Saturday, July 14, 2012

Iconic Postwar Photo, with bonus Identity Crisis

Here is a scene that replayed many times in 1946:


The men who survived came home.  Understandably, they sought normality, and went after it full throttle: job, higher ed, family, tires, meet the rent and save for a house and an actual new car.

I get that; but who are those people?  Is that my mother CAMZ being godmother?  Or is it one of her friends who looks a lot like her?

Mom, look, I know that you value your privacy.  But I wish you had told us some of these things.  The photo below is you, Mom.  Is that you above?  I have to put this on the Internet to garner disinterested opinions as to your identity?  If you are the godmother, how come we don't know the godfather or the parents?

Nothing like using the Internet cloud to demand answers from above the clouds.


There's a recent novel, Next to Love, that uses the story of three women during this period to illustrate social changes in the USA before, during, and after WWII.  It's heavy-handed and a bit cliché-ridden, but thought-provoking nonetheless.  I recommend it, to be read with a couple of grains of salt.

And I ask you, dear readers, to recommend your favorite novels or memoirs dealing with the home front during the war, and the various social changes afterward.  I would be happy to post mentions or reviews.

Julie

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