Moving in the Golden Era? (40's Specifically)

[Weston]

As I get ready to move EVERY. SINGLE. THING. I own, I ponder how they did this in the 40s – cardboard boxes? Wooden crates? Obviously there were fewer household possessions, but what ways did people move from place to place in those days? Rail?

More curious reflections as I rest weary legs...

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's a cliche, but that's how it was done -- most people loaded everything they owned onto whatever old car they had, and hoped for the best. There were local and regional moving-van companies, but these were more for the well-to-do. The average American, still coming out of the Depression, was rather limited in options.

Of course, during the war years, people *didn't* move long distances unless it was at Uncle Sam's pleasure. Private moves for private purposes were limited to cross-town, since truck and train transport was reserved for official and military use, and three gallons a week on an A-ration card wouldn't get a civilian car very far.

 

[Weston]

Can we get you your own forum section with a little "Ask Lizzie Maine" button?

I get the feeling you know even more than this, yet it would exhaust you to type it all.

You're a true FL resource, and I thank you!

I also begin to see the wisdom of such a way of moving also...but alas I have leather couches and 60 year old inherited furniture.

 

[jayem]

Seriously, LizzieMaine, you should really get your own subtopic where all you do is answer questions.

 

[The Wolf]

Dishes use to be packed in barrels during the golden age. I'm not sure how well they survived, though.
I agree LizzieMaine is great. Always first with the information, first with the photos and first in the hearts of the Loungers.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Doh!]

Oh, I'll be some movers could've been hired on the cheap...

 

[InspectorMorse]

Also most people did not have the vast array of items that we do in our modern materialistic world. They did the quality-not-quantity thing, shopping downtown rather than the local discount big box..they had something to dress up in and somethings to work in, they furnished with just what they needed, and they only had one car per home......Today we all want & have-to-have so much "stuff" that moving seems impossible for many of us, hence the mega-mover companies!

 

[Warbaby]

When I was a little kid in the late 40s-early 50s, my parents moved back and forth between Pennsylvania and Arizona a couple of times. I was too young to pay enough attention to remember the moves very clearly, but they couldn't have had much stuff to move. The first move was in a '39 Willys and everything fit in the trunk and back seat. The next one was in a pickup truck. My father built a wood frame over the bed and covered it with a heavy canvas tarp. There were no freeways then and it was 2-lane blacktop all the way at 45-50 mph.

It was also fairly common in those days to send stuff in trunks and crates via Railway Express. IIRC, it cost about five or six bucks to send a large trunk from coast to coast. Books went via USPS because they still offered a "book rate" which was around $2.50 for a large carton of books.