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The 1940s
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The 1940s was a decade that began on January 1, 1940 and ended on December 31, 1949.
Most of the Second World War took place in the first half of the decade, which had a profound effect on most
countries and people in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere.
The consequences of the war lingered well into the second half of the decade, with a war-weary Europe divided
between the jostling spheres of influence of the West and the Soviet Union, leading to the beginning of the Cold
War.
To some degree internal and external tensions in the post-war era were managed by new institutions, including
the United Nations, the welfare state and the Bretton Woods system, facilitating the post–World War II boom,
which lasted well into the 1970s.
• Wars:
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World war II (1939-1945).
Nazi Germany invades Poland, Denmark, Norway, Benelux and the French Republic from (1939-1941).
Germany faces the United Kingdom in the Battle of Britain (1940). It was the first major campaign to be fought
entirely by air forces, and was the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign up until that date
The United States enter World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It would face the
Empire of Japan in the Pacific War.
The Holocaust, also known as The Shoah is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six
million European Jews during World War II.
The German Instrument of Surrender signed (May 7–8, 1945). Victory in Europe Day.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and August 9, 1945); Surrender of Japan on August 15.
World War II officially ends on September 2, 1945.
• Major political changes:
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Establishment of the United Nations Charter (June 26, 1945) effective (October 24, 1945).
Establishment of the defence alliance NATO April 4, 1949.
Film:
• Oscar Winners:
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Rebecca (1940)
How green was my valley (1941)
Mrs Miniver (1942)
Casablanca (1943)
Going my way (1944)
The lost weekend (1945)
The best years of our lives (1946)
Gentleman's agreement (1947)
Hamlet (1948)
All the kings men (1949)
Some of Hollywood's most notable blockbuster films
of the 1940s include:
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The Maltese Falcon
Double Indemnity
Meet me in St Louis
Casablanca
The Great Dictator
The big sleep
The lady eve
The shop around the corner
Yankee doodle dandy
Notorious
Disney:
Pinocchio
Dumbo
Fantasia
Bambi
1940s Fashion
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Fashion in the 1940s was a good mix of comfort and glamour. There were
specific outfits that were meant for specific times of the day. Some of their
designs look downright modern even by today’s standards.
Women ALWAYS wore: gloves. Preferably a pair that matches your outfit.
Fur was very popular, as were animal skins. Crocodile purses, wombat
collars, lambskin lining, and leather sleeves — no animal was off limits.
Clothes in the 1940s were very bright and colourful. The brighter the
better. Women’s shoes were often one of three popular colour choices: red,
white or blue.
At the beginning of 1945, the roundness was first achieved by pulling the
waist tight, emphasizing fullness above and below the waistline. Eventually
the round look took every costume. Often the only tight parts of an outfits
were at the neck, waist and wrists.
Suit jackets had round collars and round-cut hemlines, while suit skirts
belled out in front. The Canadienne, a French twist on the coat of a
Canadian soldier, was one of the year’s biggest fashion hits.
Evening dresses often came with farthingales to make hips seem larger and
the waist thinner.
The trend of wearing “separates” continued to grow. Shirts were ready to
wear, came in a wide variety of styles and mixed well with skirts.
A few horseblanket skirts appeared among the younger crowd. These
unique skirts were made of plaid wool horseblankets, bound with black
braid and fastened with horseblanket buckles.
History of 1940s makeup
• As the 1930s came to a close, 1940’s women’s makeup was a huge industry, with brands such as
Coty and Tangee notably becoming major rivals to cosmetic brand leaders like Max Factor, Helena
Rubinstein, Maybelline, Elisabeth Arden and Dorothy Grey. Not even another world war was going
to halt the advance of glamour.
• The 1940s has a look all to its own. Confident up-do hairstyles, redder than red lipsticks and nails
and prominent arched eyebrows. Lipsticks in the 1940s were red all the way and while there were
now countless shades to choose from, the final objective of any young lady in the 1940s was
prominent red lips. Replacing the thin understated lip contours of the 1930s was a deep luscious
full mouth.
• 1940s beauty guides encouraged women to use a pencil to draw an outline ‘outside’ their natural
lip line to enlarge her mouth. As most lipsticks were matte, Vaseline was used to add a little luster
and gloss. The eyebrow was now simply kept well groomed. A girl lavished love on her brows and
lashes and many handy homemade hints were followed to give a girl a bright sparkle. Max Factors
Pancake foundation which appeared in the late 1930s had many imitations but was hugely
popular during the war because of its handiness. Powder Compacts had replaced the messy loose
powders of the 1920s and 1930s.
• Makeup had to be ‘on the go’ for women, many of whom found themselves working in very
‘unfeminine’ conditions in munitions and aircraft factories on both sides of the Atlantic. These
gorgeous vintage compacts are much sought after now by collectors. 1940’s Rouges were often in
short supply in Britain and Europe, so many women simply used their lipstick to rouge and
contour their faces. Nail colouring still followed the half moon look of the previous decades but
now just the tip of the nail was left unpainted – generally for practical reasons.
1940s Makeup
• Face powder was used to match the skin or to gave a nice rosy glow. To get this effect a slightly
darker warmish foundation was used and then powdered over with a powder that was lighter
than normal skin.
To get a natural rosy look popular rouge colours were red with pinkish undertones, bright pinks
with fuchsia undertones and bright roses.
• For the eye dark brown or black mascara and a small eyeliner was used. Eye shadows mostly
varied in muted greys and browns.
Eyebrows were kept fairly natural in thickness, but were manicured into clean, well defined arches
and accented by use of a dark brown pencil .
• For lips all shades of red including clear bright reds, cherry reds, pinkish reds, and orange reds
were popular. Two different colour plans for lipstick use existed. On the on hand the "monotone",
where lipstick was used to support a glorified natural look (includes light red, reddish orange, and
raspberry tones) and on the other hand the "contrast", where lips brought a definite accent
(includes cherry red, crimson and vermillion shades). In any case lips should look full and soft. To
effect this top lip was slightly exaggerated.
• It was popular to wear nail polish according to clothes and accessories. Therefore a lot of colours
were used. Especially blue-reds, brown-reds, bright reds, green, mustard yellow, black, navy blue,
plum, and mauve were popular.
• Basic look was a polished nail with a left out white half-moon and a white sliver at tip.
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Foundation – a shade darker than your natural.
Powder – plenty of powder still, a lighter shade and patted on.
Eyes -light medium browns with beige highlighting. Understated.
Eyebrows – much thicker than in the 1930s. Vaseline used to groom to shape.
Lips – Reds and orange reds were the prerequisite
Lashes – cake mascaras like Maybelline – still applied with a brush.
Rouge – rose colours applied out from the cheek apples.
Nails – Filed to a point with the tips left unpainted.
1940s Hairstyles
• Influence of hair on hair:
• Film Stars
• Actresses- Betty Grable, Veronica Lake, Dorothy Lamour, Rita Hayworth and Ava
Gardner epitomised the glamour of the era, and provided escapism from the
everyday dreariness of war.
• Television was a rarity in the home, so going to the cinema was incredibly popular –
just part of life for everyone.
• The influence movie stars had on the public didn’t escape the notice of officials in the
United States of America. Long hair was hazardous where machinery was operated,
like in factories and on farms, and too many accidents were happening. In the hope of
encouraging women to cut their hair short, thus reducing the risk of being injured or
worse at work, they asked Veronica Lake to cut her trademark “peekaboo” long locks.
Ms Lake obliged.
• Throughout the decade, hair was generally between just below shoulder length or
shorter.
• Hair was cut with a rounded U-shape at the back, curving up towards the ears, and
most haircuts had lots of layers – these were needed to create the styles.
• If there was a parting, hair was generally parted to one side.
• Whatever the hairstyle a woman chose, hair was worn feminine and soft, and always
dressed off the face.