Though the majority of Baby Boomers were born after the 1940s, and the few that weren't would have been no more than four years old when the decade drew to a close, it is vitally important to take more than a passing glace at that decade when considering the Baby Boomer generation, as it is in that decade that all Baby Boomers have their roots. It is into the world of the people of the 1940s that Baby Boomers were born, and it is from the people of that decade that the Baby Boomers learnt the customs, ideologies, religious and social mores that characterised who there were.

In nearly every way imaginable, Australia was a totally different place in the first Baby Boomer decade to the Australia we know today, and the majority of the changes that took place were witnessed by the Baby Boomers in their years of growing up and reaching adulthood (1940s-1980s). Life in 1946, the year in which the first Baby Boomers were born, was lived differently to today. The Australian population, like many other peoples of the world, had endured six years of war, during which time the activities young people would have normally pursued - a career, financial security, an education, getting married - had to be put on hold for the war effort. Many went off to war - some never came home. Everything - food, clothing, household goods, building materials, money etc. - was in short supply and people had learnt to go without and live frugally. Needless to say, when the war was over, a positive attitude and great anticipation of good times ahead swept the nation, as it had done at the turn of the century when the Australian states united in Federation and moved forward eagerly into a new era.

After the war, the population settled back to life as it had been in the mid-1930s before the war. The man's role was that of the bread-winner. Every week day in the cities and larger towns, the man of the house would don his suit, hat and tie and head off to work via public transport. As it had been before the war, only the rich had the luxury of a motor vehicle, except for those employed in jobs that required them to drive; they were lucky enough to travel to and from work in a car or van supplied. Though most women had had a taste of employment during the war when they took over the jobs vacated by the men who had gone off to fight, after the war it soon returned to how it used to be - the young women went out to work as secretaries, shop assistants and nurses; those who were married stayed at home and looked after the home and the children.

The children's role in the family was very much to be seen but not heard. When guests were around, children were taught to speak only when they were spoken to, but most times they simply were relegated to their rooms to play. Most families had more than one child, and the children were relegated to an order of prevelege; in most instances it was based one eldest male to youngest male first, followed by eldest daughter to youngest daughter. This was the order in which children were given the privelege of doing everything - from being the last to go to bed at night, to going out on dates, going away to a camp or on a holiday with a friend, learning to drive a car etc. In many homes this order continued to be enforced right into the 1960s - I recall being grounded for a week, even though I was eighteen, drove my own car and had been out of school and in a full time job for a year! No wonder the youth of that 1960s hailed Bob Dylan as their hero when he hollered into the microphone, "Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, and don't criticize What you can't understand, Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command, Your old road is rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand for the times they are a-changin'.

Larger electrical household appliances like washing machines and refrigerators were available, but because of their high cost and shortage of supply, were only found in the homes of the well-to-do. Because of the lack of refrigeration in many homes, perishable foods had to be purchased on the day of use. As a result, the suburbs of Australia's larger cities and towns had plenty of corner shops, and no matter which suburb you lived in, a butcher's shop, green grocer (fruit and vegetable) and grocery store (otherwise known as mixed business) were always in walking distance. As the wife was at home all day, there was no call for take-away meals for dinner, except if dad chose to treat the family and give mum a break. At such times, and that was usually on a Friday night, the take-home fare would be fish and chips, or maybe a cooked chicken or Chinese food if there was a Chinese take-away near the train station or bus stop on their way home. Workers often took a packed lunch to work with them, as did school children, or bought a sandwich from a milk bar near their place of work.

There was no television, however most homes had a radiogram and it was not uncommon for the family to sit around this rather chunky piece of furniture in the corner of the lounge room and listen to the news or a radio serial after dinner before the children went off to bed. The importance of family, a vital source of comfort, strength and support during the war years, did not diminish in the post-war years, and both the immediate and extended family would remain the core of social life for most until well into the 1960s.

The optimism of the post war years was not only the catalyst that brought the Baby Boomer generation into existence, its also served to encourage many newlyweds in Europe to seek a new life away from the war-torn countries of their birth. During the post World War II years, many countries in the British Commonwealth including Australia, embarked on extensive campaigns in Britain and the countries of mainland Europe to attract young families to emigrate. In Australia, the advance of the Japanese in early 1942 and Australia's inability to defend itself made it clear to the Government of John Curtin that something would have to be done in the post war years to increase the nation's population. 'Total War' and conscription had put a huge strain on the economy and further emphasized the need to 'populate or perish'. Before the war had concluded, the Department of Information, headed by Arthur Caldwell, had already begun to develop a plan to populate Australia. The Government pursued policies that fostered natural growth, and though the birth rate in Australia actually rose significantly during the war, natural increase was never likely to bring the sort of growth that was felt necessary to secure the country against the possibility of invasion.

Large-scale immigration was seen as the best solution and by late 1944 the Australian government had already begun negotiations with Britain for assisted migration programmes, which were readied for introduction as soon as the war was over. Scare campaigns about the "Yellow Peril" and later, "Reds Under The Beds" which warned of the threat of Communism and invasion by Australia's northern neighbours, got the Australian population quickly supporting the Government's expensive migrant programmes. In 1948, the Australian Federal Government initiated the "Bring Out A Briton" campaign which encouraged people living in Australia to sponsor British families, predominantly their relatives or friends. All political parties in Australia supported a White Australia Policy and looked only to Britain and the countries of north-western European for migrants in the belief that people from these countries would easily adapt to the Australian way of life. Curtin did not live to see the plan put in place though there is little doubt that it exceeded his expectations.

Of all the changes that took place in the Baby Boomer years, those in the Australian home had the biggest impact on the lives of Australians. The development of processed foods, the invention of household gadgets to make housework easier along with automated manufacture that allowed them to be produced quickly and cheaply, and the proliferation of new types of food, brought here by migrants and by international companies who began establishing branches in Australia, all began in the 1940s. Take a look at the timeline in the chapter on innovations and you'll see the extent of the changes. Before 1946, there were no latex gloves, no television sets, no Sunbeam mixmasters, no Choc Wedge ice creams, no Tupperware, no Golden Circle or Sara Lee products, no Kraft processed cheese, no Four'n'Twenty pies, no microwave ovens, no velcro, no supermarkets; all were introduced between the end of the war and the beginning of the 1950s! And if that list makes you think the 1940s were years of radical change, wait until you check out the list of 1950s innovations - Nestles Quick, Kellogg's Frosty Flakes, Cracker Barrel cheese; Trix dishwashing liquid, pop-up toasters, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, B&D Roller Doors, Coon cheese, Picnic bars, Rice-a-Riso, Coco-pops, Nerada tea, the LP record, the tape recorder ... and we haven't even got to the 1960s and 70s yet!

The next decade: 1950s