2009-10.2.2.J

=The American Homefront, December 8, 1941- September 1945=

Overview
The early 1940s was a time for change in America. With the men away at war, the women had to step up and take care of things at home. Rosie the Riverter, a popular cartoon character created a strong female image that reformed the public images of women. Also, because of the war overseas, there were few resources left at the homefront, including food. Rationing was introduced to make the best of what little the people had. New recipes were used to stretch ingredients and Victory Gardens were planted to hold off buying from a store. Movies flourished during this time. Many of them were about wartime, relating to the world's current experience. Advances changed the industry too which made movies more modernized. Music also blossomed as patriotic fevers rose and people turned to music to receive their dose of national pride.

Rosie the Riverter[[image:http://www.edupics.com/en-coloring-pictures-pages-photo-rosie-the-riveter-p7219.jpg width="181" height="251" align="right" caption="Rosie the Riverter"]]
Rosie the Riverter, created by Norman Rockwell, was a factional character often seen on signs and posters, but also postage stamps and magazine covers. Her image supported women in the workforce. The creation of Rosie the Riverter helped recruit over two million women into the workforce. These working women soon took on the nickname of "Rosie the Riverter." In December of 1941 there were almost 13 million women working. That number soon rose to 15 million in February of 1943. This number was higher than ever before, but there was still a need for two million more working women. The jobs they now needed to do in society included war production plants and necessary civilion services. These majorly supported the country, especially in this time of war. Before the 1940s, millions of the women in America had never worked outside their homes, cooking and cleaning. The idea of women in the workforce was new, and like most new ideas it needed to be explained. That is where Rosie the Riverter came in. She portrayed women as strong, able-bodied people who can get the job done. She shifted the views of society and helped make the idea of women in the workforce acceptable.

Rationing
The 1940s was all about rationing because of the war the United States was fighting overseas. There was so much food being sent over to feed the soldiers that there was little left for the peopel back at home. They had to do a lot of stretching, doing the most they can with the little they have. The Office of Price Administration intorduced rationing in 1942 as an attempt to equally distribute the diminishing food supply. They also encouraged Americans to plant Victory Gardens. Victory Gardens are small plots of land where fruits and vegetables are grown. That way, the peopel were growing their own food and didn't need to depend on the stores to buy from. After the war was over there was a boom of "convenience foods," foods that are easily accessible and easy to use. Examples of these included dehydrated juice, instant coffee and cake mixes. Despite the attempt to make easy accessible foods, most people preferred to go back to home cooking once rationions were readily available again.

Movies[[image:http://kiamalocalhistory.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/casablanca-poster-c10084167.jpg width="187" height="250" align="right" caption="Casablanca Movie Poster"]]
The early years of the 1940s were not prosperous for the 1940s. After the attack of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. lost many foreign relations which hurt the movie industry. Things changed alter though, 1943-1946 were some of the most sucessful years in Hollywood movie making. During these years, the movie industry became more modernized. Sound recording, lighting, special effects, cinematography and use of color made moveis more appealing to the public because they were modernized. After the war in 1946 movie theatre attendance was high and resulted in Hollywood's most profitable year.

War themed films were popular, as a response to what the world was going through. War movies such as Dive Bomber (1941), A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941), Wake Island (1942), Guadalcanal Diary (1943), Bataan (1943), and Winged Victory (1944) were among theh favorites. Other geners, such as romance brought movies like Casablanca (1942) to the top.

"Victory Gardens"
To contribute to the war effort the government started rationing foods like sugar, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, coffee, meat, and canned goods. During the war it was difficult to move fruits and vegetables because of shortages in labor and transportation so the government convinced people to plant their own gardens, called "Victory Gardens". About 20 million people planted "Victory Gardens" and preserved fresh produce for them selves and saved commercial canned goods for the soldiers. The government promoted program produced about 9-10 million tons of produce.

Popular Songs
During the war, music in America was a very important thing for many people. The music of the war era showed patriotism, pride, and an undying American spirit. The songs of the days helped people get through the war and keep their spirits high. The types of music that were popular were songs about patriotism, enlisting in the draft, wartime romance, the home-front, and axis-bashing songs. Popular musicians during the war were Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Glen Miller, Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, the Mills Brothers, and many more.

Conclusions
As you can see, the 1940s was a time of change for America. Because of the war, Americans on the homefront had to deal with some hardships. Rosie the Riverter helped women deal with their new role taking over the men's jobs while they were away. With scarce supplies rationing helped them deal with the few resources. The movie industry had positive changes though and many advances were made.This war was brought into American homes with the "Victory Garden" campaign that helped enable people to supply their own food and let the government take care of the soldiers' food. The war-time spirit could be heard in the music with many musicians singing patriotic songs.