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The Children's Army: 1942
Washington, D.C., 1942. "Children playing, aiming sticks as guns." Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam, Office of War Information. View full size.
Girls wear dresses.
No jeans or slacks for girls. I'm not quite as old as these kids, but can remember always wearing dresses, except in summer. Did they think our legs didn't get as cold as those of boys? Well, they did.
Purse snatcher
I'd bet that the little blonde sweetie is holding photographer Rosskam's purse.
Playing Army
This photo is a reminder of when I was about those kids' age in the mid-late 1960s. My favorite TV shows were 12 O'Clock High, Combat!, and The Rat Patrol. Also, the Vietnam War was in the news and on the lips of grown-ups. I was enthralled with it all, so I often spent time outside with my plastic Army helmet and toy guns doing battle with imaginary enemy soldiers and planes or as I'd tell my Mom: "I'm going outside to play Army!"
One funny story from that time: My parents befriended a lady who had daughters my age. She was a native of Germany (a member of Hitler Youth, as most kids were), married a U.S. soldier after the war, then moved to the U.S. Her husband, a career officer in the Army, had recently been killed in Vietnam. Mom and I were visiting at their house. Mom and the lady were sitting in the kitchen as we kids played in the backyard. We must have been "playing Army" because my Mom heard me yelling, "Kill those dirty Krauts!" She got really embarrassed and told me not to say that. Her friend wasn't offended - she just found it amusing.
The Bike's a Trike
Pedal driven front wheel, hard rubber tire, all-steel construction... definitely not a Hot Wheels!
The bike
The bicycle at the bottom right gave it away for me. No tires, no rubber, which means WWII. Either it was not invented yet or being conserved for the war effort. At first glance thought I thought 50's or 60's until I spotted the bike. Great color for the early 40's!
children at wall in 1942
As an historian, I would like to find the grown up children and pose them as they were in '42. That would be a photo
So Beautiful
Man, these pictures are so good and children are so universal. I had to examine their shoes to verify that it wasn't a contemporary photo.
Back when kids had imaginations....
They don' need no stinkin' Nintendo.
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