# 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:** 11
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Internut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Internut)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/41 "2008-05-31T03:27:39Z")
I asked one resident who was younger and remembered a lot more than the others I work with on occasion… He said the biggest thing was people dressed up more, even into the 50s… but more so in the late 40s.
That and music from any time later is “no good crap”.
All I’ve got so far… and I’m off this weekend so don’t know if this thread will last longer than that.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/42 "2008-05-31T04:13:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What do mean by that exactly? Culture doesn’t change according to a calendar. A lot of stuff was happening in the 40s.
True. But not all stuff is created equal. As this thread demonstrates, the icons and styles of the late forties were not particularly distinctive and/or memorable.
---
### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/43 "2008-05-31T04:30:31Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
As this thread demonstrates, the icons and styles of the late forties were not particularly distinctive and/or memorable.
[/QUOTE]
😕
See **Girl From Mars** , post #32 above.
---
### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/44 "2008-05-31T04:34:00Z")
Oh, and don’t forget that 1946 bombshell, the [bikini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini)!
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/45 "2008-05-31T04:43:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> See Girl From Mars, post #32 above.
I’m standing by what I’ve said. If a woman dresses like [this](http://cms.dallasvintageshop.com/wp-content/uploads/Image/zoot/pink_flapper_lady.jpg), you think 1920s. If she dresses like [this](http://www.ck-blog.com/cks_blog/images/2007/05/12/15hippy1_2.jpg), you think 1960s. But is she’s dressed like [this](http://www.geocities.com/ther_over/newlook.jpg), you don’t automatically think 1940s. (In fact, when I was searching to find these images, I found more references to the “New Look” being a Fifties style rather than a Forties one.)
---
### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/46 "2008-05-31T16:09:30Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
I’m standing by what I’ve said. If a woman dresses like [this](http://cms.dallasvintageshop.com/wp-content/uploads/Image/zoot/pink_flapper_lady.jpg), you think 1920s. If she dresses like [this](http://www.ck-blog.com/cks_blog/images/2007/05/12/15hippy1_2.jpg), you think 1960s. But is she’s dressed like [this](http://www.geocities.com/ther_over/newlook.jpg), you don’t automatically think 1940s. (In fact, when I was searching to find these images, I found more references to the “New Look” being a Fifties style rather than a Forties one.)
[/QUOTE]
I think the point is that you’re using those numbers as if they mean something … like because a specific image isn’t conjured up by the arbitrary sequence “1940” that somehow that period of time is deficient compared to the others. That’s the fallacy. Life isn’t lived according to the numbers that flip by on the calendar and cultural icons are not really related to the numbers.
---
### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/47 "2008-05-31T16:25:07Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray]
I think the point is that you’re using those numbers as if they mean something … like because a specific image isn’t conjured up by the arbitrary sequence “1940” that somehow that period of time is deficient compared to the others. That’s the fallacy. Life isn’t lived according to the numbers that flip by on the calendar and cultural icons are not really related to the numbers.
[/QUOTE]
The '50s didn’t really end until the mid-'60s. The '60s didn’t end until 1974.
---
### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/48 "2008-05-31T16:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
But is she’s dressed like [this](http://www.geocities.com/ther_over/newlook.jpg), you don’t automatically think 1940s.
[/QUOTE]
Maybe because that photo is from the 1950s.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/49 "2008-05-31T17:30:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> because a specific image isn’t conjured up by the arbitrary sequence “1940” that somehow that period of time is deficient compared to the others
I asked if the late forties had a distinctive image and I feel it’s clear they didn’t. But I never said or implied any deficiency from that. Maybe I admire the late forties for the stealthy way they slid through history without leaving a mark - they were ninja years.
---
### Author:  [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/50 "2008-05-31T17:38:34Z")
And those damn kids didn’t use to run across my lawn!
---
### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796/51 "2008-05-31T18:06:32Z")
[QUOTE=Girl From Mars]
For women, 1947 brought the [New Look](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dior) from Dior, a radically redefined silhouette after years of war austerity.
[/QUOTE]
In 1948, though it’s little known or cared about today, _Esquire_ magazine and several men’s clothiers rolled out the [Bold Look](http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=23107&highlight=bold+look+1948), very probably in response to the New Look.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-forties-culture/450796.md?page=2)