For many of us war-babies, memories of our childhood in the post-war period rush in like fragments of a dream.
Our fathers suddenly appear. Our mothers, too, seem more present in our memories. Maybe we recall new brothers and sisters who pestered us or older ones who we pestered. Riding in the family car, jostling our siblings and playing "license plates" and other car games, perhaps on our way to visit grandparents or uncles, aunts and cousins. Family picnics, birthdays weddings, anniversaries, maybe even funerals.
We might remember listening to the radio---soap operas, comedy shows, and even some news of a fast changing world. Spending Saturday afternoons at the movies---watching a double feature plus newsreels, previews, cartoons, and a short documentary.
Playing with friends--- see-saws, swings and a jungle gym in the park; hop-scotch scrawled in chalk on sidewalks; skipping rope, playing tag, keep away, and just plain catch; cops & robbers or was it cowboys and Indians? Dressing up for make-believe, playing checkers and other board games, sneaking into forbidden places. If we grew up in northern climes, we might recall sledding and skating in winter. If we lived near water or had access to a public swimming pool, we probably began to learn how to swim, float, and dive.
Schooling has begun for us and we recall some of our classmates, especially those who remain in our lives through the rest of our school days. Some of us remember our teachers, as they looked then, their names perhaps fading into the past. We might recall certain episodes from our schooling and we know that we learned to read, although we may not recall exactly how or when.
For most kids, every year followed the same basic sequence that started with going back to school around Labor Day in late August or early September.
In October, we may have listened to the World Series on the radio with our parents and on October 31, just about all of us would have donned costumes our mothers made for us to go out "trick or treating" for Halloween.
If we lived in a city or large town, on November 11we may have watched a military parade in observance of Armistice Day (renamed Veterans Day in 1954), a national holiday that celebrated the end of World War I on this date in 1919 (just 30 years or so ago). Later that month, most of us enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner often with our extended families.
Winter began in December with Christmas shopping, a visit with Santa Claus at a Department Store, and for many of us with the first snow of the season. We had a long school vacation that stretched from a day or two before Christmas Day until the first weekday of the new year. During that week we enjoyed our presents, slept late, played with friends in the neighborhood, attended local holiday performances, and often got taken to visit our parents' families and friends.
Then it was back to school for a solid six weeks until the week of (George) Washington's birthday, which for many of us marked a week-long mid-winter vacation. In many parts of the country, the colder weather kept us indoors during most of January and February, so this was when many of us caught colds and various childhood communicable diseases like mumps, measles, and chicken pox, all of which are now a rarity due to vaccinations developed in later decades.
For many of us "March came in like a lion and left like a lamb." From winter to spring in just one month, a month that often included Easter and Passover. On March 17, many of us kids sported green clothing for St. Patrick's Day whether or not we were of Irish descent, just as many of us participated in Easter Egg hunts whether or not we were Christians.
From Spring vacation until end of school (sometime in June) the weather was fine and the time flew by for us... although the last few days often dragged so much it seemed like weeks.
Then school was out and it was blessed summer. Light outside until after 9 PM. Sleep late. Free time. Play. Swim... although a dark memory now stirs as we recall how worried our parents were that we could be struck down by polio.
OK, it did get boring sometimes having nothing special to do. But, all in all, our fondest memories of childhood were of summertime.
And then it's Labor Day again, perhaps with Labor Day Parade, and next day back to school.
But what did we kids know about what was happening beyond our families and neighborhoods? Most of us probably knew or understood very little.
This is why the descriptions above often refer to: some, many or most of us, not to all of us. Not every child of the war generation experienced life in these ways. Not only were there geographical differences like those who might live in colder parts of the country, but there were also racial, ethnic, and social class differences. Many Native Americans, for example, may not have celebrated Thanksgiving and likely wouldn't have been playing at "cowboys and Indians." Many American families were too poor to enjoy many of the pleasures of life described above.
And despite having served loyally and effectively for our country fighting against the forces of fascism in World War II, tens of thousands of African-American men returned to find that they and their families were still treated as second-class citizens, denied well-paying jobs, the ability to buy homes, the opportunity to get a first class education or send their children to college, and thus the wherewithal to partake of the greatly expanded opportunities that white Americans had begun to enjoy in the burgeoning economy of post-war America.
Returning From War; Returning to Racism
How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black World War II Veterans
And what about our mothers and aunts who during the war may have worked in jobs that had prior to the war been "men's work?" Women's Roles After WW II
And the Baby Boom?
For those who would like to read, see, hear some additional accounts of these first post-war years, here are some more links:
The Rise of the American Dream and the Forces that Made America
Post War Gender Roles and Women in American Politics
Learning from the War: Mexican Americans and Their Fight for Equality after World War II
American Masculinity After Word War II
WW II and American Indians: After the War
The Journey of Reconciliation--the First Freedom Rides
The State of Israel Proclaimed
The 1948 Presidential Election
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
The Kinsey Report on Sexual Behavior
The End of the Golden Age (of Radio) and the Rise of Television
I invite readers to send me other links, particularly ones that might provide a broader cultural context than may be represented here. Once again, especially welcomed would be more "her-story" and less "his-story," as well as the stories from the lives of non-caucasian people.
Timelines of the Post-War 1940s in America (links)
1945 (begin with September)
No comments:
Post a Comment