This is our favourite photo of the two of us, taken at the party to celebrate the publication of the first of three books that we wrote together: a look at how women’s magazines during the Second World War saw (and attempted to influence) the roles of women.

(Click here to find out more about the book).

(and here for more photos from the party).

Once the publishers had given the green light to the book, the actual writing went swimmingly.   We had no problem deciding who would be dealing with the various topics. As Jane had already used the magazines for books on fashion and family life from the 20s to the 50s, the areas with which she dealt included the Home Front, beauty and fashion, and women at work. I  looked at the outbreak of war and how the magazines saw the postwar world, the way advertising adapted to reflect how women were changing, relationships between women and men (especially as seen through the ‘agony aunt’ columns) and how the allies were dealt with.

Eventually, we chose a quotation to sum up the atmosphere of each chapter.

Outbreak of War.

The last war was a soldier’s war; this one is everybody’s. (Mother and Home, November 1939).

All in the Battlefield.

We all live in the battlefield now. (Woman’s Own. 19 October 1940).

The Home Front.

‘There are certain words which, to the end of my life, I shall never be able to see or hear without being instantly reminded of this war. “Potatoes” is one, “Waste” is another.’ (Monica Dickens, Woman’s Journal. March 1944)

Women at Work

‘There is nothing a woman cannot do equally as well as a man, except a job requiring brute strength.’ (Eleanor Roosevelt, widely quoted in 1943).

Women and Men.

Women want to be partners in the nation’s war effort. (Woman’s Magazine. November 1940).

Beauty and Fashion.

We can, if we will, go down to posterity as the women of England’s war who were beautiful as well as brave. (Woman and Beauty. November 1939).

Advertisements.

Keep beneath your dungaree, dainty femininity (Wolsey advert. 1942).

Allies and Others.

If, as part of your war effort, you have decided to help entertain some of our allies during their leaves, you will probably find them interesting and charming, but sometimes baffling, too. (Woman and Beauty. November 1943).

Looking Forward.

Looking back isn’t only a silly waste of time now; it’s a positive danger. Look forward with enormous hope to the future. (Woman’s Own. 18 January 1941).

In fact, some of the quotations from the earlier part of the war reflect attitudes which changed as time went by.  So, let’s look at the chapter I most enjoyed writing: on Advertisements .

Already by 1942 women must have been cringing at the Wolsey advert, urging them to

Keep beneath your dungaree, dainty femininity,

wearing while you do your bit Wolsey undies fairy knit.

By then you no longer saw advertisers proclaiming Beauty is your Duty, justified by claiming that

Because many women are now in uniform, it doesn’t mean that they should abandon their femininity and charm. On the contrary, men expect them to be just as attractive as ever.

But they did carry on showing young women - increasingly in uniform - looking pretty but determined. And the spirit of determination carried over into the text. In July 1942, when over 80% of single women under 60 were either in the forces, the land army, factories or other types of war work, Yardley (the manufacturers of makeup) showed the face of a young WAAF looking straight out from the page above the slogan No surrender .....

War gives us a chance to show our mettle. We wanted equal rights with men; they took us at our word.  We are proud to work for victory beside them.  And work is not our only task. We must triumph over routine; keep the spirit of light-heartedness. Our faces must never reflect personal troubles. We must achieve masculine efficiency without hardness. Above all, we must guard against surrender to personal carelessness. [...] With leisure and beauty aids so rare, looking our best is specially creditable. Let us face the future bravely and honour the subtle bond between good looks and good morale.

Put your best foot forward .. YARDLEY.

And since women were working for freedom alongside men they could no longer rely on traditional excuses to do less than their best. As early as February 1940, the makers of ‘A-K pain-killing tablets’ were stating that

Now she MUST carry on.  War will not wait on woman’s weakness, nor need any woman “go sick” on account of periodic pains and weaknesses.

We don’t hear much about such pain-killing tablets any more. But one product that did well out of the war was Tampax which, a month before the A-K ad , produced their own showing a box and two tampons, while the reader was told that

                     Now you can try Tampax FREE!

followed by a long explanation of what the product was, describing it as

the modern form of sanitary protection that is so dainty, convenient and comfortable in use that you are not even aware of its presence.

By the following month the main text was reduced to the words

What a blessing it is that Sanitary Protection is now worn internally!

while the point was underlined by a drawing of three women in uniform standing together in conversation.

During 1941 Tampax ran a series of drawings of women doing jobs traditionally associated with men - a bus conductress, a soldier changing  tyre - each with the slogan In a man’s job there’s no time for “not so good days”, with text such as

War work won’t wait ... a man’s job doesn’t allow for feminine disabilities. Tampax - sanitary protection worn internally - has come to the rescue of thousand of women on service. It gives  new freedom, complete comfort.

By the end of that year Tampax had launched the slogan

           Women are winning the War - of Freedom!

with drawings of women making tanks,  manning anti-aircraft guns, working at lathes, mending tanks and so on, all contrasted with a logo showing a woman in crinoline and bonnet. The text typically read

England has always been a ‘free country’ but grandmother’s mother would have been surprised at the spacious activities of girls in 1941. It was not “polite” when she was young to do a man’s job - and it was not possible.  Tampax has changed all that. In doing so it has liberated the women of today for the strenuous task of freedom; the task that allows no time for “off-days”.

In that same year the clothing manufacturer Berlei also ran a series of ads, in this case showing a woman dressed for war work standing next to a ghostly version of herself dressed only in a ‘corselette’ and stockings. The text next to an ARP (Air Raid Precaution) warden - responsible, among other things, for fire precautions - read

                                  Figure Precautions

It’s bad for morale to let figures go - and it’s bad for efficiency too. If you’re feeling the strain of war-work you need a good modern foundation and the very best you can get is a Berlei.

While the ad showing a lathe-operator read,

                                  Secret Service

Her war service is helped by a secret service - the smooth, firm supporting control of a Berlei.  If you have to stand for long hours a Berlei, cut to your figure type, will correct your posture, lessen fatigue, give figure and clothes a lovely line.  And a Berlei controlette, remember, needs only four coupons!

But by 1944, with controlettes and ‘fairy-knit’ undies in increasingly short supply, more mundane advertisements were being aimed at women doing dirty jobs.  One of the simplest showed unglamourised women getting on with the job, while the text ran,

SHIFT GREASE AND DIRT WITH

ZIXT HAND SOAP

4d per tablet   one coupon

Makes hands clean - leaves them smooth

This may show that, after four or five years of war, some copywriters were beginning to realise that women were tired of frivolous copy, just as they were tired of long hours, shortages and worries for themselves and their loved ones. Throughout 1943 and 1944 advertisers vied with each other to express their admiration for what women were doing. In January 1943, for example,

               BOVRIL “doffs the cap” to the splendid women of Britain

The way in which women are tackling unaccustomed, strenuous and often dangerous war work has won, and deserved, wide-spread admiration.  As mechanics, as bus conductors, lorry drivers and porters, as W.R.N.S., A.T.S., W.A.A.F., land girls and nurses,their record of service is itself the most eloquent tribute to the women of Britain. Bovril acclaims their fine spirit, and makes a practical contribution to their supply of strength and energy.

Similarly, a Standard Motor Company advertisement of September 1943 show a woman in full battle kit, hand raised high, under the words This composure, while the full text continues.

It is, perhaps, one of the most exciting moments of her life; but the signals from the command post must be accepted and transmitted - calmly, swiftly, efficiently.

We can’t all work on Anti-Aircraft instruments. But we can all cultivate sang-froid in times of danger and difficulty.  As Britishers we have a reputation for it! This is the quality that will earn for us the admiration of our children and of our children’s children. So that in the years to come they will ask themselves in wonder “But for their calmness in those dark and dangerous days ... ?”

And, in February 1944 Hoover showed a woman operating a massive crane, next to the label Housewife 1944, with the text:

                    The Hand that held the Hoover drives a Crane

Not many of our housewives are doing jobs of war work like this!  The great majority of those in the factories and workshops are plugging away on far less spectacular tasks. But whatever the job these “Housewives 1944” stick it, and run their homes as well. Many of them, now more than ever, must bless the day they bought a Hoover to save their sorely needed time and energy!  We’re proud to have helped them do a “double job” in war-time and in - admiration - say

                         SALUTE!  FROM HOOVER

                             Hoover users know best what improvements

                                 they would like in the post-war Hoover.

                                        Suggestions are welcome.

The housewife of 1944 might be operating a crane, but Hoover - like all the other manufacturers of items no longer being produced because of wartime restrictions - was looking ahead to the day when she would be safely confined to the home again, surrounding herself with all the goodies she had done without for so many years.