HOME

• 1940
• 1941
• 1942
• 1943
• 1944
• 1945
• 1946
• 1947
• 1948
• 1949

• 1950
• 1951
• 1952
• 1953
• 1954
• 1955
• 1956
• 1957
• 1958
• 1959

• 1960
• 1961
• 1962
• 1963
• 1964
• 1965
• 1966
• 1967
• 1968
• 1969

• 1970
• 1971
• 1972
• 1973
• 1974
• 1975
• 1976
• 1977
• 1978
• 1979

You are here -> HOME – RETROVILLE – 1941

Welcome to Retroville! It’s 1941!

IN THE NEWS:

• Germany attacks the Balkans and Russia
• Japanese fleet attacks Pearl Harbor
• U.S. declares war on Japan
• Great Britain declares war on Japan
• The Manhattan Project (atomic bomb research) begins
• Roosevelt enunciates the Four Freedoms
• Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act
• Roosevelt promises aid to Russia
• Orson Welle’s Citizen Kane premieres

ON THE RADIO:

• Front Page Farrell
• Abbott and Costello
• Author’s Playhouse
• Bob Hope Show
• Casey, Crime Photographer
• Cavalcade of America
• CBS Radio Mystery Theater
• Challenge of the Yukon
• Chick Carter, Boy Detective
• Death Valley Days
• Dr Christian
• Duffy’s Tavern
• Ellery Queen

ON TELEVISION:

• Variety shows
• The first commercials aired in the fall on all networks
• CBS televised news of the attack on Pearl Harbor

FADS & FASHION:

• Zoot suits
• Jitterbug
• Big band music

WHAT THINGS COST:

• Car: $925
• Gasoline: 19 cents per gallon
• House: $6,900
• Bread: 8 cents per loaf
• Milk: 34 cents per gallon
• Postage Stamp: 3 cents
• Average Annual Salary: $2,050
• Minimum Wage: 30 cents per hour

ACADEMY AWARD – BEST PICTURE:

• How Green Was My Valley – a dramatic film by John Ford starring Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O’Hara

TONY AWARD – BEST MUSICAL:

• The Tony Awards begin in 1947 (look ahead to 1949 to see the first winner)

PULITZER PRIZES:

• There Shall Be No Night by Robert E. Sherwood (drama)
• The Atlantic Migration by Marcus Lee Hansen (history)
• Jonathan Edward by Ola Elizabeth Winslow (biography)
• Sunderland Capture by Leonard Bacon (poetry)

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE:

• none awarded

TOP SONGS:

• Stardust by Artie Shaw
• String of Pearls by Glenn Miller
• You Made Me Love You by Harry James
• God Bless the Child by Billie Holliday