The 1940s (pronounced “nineteen-forties” and commonly abbreviated as “the 40s”) was a decade that began on January 1, 1940, and ended on December 31, 1949.
Most of World War II took place in the first half of the decade, which had a profound effect on most countries and people in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. The consequences of the war lingered well into the second half of the decade, with a war-weary Europe divided between the jostling spheres of influence of the Western world and the Soviet Union, leading to the beginning of the Cold War. To some degree internal and external tensions in the post-war era were managed by new institutions, including the United Nations, the welfare state, and the Bretton Woods system, facilitating the post–World War II economic expansion, which lasted well into the 1970s. The conditions of the post-war world encouraged decolonization and the emergence of new states and governments, with India, Pakistan, Israel, Vietnam, and others declaring independence, although rarely without bloodshed. The decade also witnessed the early beginnings of new technologies (such as computers, nuclear power, and jet propulsion), often first developed in tandem with the war effort, and later adapted and improved upon in the post-war era. (Wikipedia)
Glenn Strange and Lon Chaney, Jr. chatting behind the scenes while filming “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” in 1948.Getting measurements for an Italian beauty pageant, 1940s.Reading the daily newspaper on Oakdale Farm, 1948.Hedy Lamarr starred in the romantic/comedy film, “The Heavenly Body” in 1944.Louis Armstrong and Billy Holiday performing in 1949.St Paul’s Cathedral survived mostly intact, after a raid on London during the Blitz. 1940A soldier saying goodbye to his wife and infant child in Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1943A sargeant bandaging the wounded ear of Jasper, a mine-detecting dog in Bayeux, France, 1944Battle between tanks near Kursk in the Soviet Union, 1943U.S. Mail truck used in snowy mountain sections of Nevada County, California, November 1940.The hunters, Dailey, West Virginia, December 1941.The Mint, California, November 1940.The ‘No Hat’ Craze, 1940Piano man, Sarasota, Florida, 1949.Marilyn Monroe in 1949.Marilyn Monroe on the set of “Love Happy,” 1949.Firefighters dampening down in King William Street, London, on the morning after a heavy, night bombing raid. Sept. 1940Cool crooners Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, 1946.Two boys are surprised and amazed on their first elevator ride, 1948.The falling building front of the Salvation Army Headquarters on Queen Victoria Street, London, 1941.Little nurses help their patient after the Blitz in London, 1940.Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Oscar in 1940 for her portrayal of ‘Mammy’ in “Gone With the Wind”.Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, 1946.Taking frozen long johns off the clothes line in the 1940s.Lana Turner in 1943.Sinclair gas station in Durham, North Carolina. 1947Behind the scenes of “Casablanca” 1942American soldier and his English girlfriend on lawn in Hyde Park, London, 1944.Couples ice skating at the Polar Palace in Hollywood, 1943.A kind French women pours a hot cup of tea for a British soldier in Normandy, 1944.Gene Tierney as ‘Zia’ in the film, “Sundown” 1941.Water skiers at a show at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida. 1942Cary Grant takes a break while filming “I Was a Male War Bride” 1949The view from the Empire State Building, 1947.Way before she was known as ‘Endora’ on “Bewitched” Agnes Moorehead received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as ‘Aunt Fanny Minafer’ in the 1942 Orson Welles film, “The Magnificent Ambersons.”The stunning Vivien Leigh was hand-picked to play the lead role in “Caesar and Cleopatra” 1945.Clark Gable, 1942.Lou Costello and Bud Abbott in a publicity photo for “Buck Privates” 1941Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman chatting on the set of “Casablanca” 1942Street barber in Cairo, Egypt, 1940s.Girls wearing extremely short skirts on the street in Japan in 1947, just after the war.A U.S. Marine reaches through the barbed wire of a civilian containment area to give a young Japanese boy candy during the Battle of Tinian. 1944Hillside houses overlook smoke-belching steel mills in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1949.A view of the ornate art and architecture of a building in Chennai, India, 1948.An Ouled Nail woman in Algeria wears a tattoo that is customary for dancers, 1949.People sunbathe beside a swimming pool in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1941.Two women on a shopping trip walk across a street in Havana, Cuba, 1947.New Mexico, 1941.Two young women stand near a turning aircraft propeller, 1940.
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