compare and contrast teen life from 1940s to today

From zoot suits to baggy pants; from radio to television; from records to mp3 players, a teenagers life in the 1940s was very different from today.

No matter what decade your from, whether your a teen in 2009 or 1909(mrs connolly), there is always music. in the 40s, there were artists like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Miles Davis. some popular songs were love somebody by dorris day and buddy clark, sleepy lagoon by harry james, and who wouldn't love you by kay kyser and trudy irwin. Rock and roll hadnt quite made its debut to society yet and swing was the "in" music. swing music was started in the 1930s but really became popular in the early 1940s. swing is a kind of jazz music that has a fast tempo and alot of rhythm. the main source for listening to your favorite music was by radio or to buy a record. a record was made of vinyl(records were also called vinyls) and had two sides. it was like a giant cd. Juke boxes were first seen in the 40s. a juke box contained records with A and B sides that had a couple of songs by a certain artist. these were usually seen in restaurants and bars and are still around today. music now is still very popular but the actual music has changed drastically. big names in music now are lil wayne, kanye west, justin timberlake, and slipknot. in the 1940s, hip hop hadn't even been heard of, but not it is one of the most popular types of music in the teen world. rock and roll is another very popular form of music never heard of in the 40s. some very popular songs from this decade are bye bye bye by n sync, american idiot by green day, and in da club by 50 cent. records were replaced by cds and juke boxes were replaced by cd players. these inventions made music easier to carry around and share between friends. but the ipods and mp3 players have completely taken over the music business. they are easily concealed and can hold thousands of songs in a very small package. downloading music from the internet is a luxury that teens now have that teens then would never even dreamed of. you can go on the internet, pick a song you like and have in within 5 minutes. in restaurants and bars now they have cd players and boom boxes with surround sound instead of the juke boxes.

some huge advances in technology include the invention of the television which replaced the radio as the houses form of entertainment. movies were just getting popular in the 40s and now are a multi million dollar business. the internet has made things more accessable such as magazine articles, music, and being able to connect with your friends. teens in the 40s had to call each other on the home phone, while nearly every teen now has a cell phone to get a hold of each other. cars have made leaps and bounds, becoming more stylish, more fuel efficent and faster with more horse power. also more teens nowadays have cars then they did in the 40s. look at the parking lot before school! its packed! back in the 40s most kids rode the bus or walked 8 miles in the snow to get to school every day.

school has also changed through the years. we now have a much more diverse class selection and college after high school is pretty much expected from almost every student. back in those days it was usually straight to the work for or into the war once you were out of high school unless you were very priviledged.

clothing has also changed quite a bit. the hot thing at the beginning of the 40s were zoot suits, but once the war started there was a fabric ration which forced many families to make their own clothing from fabric around the house like table cloths, sheets, etc. now, you can buy any clothes you want because there are no rations. kids wear baggy jeans, chains, hats, wristbands, gym shorts, or just plain t-shirts.

life for teens in the 1940s was very different from teen life today, but teens will always be teens and find ways to be social and do the things they love.