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The 1930's were times of severe depression. There were feelings of hopelessness and despair over the most basic needs, such as food and shelter. Few were saved from financial devastation (in varying degrees), those who were spared, were already in that state to begin with. War began to draw ever closer to U.S. involvement, and by 1941 the United States became directly involved in World War II through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor did more than shake a nation's foundation with fear. The catapult that sent the U.S. into war, also served to end a terrible depression.

"The end to the Great Depression came about in 1941 with America's entry into World War II. America sided with Britain, France and the Soviet Union against Germany, Italy, and Japan (1)."

Suddenly work was obtainable to nearly everyone, and money was once again available to pour into unneeded things. It was a new year. 1942 was beginning and a nation that had been holding its breath for twelve years finally collectively sighed with relief.

The beginning of WWII, and the sudden end to the Great Depression began a whirlwind romance of the American people with blatant materialism so strong that to forsake all else in the name of "more," became the acceptable norm that still rules America today.

War and depression are odd bedfellows. Threat of war brings financial unease, onset of war brings jobs and hope, and the ending of war brings a boom of prosperity. Perhaps one might think, when in the middle of financial upheaval: "why not start a war?" Maybe this was not the case back during WWII, but while men, women and children were in the midst of losing their lives in faraway places, in the secret hearts of those at home, there is a wish for a continued state of war, for while the war is fought and won, or lost, there is prosperity to show for it.

In "A Drugstore Eden" by Cynthia Ozick, a picture is painted of the sudden boom of "wartime leisure."

"In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, there was all at once a job for nearly everyone, and money to spend in any cranny of wartime leisure. The Depression was receding. On weekends, the subway spilled out mobs of city picnickers into the green fields of Pelham Bay Park, bringing a tentative prosperity to the neighborhood... Open shelves sprouted in the aisles, laden with anomalous racks of sunglasses, ice coolers, tubes of mosquito repellent and suntan lotion, paper

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