During WWII, the British Government used media campaigns to promote various patriotic ethos including proper behaviour in the blackout, digging for Victory (self sufficiency), and Make Do and Mend. They also used poster campaigns to paint a dark picture of the Axis powers (the enemy), and praise the Allies…
thankyousoldier.co.uk
Polka Dotty Hand-painted Vintage Faux Nail Set £12.50
etsy.com/shop/appletreedays
“Polka Dotty”
Enoch Bolles Cigarette Girl
Cigarette girls hit the spotlight as Hollywood glamour adding theatre and atmosphere to the see-and-be-seen playground of the rich and famous. This ‘pin-up’ service was seen in motion picture houses and nightclubs, lounges, bars and restaurants.
Robert Mitchum making a purchase!
Today, Peachy’s Puffs are a company specialising in the nostalgia of the cigarette and candy girls.
French poster 1935
Pin Up Cigarette Girl
Las Vegas, Hollywood, LA, London and Paris…Cigarette girls became the new ‘pin ups’.
A glamorous advertisement for cigarettes
- the vogue of the early 1900s
Al Moore 1951 Pin up cigarette girl
Today, Cigarettes have been replaced by candy and novelty gifts, and in some retro cinemas and theatres, ice cream…no problem with that!
Inspired by the Pin Up Cigarette girls, some vintage nail glamour!
Get some dancing glamour & take some swing lessons
A must have: Victory hair! See how with Betty Bee
Bring your Nail glamour with “Polka Dotty”
Makeup: Its all lashes and lipstick sweeties!
Parlours for the look include the Powderpuff Girls!
And a variety of styles of clothes to wear…
Tea dresses and corsages
High top swing trousers and snoods
Rockabilly 50s Capri pants and tie tops a la Pink ladies
The songs
Sing Sing Sing!
Thats plenty to help you with your Vintage Glamour!
Get some dancing glamour & take some swing lessons
A must have: Victory hair! See how with Betty Bee
Bring your Nail glamour with “Polka Dotty”
Makeup: Its all lashes and lipstick sweeties!
Parlours for the look include the Powderpuff Girls!
And a variety of styles of clothes to wear…
Tea dresses and corsages
High top swing trousers and snoods
Rockabilly 50s Capri pants and tie tops a la Pink ladies
The songs
Sing Sing Sing!
Thats plenty to help you with your Vintage Glamour!
I’ve always like ‘things’ from the 1940s even as a young girl, and even more so now. Where my parents (evacuated during WW2) eschewed Gone with the wind, and The Wizard of Oz, and have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the present day (I think a consequence of experiencing the bombing), I’ve chosen the 1940s as somewhere to go to not only be myself, but at some moments in my ‘real’ life, to escape to. But why?
Who would choose to live through such uncertain times that war at that time brought? Rationing of food and materials, the men of the family fighting on the front lines never knowing if you would see them again, and the girls billetted to ammunitions factories or the Land Army, and your town full of strange American men in uniform.
So what is it about that time that appeals to me?
Blitz spirit and a real sense of community
VE Day 1945
The simple fashions including the utility wear and Siren suits
Fashion 1940s
The sense of value placed on even the smallest item like a lipstick
Still looking your best 1940s
The way that we cherished each other in a time when our loved ones weren’t always around
Wartime Wedding 1945
Letters, handwritten letters
WW2 Love letters 1941
Music, and dancing, the joy of the simple radio
Enjoying the radio 1942
The sense of adventure enjoyed by women who would previously have been housewives
Land Girls WW2
Now its time for Tea and Wads! Tell me why you like the 1940s……
BBC One period drama Land Girls; Iris Dawson, Connie Carter and Joyce Fisher work the land as Hoxley manor is transformed into a military hospital.
How lovely to see a series about the Land Girls back on BBC One. I can imagine that the WLAT, Womens Land Army Tribute are only too pleased: ‘‘remembering the work of the Land Army with a lasting memorial’’
The clothes are great, hair is great, and not to be missed, the slick of red lipstick is a must!
Joyce, Iris and Connie
the Land Girls
the original Land Army
recruited to work the land
in the absence of men during WWII
The real stories of what these women achieved and the lifestyle they had is fascinating.
The music featured in the tv series is a mix of singalongs and popular tunes of the era. Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree was a top hit from 1942, from the stage show Yokel Boy and made famous by the ever popular Andrews Sisters.
One of my other all time favourites I’ll Be Seeing You was a hit from 1944, from the stage show Right This Way. Featured throughout the 1944 movie also titled I’ll be Seeing You, starring Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotten, the recording by Bing Crosby became a hit.
Vintage womens magazine covers are a good source of 1940s art and interests, as well as being a wonderful insight into popular culture of the World War II era. Vintage magazines are also Collectible items, and if you are interested in anything that you’ve seen here, please contact me. I will be listing one or two in my shop soon! Here are a sample of magazine covers 1940-1945.
Pink Bride 1940
Dorothy Lamour 1940
Plans for your post-war home 1940
Homebaking 1942
The WarBride 1942
I predict for...1945
Rita Hayworth 1945
These are a selection of magazine covers, also available are issues of Look magazine from December 1941 (Pearl Harbour) and July 1939 (Gone with the Wind).
"Siren suits" - who came up with that?
Siren suits were an item of World War II Utility clothing, so called because it was meant to be a quick piece of clothing to rush into that would cover your usual clothes when the air raid siren was sounded. Practical, hard wearing, and warm, siren suits were ‘designed’ with the advent of mass sheltering in very poor conditions all across cities like London and Liverpool.
I suppose we might wonder now why there would be the need for a siren suit, but during wartime, clothing was increasingly hard to come by. We’ve all heard of the ‘Make Do and Mend’ initiative, brought about by rationing of materials amongst many other items, and the siren suit helped to preserve your already precious ‘daytime’ clothing. During the Blitz it was also incredibly difficult to keep clothes clean. Obviously without todays luxury white items washing machines and dryers, washing clothes was particularly arduous, but imagine the frustration of trying to get those washed clothes dry when dust and debry hung in the air day after day following incessant bombing raids.
These were known as”Churchill’s Siren suits” so called because he was famously photographed in his much worn, much loved and patched it would seem, siren suit, were one of several items of Utility clothing during the war period.
Churchill in his pin striped siren suit
Siren suit c.1942*
And now we might see Siren suits as something more glamorous thanks to Betty Blue’s Loungerie!
Photography @TigzRiceStudios
Read her press release here!
And "pompadour curls" - what are those?
The ‘Pompadour curl’ takes its name from Madame de Pompadour, member of the French court, and the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death in 1764.
The ‘pompadour’ is a reverse curl at the front of the head, probably more recognised today as a quiff. It is the predecessor of the Victory Roll which is basically a relaxed version of the pompadour.
Carmen Miranda Pompadour
A popular hair style of Hollywood screen sirens, it could be seen on Bette Davis, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, and Rosemary Clooney. It was also depicted in Alberto Vargas’ pin up girls!
Alberto Vargas pin up
Keeping your hair healthy and shiny during wartime was almost impossible. Shampoo wasn’t rationed, just particularly difficult to come by. Of course a lot of products like this made up the prevelant ‘black market’ during this period. But for girls it was important to keep showing Hitler, that they could ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, and look their best.
Keep your pecker up! xx
"Siren suits" -
who came up with that?
Siren suits were an item of World War II Utility clothing, so called because it was meant to be a quick piece of clothing to rush into that would cover your usual clothes when the air raid siren was sounded. Practical, hard wearing, and warm, siren suits were ‘designed’ with the advent of mass sheltering in very poor conditions all across cities like London and Liverpool.
I suppose we might wonder now why there would be the need for a siren suit, but during wartime, clothing was increasingly hard to come by. We’ve all heard of the ‘Make Do and Mend’ initiative, brought about by rationing of materials amongst many other items, and the siren suit helped to preserve your already precious ‘daytime’ clothing. During the Blitz it was also incredibly difficult to keep clothes clean. Obviously without todays luxury white items washing machines and dryers, washing clothes was particularly arduous, but imagine the frustration of trying to get those washed clothes dry when dust and debry hung in the air day after day following incessant bombing raids.
These were known as”Churchill’s Siren suits” so called because he was famously photographed in his much worn, much loved and patched it would seem, siren suit, were one of several items of Utility clothing during the war period.
Churchill in his pin striped
siren suit
Siren suit c.1942*
And now we might see Siren suits as something more glamorous thanks to Betty Blue’s Loungerie!
Photography @TigzRiceStudios
Read her press release here!
And "pompadour curls" -
what are those?
The ‘Pompadour curl’ takes its name from Madame de Pompadour, member of the French court, and the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death in 1764.
The ‘pompadour’ is a reverse curl at the front of the head, probably more recognised today as a quiff. It is the predecessor of the Victory Roll which is basically a relaxed version of the pompadour.
Carmen Miranda Pompadour
A popular hair style of Hollywood screen sirens, it could be seen on Bette Davis, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, and Rosemary Clooney. It was also depicted in Alberto Vargas’ pin up girls!
Alberto Vargas pin up
Keeping your hair healthy and shiny during wartime was almost impossible. Shampoo wasn’t rationed, just particularly difficult to come by. Of course a lot of products like this made up the prevelant ‘black market’ during this period. But for girls it was important to keep showing Hitler, that they could ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, and look their best.
Keep your pecker up! xx
After recently being asked if I could recommend a hair salon that would do ‘good’ Victory rolls (thanks @Mookey316!) I thought it was high time that I took a little perusal around my location and checked out some subscribers to the vintage community.
Here’s what I did:
I went to “Crikey It’s Vintage and Handmade Haven” in Exeter
I searched Twitter 
I am not ashamed to say that I love Twitter. I have made some lovely Tweeps, some of whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting up with, and others that I am hoping to get together with for a little TweetUp tea party…
I joined the Vintage Network
I joined the Vintage Directory
I asked around amongst beauty types for a hair salon that could perform the necessary ‘Victory’ magic….
Rita Hayworth
I went online to find vintage clothing suppliers that appeal to me….
I did some research on vintage camper vans for hire…
And last but definitely not least, I found some lovely CND Minx designs as well as nail polishes from Essie and OPI for your #nailglamour that will fit the bill!
Essie Fishnet Stockings
Here are my recommendations:
Vanessa Claxton in Exeter for hair
HeyDay UK for clothing
Mrs Gingers for your tasty cupcakes
Appletree Days Vintage Nail Design portfolio coming soon!
Other great people I’ve ‘discovered’ for you to follow are:
‘The Cream Tea of Devon’ Lady Lace
I am putting together my own pop up vintage nail styling parlour as a one stop shop for those of you visiting the Southwest for weddings and holidays as well as other events, and are in need of your vintage makeover…..now if only Betty Bee was a franchise!!
Finally, make sure you know about Crikey It’s Vintage – Vintage Events in the Southwest, for everything you can imagine you want, in one place, on one day!
Keep your pecker up! xx
Appletree Days 