Valentine's Day (40s) and Careers (modern-ish)

[dancing_chimera]

1. Would Valentine's Day (as a mushy lovely commercialized sort of thing) have been noticeable enough in the mid 40s for a young Voldemort to bother hating it, or would hating it be the rough equivalent of passionately hating Labor Day in the modern US (which silly because... seriously, no one likes/celebrates Labor Day

Comments

[eoforyth]

1)Valentine's wouldn't have been overly commercialised in the mid 40's, if only because rationing would still have been in force in the Muggle world, so there would have been even less to bleed over into the Wizard world. Chocolates, clothing, etc would have been in limited supply legally, and black market goods wouldn't have been widely advertised.

2)Young gentlemen may have just been required to take an interest in business or the family interests, estates, and the like. If they were inclined, training as a barrister or surgeon rather than simply medicine or law, or they could follow an academic career if there was an independent income. Politics at some level is another option, or a suitable Ministry position.

3)I wouldn't know this, but are you talking about a barrister or a solicitor? I suspect it could make a difference.

[dancing_chimera]

Thank you!

1) Ah, that makes sense. So, the holiday probably not something that young!Voldy would have any trouble ignoring.

2) Would you mind elaborating on "business or the family interests"?

3) I hadn't really thought about it, since in the United States that distinction doesn't really exist. I think that, given what little I've read about the two of them, he'd be acting as a solicitor in this case, but I'd imagined him more as a barrister before, so that adds a whole new level of complication to the issue...

[eoforyth]

2) It would be reasonable to expect a son (or daughter) who could inherit a business or position in a family company to take a fairly low position in the management of that (or another) business and work his way up, so as to be familiarised with the running of it and make contacts.

Family interests could be stocks and shares, property and/or estate management, local politics/interest groups (anything from the equivalent of the parish council to the Garden Association Committee's annual flower and vegetable show) where the family name has a reputation and position to maintain in the immediate community, or something like horse breeding.

[dancing_chimera]

Ah, alright. Thank you!

[libco]

2) I would also imagine that the military or the church were considered options especially for second sons. But think of how English royalty usually joins the military.

[eoforyth]

I thought of those too, but there isn't any evidence they are an option in the Wizard community, and young, privileged Purebloods wouldn't be messing around in the Muggle world. Actually, medical training would be as a Healer, wouldn't it?

[dancing_chimera]

I'm not sure about the military, but the religious jobs are definitely an option, or were in the past: The Hufflepuff house ghost was a friar. (Though I suppose he could have been a friar in the muggle world...)

[scarletladyy]

Although it is worth noting (in case you do end up going with it!) that we generally don't refer to it as "the military". That's quite an Americanised term, and we generally use The Army/The Navy/etc, or even The Forces :)

[janice_lester]

#4. Let's start with "vagrant" and see who can manage meaner.

[cat63]

I think "tramp" was the term when I was a child in the sixties. I wasn't around in the forties but from books I've read from that period I think it was used then too - it's not particularly unkind as such things go, but you might emphasise it with adjectives e.g. "dirty tramp" and so on.

[sollersuk]

"Tramp" is definitely the term in books of the 30s and 40s.

[dancing_chimera]

Thanks for the suggestion! Though I think I'm going with "tramp."

[ooxc]

Paper shortage - and shortage of just about everything else, until about 1952
I don't thin that i even heard of valentines (I'm in the UK) until about 1955 - there was a tradition that birds began to mate on that day, but nothing to do with humans

Tramp? In about 1959, I was scolded for saying "tramp" and told to say "He's on the road."
Vagrant was usually a rather romantic adjective when i was young - vagrant thoughts, vagrant smoke - the first time that i heard it of smoke, I mistook it for fragrant, and someone wrote them both down to show me the difference

[dancing_chimera]

Thank you!

[inamac]

1. As others have said, Valentines Day in the 40s was constrained by the war and rationing - however cards were exchanged by sweethearts - probably more frequently than today, particularly when the man was in the forces (Valentine postcards were about the only thing that wasn't censored

[mandragora1]

Re 3. this is not correct. You can represent yourself in court and you can have a 'McKenzie friend' to assist you in your case but they cannot act as your legal representative and conduct the case on your behalf in court

[dancing_chimera]

Thank you! This was very helpful!

[dancing_chimera]

Thank you! I've just cut the whole Valentines part. Luckily, it wasn't a huge part of the story.