Conservatives actually believe this

[SheilaT]

24. I used to read old Life Magazines.

Two different universities I attended had bound issues going back to issue number 1 in November of 1936. Over a period of several years I read every issue, sequentially, through the end of March, 1945. It is as if I lived through those years.

I learned at least as much through the advertizing as I did through the articles. All during WWII, many, perhaps most of the ads, served only to remind people why they could no longer purchase all sorts of consumer things, but that they'd be able to after the war. There were even ads for television, saying things like: after the war is over you'll be able to watch your favorite performers, like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, on television.

There were also ads telling housewives how to make sheets last indefinitely, because they were almost impossible to buy now. As for cars. sometime in early 1942 all automobile production stopped completely in this country. All the car manufacturers switched over, in amazingly short time, to building things like tanks instead. There were NO model 1943 or 1944 cars at all. I'm not even sure there were very many 1945's.

Because so many fewer consumer goods were available, people were essentially forced to save. They were also greatly encouraged to do so by all of the campaigns encouraging people to buy War Bonds. Millions upon millions of dollars were used to buy them, since people couldn't purchase cars or too many clothes or much in the way of furniture. Housing production virtually ceased. For a couple of years after the war there was a serious housing shortage in this country.

Another interesting thing is that by the end of 1944 it was obvious that we were going to win the war. It was just a matter of time. And starting in late 1944 people started cashing in their war bonds. There was this enormous pent-up demand for all sorts of consumer goods, and THAT'S a huge part of why our economy took off and just grew and grew for the next couple of decades.

I could go on, but I'll stop here. I really, really learned a lot from reading the old Life Magazines.