Thelma and Lowell's Diary: September 2, 1943

She splurges on dress to wear on their first anniversary

With their first wedding anniversary approaching on September 4, Thelma was all excited. Lowell’s widowed mother sent a package, which they did not open yet. After cleaning up the house, she went downtown and “shopped all over” for the perfect dress to wear on their anniversary date. “Got a swell one trimmed in black sequins,” she wrote. The dress cost an astronomical $14.37 — more than $250 in current dollars. Quite a splurge for this penny-pinching young housewife!

How did Thelma choose her special dress? Paid subscribers can read on to learn about the fall fashions of 1943. It costs only $5 a month to upgrade and get the complete World War II home front story.