By:T.A.Y.

War on the Homefront

• Patriotism and Propaganda were high

• Thousands of posters and magazine advertisements were used for recruiting

• Glamorous posters often enticed people to join the war effort

Propaganda

Posters

• Many popular songs came about during this time period

• Often talked about women’s role in the war

• Many women often took the motto: We can do it!

• Women’s work on the home front was essential to the nation

• Rosie the Riveter

Propaganda

All the day long,Whether rain or shine,She's a part of the assembly line.She's making history,Working for victory,Rosie the Riveter.Keeps a sharp lookout for sabatoge,Sitting up there on the fuselage.That little girl will do more than a male will do.Rosie's got a boyfriend, Charlie.Charlie, he's a Marine.Rosie is protecting Charlie,Working overtime on the riveting machine.When they gave her a production "E,"She was as proud as she could be.There's something true about,Red, white, and blue about,Rosie the Riveter.

• Gender roles temporarily altered• Women filled openings left by men who went to

do service– Factory workers

• Volunteer organizations with the war effort• Military Nurses• Women were not allowed to participate in battle

– Were allowed during “noncombat missions”– Also, very dangerous– Ferry planes between places; required pilot

training

Changing Role of Women

• Women urged by propaganda to:– Carry groceries instead of use the car to save

rubber– To grow more of the family’s food– To raise money and contribute to bonds

• ALL FOR THE WAR CAUSE

Propaganda

In 1939, the average housewife hardly knew a calorie from a protein; by the end of the war, to the delight, if embarrassment of the Minister of Food, she was writing angrily to complain if her corner-shop was failing to provide her family’s share of body-building and energy-giving foods.

-Norman Longmate, House We Lived Then (1973)-Women were involved in the war in almost every aspect

• The Evacuation Service• The government was worried that a new

war might begin when Hitler came to power in 1933. They were afraid that cities would be targets for bombing raids by aircraft.

• Take their children to the station, wave them off, and bear most of the emotional pain of the parting.

Women and…

• Home Life• Had to keep the home going and bring up

their children• Bear the load of the extra cleaning,

cooking and problems in the host homes.

Women and…

The war was the best thing that ever happened to us. I was as green as grass and terrified if anyone spoke to me…At work you did exactly as your boss told you; then you went home to do exactly what your husband told you. The war changed all that. The war made me stand on my own two feet…

-Mona Marshall, a nursemaid who had become a steelworker during the war (1986)

• Work• 97% of women thought that women should go

out to work to help the war effort• Worked in the dirty and innapropriate conditions

of factories– Many factory toilet, where men had worked

didn’t have doors.• join the Women's Land Army to help farmers

– about 80,000 women became 'Land Girls'

Women and…

The war affected women enormously. The war effort required their participation and co-operation in every aspect of their lives…By 1942 more men, women and children had been killed at home than soldiers in action.

-Caroline Land, Keep Smiling Through: Women in the Second World War (1989)

• Save your food

Propaganda and Living Conditions

• War essentials such as rubber, gas, & food were not to be wasted

• Materials were limited• Every little bit counted

• Post-Great Depression• The government needed money to

fund the war • High taxes were already in place• Towards end of war, government had

enough money to fund war• Bonds were no longer necessary

Propaganda and Living Conditions

Get jobs

• People were encouraged to get jobs to help the war effort

• Many jobs opened up• Women encouraged to get jobs• Wartime jobs disappeared after the

end of the war

Analysis• Draft: students are being drafted

-fad-excitement -sports -"They were caught up in…a physical hardening regimen, which included jumping from this tree." (15)

• The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session

"…the Summer Session, just established to keep up with the pace of the war." (15)

Analysis

• Americans are suffering from shortage of regular supplies and necessities

-"Nylon, meat, gasoline and steel are rare." (41)

• Men in the war causes too many open jobs.

-"There too many jobs and not enough workers." (41)

• War Atmosphere-"I still instinctively live and think in

its atmosphere." (40)

• "Women and the Home Front During World War II." Women and the Home Front During World War II. Web. 6 Dec. 2010. <http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIHomefront.htm>.

Works Cited