1940s Intro
Cultural Research > Decades Homepage > 1940s Intro > 1940s Essay
Introduction - war and peace - all that jazz: Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Slim Gaillard - rationing of food and fabric - uptown/ downtown, New York City - Paris: Christian Dior’s New Look, 1947 - birth of streetstyle: Zooties, Bikers, Beats, Country & Western, Spivs - films: Stormy Weather, My Darling Clementine, Casablanca, The Wild One (released 1953 but based on a 1947 real life incident) - start of baby boom - spread of suburbia - the electric guitar paves the way for Rhythm & Blues, then Rock & Roll - refinement of the electronic microphone brings a new, intimate singing style: Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Billy Holliday, Frank Sinatra |
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Essay Excerpt
On the face of it – given that the decade was dominated by WWII -one would think that the 1940s would be the least important decade for matters concerning fashion, style, design and popular music. But, in fact, precisely the opposite is the case. Today everyone talks about the importance of the 1960s but in truth this decade simply saw the majority – all those baby boomers now teenagers and young adults – adopt the countercultural, ‘alternative’ and downright ‘hip’ innovations and revolutions of a tiny but, in time, crucially important minority which first emerged in the ‘40s. |