greatest generation

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An ecstatic group of girls celebrating news of Germany’s surrender in the streets of London.

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rgbrandomizer:

Check out this blog with restored color photos from the 40s.

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Children sleep in hammocks on the rails of a London Underground station. Of course, the electric rail is switched off.

November 1940

(Source: BBC)

Couples kiss. Mothers cry.

Mickey and Minnie do their part!

(Source: americainwwii.com)

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(via THE HOME FRONT IN BRITAIN 1939-1945 | Imperial War Museums)

Make Do and Mend

A British video showing the different ways available to reuse and conserve materials during the war. The two chairs and a sack baby crib was an especially good tip.

(Source: iwm.org.uk)

BBC remembers Christmas at war →

On the difficulty of putting on a real Christmas at home:

“People made or renovated presents, and magazines in the lead-up to December were full of ideas for home-made gifts. One patriotic gift was a National Savings Certificate, another a savings book with a few stamps attached.”

“Wrapping paper was very scarce … while toys, if they could be found, were often shoddy or very expensive.”

How the government tried to distract the public from the V2 rocket attacks:

“The Ministry of Food announced Christmas treats - an extra 1 1/2 pounds of sugar, 8 pennyworth (3.5p) of meat, and half a pound of sweets. Once again there was a rash of do-it-yourself gift articles in magazines and books. Woman magazine for 9 December advised: ‘One of the nicest presents to give (or to receive) is a half-pound of home-made sweets’, and the book Rag-Bag Toys had instructions for making gifts such as a ‘Chubby pink pig from an old vest’, or a doll made from ‘old stockings’.”

Recommended reading:

• A Wartime Christmas by Andrew Hubert, Maria Hubert (Sutton, 1995)
• War Games by Tony McCarthy (Queen Anne Press, 1989)
• We’ll Eat Again by Maguerite Patten (Hamlyn, 1990)
• Wartime Women by Dorothy Sheridan (Phoenix Press, 2000)
• The Phoney War on the Home Front by ES Turner (Michael Joseph, 1961)
• Put that Light Out; A Child’s War; Evacuees - all by Mike Brown (Sutton; 1999, 2000, 2000)
• The Wartime House by Mike Brown (with Carol Harris) (Sutton, 2000)