Sunday, March 16, 2014

1930's and 1940's Knitting


Week 11 = History
Day 5 = March 16, 2014




     This week I will be copying from Wikipedia. I searched "History of Knitting" and below are the 7th and 8th sections exactly as listed on Wikipedia.

1930s: The Depression[edit]

The prominence of knitwear in fashion of the 1920s continued, but reflected the changes of fashion. The combining traditional methods in new ways became more common and new technologies such as zip fasteners began to be used in knitwear. New synthetic yarns started to become available.
The hardship experienced by many during the Great Depression meant many turned to knitting through necessity. It was much cheaper to knit your own garments than to buy hand (or even machine) knitted products. Skills were needed for repairs to existing garments,socks and underwear. Patterns, now often included in popular women's magazines frequently reflected this need. Socks with replaceable toes and heels were common. Some hobby knitters took to part-time work, hand knitting for extra income.
The 1930s also saw a rise in popularity of commercial machine knitting. Much commercially sold knitwear of the 1920s was hand knitted, however the costs of this and other pressures of the time saw a large shift in consumers towards cheaper machine knitted products.



World War I poster encouraging people to knit socks for the troops


1939–1945: Knitting for Victory[edit]


Make do and mend was the title of a booklet produced by the British wartime government department, the Ministry of Information. Wool was in very short supply, and the booklet encouraged women to unpick old unwearable woollen items in order to re-use the wool.
Knitting patterns were issued so that people could make items for the Army and Navy to wear in winter, such as balaclavas and gloves. This not only produced the much-needed items, but also gave those on the "home front" a positive sense of contributing to the war effort.




Question of the day
What other Knitting War posters have you seen?


Knitting Victory,


Victoria

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