Oh God, cannot believe what I am reading, people showered in the forties, both my flolks were in this era and they were immaculate people. My dad fought in WW2, there will never be another generation like them!!

People still bathed regularly during that time period, every day or every other day as needed. During war time they had to be more careful with their cleaning products like shampoo, soap, toilet paper and even towels because those products were in short supply due to chemical and cloth shortages. Even heat for your water was rationed in Britain. Now, women didn't wash their hair as often due to rationed shampoo AND they permed their hair into sets that helped with their fancy 40s hairdos.

They were using deodorants back in the late 1800s, so I'm very sure they had them during the 40s, especially since I've seen numerous advertisements for them from that time period for "Mum" and "Ban-o-dor." Not to mention they had sweat guards that could be sewn or safety pinned into clothing. Dancing makes you sweaty, even with modern antiperspirants. Swing dancers know this and bring several changes of shirts.

People showered everyday in the 1940s, at least in the US anyway. These people are dancing, which is why they are sweating.

forget that how did they deal with out it throughout history

This was hard but fun work,man! Plus that photo was taken at a WW 2 Canteen - he's a master jitterbugger and he's got little Tallulah Bankhead over HIS head! He was probably dancing all night because that was his job.

rayodelsol80: MAN I LAUGH WITH YOUR COMMENT LIKE FOR 10 MINUTES!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the general population didn't bathe every day back then either sometimes only twice a week from what i heard. Thats just the way the world was back then.

Ugh! look at the pit sweat on that guy at :43 seconds!!! Yuck. I'll bet he smelled ripe. How did people deal without deoderant back then???

There is dance within jitter bugging know as Peckin'. Dancers would make motions like kissing one another as their heads would bob back and forth from one side their partner's head to the other to the other...like giving a "peck" on the cheek. I danced many times to Goodman's peckin' but I never did the peckin' thinig. Too dangerous.

Brilliant!

In effect, the 2nd World war brought Jitterbug in Europe, in a point such as in France in 1945, the famous singer of swing Johnny Hess sang " Je suis Jitterbug ". Thank you for your precision!

thses guy's were wilder than rock and roll

Great song!Boy, if I ever were to put whiskey, wine and gin within, shake it up and then begin..... I would have to be taken to the emergency ward!....and there would be no dancing for a long time! :(