LIFE Magazine May 26, 1941

[bonehed]

This old LIFE magazine was peeking out of a neighbor's trash... haven't really read through it yet, but the ads are fun to browse. A new Pontiac for ~$830... Vargas girls... an interesting Prince Albert claim.

 

[huntertrw]

$828.00 for a new car sounds ridiculously low by today's standards; however, one must keep in mind that the per capita income in the United States in 1941 was $8,478.00, ref. U.S. Personal Income Per Capita.

 

[papipeguy]

That's true hunter but at 10% of per capita income it still sounds like a deal. With today's per capita at about $42,700 a new car is more than half that for not much car.

Those old ads are always fun to read. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[mso489]

...and you get eight cylinders for only $25 more! On the other hand, with gas rationed for the war, that may not have been such a good idea for the buyer. My wife and I came across sugar ration coupons in her farmhouse in Missouri.

 

[theediabeticman]

A whole comic for tobacco...now commercials just throw in some boobs and claim it's marketing

 

[captainprophesy]

A whole comic for tobacco...now commercials just throw in some boobs and claim it's marketing

You say that like its a bad thing :P

 

[agnosticpipe]

Interesting to see too that the Jantzen ad was illustrated by noted pin-up artist Alberto Vargas. (Playboy anyone?) Being an illustrator was a pretty decent job before color photography came into common use. It was what my paternal grandfather did for a job for most of his adult life. I love to look at old magazines like this.

 

[newbroom]

I remember we had a car from around that year. I can't quite recall if it was a '39, 40, or 41 DeSoto. I got to drive it a couple of times when I was about 12 or 13. I seem to recall it had some sort of atypical clutch arrangement? Maybe it was the combination of the shifter and clutch...something wasn't the typical clutch, brake, gas, and 3 spd on the column...it was a big ole boat.

A neighbor kid got ahold of an old Hudson...talk about a boat...I think it had a 455 cu. in. engine and a 4 speed automatic. It was about a 1940 1949. (close enough)

 

[warren]

Hardly anyone gave a thought to rationing in the US. The war was a long ways away and it was other peoples children being sent off to die. Most people felt the US would avoid involvement. Life was improving, the depression was fading and the isolationists were in the majority. All, except a handful, were blissful in their ignorance of the future.
I bet Hitler was not happy with the seminal event of December 7th of that year.
And nothing really has changed. The Jantzen guy isn't admiring the girl's hair. Lt. Hines is not on the cover, starting to disrobe I might observe, exhibiting a tantalizing curve because of her rank. She's attractive, in uniform and probably caused more than one young lad to stroll down to the enlistment center, dreaming of a not too serious wound and her as the caring yet vulnerable nurse assigned to give him a sponge bath.
I do believe I've let my imagination run amok.

 

[danielplainview]

Very cool. Nice save. I bought a pile of Life mags from the 1950's at an estate sale a few weeks ago. They have a ton of great car ads and few large Kaywoodie ads.

 

[tuold]

That Pontiac would be a little over $13,000.00 in today's money. Still seems like a pretty go deal!
Hitler was actually very happy with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His invasion of of the Soviet Union was not going well and he was hoping that Japan would assist by sending troops from the East, or at least threaten to do that. It never happened. He also thought the Japanese actions in the Pacific would cause the allies to shift resources to that theater to defend their possessions. Both Japan and Germany overestimated each other's ability to fight a protracted war.

 

[bonehed]

A few more.

Just what every newlywed wants!

Michigan - the entire state is air conditioned! Sunny and cool!

Happy Hitler.

 

[sjfine]

Is no one else going to question the science? 86 degrees cooler? C'mon.
I call bullshit.
8O

 

[tuold]

It probably is advertising BS but when you consider the combustion temperature variables of tobacco, 86 degrees is not much to fudge one way or the other. Most likely a meaningless difference.

 

[pylorns]

Wow, who throws those away?! I collect them if I see them.

 

[4etecjonathan]

Ja! Adolph was a GREAT General. He led his Country to ruin.
Jon

 

[demetrakopoulos]

Thanks for sharing this. I love looking at old magazine ads. I a bunch of old National Geographics at my house that I'll sometimes flip through just to look at the ads.
Interestingly enough, I saw an ad for Flying Dutchman tobacco that told the reader to "lead women around by the nose." Advertisers pulled no punches back then.

 

[fitzy]

Hardly anyone gave a thought to rationing in the US

I'm not sure where you were in the 40's but according to my grandmother in NYC it was a royal pain in the ass. She always told stories about getting home from work and having to wait in line for hours with her 3 small kids to try and get enough red meat for one meal a week.
Clearly this is nowhere near what people in Europe had to go through but I wouldn't say hardly anyone gave a thought about it.
My wife's grandparents who are French would talk about having to eat rat and anything else they could find during WW2.

 

[judcole]

$828.00 for a new car sounds ridiculously low by today's standards; however, one must keep in mind that the per capita income in the United States in 1941 was $8,478.00, ref. U.S. Personal Income Per Capita.

That's true hunter but at 10% of per capita income it still sounds like a deal.

Those per capita numbers are in 2008 dollars, so it's adjusted. Very few people were making that in 1941.

 

[warren]

fitzy: You are writing to a different time period than the Life cover of May 1941. The Life magazine cover appeared before the war and rationing. America was again becoming a fairly affluent place in early 1941. The war, rationing and all of the attendant horrors awaited did not become reality until December 7, 1941. So yes, hardly anyone gave a thought to rationing, except for the war planners in DC. In fact a majority of people still hope or believed that the US could avoid becoming embroiled in a "European and Asiatic War."
More than a few Americans loudly supported Germany and Japan was fighting China a half a world away. Life was indeed good in the US in May 1941.