1940 Census

I love the 1940s.   So much so, that every year I go to the 1940s WWII Era Ball.  I've made three 1940s dresses (and one vintage-style Staff Sergeant uniform for my husband) to wear to the events.

 

I also love history--I always have.  And, I love learning about my own family's history.  Combine all these, and you can see why I'm so excited about the 1940 census, which is going to be released in a couple of weeks.   It will be a wealth of information for people studying their history.  

It won't be indexed when it is released, though, and the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project needs YOU to help index it!

I'm a blog ambassador for the 1940 U.S. Census and I'm asking you to sign up to help index the 1940 Census.  Head over to the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project website to sign up to become an indexer.  

Indexing is actually pretty fun.  It's almost like a game, "Can I figure out what this name says?!"  :)

As a little extra incentive to get you to sign up to index, the folks at the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project have come up with a little contest.  One entrant will be chosen at random to win a $100 Visa gift card and two entrants will be chosen to win $50 Visa gift cards.

To enter, download the FamilySearch Indexing software and complete a practice batch that will simulate what indexing the 1940 U.S. Census will be like.   See more on the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project Blog.


Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com ambassador program this blog post enters me into a drawing for an Amazon Kindle Fire.  

The 40s Dress

We love going to the 1940s WWII Era Ball every year. We've gone to three of the events (two summer, one winter), and I've now made three dresses for them. I can't be making a new 40s dress every year...this trend has got to stop. :) But, I did make a new one this year. Last year I wore this:

At the White Christmas Ball, I wore this one:

This summer, I decided to go a little Hawaiian. Hawaiian prints were very popular during the 1940s, as was rayon, so the Hawaiian print rayon fabric I picked out was perfect.  I used Vintage Vogue 2787, a reprint from 1948.   

The pattern runs bigger than you'd expect.  I went a size smaller than my measurements indicated, but it was still looser than the pictures showed (the photographs, not the drawings you see above--those are always deceiving, so I don't put a lot of stock in the illustrations on patterns.  I always check out the photographs of actual models, if there are any, and the line drawings on the back.) 

Of course, it made for a very comfortable dress.  And, being rayon, it was a very comfy, light dress. Great for dancing on a warm summer night!

The event was a lot of fun!  There were reenactors, like this MP:

Or "Frank Sinatra" and "The Andrews Sisters."

And, there were WWII planes and military vehicles:

It was fun to put my hair in victory rolls, get dolled up, and go back in time for an evening! 

1940s Dress and WWII Staff Seargant Uniform

Check out my Sense and Sensibility Swing Dress!

  I made the Staff Seargant Uniform, too.  Well, I made the hat, the tie, and the insignia.  The shirt and pants are Dickies work clothes from Walmart.  :)