Historical Background for Death of a Salesman

Most of the pictures of 1940s Brooklyn that I've found so far are fairly urban.  The picture above is of trolleys somewhere in the borough (or section of the city).  Fewer people had cars, so more people took trolleys and the subway.  (Note that Willy has a car but Linda does not.)  Without television, movie theaters were common in most neighborhoods.  However, the rise of television would lead to the closing of many of these theaters.


Here is a picture of Ebbets Field where Biff played.  It is, of course, more famous for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 


In 1949, Jackie Robinson had already joined the Dodgers' major league team, thus beginning the process of integrating baseball.  Up until this point, no African Americans played in the major leagues. 


The following site will give you more of an overview of the 1940s:

http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html

For more information about 1949, see this site:

http://www.infoplease.com/year/1949.html

This timeline focuses on NYC in the 1940s:

http://bigapple.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/11/nyc-decade-by-decade19401949the-war-and-the-aftermath.html

Sometimes it is more fun to look at the smaller picture.  The site below contains reviews of restaurants and nightclubs from the 1940s.  I can't get over how inexpensive the restaurant meals and drinks are! 

http://www.tipsontables.com/

Fashion is always fun!

http://retro-fashion-history.com/html/1949_fashion_and_vintage_cloth.html

http://1940s.org/fashion/

http://www.murrayonhawaii.com/nolan/fashionhistory_1940mens.html


Or you may prefer cars.

http://www.anythingaboutcars.com/1940scars.html

http://www.pbase.com/rpdoody/classic_american_cars_of_the_1940s

Movies are always interesting. 

http://theendofcinema.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-of-year-1949.html

http://www.filmsite.org/1949.html

Here is a link to a movie trailer from that era:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHeiNUbaG7o

Here is a "Hit Parade" of songs from 1949:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6QfBXwdkA

FYAmuse, here are some pictures of Brooklyn today:

 Here is a picture of a family in Brooklyn:

Or this picture: