In 1939 Argentina, like the United States, is a neutral country as conflicts erupt around the world. Unlike the United States, Argentina remains neutral until the last couple of days of the war when they side with the Allies. During WWII the Navy seemed sympathetic to Germany while the Army leaned towards the Allies. This [...]
When a country is “liberated” mob violence often follows as passions are unleashed. In the 21st Century we witnessed it in Iraq, and in September, 1944 we see LIFE’s pictures of violence in Rome three and one half months after its liberation by the Allies. Seven thousand people, many of them relatives of Italians jailed, [...]
High school graduations in the spring of 1943 took on a serious tone although they may have looked outwardly the same as other years. In thousands of U.S. high schools, big and small, parties and picnics led up to the big day, and then the march from Aida called the graduates to order. Diplomas were [...]
Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918 as one of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The multi-ethnic state saw democracy flower until the country was betrayed in 1938 by the Allies at Munich. To appease Hitler, the Sudetenland part of the country was ceded to Germany. Hitler helped himself to the rest of the country [...]
In 1939 Argentina, like the United States, is a neutral country as conflicts erupt around the world. Unlike the United States, Argentina remains neutral until the last couple of days of the war when they side with the Allies. During WWII the Navy seemed sympathetic to Germany while the Army leaned towards the Allies. This neutral stance allows Argentina to sell goods to both sides thereby enhancing the country’s economic condition. Neutrality causes great suspicion and turmoil within the country. Major Guillermo MacHannaford, a descendant of an Irish immigrant to Argentina, was a victim and declared a traitor for selling secrets to Paraguay and Bolivia. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Tierra del Fuego in the gale-swept region of Cape Horn. The evidence against him was scant. What is known is that MacHannaford had been in command of President Roosevelt’s guard of honor during FDR’s trip to Buenos Aires in 1936. And powerful Argentine elements suspect that he is a spy for the U.S. and Great Britain. Was Argentina sending a message to the U.S. by severely punishing MacHannaford? He is finally pardoned in 1956 but TB and general prison conditions ruin his health. He died in 1961 silent and forgotten.
In February, 1939 war is still a distant notion to most Americans. Japanese propaganda introduced New Year’s kewpie doll post cards as a way to make the war in China seem like a playful game to Japanese children. They are immensely successful in Japan and help to soften the fact that the Japanese invasion has already killed 2,000,000 Chinese. Here we see a kewpie having great fun dropping bombs on innocent civilians. There we have a kewpie doll with his little flame thrower. As LIFE states, “…the enemy is described as an effeminate, disorganized weakling and the war as a great game.” Kewpie dolls were first illustrated in the US in the early part of the 20th Century, and these were transformed into dolls over the next several years, particularly by German manufacturers.
The Curtiss Wright Hawk 75A is shown above going, “Ten miles a minute.” Curtis Wright estimated the plane reached 600 m.p.h. in this nose dive. A few days later the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics said speed over 500 m.p.h. was aerodynamically impossible. The monoplane design and extensive use of metal in its construction ushers in a new generation of combat fighter aircraft. Evolving into the P-36A, over 200 were ordered in 1937. Its outstanding turning radius and fast climbing performance are attractive features. At the beginning of WWII the P-36 is replaced by the Curtiss Wright P-40, and remaining P-36s play a marginal role in WWII.
American housing in the late 1930′s is in bad shape and LIFE teams up with a few prominent architects including Frank Lloyd Wright and Royal Barry Wills to build 27 homes around the country. The intent is to have them serve as models of how future homes could be designed efficiently and attractively. At this point in time home building is a local affair and not scalable across the country. There were no regional or national homebuilders. It is only after WWII that homebuilding begins to incorporate some elements of mass production techniques to meet the pent up demand for housing caused by returning GI’s and their young families.
This week’s cover of LIFE, when closely scrutinized, discloses that Susi Lanner’s hair in the back is held together by a small black bow. George Washington and other fashion forward gentlemen of his period also wore bows at the nap of the neck. One basic difference is that the gentlemen wore wigs, also known as perukes. This fashion statement did not have legs and was not reignited, although certain British barristers continue to use them.
When a country is “liberated” mob violence often follows as passions are unleashed. In the 21st Century we witnessed it in Iraq, and in September, 1944 we see LIFE’s pictures of violence in Rome three and one half months after its liberation by the Allies. Seven thousand people, many of them relatives of Italians jailed, tortured or killed by Fascists and their German partners, dragged an Italian collaborator out of court, beat him, threw him in the Tiber River and drowned him. Pietro Caruso, Fascist Chief of Police in Rome was sparred the mob and ordered to death by a court under the aegis of the Allied Control Commission. Caruso was tied to a chair with his back to the executioners in the classic Italian manner. His last words were “Aim well!” They did. Street fights broke out between the Italian Christian Democrats and Communists. France was experiencing similar disruptions and the Communists were the strongest political force. Many observers and experts feared in late 1944 that the victories the Allies brought to Europe might not mean a productive peace but a dark and bloody future ruled by Communists.
Buying habits of consumers were restricted by rationing in WWII. Automobiles, tires, gasoline, bicycles, oil, stoves, coffee, shoes and typewriters were among items rationed or affected by the conversion from consumer goods to war products. This was leading to a significant decease in advertising in 1942. Why would companies advertising something they couldn’t sell? The IRS stepped in and ruled that ads featuring a wartime theme or that promoted the war effort were a tax deduction for businesses. This ruling averted a crisis situation for advertising and print media like LIFE benefited greatly. As a result, advertising stopped declining and eventually increased significantly during the war. All of the above ads in LIFE were considered war-related, even the Westinghouse Laundromat, since its availability was restricted due to the war, and this met the IRS qualifications for deduction.
The Oldsmobile ad featuring “The Kruegers of Chicago” was typical of wartime advertising by a company that couldn’t make the product it was selling. It focuses on a model Home Front family headed by Mr. Krueger who just happens to drive an Oldsmobile. Here are some of their “war work” activities: keeping in touch with neighborhood boys in the service; War Bond Drives; salvage campaigns; volunteer work on surgical dressings; home canning; carpooling; transporting war material to sub-contractors. The ad points out that all of this wouldn’t be possible without a reliable car for time saving transportation, which Mr. Krueger keeps in top shape with Oldsmobile care at his Oldsmobile dealer. While the Kruegers may have been exceptional in their contributions to the war effort, all Americans in one way or another on the Home Front experienced sacrifice and delayed gratification because of rationing. Unlike future American wars, the country was “all in” on the Home Front and in the various theaters of war. We believed we were not only preserving America but building for the day that would see a greater, happier nation filled once again with new cars and finer homes…a vital, growing America.
High school graduations in the spring of 1943 took on a serious tone although they may have looked outwardly the same as other years. In thousands of U.S. high schools, big and small, parties and picnics led up to the big day, and then the march from Aida called the graduates to order. Diplomas were issued and speeches made. But this graduation for the boys meant leaving home and surrendering whatever remained of their boyhood. They were off to war and immediately inducted into the armed services. In the case of Forest High School in Ohio, featured above, all twelve boys that graduated had orders to report within three days of graduation. Imagine the feelings this must have aroused. Boys like Robert Beltz, Donald Wright and Richard Cook would no longer be identified as Mr. Beltz’s boy, or the kid who cuts my lawn, or the boy who sweeps out the hardware store after school. Suddenly they would become submariners, navigators, tank drivers, aviators, machine gunners and a host of other titles that membership in the military bestows. They would soon be sent off to hellholes of war like France, Belgium, Okinawa, the Philippines and other Pacific islands.. And when they returned home/if they returned home, grateful Forest, Ohio citizens would shake their hands and look each of them in the eye as an adult. In three short days after graduation their identity would be forever changed. The banner above the graduates says, “When Duty Whispers Low, Thou Must, The Youth Replies, I Can.”
Readers in 1943 did not know if know if Robert, Donald and Richard would make it home safely. LIFE1936-1948, with the wonderful cooperation of the citizens of Forest, OH has verified that these three boys, as well as the nine other boys in the 1943 graduating class survived the war. We know that Richard Landon fought his way across Okinawa and the Philippines with the Army. Robert Thompson, another Army vet, survived the horrors of the Battle of the Bulge. Ensign Wallis Turner served on an aircraft carrier. Donald Ritter was a in the Army Airborne. So all the boys served in the Armed Forces during the war and we know that most returned to Ohio to live out their lives. They came home and continued to fulfill the vision outlined by 1943 class valedictorian Jean Thomas in her address: “we realize it is…the youth who must fight the war, win it, and play an essential part in reconstruction.” Approximately 16,000,000 served in the U.S. Armed Services in WWII. Thousands of schools and millions of families in American towns and cities patriotically sent their boys off to war, and Forest, OH serves as a microcosm of this spirit, sacrifice and courage.
The first “Arab Spring” was not in 2011 but in 1943. For three years the Allies and Germans/Italians were fighting across North Africa. Originally controlled by Vichy France, Tunisia was occupied in 1942 by the Germans. After much hard fighting, the Allies pushed the Axis forces into a pocket around Tunis. Strong and close air support by the Americans destroyed many German planes around El Aouina Airport on the outskirts of Tunis, and destroyed the Tunis waterfront. The Allies captured 266,000 Germans when they found themselves hopelessly engulfed in what was called the Tunisian pocket. LIFE reports that the Germans took a very practical approach to their predicament. “Without formalities Hitler’s troops attached white flags to their trucks and drove into the Allied lines. Others marched into captivity, carrying their packs. Still others simply sat down and waited.” The citizens of Tunis exploded into the streets to welcome with tears, laughter and flowers the victorious Allies in this Arab spring of 1943.
