Title:
They brought us Eatons catalogues : issues of gender, consumerism, and citizenship in the stories of Second World War British war brides.
Creator:
Kennedy, Corrine
Date Created:
2002
Degree Awarded:
Master of Arts
Subjects:
war brides immigration identity
Geographical Focus:
Canada
Supporting Materials:
n/a
Description:
Close to 48,000 women and 22,000 children travelled to Canada from Britain during, and in the years immediately following, the Second World War. Throughout their journey to Canada, and even after their arrival, war brides came into contact with government bodies like the Canadian Wives’ Bureau, as well as voluntary organizations. These groups were instruments of education and acculturation and focused their ‘Canadianization’ lessons on war brides’ roles as wives, mothers, and consumers. War brides continually negotiated and selected messages in order to make use of tools that would suit their own needs. They did this, for example, through the War Brides’ Clubs they organized in Canada. This thesis uses records of the Department of Mines and Resources, Immigration Branch, Department of National Defence, records of various voluntary organizations, as well as the oral histories of British war brides to investigate aspects of gender, consumerism, citizenship, and “Britishness” in the stories of war brides.
Source
Preferred Citation:
Kennedy, Corrine. 2002. "They brought us Eatons catalogues : issues of gender, consumerism, and citizenship in the stories of Second World War British war brides.", Department of History, Carleton University
Link to this page:
https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_179.html
Rights
Rights:
Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.