Vickie Rozell

Director/Dramaturg, Author, Editor

Most Americans have lived through a war, whether it was in Iraq, the Persian Gulf, or Vietnam. The experiences of those at home during those conflicts, however, pale in comparison to what Americans at home experienced during World War II.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the US found itself at war on two fronts, in Europe and the Pacific. Young men, who were the majority of the workforce because it was not common for women to work at the time, were being drafted by the thousands. This meant not only replacement labor, but raw materials for “the war effort” were required in huge numbers.

To fill the labor shortage many women who had not previously worked outside the home went to work. Suddenly there were job openings and women took advantage, some seizing an opportunity and some out of necessity. They riveted airplanes and performed all kinds of “heavy labor” jobs they had previously been considered incapable of doing.

Manufacturing also changed as companies stopped producing consumer goods like washing machines, producing parts for bombers and warships instead. That meant you couldn’t go to the store and buy a new dryer, you had to have your old one fixed because new ones simply weren’t available--the manufacturer was making airplane parts instead.

In addition, many goods including gasoline, shoes, sugar, most kinds of meat, and canned goods were rationed. Each person received a certain number of points to “spend” per month on each item and if you didn’t have the points, you couldn’t buy the item —period. It wasn’t just a matter of paying more money to get these items, if you tried to get more than your share, you were often met with the question, “Don’t you know there’s a war on?”

Other goods, like nylon stockings, couldn’t be purchased at all, the fabric was going to the war effort. Instead of wearing stockings, then, women would “make-up” their legs to look like they were wearing them, painting their legs the appropriate color and drawing lines to simulate the seams up the back of stockings at the time.

There were also scarcities of goods needed either for manufacturing or for use on the home front. This resulted in a nationwide scavenger hunt for raw materials including tires, scrap metal, toothpaste tubes, newspaper and other waste paper, used stockings, and bacon grease. All were used in various ways to make weapons.

The war impacted people’s lives in other ways as well. The Office of War Mobilization enacted a nationwide curfew of midnight for all bars and nightclubs in order to save fuel. This is also the time that automatic withholding of income taxes began and the government raised additional funds by selling war bonds, often with the help of celebrities.

This war also didn’t spare the famous. Entertainers and sports heroes including Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Clark Gable, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio saw active service. Movies supported the efforts of the fighting men and women and graphic art encouraging Americans to do everything from buying war bonds to carpooling (“When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler”) to enlisting was common. This is also the time of the All-American Girls Baseball League (immortalized in the movie A League of their Own) as thousands of men went to war and the sports industry tried to fill the void.

Clearly, unlike the wars since then, no aspect of America’s life was unaffected by WWII. From the food Americans ate, to the entertainment we watched, to the loss of a family member, the war changed everyone, and changed the American way of life, forever.

© Vickie Rozell, All Rights Reserved

Reproduction only with permission