LIFE Magazine – August 26 1946

The August 26, 1946 issue of LIFE Magazine features Fall College Fashion on the cover, capturing the return of campus life and changing women’s styles in the first full postwar school year. The cover has strong period appeal, combining collegiate fashion, youthful optimism and the distinctive look of late-1940s America.

Inside, LIFE examines both American life and the rapidly changing postwar world. Major features include Fall College Fashions, The American Man, and The Girls, along with reporting from Germany and France as Europe continued rebuilding after World War II. Another feature, Red Pepper Village, adds LIFE’s characteristic blend of human-interest reporting and photography. The issue is also associated with work by John Hersey, John Kobler and photographer W. Eugene Smith, giving it additional interest for collectors of LIFE photojournalism and postwar history.

Inside This Issue

• Fall College Fashions — LIFE looks at clothing and style for young women returning to college after World War II.
• The American Man — A photographic and cultural look at American men in the immediate postwar era.
• The Girls — LIFE examines young American women and changing postwar social life.
• Red Pepper Village — A LIFE feature combining human-interest storytelling with the magazine’s documentary photography.
• Postwar Germany — Reporting from a nation still dealing with the destruction and political consequences of World War II.
• Postwar France — LIFE documents France as it rebuilds and adjusts to the new European order.
• John Hersey — The noted journalist and author is among the contributors associated with this issue.
• W. Eugene Smith Photography — Work connected with one of LIFE’s most acclaimed documentary photographers.
• 1946 College Life — Fashion, education and youth culture reflect the transition from wartime America to peacetime.
• Vintage Advertising — Period advertisements throughout the 120-page issue provide an additional window into American consumer life in 1946.

Original LIFE Magazines are authentic issues published between 1936 and 2000.