1942

Articles from 1942

Here Comes Denim (Collier’s Magazine, 1942)

Nine months into the war the American fashion industry awoke to discover that one of the most sought after cottons being purchased domestically was denim.


Denim was first seen in 1853, worn by the men who panned for gold in California. When faced with hard labor, this sturdy twill had proven its worth again and again, and when the American home front recognized that there was a great deal of work to be done in the fields and factories if the war was to be won, they slipped on jeans and denim coveralls and saw the job through.


Who on Sixth Avenue could have known back then that denim would be the main-stay in American sportswear for decades to come?


A far more thorough history of blue jeans can be read here.

Air-Raid Wardens on the Home Front (ClicK Magazine, 1942)

The Congressional Declaration of War was a mere five months old when this photo-essay appeared that documented the earliest days of the American Civil Defense efforts during the Second World War. At this point in the war, the Marines were still three months away from landing on Guadalcanal and the Army wouldn’t be arriving in North Africa for another six months – but the neighborhood volunteers of the Civil Defense seemed to be prepared.

He Censored The Mail (American Magazine, 1942)

During the Second Word War all mail headed out of the country and all inbound mail from foreign locales fell under the discerning eyes of U.S. Post Office censors. The censors, all 15,000 of them, were under the command a U.S. Army cryptologist named Colonel W. Preston Corderman; click the title link above to learn more about him.


Click here to read about censoring the mail during W.W. I.

Posters For Encouragement (Newsweek Magazine, 1942)

There were many varieties of posters to be found on the American home front of W.W. II – most depicting sweaty barrel-chested young men. Yet in the factories another type was prevalent, these were the ones that showed the non-heroic faces of the average American worker. Below these images would be found simple quotes declaring their unique patriotic reasons for laboring on the production lines. This article recalls who dreamed them up and how popular they were.

Fair Employment Laws Enforced (PM Tabloid, 1942)

Some six months prior to Pearl Harbor FDR signed Executive Order 8802 which made it illegal for defense contractors to discriminate based on race or religious faith. Eight months later the President’s Committee on Fair Employment Practices was convened in New York City to review the evidence at hand indicating that numerous defense contractors were failing to comply with the law.

The Addict’s Plight (Newsweek Magazine, 1942)

The war in the Pacific interrupted the flow of illegal narcotics to the United States. By the Spring of 1942 opioids were becoming scarcer and the prices were predicted to rise. Drug suppliers turned to an untested source closer to home: Latin America.


Click here to read aboutdrug addiction in the Twenties.

The New Normal (United States News, 1942)

This was an important article for its time. It seems hard to believe, but it took the Federal Government the full six months after Pearl Harbor to figure out how the home front would be governed and what would be rationed. This article heralds that new day and clarified how the war would affect their salaries, savings, education, shopping, clothing, taxes, leisure time, transportation and their general manner of living:


In 1944, a class of sixth graders wrote General Eisenhower and asked him how they can help in the war effort; click here to read his response…


Click here food rationing at U.S. POW camps.

The American Draft Dodgers (The American Magazine, 1942)

This article consists of assorted stories that illustrate the length some American men would go in order to stay out of the military during the Second World War. The article also tells of draft evasion during the First World War.


Click here to read a 1945 article about your average Massachusetts draft board.

Shortages (PM Tabloid, 1942)

The Japanese now are permitted fuel for their homes for only two months of the year and the prices are so high that many homes are without heat the year around.

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