American Life in 1948

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vacbear58

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This British film, a cinema "short" came up on my Youtube this morning. Had it been finished it would have had an audio sound track with male announcer speaking over a musical sound track. Most of the scenes are staged with actors and in places you can see second takes - this has cropped up elsewhere. And in places you can see the actress struggle in operating the appliances or getting into the car.

However it still shows a lovely cross section of American consumer life back then. I wonder if it was ever completed or shown though - in 1948 Britain was living through post war austerity (my, how times have changed - NOT!) with even more stringent food rationing than during WW2 so such a film would have been very hard viewing for most British who also endured very severe winters during that time.



 
Good point Lawrence about the ‘49 Ford. I just recently watched a You Tube about the ‘48 Ford and they said that production of the ‘48 Ford ended in June of ‘48 to begin production of the all new ‘49 Ford. So its possible that the new ‘49 Fords were on the market already as early as September of ‘48.

Back then the new models came on the market in the early Fall. I remember my Dad driving me to school in Oct. of ‘58 and we saw a new ‘59 Chevrolet Impala convertible on the freeway. I said to my Dad, “but its still 1958” and he told me then that the new models always came out before the new year.

The prices in the video were shocking! Two lbs of apples for 19 cents! But a pound of butter was 77 cents, pretty high for ‘48 and eggs were 84 cents a doz, also fairly high comparatively speaking to todays prices. I get a lb of Good and Gather butter at Target for $3.99 and a doz eggs for $3.19.

I love these old videos of times past. Brings back lots of memories.

Eddie
 
Agreed about both of those cars being brand new 1949 Fords.

 

When my mom was still a single working girl in Chicago, she wanted to buy a car.  It was 1948 and she was looking at Fords.  All of her friends told her to wait because Fords were going to be radically restyled for 1949, but she bought a '48 anyway.  As a kid, I remember seeing her green '48 club coupe in my grandparents' garage whenever we'd go back to visit, up until as late as 1967, the year my grandfather passed away.  I don't think my grandmother ever drove.

 

My mom left the '48 Ford behind when she married my dad and moved to California.  My dad had just purchased -- wait for it -- a new '49 Ford in gunmetal blue, so my mom ended up with the car her friends told her to wait for after all.

 
 
My mom was a single working girl in Chicago in the 50's (and into the 60's and then a married working girl in Chicago) just a bit after yours. She had two 50's Fords - don't remember which. I need to ask her which years...

She would've been in College in '48 I think.
 
Saw video in OP several weeks ago, it popped up on my YT rotation.

Good example of post war American affluence. While much of Europe was still rebuilding in 1948 it was mostly boom times for US economy.

One sour spot was housing, especially for those seeking to own a home.

Indeed despite having a car and kitchen fitted out with every mod con it seems, family in question apparently lived in an apartment building, not a private home.

In attempting to place location shot it could have been one of outer boroughs of NYC, or some similar slightly urban location. Wife did her shopping at "down town" sort of shops, and not the new huge supermarkets that were springing up in suburbs.

GE and other makers of flat work ironing presses did their best at promoting, but if one went that route a full sized rotary iron was faster. At least for flatwork anyway IMHO.
 
When Consumer Reports and Consumer's Research Bulletin rated ironers, the rotary ironers were rated above the flat plate ironers for speed and ease of use because the user did not have to spend time and energy perfectly positioning each piece before lowering the upper plate on it and ironing inadvertent creases into it.
 
"I just recently watched a You Tube about the ‘48 Ford and they said that production of the ‘48 Ford ended in June of ‘48 to begin production of the all new ‘49 Ford. So its possible that the new ‘49 Fords were on the market already as early as September of ‘48." This was also true of Chrysler cars. For example, Plymouth had an early model 1949 and a late model 1949. The late model was a complete redesign, while the early model was the rounded style the harkened back to before WWII.
 
Growing up in Flint MI home of GM, s a kid my dad always took us to the new model introduction that was held in September.  The plants shut down in July for retooling, and production started in late July.  You could buy the next year's model in early September, off the lot.
 
The new models came out in September. My dad alread had his new 1970 Mercury before we went to the 1970 auto show at Cobo Hall. THe other thing I remember from that show was the 1970 Rolls Royce for a then whopping $24,000.
 
"flat plate ironers"

Find for some things my vintage flat plate ironers are streets better than any of the rotary ones.

Good amount of modern bed linen (sheets and pillow slips) are not cut fully true. As such feeding them into a mangle becomes problematic. More so for pillow shams because they are made from layers.

On a flat press however things go a treat.

Flat plate ironers on average exert more force per square inch than rotary irons. This enables them to press several layers at once.

 

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