Thelma and Lowell's Diary: Dec. 15, 1943

They see 'Bomber's Moon'; perfume was on many a gift list

It was a Wednesday. “Didn’t do much all day except clean up the house,” wrote Thelma, who may have been feeling tired due to her pregnancy. It was an unusually cold day in New Orleans — getting down to 21 degrees at night — with hail and even “a tiny bit” of snow. Nevertheless, they walked to the National Theatre to see the movie Bomber’s Moon and “about froze” walking home.

Bomber’s Moon is considered a propaganda movie meant to build up American ire toward the Nazis and their relentless bombing of London during the 1940-1941 Blitz as America’s involvement in the war entered its third full year. Stars George Montgomery, posing as a Nazi, and Annabella — a French actress who was marketed as a one-name person, like Cher and Beyonce’ — plot their escape from Germany in this still photo offered on eBay.

What were ladies lusting after this Christmas? If you believed an ad in the Times-Picayune, it was perfume. Read on, paid subscribers, about popular scents in 1943.