Pin Up Girl (1944, directed by H. Bruce Humberstone) has always been one of my favorite movies for spectacular '40s hairstyles - the rest is pure fluff. The voluminous hairdos that star in the film sit on top of the heads of Betty Grable, Martha Raye and numerous extras. Betty Grable is a canteen worker in her home state, a big tomato in a little pond. She gets restless and, telling everyone at home she's off on the nationwide USO tour as a special guest, heads off to her new job ...in Washington DC, as a stenographer. During a short stop in New York on the way, she meets a handsome war hero. But work beckons, and finally she arrives at her destination, notebook in hand. Who will be her new boss?
Wartime Hair The styles in this movie are the antithesis of those worn by the day-to-day Rosies, who went a-riveting and to war-time jobs in short hair and scarves (like Red's grandma on the swing shift or on the riveters shown below). As one of the more popular hairstyles of the period that enabled a woman to go to work with out short hair or severe pin-backs, 'the victory cut' was about three inches long, permed, pinned down and combed into a halo of curls. Think Norma Shearer in The Women. However, no regular victory cut for our Betty; impracticality rules the day in Pin Up Girl.
Hairstyling tools that were available around the time this movie was filmed were much more limited than they are today - no curling irons, hot sticks or hand-held blow-dryers - just a girl and her bobby pins, clips and rats (as could be used to get the 'bumper bang' above).
...and extra hair, lots of extra hair, especially if you wanted a Grable-like creation. The look at the top of this post is from what is probably the most successful segment of the movie, where Betty - several months pregnant and made up as a New Orleans tramp in the opposite of her wholesome image - sings and dances with Hermes Pan. The super-bouffant look is created with a hair accessory. The front mass of bangs is held to the head with an elastic band, pinned in place, with the rest of the hair swept up over the band to hide it and curled to blend with the piece. The more traditional 40s long styles in the movie are sported by Dorothea Kent as Betty's friend, by Martha Raye as the wicked witch of the picture, and sometimes even by Betty herself (at right). The large rolls in the hair were called victory rolls, and were created by pinning wet hair into identical large pin-curls, letting it dry, then brushing the curls out into a large barrel roll and pinning it into place. Styles with lots of height like this may have also been rolled around a 'rat', a roll of mesh that took bobby pins easily and was hidden within the roll of hair. No hair stylist is credited on this picture.
The Movie(or Short Cartoon, whatevs) If you're like me and have read a few animation books or are an animation dork, you'll know that a favorite pastime of most rabid, slavering fans of the Rabbit (e.g. me) is to recount cartoons blow-by-blow, crafting descriptions of every single gag and anvil drop with loving detail. If you are in to this type of thing, one of the best places to find your cartoons recounted with good humor and an insight into animation history is in Joe Adamson's 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare - I have had this book since I was pretty young and still consider it to be the best Bugs reference out there. Anyway, I will try to avoid this bad and surprisingly common habit, but make no guarantees!
Little Red Riding Rabbit (directed by Friz Freleng, 1944) is a trove of war-era references, beginning with the opening scene where Red, who is pretty obviously a soxer, is skipping through the forest singing a song about her father working in the munitions factory. Bugs Bunny is in her basket, being brought to grandmother 'ta have' for dinner. After a longish detour set by the Big Bad Wolf, Red finds herself at grandma's door, only to find the note shown above. The Big Bad has gotten there before them and, after shooing out four other wolves already in the bed wearing granny's other nightgowns, he has the place to himself. He has only to wait for the knock at the door to get a nice rabbit dinner...
What Is A 'Bobby-Soxer' Anyway?
Oh, Frankie! "On the opening day of his engagement the crowd waiting for admission early in the morning got out of hand; shop windows were smashed, police and ambulances had to be summoned." - The Guardian. 1.10.1945
A bobby-soxer was a young girl distinguished by her clothes, interests and, above all, socks. The term was in general applied to young girls with a characteristic fashion sense: skirts, sweaters, saddle shoes or penny loafers and short socks known as bobby socks (so named because they were shorter versions of the original knee socks). She was your typical 'teenybopper' of the post-war time period, and the stereotypical female youth sitting in the soda shop wearing a poodle skirt in the 1950s. The bobby soxer was part of the culture from the early-to-mid forties through the fifties, often portrayed as vapid youth only interested in pursuing inappropriate or unattainable men. Analogs to bobby soxers in recent pop culture would be fans of the Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and the Bieb. A 1945 reference in The Guardian applied the term to early to mid-teen girls who were fans of Frank Sinatra, while a Time magazine from late 1946 also referred to a 20-year-old female Iowan parson as a bobby soxer, so it's clear that the term had some elasticity.
Other bobby soxer notes: The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer was made by RKO in 1947, starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Shirley Temple as Susan the soxer. Chuck Berry recorded Go Bobby Soxer in 1964, a bit late to really catch the height of the craze. This song has one of my new favorite song lines (see end of first verse):
Bobby band a-rockin'
And the bobby soxer's doing the twist
It's a bobby soxer beat
And you can rock it any way you wish
Work out, bobby soxer, you can
Wiggle like a whimsical fish
Go, go, bobby soxer (x 4)
When the weekend comes
You'll be right back rockin' some more, etc.
I love this movie (directed by George Stevens, 1943) and have watched it more times than I ought to lately. The plot of the movie starts with Jean Arthur's character advertising to take in a lodger in her small Washington, D.C., apartment to help with the war effort. The lodger, a meddling (and hilarious) old gentleman perfectly played by Charles Coburn, proceeds to rent out half of his half of the apartment to a 'high-type, clean-cut, nice young fellow' (played by Joel McCrea) in order to play matchmaker. Antics ensue, including a few steeplechases through the apartment that shouldn't be missed. Coburn won a Best Supporting Actor for his work in this film and the movie was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. In short, this movie is delightful. However, I've always assumed that the major premise - housing in certain areas during WWII so scarce that strangers had to bunk in apartment lobbies - was exaggerated...
You Think You're Being Novel, But... After some quick research, I found that apparently the situation was not much exaggerated, and I am pretty obviously not the first person to have thought the housing crisis (in Washington DC in particular) was of interest! Journal articles and books have since been written on the topic, and it was a subject that was mined frequently at the time for comedy and conflict. Take for example this Jack Benny sketch described by Frank Krutnik in his article on the subject for The Journal of American Culture:
"Benny and his sidekick spend several weeks tramping round Washington in a fruitless search for accommodation. When they do finally find a hotel with a vacancy, the owner tells them: 'For 25 cents, you can sleep all night in the cloakroom. For 50 cents you can sleep all night in the jukebox... And for one dollar you can ride in the revolving door and sleep like a top.' The sketch ends with the manager selling Benny a brick for $10; he throws it through the window, and is then carted off by the police for a restful night in the cells." -Critical Accommodations: Washington, Hollywood, and the World War II Housing Shortage, 19 November, 2007.
The needs of war put the population of the US in flux, with more people needed in certain areas than there was space to accommodate them. Washington, as the central command, was hardest hit. Other areas that were centers of munitions and war machinery fabrication, such as Seattle and Portland, also found themselves in the same condition. New housing was built in many areas to accommodate the influx of people, but until that housing was made available, people had to make do. Even when new housing was put up, the restrictions on war-related materials were so great that units were often made using less than half the usual amount of materials. Rural areas were also hard hit, with large factories being built in areas with only a small population base. As would be expected in a situation with many demands and scarce resources, prices rose and the number of people per house rose as well.
Not Just Housing
Not just housing, but a lot of other general things changed for residents of Washington during the war. Another running joke in The More The Merrier takes its cues from the sex ratio of Washington at the time, estimated as 'eight girls for every fellow'.
I Dood It (directed by Vincente Minelli, 1943) features displays of exceptional comedic and musical talent wrapped in a paper-thin plot involving sabotage and skulduggery during a theater production. The movie a is remake of the Buster Keaton comedy film 'Spite Marriage' with musical numbers thrown in (a few are even recycled from earlier films). Multiple stars are along for the ride, including Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton as the main characters with support from Lena Horne, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Sam Levene, John Hodiak, Butterfly McQueen, Helen O'Connell, Bob Eberly and Hazel Scott. I was drawn to this movie by the phenomenal dance numbers of Eleanor Powell, but it was really Hazel Scott's piano and vocal performance that surprised me. I had never heard of her and wanted to know more...
Young Hazel
Hazel Scott was born on the island of Trinidad in 1920. Her mother, Alma Long Scott, was part of a jazz band, and began to encourage Hazel's tinkering on the piano at the age of three. She and her family moved to the city of New York in 1924 (I haven't yet figured out why). So obvious was her talent that at a young age Hazel was given free piano lessons by a teacher at Juilliard.
Hazel the Performer
Hazel became a public performer in her teen years on the Mutual Broadcasting System and live in clubs and theaters around New York, with at least one gig at the Roseland Ballroom with the Count Basie Orchestra. In the 1930s and 40s she was a nightclub pianist and singer in high demand, performing classical music as well as club standards. Labeled as the 'hot classicist' by Time magazine, her nightclub performances were described by this vibrant quote:
Hazel Scott at the Stage Door Canteen, NYC, 1942 (Life Magazine).
"But where others murder the classics, Hazel Scott merely commits arson. Classicists who wince at the idea of jiving Tchaikovsky feel no pain whatever as they watch her do it. She seems coolly determined to play legitimately, and for a brief while, triumphs. But gradually it becomes apparent that evil forces are struggling within her for expression. Strange notes and rhythms creep in, the melody is tortured with hints of boogie-woogie, until finally, happily, Hazel Scott surrenders to her worse nature and beats the keyboard into a rack of bones. The reverse is also true: into Tea for Two may creep a few bars of Debussy's Clair de Lune. Says wide-eyed Hazel: "I just can't help it." (Time Magazine, link below)
She was a mainstay at Cafe Society, a prominent jazz nightclub. In 1941 and 1943, she performed at Carnegie Hall as part of the 'From Bach to Boogie-Woogie' concerts. Possibly at the behest of her politician husband to force the issue first thrust into the limelight by Marion Anderson in 1939, in 1945 Hazel requested a performance at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall. The request was declined by the DAR executive committee, who preferred to keep their venue for "white artists only". President Truman and his wife were applied to to redress the injustice, but despite sending a single round of sympathetic correspondence, they did not interfere.
In the early 1940s, Hazel was also featured in the movies Rhapsody in Blue and Broadway Rhythm. Her talents for entertainment were put to good use for the war effort, as evidenced by the photo above and this Army/Navy Screen Magazine clip below (incredible style! But be prepared for potentially offensive wartime lyrics):
In 1950, Hazel Scott became the first black woman to have a solo television show, The Hazel Scott Show, which ran for only a few months on the DuMont Television Network.
In later years, she moved to the more liberated environment of Paris, where she continued to sing on stage in clubs. She moved back to the US in the 1970s, continuing to sing and appear on television, including landing an appearance on the soaper One Life to Live.
Personal Life
Scott and Powell on their wedding day (Life Magazine)
Various sources describe Hazel Scott as 'outspoken' and she was noted in the press as a 'favorite tabloid character'. Prior to her first marriage, she lived in suburban White Plains, New York. Hazel was married to Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a representative to Congress for New York's 18th district and pastor of the 10,000-strong Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, in 1945. At their wedding, a double-line of people waiting to meet the bride and groom stretched around a full city block. Hazel had one child with Powell, a son, before the couple divorced in 1956. Interestingly, Time magazine also lists a marriage that Scott's wikipedia page does not; this marriage to a Swiss comedian 15 years her junior took place "eight weeks after she divorced Democratic Representative Adam Clayton Powell and six weeks after Powell married his pert Puerto Rican secretary".
She was tried (but not convicted) in 1950 by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and it was speculated that this trial and her listing as a Communist in the anti-Communist pamphlet Red Channels cost her her television show. The show had been well-received by critics and had decent ratings.
The Movie Joel McCrea stars as reporter Johnny Jones / Huntley Haverstock in Alfred Hitchcock's excellent thriller Foreign Correspondent (1940). Jones is sent overseas to send back reports of impending war, getting more than he bargained for by stumbling on a German spy ring intent on uncovering secrets and bending a treaty in their favor. Laraine Day stars as Jones' love interest and George Sanders provides his usual suave humor as fellow journalist Scott Ffolliott.
The segue into the final action scene in Foreign Correspondent occurs on an aeroplane crossing the Atlantic at the start of the World War II in Europe. Above is a snap from the film, with Joel McCrea and George Sanders on the left looking slightly gloomy (don't know why, they've got plenty of legroom and four star chefs in the kitchen!).
Passenger air travel started seriously in the 1920s, and by 1940 was becoming increasingly popular. At this time, it was still mainly a luxury for the wealthy.
Boeing 314 External shots of a Boeing 314 seaplane with four 1600 hp Wright Twin Cyclone engines were used in Foreign Correspondent to set the scene for the final conflict. The Boeing 314s (six in all) were commissioned by Pan American to provide a long-range addition to their fleet of aircraft. These craft were called 'Clippers' and featured seats that could be turned into bunks for the flights that sometimes lasted over half a day. Full galleys staffed by a four-star chef, lounges and dining areas were also features of the Clippers.
Service Staff
Aircraft in 1940 were still unpressurized, so hospitality staff provided gum to help pop ears at altitude. Air conditioning was still yet to be installed as well. Help could be either male, as seen by the steward in the movie, or female. Stewardesses at the time were required to take grooming classes, to 'retain their femininity' and to SMILE! Prior to America's entry into WWII, air hostesses were required to be registered nurses. For their labor, they would earn around $125 per month, minus uniform costs. Girdles were mandatory.
The styles in this movie are the antithesis of those worn by the day-to-day Rosies, who went a-riveting and to war-time jobs in short hair and scarves (like Red's grandma on the swing shift or on the riveters shown below). As one of the more popular hairstyles of the period that enabled a woman to go to work with out short hair or severe pin-backs, 'the victory cut' was about three inches long, permed, pinned down and combed into a halo of curls. Think Norma Shearer in The Women. However, no regular victory cut for our Betty; impracticality rules the day in Pin Up Girl.
The more traditional 40s long styles in the movie are sported by Dorothea Kent as Betty's friend, by Martha Raye as the wicked witch of the picture, and sometimes even by Betty herself (at right). The large rolls in the hair were called victory rolls, and were created by pinning wet hair into identical large pin-curls, letting it dry, then brushing the curls out into a large barrel roll and pinning it into place. Styles with lots of height like this may have also been rolled around a 'rat', a roll of mesh that took bobby pins easily and was hidden within the roll of hair. No hair stylist is credited on this picture. 
