When World War II (1939–45) ended, Americans had endured fifteen years of economic depression and war. Lacking money during the Great Depression (1929–41; see entry under 1930s— The Way We Lived in volume 2) and unsure of the future during the war, many young couples put off having families during these years. With the war over and economic prosperity restored, they no longer had to wait. By 1946, the "baby boom" was on, with more babies being born than ever before. Because of their numbers, baby boomers, those people born between 1946 and 1964 (when the birth rate leveled off), are a generation that has had a great impact on American life and culture.

Between 1946 and 1964, seventy-eight million babies were born in the United States alone. As these children grew up, their numbers created unique problems. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, nurses, doctors, and hospitals struggled to deal with overcrowding...