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The 1940s housewife has become an icon: sometimes celebrated, sometimes criticized, but always fascinating. These 39 images capture the women who held down the home front during one of the world's most challenging decades. While their husbands were overseas fighting the war, these ladies were managing households, raising children, and often working factory jobs too. From doing laundry with a smile to rationing recipes, from perfectly set hair to practical house dresses, these photographs show women who made the best of tough times with grace and determination. Whether they were your mothers, grandmothers, or neighbors, these women embodied a particular kind of strength that kept families and communities running when everything else felt uncertain.
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#1
Mrs. Leslie Atkins Reading To Her Daughter Ann, Greenbelt, Maryland, Federal Housing Project, 1942
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#2
These Women Who Are Part Of The "Housewife Special" Are Boarding A Bus To Go Out And Help Save Marion County's Bean Crop
#3
A Housewife Surrounded By Cleaning Utensils, 1952
ILoveMySon 5 months ago
I have no right to complain about cleaning considering modern technology.
#4
Surplus Fruit Goes Into The Market Basket Of A Memphis, Tennessee Housewife Who Is Exchanging Her Surplus Food Stamps For Food For Her Family, 1940
#5
A German Housewife Uses One Of The Finished Helmet Saucepans In Her Kitchen, (1945 - 1975)
sofacushionfort 5 months ago
Yep, they converted army helmets into cookware: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wI4CWoQyfYs
#6
Housewife Sending Her Son Off To School, Turlock, California, 1942
#7
A Day In The Life Of A Wartime Housewife- Everyday Life In London, England, 1941
#8
A London Housewife Leaves Her Local Butcher's Shop After Having Bought Her Meat Ration, 1941
#9
Young Wife Of A Miner Drawing Water At The Tap In Her Kitchen, Wyoming County, West Virginia, 1946
#10
Housewife In Model Kitchen Making A Cake, 1953
#12
Mrs. Garrity, Suburban Housewife, In The Kitchen Preparing Dinner, Yonkers, New York, 1942
Sara Frazer 5 months ago
This lady is all dressed up and wearing heels... Meanwhile if I cook I'm barefoot and usually in comfy pants, and a tank top with no bra 😅😹
#13
Housewife Reading In Living Room, Chicot Farms, Arkansas, 1939
#14
Housewife At The Dairy Counter In A Swedish Shop, 1950s
#16
Housewife Cleaning Doormat With Carpet-Beater, The Netherlands, 1955
Sara Frazer 5 months ago
Maybe I should buy one of those.. when I go to beat out the rugs I step out back and just slam the ever-loving shít outta the rugs against the rail of the porch... 😂
#17
This Housewife Is Enthusiastic About Rea, And With Good Reason - Her Home Has Just Been Electrified, Harmony Community, Putnam County, Georgia, 1941
#18
A Day In The Life Of A Wartime Housewife- Everyday Life In London, England, 1941
#19
Housewife With Her Pet Cat, Turlock, California, 1942
Sara Frazer 5 months ago
Isn't this the same lady who was sending her son off to school on his bike in a previous pic?? 😺 I had thought to myself "I like her apron"
#22
Mrs. Hilbert Bargo, Wife Of Miner, In The Kitchen Of Their Three Room House Which They Rent For $6 Monthly, Big Jim Coal Company, Big Jim Mine, Blanche, Bell County, Kentucky, 1946
#23
Kitchen Waste Into Cattle Feed- Salvage On The British Home Front, 1942
#24
Guests Enjoy The Coffee Prepared In The Sintrax Coffee Machine, 1955
#25
Housewife Shopping In Supermarket, 1957
#26
Many Of The Leading Women In Stockholm's Housewives' Associations Were Present At The Formation Of The Stockholm Housewives' Association, 1947
#27
A Housewife Purchasing Fruit And Vegetables At A Corner Green-Grocer Outdoor Shop, Japan, 1950
#28
Doll Collector, "Della P. Lackey Los Angeles Calif." "A Hobby For Housewive's Budget", C. 1958
#29
Here's No June In January For The Housewife With Economy And Victory On Her Mind, Buying Foods Out Of Season Means Less Food For More Money, And Less Money Available For Household Staples And Defense Stamps, 1942
#30
Housewife Boiling Clothes, Chicot Farms, Arkansas, 1939
Sara Frazer 5 months ago
I have a jenky 20-year-old washing machine that gets out of balance but man oh man seeing this I have a new appreciation for it
#33
This Church Amish Housewife Is Engaged In The Rapidly Disappering Practice Of Baking Bread, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1941
#34
Housewife Using Pressure Cooker, Norway, 1955
Cynthia Simmons 5 months ago
My mother used one almost daily. I hated it, always sure it was going to blow up.
#35
Housewife Of The Year 1969 Election In The Ostseehalle
#37
Mrs. John Price, Wife Of A Miner, With Her Three Children In The Kitchen Of Their Four Room House For Which They Pay $7.50 Monthly, Tazewell County, Virginia, 1946
#39
A Housewife With A Shopping Basket Full Of Bananas After A Visit To The Co-Op Store On Westhorne Avenue, Eltham In London, 1940
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