VISUAL ACTIVITY

Women’s Role in Peacetime Like many manufacturers during World War II, Proctor Electric Company, which had shifted its focus from making appliances to producing bomb fuses, cartridges, and airplane wing flaps, hoped to profit after the war from pent-up consumer demand. Even before the company had fully reconverted its plants, ads tempted consumers with products soon to come, as in this 1946 ad.

READING THE IMAGE: Why do you think a woman is featured in this ad? Considering the scene in the background, what message is conveyed about women’s employment during and after the war?

CONNECTIONS: How did the shortage of consumer goods affect the postwar economy? What role did consumer goods play in the economic revival?

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