Notes from Toyland: 100 years of Toys and Games in Montana Main Menu

In the 1940s

37914 1950s
Like for the rest of the world, one thing defined the early 1940s for Montanans: World War II. Nearly 60,000 Montanans enlisted during the war (about 10% of the state's population -- the highest percentage in the United States). Just like they had earlier, Native Americans in particular volunteered in large numbers. Although most Native Americans enlisted as regular soldiers, some were recruited for something very different: sending secret messages. Some speakers of Assiniboine used their language skills to become code-talkers, building codes based on their language to send messages that could not be decoded by Axis forces. After the war thousands of veterans returned home, and Montana began a period of growth, fueled by the booming oil market and the miles of highway built by the CCC the decade before.

Like during WWI, children experienced the effects of the war. Many had parents and siblings away fighting, and everyone on the home front dealt with rations on food, metal, and gas. Children were also profoundly impacted by stories of the destruction in Europe, particularly around the holidays. Across Montana, children asked that some or all of their holiday gifts be sent to Europe instead. Towards the end of the decade, as the state recovered from the war and selflessness became less crucial, children still showed a preference for practical toys, asking for doctor and nurse's kits and toy versions of household cleaning tools alongside the more traditional dolls and toy trains.

Here's a look at the kinds of things that Montana's children played with and asked for during this decade:
 
 

War rationing and toys

This page has paths:

  1. 1940s the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula

This page references: