What Salt Lake City was like in the 1940s

                          Downtown Salt Lake City in the 21st Century.

WHAT was Salt Lake City like in the mid- to late 1940s?

Looking at old photographs, downtown streets were much busier than today, with most men wearing hats and women in dresses. However, unlike today, most people didn't seem to be in a rush.

Also, a maze of trolley-car tracks crisscrossed the mall-less downtown. Cars had running boards, where hitchhikers often stood while the car was in motion. Angle parking was the norm.

Sorensen Furniture, Chandler's Shoes, Wards, Rotisserie Inn, Sutton's Cafe, Mayflower Cafe, Western Pacific, Scott Hardware, The Burger Barn, Kress's five-and-dime store, Paris Company, Slim Olson, Keith O'Brien, the Rainbow Randezvu dance hall and Richards Candies were some of the businesses of the late 1940s to eventually disappear or rename.

The Bamberger train depot stood where Symphony Hall now is. Anyone living beyond 2700 South was in the sticks.

With World War II over in 1945, there were two full days of merrymaking and dancing in Salt Lake City. Saltair Resort — closed since 1943, was planning to reopen. Lagoon was the other popular seasonal attraction in northern Utah.

By 1950, there were 274,895 Salt Lake County residents, which means that in 1945 there were about a quarter of a million people in Salt Lake County.

"Residents lived in a more crowded, aware and experienced populace," according to Linda Sillitoe, author of "A History of Salt Lake County.... Military industry had bloomed as the economy's darling."

She said the postwar period brought subdivisions and commuting-to-work conditions.

However, although blacks and other minorities often fought side-by-side with whites in World War II, the war didn't end racism. The black population in the county was about 1,130 by the end of the war.

Segregation still existed. Hotel Utah didn't normally accept blacks but referred them to the Newhouse Hotel.

With the war over, working women — who filled jobs previously held by men who had joined the armed forces — were encouraged to give up their jobs.

Sillitoe said newsreels, military service and expanded travel opportunities had helped link Salt Lakers to the once distant world.

University of Utah enrollment surpassed 5,000 in the late 1940s. The birthrate in the valley was considerably above the U.S. average.

Salt Lake City was facing a shortage of 6,000 housing units, and the public schools, and the University of Utah began to find a shortage of space with many new kids coming to class each year

In September 1946, the Salt Lake Seagulls played their first game — on a Sunday. The Seagulls were Salt Lake's entry in a pro football league (It folded in 1948).

Sam Weller told KUED for its "Salt Lake City — Once Upon a Time" documentary that downtown Salt Lake City had it all in the 1940s. Beverly Frank said that everything was within walking distance for those who parked downtown.

The Crystal Palace at South Temple and 200 East was the first super grocery store to open downtown.

Main Street and 200 South was considered the busiest Salt Lake intersection 60 years ago. Most people didn't own a car, but streetcars, trolley buses and trains picked up the slack. Also, unlike today, "exact change" for a fare was NOT required.

For a 10-cent admission, movie houses, like the Center or Uptown, flourished and also offered newsreels, along with movies, like "Pinocchio" or "Cheaper by the Dozen." Public elections were many times held at theaters during the day.

Things began to flourish after World War II. That's because ration stamps were needed to purchase most items during the war. Red stamps bought meat; green was for groceries. Even some of those who didn't drink coffee would hoard it and then sell it — even though this was against the law.

Coal-burning stoves were common, and on many winter days the smoke cut visibility to a block or less. Soot and grime in homes gave extra urgency to "spring cleaning." Home iceboxes relied upon 50- or 100-pound blocks of ice.

Without television, radio was a fixture, and people had to imagine the action of a World's Series.

Prices were, of course, much lower in 1946 than now. Catsup was 15 cents for 14 ounces; potato chips were 25 cents a package; Wheaties were 11 cents per box; luncheon meat was 36 cents for 12 ounces.

Salaries were lower, too. Pay for a master sergeant was $165 a month. Miners could earn $8.93 per shift.

-Sources: "Salt Lake City — Once Upon a Time," by KUED, Ch. 7, with Elizabeth Searles as its development producer; "A History of Salt Lake County," by Linda Sillitoe; and the Deseret Morning News archive files and photographs.

-By Lynn Arave and first published in the Deseret News, Feb. 3, 2006.