skip to Main Content

TITLE

   

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. One day after the attack, the United States entered World War II.

Many children did not have money or ration coupons for new clothes or shoes. Sometimes they had to wear hand-me-downs or clothes they did not like. This excerpt about life during World War II describes what one girl thought of the fashion:

 

I took note the first day [of school] that things were going to be pretty different… I had a problem. First of all, I didn’t have shoes. We got only two shoe-ration coupons a year, and I had spent mine on the farm on cowboy boots and ice skates and I promised I wouldn’t complain about not having shoes. My brother donated his black high-top basketball shoes, and I had to wear them. They looked really great along with my chickenfeed-sack dresses (which were common on the farm) and my country braids and no makeup. I realized right away at school that I was not going to be a social success.

 

However, some people (like the woman shown in the image) were able to make due with flour and feed sacks by making quite fashionable dresses!

Select an activity below to download the PDF.

Making Connections

Text-to-Self

How might your life have looked if you lived during World War II? What would your daily tasks include?

Text-to-Text

Have you read any other books about life during World War II? Did you learn anything new from those books?

Text-to-World

The United States was not the only country where life changed a lot during World War II. Can you think of any other countries where people’s lives were greatly impacted due to the war?

Back To Top