Back Home For Keeps
America is preparing to celebrate it’s first peacetime Christmas in five years. The Dec. 10, 1945, cover story proclaims that women can once again dress up for the holiday season. Several ads depict sheer rapture as servicemen retrun home. The Community Silverplate ad says:
“Today’s the day the stars sing, the sun rides high. Today a wordless glory fills the air.
Today…this day…this prayed and planned for day…this day the man of your heart comes home for keeps.”
Sixteen million Americans answered the call to the colors in WWll and they too dreamed of returning home. For most it was a major readjustment period. “Nervous out of the service” was a common expression. Some wives only knew the youthful soldier they had married before or during the war. Many women gained a new independence working during the war and didn’t want to give it up. Battle fatigue, disabilities, nightmares and other difficulties took their toll. But on “this day”, Dec. 10, 1945, most of the boys were home again and America expressed it’s joy and pride for a job well done.