The Great Depression (1929–41) had plunged millions of Americans into poverty. Although New Deal programs had helped many, at the beginning of World War II (1939–45) 40 percent of all American families were living in poverty. The desperate conditions of the Depression left a deep impression on the people living through it. Their personal suffering during the Depression prepared them to endure the mandatory restrictions on food, clothing, and other items that were needed to help the war effort of the 1940s. Americans rallied behind their soldiers and grew their own vegetables in "victory" gardens. They lived frugally even though they could now find jobs and had extra money to spend.

The deprivations during the Depression had caused many people to delay marriage. By the 1940s, many couples rushed to marry before soldiers left for the war. When the soldiers returned after the war, many couples moved...