If you were a woman in college in the 40s

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You were likely named:

Frances
Doris
Dolores
Dorothy (the letter "D" was quite popular)
Florence
Gertrude
Eleanor
Evelyn
Betty
Ruth
Marie
Helen
Bertha

Some of the less common names were:

Daisy
Pearl
Polly
Mathilde
Millicent
Olive
Josephine
Ducky

I know this because I am currently going through yearbooks from the 40s decade. I am happy not to have been in college at that time. The hair-dos alone would have crippled my time considerably--lots of elaborate upsweeps and bangs and sausage curls boing just so on your shoulders, and I had no idea that saddle shoes were a fashion rage for like two decades.

Now I have moved into the 1930s and many of the names are the same, though we are seeing more Ethels, Kays, Claires, and Janes, and one Cornelia, a name I used to love when I was younger. Cornelia and Cordelia. This was long before I knew anything of Shakespeare even. In the 30s, you must own bobby pins and use them to keep your hair in finger waves. Collars seem to be of utmost importance as well. The seniors in the 1936 yearbook all have small descriptions by their individual photographs, including their nicknames and a quote for each. Here's one for Claire ("C.G."): "She's a frail bodacious gal who never ails,/And never seen, unless escorted by males."

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