was called “Shell Shock” during and after WWI and “Battle Fatigue” during and after WWII.
[/QUOTE]
And in addition, there was a lot of concern about reintegrating vets into civilian life. Things like ladies magazines offering advice to the wives of returning vets, etc.
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### Author:  [@Internut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Internut)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/26 "2008-05-29T06:47:42Z")
[QUOTE=Jpal]
Do this please. Movies are much too stylized.
[/QUOTE]
I wasn’t able to get to it today, sorry.. And I was even on a floor that deals mostly with the elderly.. It was just too crazy an evening.
I’ll see what I can do tomorrow.
I must note, though, many of the people I know of who were alive at this time don’t actually remember very much.. Dementia and Alzheimer’s being a factor in many of the patients I work with. I know there are some, though, that will remember those few years.. So I’ll see what I can do.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/27 "2008-05-29T08:21:41Z")
I happen to be fascinated by the late 1940s era in the U.S.A., and if I had a chance to live in any period of U.S. history, that would be it.
• The complete [University of Wisconsin Badger Yearbooks](http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/UW/subcollections/UWYearBksAbout.html) from that era are available for browsing online (click on “Browse Badger Yearbooks” near the top left of that page). A treasure trove of photos.
• But the majority of Americans over the age of 25 had not completed high school.
• Radio, newspapers, magazines, books, motion pictures, and phonograph records were the mass media of the day.
• [Network radio programs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_old-time_radio_programs) of that era.
• Only 0.5% of U.S. households had a [television set](http://www.tvhistory.tv/1946-1949.htm) in 1946, 9% did in 1950.
• Network television wasn’t quite there yet. The television networks made the link from the East Coast to Chicago by 1949, but didn’t hit the West Coast until 1951. [Network television schedules](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_network_television_schedules).
• The long playing, 33-1/2 rpm vinyl record was introduced in 1948. But thick, [78 rpm shellac records](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_record#78_rpm_materials) remained the standard well into the 1950s.
• The most popular weekly magazines were _Time_, _Newsweek_, _Life_, _The Saturday Evening Post_, and _[Collier’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collier%27s_Weekly)_. The Sunday newspaper supplement _The American Weekly_ could also be counted among those.
• [Women’s fashions from the 1940s](http://www.costumegallery.com/1940.htm).
• [Best selling novels in the U.S.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bestselling_novels_in_the_United_States_in_the_1940s), by year.
• Movies of American life in that era: _The Best Years of Our Lives_ (1946), _It’s a Wonderful Life_ (1946), _The Naked City_ (1948), _Miracle on 34th Street_ (1947), _White Heat_ (1949), _Gentleman’s Agreement_ (1947), _Body and Soul_ (1947), _Champion_ (1949), _Intruder in the Dust_ (1949), _The Egg and I_ (1947), _The Stranger_ (1947), _A Letter to Three Wives_ (1949), _Pinky_ (1949), _Come to the Stable_ (1949), _It Happens Every Spring_ (1949), _On the Town_ (1949).
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/28 "2008-05-29T08:33:44Z")
• [_Time_](http://www.time.com/time/searchresults?sid=11A33CBDD684&Ntk=WithBodyDate&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ns=p_date_sort%7c0&Nf=p_date_range%7cBTWN+19450901+19491231&N=46&Nty=1) magazines of the late 1940s.
• [_Life_](http://www.life.com/Life/cover_search/results/1,26376,,00.html?coverkeyword=Enter+Keywords&startMonth=9&startYear=1945&endMonth=12&endYear=1949&x=27&y=11) magazine covers of the late 1940s.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/29 "2008-05-29T09:04:23Z")
• [_Billboard_’s top 5 popular singles of the year](http://www.trivia-library.com/songs-top-5-popular-songs-singles-from-1946-1977/index.htm), 1946–1977.
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### Author:  [@Internut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Internut)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/30 "2008-05-30T06:43:05Z")
Very little luck so far…
The only person I ran into today that would actually remember that time in their life just said they were happy we beat the Nazis… They didn’t say much else.
I’ll keep on looking.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/31 "2008-05-30T07:36:30Z")
[Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails](http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#40hors) from a 1944 cookbook.
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### Author:  [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/32 "2008-05-30T13:14:09Z")
For women, 1947 brought the [New Look](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dior) from Dior, a radically redefined silhouette after years of war austerity.
> [@wikipedia](#):
>
> The New Look was the name given to the women’s clothing fashions introduced by Parisian fashion designer Christian Dior in the spring of 1947. This collection influenced fashion and other designers for over ten years. The signature shape – characterized by a below-mid-calf length, full-skirt, large bust, and small waist – was hugely popular after a short initial period of rejection, largely in reaction to the short, skimpy dresses required by wartime textile rationing. The actual phrase the “New Look” was coined by the powerful editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar, Carmel Snow. Dior’s debut collection, Corolle line, was first presented on February 12, 1947.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/33 "2008-05-30T13:53:07Z")
Keep in mind that what we remember as the cultural 1950s didn’t hit until the mid to late 50s, and endured until about 1963-64. The '55 Chevy had modest fins and chromework that was exaggerated in later models. It took until 1955 for a rock and roll song to hit #1 in record sales.
The early 1950s were pretty close to the late 1940s culturally. A pretty fair representation of this on TV in recent decades was _MASH_.
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### Author:  [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/34 "2008-05-30T14:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=Internut]
Very little luck so far..
The only person I ran into today that would actually remember that time in their life just said they were happy we beat the Nazis.. They didn’t say much else.
I’ll keep on looking.
[/QUOTE]
Sure do feel the loss of **David Simmons** at this point. Imagine what stories he’d share with us.
In fact, your best bet might be to do a search of his posts.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/35 "2008-05-30T14:45:49Z")
**Mr. Moto** has a good point. The post-war in the U.S. from 1946 through 1963 can be considered one major era, divided into two sub-eras somewhere around 1953-1955.
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### Author:  [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/36 "2008-05-30T15:48:14Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon]
[Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails](http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#40hors) from a 1944 cookbook.
[/QUOTE]
That was…eye opening.
I was taking a look at the spread-your-owns and am trying to wrap my head around putting a hot dog in a blender and spreading it on a cracker.
Plus, people _drank_ clam juice as a first course? :eek:
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/37 "2008-05-30T16:41:00Z")
[QUOTE=overlyverbose]
I was taking a look at the spread-your-owns and am trying to wrap my head around putting a hot dog in a blender and spreading it on a cracker.
[/QUOTE]
Don’t forget the mustard, sour pickles, and mayonnaise. That’s basically a homemade version of the “sandwich spread” found at any supermarket deli counter today.
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### Author:  [@Skylark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skylark)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/38 "2008-05-31T02:12:35Z")
Somebody already got to this, but the Tiki Bar scene was getting really big at the time what with all the returning Sailors and Marines from the Pacific. _South Pacific_ came out in this time. I’d suggest a conservative haircut and a few bottles of Sailor Jerry’s and some Mai Tais.
The Black Dahlia case also happened in this time, in 1947. A heavily stylized movie of this came out in 2006.
As has already been said, a lot of the early 1950s was just a continuation of the late 1940s (or 1946 the start of the 1950s), so there’s a lot of room to fudge in a strictly 1952 element and I don’t think people would mind too much.
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/39 "2008-05-31T02:37:52Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
The fifties had a culture. So did the twenties and the seventies. The sixties had two cultures: early and late.
[/QUOTE]
What do mean by that exactly? Culture doesn’t change according to a calendar. A lot of stuff was happening in the 40s.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/40 "2008-05-31T02:46:18Z")
[QUOTE=Skylark]
The Black Dahlia case also happened in this time, in 1947. A heavily stylized movie of this came out in 2006.
[/QUOTE]
The movie was based on James Ellroy’s book. The book was great.
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