"Daddy's Gone to War": The Second World War in the Lives of America's Children
Drawing on letters, diaries and interviews, the author of this significant study takes a close look at the experiences and perceptions of American children during WW II. Focusing particularly on the psychological impact of a father's absence, Tuttle is sensitive to the difference between the reactions of sons and those of daughters. But fathers weren't the only ones to ship out, and Tuttle examines the impact of the entry of mothers into the war-production labor force and of the geographical dislocation this could entail. A history professor at the University of Kansas and himself a "homefront child," the author recalls how important comic books, radio programs, cereal boxtop toys and even jump-rope ditties were to children of that day. He also analyzes the values emphasized during wartime--the stress on marriage and family, the mandate to "get ahead," patriotism and U.S. leadership of the "free world"--and shows how these beliefs endured into adulthood. This eloquent, unsentimental study is a fully realized evocation of the wartime years from the American child's point of view.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.