1942 — Quinnipiac Terrace, New Haven, Connecticut. What an absolutely gorgeous photo… a picture perfect life moment, don’t you think? This photo makes me So Happy.
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Above is mom, close by.
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And above, the playground where little miss surely bruised some knees. I did not have time to go nose around the web to check my thesis, but I bet this was defense worker housing. During World War II, there were material shortages and rationing – so as far as I know, the only (or at least, vast majority of) housing being built was for defense workers.
These photos are from the Library of Congress, Gottscho-Schleisner Collection.
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It’s the last blast of summer, I’m taking the weekend off and will be back… Tuesday morning, I think. Have a safe and happy weekend, all.
These are marvelous Pam! I remember even into the early to mid fifties… people still kept a bird in the kitchen by a window. The bird would succumb to gas or any hazardous fumes well before a human would.
Woah, Denise, so you think the parakeets were a “safety device”?
I learned that the hard way. I used to live in an apartment with an old stove, the pilot lights were always on and kept that area of the kitchen warm. The building had steam heat, and the radiators would kick on and roast the apartment for about an hour at 5 in the morning, noon, 7pm and 11 at night. During the in between time it would get cold and I was worried that my parakeet would get cold, so I put his cage nearer to the stove to keep warm. I didn’t even think about the pilot blowing out. Everything went well for a few months until, I came home one day to find a dead bird. I smelled the gas, lit the pilot and threw out the poor bird. I didn’t even think that when I placed his cage where I did that I was signing his death warrant.
I dig old daily life pictures like this. And automotive assembly line pics from the old days! There’s a house just up the street from me that was for sale a few months ago that I nosed around (everytime a house goes on the market around me I get all over it and IN it if possible). I used the Franklin Cty Auditor’s website for info on it, and found it was built in 1942. I thought “Wow, what a rarity!”
our house and at least one or two others nearby (the ones i’ve been able to snoop on while they’re up for sale) were built in ’42, which seemed pretty unusual to me. i wonder if they are flukes, or if there was some history here that i’m unaware of that made the neighborhood grow so much at that time.
Pam, Remember once you asked about a deep kitchen sink? Notice the wringer washer?
I think that is a double sink with a lid over the deep one in the photo.
With such a washer, you began with hot water and “whites”, pumped the water into the “set tub” sink, re-used the soap-y water (now cooler) for “colored”. Rinsed both loads, sent them through the wringer, and out onto the line. What a drudge!
It wasn’t until the 1950′s that Automatic Washing Machines became the norm, and why it was previously called “washday”….it took that long.
Have a nice weekend.
If you GoogleEarth these apartments, they are still there, but seem to have been given peaked roofs and vinyl siding in the 1980′s
Yes, Gavin, I have read a few books chronicling domestic history — and wash day was traditionally despised the most. Ummmm, I think clothes didn’t get washed so often as a result….
I was going to point out the wringer washer myself! My DH’s grandmother tells us about doing her laundry in one of these… and washing the cloth diapers in them. When she heard we were going to use cloth diapers, she was horrified! She remembers washing them with bleach in one of these wringer washers, boiling them, hanging them to dry, and ironing them. (They really were into sterilization in those days! Bleaching, boiling, sunning, AND ironing? Wow!). She didn’t fully realize that all we needed to do these days is dump them in the washer, add some detergent, and push some buttons, then stick them in the dryer on hot when they’re done. Sometimes technology really does improve lives…
These photos are terrific. That kitchen is as neat as a pin! I’d love to know what colors the flooring was.
Interesting discussion the birds too. Of course, most folks know that gas leaks will kill birds (i.e. the canaries taken into coal mines) but once, I had two hamsters who were left in my childhood room when some men came to blow insulation into the attic through my closet attic access. The hamsters ended up dying from the insulation in the air. Strange thing to bring up but I guess it’s always good to consider what our pets might be breathing in or ingesting when we do things around the house. Cleaners….toxic fumes…floor waxes… Okay, I’ll stop but would like to dedicate this comment to my late hamsters, Cleo and Clyde. : )
There were several blocks of houses in the neighborhood I grew up in that were built in 1942. The rule was that if construction had started on a house, the builder was exempt from rationing, and was allowed to buy enough materials to finish the house. As war appeared imminent in December 1941, the builder in my neighborhood expected the rationing of building materials. He had his crews work night and day to pour as many foundations as possible. When rationing took effect, all of his lots had houses that were “under construction”, so he was able to purchase as many materials as he needed.
That is great info, Happy Daze — thank you!!
The neighborhoods south of Seattle are full of still existing and lived-in houses from that era, built to house workers making planes at Boeing. A friend of mine bought one a few years ago; it had the tiniest kitchen.
The outside picture looks just like the public housing in Hammond, IN called “Columbia Center” that were used for the arsenal that used to be there, as well has the old “Lee Village” at Ft. Campbell, KY. I tried to find a picture of Lee Village but they have been refurbished so many times I can’t tell which buildings they are. In the late 80′s early 90′s they stucco’d Lee Village and put copper awnings over some of the windows, but the interior walls were still cinder block and the sole bathroom was upstairs. Columbia Center hasn’t changed at all.