View Full Version : Americana - mesmerizing pics from the 40's
There are some wonderful images here:
http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp
I saw those some time ago. truly beautiful.
flowerseverywhere
3-31-13, 3:10pm
beautiful. Some of the scenes remind me of my childhood- although it was a few years later modernization was starting. Anyone notice how thin everyone was, and the outfits they wore? Many of the rural scenes had women and children in feedsack dresses.
I can enjoy these every time I see them. There is some simple living there.
These are from Library of Congress collection. They have an incredible collection of photos and other documents on-line with a pretty decent search engine. The photos can be viewed, downloaded, and ordered as prints. I spent many cold winter nights this year browsing places I've been and topics of interest.
Great pics. I enjoyed them all.
Life from that era seems so authentic.
reminds me of the wonderful site www.shorpy.com which also has photos from the LOC as well as reader-submitted photos up until around 1970 time frame.
Fantastic pics! Notice how many school children in #20 didn't have shoes on! And pic #48 showed a switchman on the railroad. That's what my Grandpap did.
So much to look at in each and every picture.
Yeah, authentically grim, poverty stricken, and segregated.
Tussiemussies
3-31-13, 10:05pm
Enjoyed browsing through all of the photographs. It's interesting to see that time period in color.
Thanks for posting...
Those were great pictures.
flowerseverywhere
4-1-13, 6:47am
Yeah, authentically grim, poverty stricken, and segregated.
yes, but that is what makes them so great. It is easy to forget just how segregated things were a short time ago, and be happy for all the gains that people have fought for. When I was a child for a mix raced couple to walk hand and hand down the street was an invitation to violence. Now, that is a commonplace occurrence. And if you have enough to eat, some clothes to wear and a roof over your head you didn't know any better because everyone you knew was like that before the age of TV. People lived in small houses, kids bunked together in rooms and wore hand me downs and you ate what was in season, not what was trucked and flown in from around the world. I did not know people who went on airplanes or even went on vacations. Some things were better back then and the really bad things, with the help of social programs and brave women and people of color have changed much for the better. Life will never be perfect so it is up to us to make the bad things better and this is a great reminder.
By authentic, I mean it is not staged, branded or otherwise marketed as so many images seem to be currently. It is gritty and real.
They also reminded me of how little we really need to live. Yes, some of the pics were of poverty, but some where just how life was without alot of junk.
Thank you for posting these, Bae. I really enjoyed viewing them. I also was struck by the authenticity. Did you notice the dugout family, how the dad's thumb was totally bandaged? I love that kind of detail. It makes you question why or what happened. There are so many stories out of that time period.
The Storyteller
4-1-13, 11:41am
I think they are beautiful. Thanks bae.
My library is getting rid of all of its old magazines, because so much is digital now days. I bought Life and Time magazines, bound volumes going back to the early 30s, because I love stuff like this. History as it was being lived, how people saw themselves then, as opposed to how we see them now through the prism of history books and 21st century sensibilities. I spend hours browsing through them.
Sadly, I have neither the room nor the extra cash to purchase some of the other sets (Newsweek, US News, Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic...). Hopefully they will go to someone who appreciates their value as much as I do.
The ephemeral nature of today's digital information concerns me.
I agree that it is striking to see pictures from that era in color. We are so used to black and white versions of images like that. I enjoyed looking that them. I just spent ALL last week studying for two US history exams that I took on Saturday morning (passed them both, woohoo! That's 6 more college credits in my pocket) so, it was especially timely for me to look at these. Much of the second test (US History II, 1877-present) covered the Depression, New Deal, WWII, and post war (naturally).
Kara
The ephemeral nature of today's digital information concerns me.
Storyteller, I'm curious why you believe digital information is more ephemeral than printed information?
Magnificent. Sure... there was poverty and segregation, but I'll bet people didn't have two and three top of the line vehicles sitting in the driveway out front as a way of calling out to the world, "look at us", nor was there any worries over granite countertops and round-the-world luxury holidays.
Maybe the 40's is a wee-bit early for me to get all bleary-eyed about, but I'd sign-up to go back to the 1960's and stay there forever (in a second)! People, today, have lost their people skills... everyone out for themselves. Broken morals and class.
People, today, have lost their people skills... everyone out for themselves. Broken morals and class.
I agree that a me-first attitude is very prevalent in the U.S. today. However, I think that's an attitude that's been nurtured carefully over the last 30 years. We are only reaping the "benefits" of pitting Americans against each other in a manufactured game of winner-take-all.
However, societies which are very much self-deprecating and group-oriented have their problems, too, as any ethnic minority person in Japan can tell you. And I would guess that American society in the '60s wasn't viewed quite so brightly by persons of color, or followers of non-Christian religions, or gays.
Maybe the 40's is a wee-bit early for me to get all bleary-eyed about, but I'd sign-up to go back to the 1960's and stay there forever (in a second)! People, today, have lost their people skills... everyone out for themselves. Broken morals and class.
It probably goes without saying that there was more racial and gender bias back in the 60's, but I agree that society has grown more impersonal. It seems like there were more community related group activities through churches, men's and women's organizations and clubs, scouts, school bands, impromptu sports games, and the like back then. I grew up in a town of about 100,000 and neighborhoods seemed close and helped each other out. People would get out and walk in the evening and chat with folks out in their yards.
It seems like nowadays, with so many busy double income families, and the ease of electronic media and social media, people skills are less personal, if not going away. I'm with you Mrs. M.
I just re-watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the umpteenth time yesterday and it reminds me of the photos. Jem and Scout sharing a room and hanging out together, wearing scruffy play clothes. The lawyer Dad living in a modest home. And of course the grim spector of racism and poverty everywhere.
SteveinMN and Rogar. I remember (growing up in the 70's) everyone helped one another and supported one another, and no day was too busy to spend a few minutes chatting with someone over whatever. So much friendlier back then, and people seemed to really care about others.
Additionally, the little things, meant a lot back then. I'm thinking back to church bazaars, church teas, and community centre plays and things. Seemed the entire town was always there, and going out for coffee with friends really meant something. Even when I was still in school (senior high) us girls used to get-together regularly in the evening for coffee somewhere. We never grew tired or bored of each others company.
On weekends we did the Drive-in thing... always had a ball! Re: money, you were good-to-go if you had a two dollar bill in your purse/pocket! For those times when you came up short, someone was always there to help pay your way, because reciprocation was big back then, and whoever helped one weekend, was sure to be repaid (in full) the next. That's just the way it was back then. It was a given.
To add, what I particularly loved about the 70's and 80's, was the informal way people did things. I recall a few moms from the neighbourhood dropping by our house to secure babysitting, and my oldest sister and I, always happy to accept. Nowadays, babysitting, has gone by wayside compared to when I was a teen. Heck, I even had trouble finding babysitters fifteen some odd years ago.
Yeah... everything back then was way more family/fun oriented. I miss those days a lot. You were welcome nearly everywhere.
Yeah... everything back then was way more family/fun oriented. I miss those days a lot. You were welcome nearly everywhere.
This makes me sad that you don't have community/family support in your life today. I sincerely hope you can reach out to friends and acquaintances to organize some of the events that you used to enjoy from your childhood. Often it just takes one person to get something started; you might find that others are just waiting for someone else to make the first move. If you don't know enough people where you live, maybe join some volunteer organizations or other groups to meet new people. That has worked very well for us to build community in our lives.
Good luck!
Kara
This makes me sad that you don't have community/family support in your life today. I sincerely hope you can reach out to friends and acquaintances to organize some of the events that you used to enjoy from your childhood. ...
Kara
Speaking only for myself, I was commenting not so much from a personal perspective, but an observation (if not lament) of significant social changes that affect all of us. To a degree, we indeed make our own community, but there is also a basic social fabric that is different and less personal. I think.
There are other social things from those earlier eras that are not so good.
ApatheticNoMore
4-2-13, 3:14pm
Yea you can build your little subculture with some people you know for a community and call that subculture your community (actually I'd encourage it lacking anything better), but it doesn't really erase the fact that life within your larger community in the true sense, is impersonal (you may still not know any of your neighbors to give the obvious example).
Yea you can build your little subculture with some people you know for a community and call that subculture your community (actually I'd encourage it lacking anything better), but it doesn't really erase the fact that life within your larger community in the true sense, is impersonal (you may still not know any of your neighbors to give the obvious example).
Everyone is going to look at this through their own lens, and that completely makes sense. But I would caution the over-generalizations here. We each only live in our own community and can only praise or complain about it in real terms. Everything else is conjecture. If I believe that there is real connection in my community, then I am right. If you think all of your interactions are impersonal, then you are right. I was just moved to offer suggestions to those who are unhappy with their circumstances.
Sure, I admit that in a general sense there are things to complain about in modern society, but I get tired of that negativity in my own life. So I like to take action to improve things. It's in my nature to see the positives and to work to grow them. That doesn't mean I am mistaken or blind to reality.
Kara
Yeah, authentically grim, poverty stricken, and segregated.true - and of course 1940's Europe was a far cry from 1940's America. My Mom was a young girl in 1940's Germany so her reality was a bit harsher.
This makes me sad that you don't have community/family support in your life today. I sincerely hope you can reach out to friends and acquaintances to organize some of the events that you used to enjoy from your childhood. Often it just takes one person to get something started; you might find that others are just waiting for someone else to make the first move. If you don't know enough people where you live, maybe join some volunteer organizations or other groups to meet new people. That has worked very well for us to build community in our lives.
Good luck!
KaraMeetups.com!! A gazzilion social opportunities abound right outside people's front doors, they just need to get up and participate.
I don't see it as having a negative outlook to make an objective observation. There just have been some social changes in modern times compared to earlier eras. Guess it's just the scientist in me, but also may be a little conjecture.
For example, do kids tend to isolate themselves with TV or internet rather than going outdoors (or indoors) to play with friends? Is it too easy for families to watch TV after both working spouses have had a hard work day. Are there clubs and organizations that are common in communities where people can easily meet up with others. Are the strip mall and box stores as social as the old downtown businesses.
We are in a more mobile society where neighbors move more often and there is less of a chance to get to know people. Communities that were once united in industries like steel and auto production, or mining, family farms, or fishing and ship building are pretty much gone. Somehow I think there is a sense of distrust, fear, and suspicion that makes people more closed and often just don't want to meet new people. Kids don't trick or treat like they used to and people in a lot of neighborhoods are afraid to go out walking after dark. Parents don't allow their kids to walk or bike to school as much (or at all).
I guess the positive side to me is to try to be a part of some sort of change to make it better.
We are in a more mobile society where neighbors move more often and there is less of a chance to get to know people. Communities that were once united in industries like steel and auto production, or mining, family farms, or fishing and ship building are pretty much gone. Somehow I think there is a sense of distrust, fear, and suspicion that makes people more closed and often just don't want to meet new people. Kids don't trick or treat like they used to and people in a lot of neighborhoods are afraid to go out walking after dark. Parents don't allow their kids to walk or bike to school as much (or at all).
Exactly.
My main point was that the old days seemed better for people who were in the majority but less so for those who were not. The black family a few blocks over (if there was a black family in town at all) often was treated differently than the white families on the block. The gay teenager in high school had to stay in the closet and knew that staying in town likely would mean fending off well-intentioned blind dates and questions. These days people have far more freedom to be who they are.
And life is different now. When my mom and dad married, a wife that worked outside the home was almost an admission that the husband could not provide for his family. Today, of course, women work outside the home to make ends meet or even just because they want to. But that can take lots of time away from the family. So can the expectation that people live around the clock. Someone has to be managing the register at 9 pm at the Walmart. Someone has to work second shift at the factory. Many people with "8x5" jobs find they're on call or working to catch up anyway. There goes bowling league.
In the 50s and 60s, many women "chose" to live with abuse rather than leave the abuser and make their way with kids but on their own. Even today single parenting is a challenge.
Out here in Minnesota, some rural communities got only one or two TV stations, not the dozens that appear now through the cable box. There was no FM radio, no Internet. On the other hand, we also didn't have 24-hour news cycles that scare the bleep out of parents with heavy coverage of abductions and school shootings. Budget cuts weren't closing mental hospitals and prisons and turning people out onto the street even though maybe they shouldn't have been freed.
I hear what you're saying, Mrs-M. I miss the America in which there was a code for behavior in public -- no cursing, no spitting, wear something clean and decent and not provocative. The America where the key to getting noticed wasn't to do such extreme things you wonder how the next folks can top what you've just seen or heard of. But we don't live in that country anymore. That's not entirely bad. But it's not entirely good, either.
My main point was that the old days seemed better for people who were in the majority but less so for those who were not. The black family a few blocks over (if there was a black family in town at all) often was treated differently than the white families on the block.
I guess it might come down to where you precepts of the past were derived. I came from a steel town where most everyone who wanted to work had a decent job that paid well enough to raise a family. People were generally proud of their work. Now there are large ghetto-like neighborhoods, drugs, and high unemployment.
As closely as I remember, African American families were scarce and were only treated differently because they were special. Only after the racial divisions of the late 60's did it even become an issue. I appreciate TV and the internet, I'm not so sure that it is a maker or breaker in terms of quality of life. There were always other thing to do, and they were possibly more social where people talked or played or joked.
There are most certainly two sides of things, but I don't think the present is clearly that much better. If you take gender and race bias out of the issue it tips more one way...but we are different in what we like.
I realize you were addressing Mrs.M, but I couldn't help myself.
There are most certainly two sides of things, but I don't think the present is clearly that much better.
Oh, I definitely wasn't asserting that today is clearly much better. All I was saying was that I think we can choose to improve our immediate surroundings so that we don't have to be sad that the old days are gone. Just because "society" is broken and horrible and impersonal and lacks morals and all the other negatives, doesn't mean our own lives, the way we spend our leisure time, and who we spend it with have to be. We do still have some control.
But I will go back to speaking for myself, rather than in generalizations. I enjoy history and like learning about then as compared to now. Those photos are a real window into some vanished ways of life, and for that, they are simply fascinating. I am so glad they were saved and have been shared!
Kara
This makes me sad that you don't have community/family support in your life today. I sincerely hope you can reach out to friends and acquaintances to organize some of the events that you used to enjoy from your childhood. Often it just takes one person to get something started; you might find that others are just waiting for someone else to make the first move. If you don't know enough people where you live, maybe join some volunteer organizations or other groups to meet new people. That has worked very well for us to build community in our lives.
Good luck!
KaraYou need not feel sad Re: my situation, for I (we) have an incredibly rich family unit (both immediate and extended), so no worries over love and care, nor enjoying life as it should be. I was simple expressing my thoughts on how I see our world and society today. People lack substance today, as compared to a few decades ago.
Through my own lens one issue is speed. Everything moves so fast now. All gratification is instant. People don't take the time to stop and talk the way they did when I was a kid. I remember my Dad saying we didn't have time to go to the post office. What he meant was that we had to be somewhere and it would take 45 minutes to get the mail because you stopped and talked to everyone you knew while you were there. It's still that way when I go visit my bucolic little hometown, but for most of us today that means we can't afford to stop for 2 minutes to park and run in and out. In our hyper-kinetic, production orientated lifestyles you just don't dare slow down or you'll get passed by or run over.
The same condition explains ever more outrageous public behavior, IMO. Where you used to have years to get to know the people around you, now you have sound bites. How bold do you have to be to draw attention if you only have a few seconds to make your statement? I find more pluses than minuses in modern life, but it would be nice to just relax and breath once in a while.
As closely as I remember, African American families were scarce and were only treated differently because they were special.
I grew up about 40 miles from New York City, so I was exposed to a variety of ethnicities, religions, and such, as I was growing up. Our neighbors were different, but so were we. :)
But rural Minnesota, where DW grew up, was quite different. DW was a tweenager before "Eye-talian" pizza was available in town. And -- unfortunately -- blacks/African-Americans were treated "special" with xenophobia and stereotypes. Things are much better in that town now, largely because it's been captured by the Minneapolis/St. Paul metroplex. But now outlying communities are seeing some of the same behaviors with a growing influx of Latino workers.
treehugger
4-3-13, 11:47am
You need not feel sad Re: my situation, for I (we) have an incredibly rich family unit (both immediate and extended), so no worries over love and care, nor enjoying life as it should be. I was simple expressing my thoughts on how I see our world and society today. People lack substance today, as compared to a few decades ago.
My apologies for misreading your posts.
Kara
It probably goes without saying that there was more racial and gender bias back in the 60's, but I agree that society has grown more impersonal. It seems like there were more community related group activities through churches, men's and women's organizations and clubs, scouts, school bands, impromptu sports games, and the like back then. I grew up in a town of about 100,000 and neighborhoods seemed close and helped each other out. People would get out and walk in the evening and chat with folks out in their yards.
It seems like nowadays, with so many busy double income families, and the ease of electronic media and social media, people skills are less personal, if not going away. I'm with you Mrs. M.
I actually feel that there are more things out there to get involved in now rather than less - and there certainly are more things for more "types" of people which weren't available back before the internet age - or at least a more socially tolerant age. If you were a single, divorced or widowed 40 plus female back in the 70's or earlier forget about having any kind of social life or even dating life unless it was thru a church or civic organization or maybe some other divorced female friends (as married friendships often fell to the wayside). Forget about getting involved in sports or recreational activites if you were older. Same with gay people, or racial minorities, etc.. There were very few opportunities or places where you could easily fit in if you weren't "like" the mainstream society of the time.
Now it's both socially acceptable and easy for many people (and for single women of a certain age like me :-)!) to get involved with so many activities, and participate in many varied things and groups of people sharing your same interests no matter what their age, race, gender, religion, economic status, political views, marital status, etc... There are so many ways to connect and get involved in many more and different things then ever before - it's pretty unlimited if one just puts themselves out there. I know I just checked meet ups in my area to see what's happening this coming Sat. And within a 25 miles radius there are over 5,000 (yes - five thousand) meet ups of every kind yo can imagine going on. Moms with kids, Dads with sports cars, politics, yoga, martial arts, religious retreats, museum and culture trips, skiing, yachting, hikes, bike rides, clubbing, dancing, movies, theatre, fine dining, cheap dining, ethnic dining, wine tasting, chese tasting, chocolate tasting, volleyball, baseball, basketball, roller skating, roller derby (my roller derby name is "The Hot Flash :-)!), , etc... etc...on and on and on. Something out there for everyone - at least in my area. Much better than back in the old days IMHO when social clubs or church groups often ostrasized certain people who didn't fit in and there was no where for those people to go that didn't fit in.
I actually feel that there are more things out there to get involved in now rather than less - and there certainly are more things for more "types" of people which weren't available back before the internet age - or at least a more socially tolerant age.....
Well, maybe these are the good old days. Some good points. If I were a single or career oriented female or a minority I would not want to turn the clock back even a couple of years. If I was raising a family and thought a stay at home mom would be the best family environment, modern times would put a financial strain on most. Though a stay at home Dad would be most unacceptable in the 60's. I think the original issue was not especially if there is more or less to do then or now, but whether our society is growing more impersonal. When I see a small group of young people sitting together in a restaurant (or nowadays maybe a fast food joint) and they are texting or talking on cell phones rather than conversing, I have to wonder. Or when families watch TV or surf the internet instead of board games or outdoor play, it doesn't make a clear cut picture for me favoring now over then. I suppose it all depends on perspective.
Bottom line for me is it's a fun issue to ponder and there are good things about both then and now. I like to think nostalgically about about earlier times, but maybe if the clock really were turned back, I would think differently.
Being into time travel, there are a couple of good books I read sort of recently. 11/22/63 by Steven King and Time and Again by Jack Finney. In both, the main character lives in the present and travels back to different eras. Eventually they have a choice of then or now and pick then after painting a more romantic notion of the past where people seem more vibrant. I guess I am like one of those, though now is pretty decent, too. (In both instances, the main character is a white male.)
Time and Again by Jack Finney
LOVED that book! It's probably been a couple-three decades since I read it, but I bought the whole premise. Very enjoyable.
11/22/63 by Steven King and Time I read the stephen king book (I am his number one fan afterall :-)!) and I agree that it painted a pretty picture - if you were a white man :-)! Hard for a black man or even a white woman to have the same freedoms as he did in 1960's america. But I do agree with you that people are very much less socially connected today than in the past - I partly blame that on TV, the internet, gaming, 2 career families, having to drive the kids everywhere to all sorts of activities, etc.. even the parents are always trying to fit in lot more social and recreational activities everyday. It an be exhausting. But on the other hand I also see more engaged families too. Dads are much more involved with the kids, families go on hikes and bike rides and picnics together, and just seem to spend time together more than we did as kids when Dads alway seemed to be working on the house or car or in the garage on days off work, and a stay at home Mom was tied to endless time consuming chores with little time to spend with the kids. I know that when more "modern" times came and more modern convienences, both my parents had a lot more free time to just hang out and do stuff with us kids. But of course when kids get older (teens) hanging with the parents is the last thing they want to do anyways :-)!
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