Do you remember history classes in school? How you studied big things, governmental things, and wars and civics of the countries? I’m more interested in the daily life of people who were dealing with the wars and changes brought on by the big things of the world. For example, in 1947, when French fashion designer Christian Dior held his first show and introduced The New Look, how long did it take the American woman to adopt that look? I find that in the 1950 Spring/Summer Sears catalog, dresses still had the military shoulders and slim skirts, but only one year later, skirts are fuller, waists smaller and the shoulders more rounded. Sears, J.C. Penney’s & Montgomery Wards’ catalogs give you a wonderful snapshot into changes in ready-to-wear fashions which is what most of us wear.
My Featherweight sewing machine was “born” in 1947 and that’s the tie-in to this post about history, in case you were wondering. There are many fine years and perhaps in the future I’ll address another one, but today, let’s dig into what you can learn at the library about everyday life in 1947.
The average cost of bread was 13 cents, which in today’s dollar is $1.69. The process of slicing bread was developed in Chillicothe, MO. And since the best thing to do with sliced bread is making and eating sandwiches, here is a sandwich cookbook for you! “400 Best Sandwich Recipes” has something for everyone and for every meal including second breakfast. (Not really. I made that up. I like making hobbit jokes.)
Speaking of hobbits, J.R.R. Tolkien had picked up his writing of “The Lord of the Rings” in 1947, having slowed down while war duties commanded his time and attention.
Drive-in movie theaters were everywhere and people loved them. The car culture of the time embraced the convenience of watching movies with the entire family, bringing their own food or buying from the concession stand. Another draw was being able to smoke freely, a practice forbidden in most theaters. Some owners built playgrounds or brought in musical acts to add more value. There were ushers and window washers at some locations! Read more about this phenomenon in “The American Drive-in Movie Theater” by Don Sanders. Lovely historic illustrations and images in this book follow the rise of drive-ins from 1930 to the 1990’s. We also have many of the movies that would have been shown on those screens.
Incidentally, I was in the mood for an old sci-fi movie this weekend and my streaming services wanted me to pay to watch a 76-year-old movie. Then I checked Kanopy, one of our mobile apps, and was able to watch it for free!
Baseball has been and continues to be a favorite pastime in our country. 1947 brought us the first televised World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers. It was watched by an estimated 3.9 million viewers. (Fun fact: most were watching on 5″ – 7″ screens.) It is also the year that Jackie Robinson joined the major leagues, breaking the baseball color line. Read more in “The Era, 1947–1957: When the Yankees, the Giants, and the Dodgers Ruled the World” and similar books in the collection.
While people have always reported lights in the sky, Americans really started recording sightings in 1947. The Roswell Incident was in early July, and while the military first reported it to be a mysterious disk of unknown origin, they quickly changed the story to say it was only a weather balloon, and later reports mentioned additional equipment was attached to the balloon’s payload which confused the local officers investigating the incident. Check through a book such as “UFO Investigations Manual” for more UFO history, or into “UFOs: God’s Chariots” for a study of the conspiracy theories that surround the phenomenon.
Many interesting 1947 discoveries, happenings and inventions still impact our lives in 2022. Over 1 million veterans used the GI Bill to start college. Both the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine were adopted. Princess Elizabeth got married. Transistors were developed by Bell Laboratories. The first plane broke the sound barrier. And so much more! We would love to help you learn more about your favorite 1947 curiosity. Come on in or use our digital library at your convenience.
