My Interest in 1940s

I actually wrote this yesterday but didn't get it posted.

There was a dusting of snow when I woke up this morning. The weather is crazy. Last Monday it was -15, on Friday it was +18! It rained almost the entire weekend, and it’s supposed to be a high of +6 today.

OK, so my current “thing” is the 40s. It’s not a recent “thing”; I’ve been interested in this era for a long time. Maybe it has something to do with my history, growing up in England with parents who were born just before the start of WWII. There’s something about that period in time, the country coming together, working together, and standing strong against the foe no matter what they threw at them. Even the Blitz didn’t break the spirit of the country.

I don’t think anything like that would ever happen again. Not the war, but the entire country pulling together as one. In this day of political correctness (gone mad) there would always be someone to take offence not matter what position the country or the majority of the population took. Everyone would then be too busy arguing about that instead of standing strong against the foe, whatever or whoever that was.

Maybe I romanticize a little. And I certainly wouldn’t want to turn back the clock and live during the war years. I can’t imagine the terror of sitting in an Anderson shelter listening to the bombs dropping, and wondering if it was your house that was hit and if your life would be the same again.

However, I’m interested in how they lived in the 40s. I like the music and the clothing. And I like that men were men and women were women.

There was a TV show put on by Channel 4 in England that was called “The 1940s House”. It was one of those living history reality-type shows. They took a modern family and transplanted them into a 1940s house to spend several weeks living the war years of 1930-1945, complete with rationing and an Anderson shelter in the backyard. I loved that show. I’m still thinking of buying the DVD so I can watch it whenever I want.

I am also a subscriber to a magazine called “Best of British” and they have a section on the 40s. 1940s re-enactment groups seem to be very popular in England, and if I still lived there I’m sure I’d be getting involved. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything similar here in Canada.

My current interest in the 1940s was peaked by a blog I recently found – destination1940.blogspot.com – an amazing blog written by a woman learning the skills of a 1940s housewife. A wonderful read, and a highly recommended blog.

There is another great vintage blog – my50syear.blogspot.com. She is living the year 1955. Another great read.