Socially, the decade featured a similar split. From 1940-45, the
world rearranged itself: many Europeans immigrated to America to
avoid the atrocities being carried out in their home countries,
and American women left the home to fill the employment void
created by the men now serving in the armed forces. From
1940-1945, life and design were in a 1930s holding pattern, a
breath-holding state that would not end until the war did. The
post-war forties can best be described as a period of recovery
and ramping up. Factories that had once manufactured war
necessities retooled for the industries of the future. Women
returned to the home, and recent European immigrants began to
make their mark in the worlds of art, architecture and culture.
A housing shortage and a baby boom were created, and single-
family homes in the suburbs became the American ideal. Magazines
such as House Beautiful, Sunset, and Better Homes and Gardens
established themselves as bibles for modern domestic living. In
Los Angeles, The First Postwa