Nostalgic Singer Ads

I always thought that I was born 25 years too late...I can't get enough of anything 1930's-1960's.  Of course we tend to see the past through rose colored glasses but I know that Americans struggled through the Depression in the 1930's and WWII in the 1940's.  The 1950's - well that post war era seems nearly idyllic by the standards of the entire century.  I know it wasn't perfect, but I pore over it and recreate a little bit of it in my life whenever I can.  Hence my obsession with all things "vintage" (which is just a marketable way of saying "old".)   

Now this BH&G cover has almost nothing to do with Vintage Singers except that it evokes an era when the housewife who had a kitchen like this almost certainly had a shiny black and gold Singer somewhere in the house.  I LOVE, love, love this kitchen!

Moving on to the 1940's, here is a Singer ad from 1945.  The war was ending and "at last" she could order a new Singer.  Production of appliances, cars, stockings, rubber items, etc. all but stopped in the early '40's and went to the War effort.  I don't know if the Singer factories were involved, but of course many factories were fitted out to build planes, tanks and munitions.  Even if the factories weren't otherwise occupied, there was a shortage of metal, rubber and other material for any manufacturing that wasn't absolutely necessarily.  

According to this ad it seems that new sewing machines were among the items that were hard to come by.  

 How about those Singer Sewing Centers? When you bought a Singer sewing machine you were entitled to a free sewing course to learn how to use it.

 The "Career Gal" makes her own clothes on a Singer - the secret of her success.  Note that she has a roommate, not a husband.  "Career Gals" were usually single, supposedly just working until they achieved their highest career goal of getting married and being a housewife.

Here's the '50's housewife with her smart suit and well dressed daughters.  She makes all their clothes.