sub-deb

“Is Your Sub-Deb Slang Up-To-Date?” (Dec. 1944)

I’m currently in the process of assembling Ladies’ Home Journal articles from ~1943-1946 for an upcoming research paper and thought I’d share some of the more interesting pieces that I’ve come across in the past few days. This one comes from the December 1944 issue, one that devotes a good number of pages to the era’s “sub-debs” (sub-debutantes), or teenage girls. The magazine typically featured at least one sub-deb article in the forties (edited by either Maureen Daly or Elizabeth Woodward) and they are quite fun reads. Unfortunately my research topic doesn’t have much of a use for the articles but I’ve been photographing them anyway and will try upload the interesting one in the days/weeks ahead. Apologies ahead of time for the less than stellar quality…the images were taken, frequently in haste, in the NYPL’s 42nd St. branch where you too can read the full issues to your heart’s delight.

This excerpt is just a neat little slang translation guide from the period….my guess is that it was meant for the totally unhip mothers of the period as I’m sure the cool kids knew their stuff. My favorites: twitterpated (!), robot bombed, and toujour la clinch (sucker for the French).

Click for full resolution.