My Grandfather's Entry Into World War II

In 1945, things were a lot different. America had was ending a devastating depression and had recently declared their entry into WWII, unaware of the devastation that would be caused. For my grandfather, now eighteen and officially an adult in what my mother loves to call, “the real world.” Is faced with new responsibilities such as the possibility of serving his country if he were to be drafted, and in later years paying his bills, and making a living for himself and his family. His life was in some ways much different than my father’s.
Although my grandfather was never conscripted into WWII, he still had other responsibilities to face such as buying a new car, which in 1945 was measly price between $730 and $925 furthermore, the cost of

gas was only 11 cents a gallon. Whereas my father’s, who was eighteen in 1974, first car would have cost around $4,100 and to fill his tank would have costed him 48 cents more Between the years 1945 and 1974 the average rate of inflation around 3.25%, and in 1945 was $2.53 in 1974.
Along with monetary expenses there is also the cost of family values, which in 1945 to few, may have been more “expensive” than in 1974. Family values were stricter and more controlling compared to the families living in 1974. Women were given more rights, and what was considered to be appropriate had changed dramatically from the year 1945. Feminism was on the up rise, women were dressing more freely, and finally beginning to express themselves outside of their original domestic roles as the family care-givers. If an individual from the 1940s witnessed this dramatic social change within women they may feel as if they were losing those core family values to equal rights.