Incredible color photos show how Americans prepared for World War II on the home front

Fenno Jacobs/Library of Congress

By the early 1940s, World War II was in full swing, with battles raging around the planet. The US, however, was largely spared the effects of the global conflagration.

But that doesn't mean the war didn't affect Americans on the home front.

Nationwide, workers and civilians mobilized for the war effort, getting jobs in factories, raising money through war bonds, and showing their patriotism and support in front yards and main streets all across the country.

The colorized photos below, taken between 1942 and 1943 and compiled by the Library of Congress, depict life in the US during World War II and show how Americans at home contributed to winning one of the largest and most destructive wars in modern history.

A combat crew receives final instructions just before taking off in a YB-17 bomber from a bombardment-squadron base at Langley Field, Virginia, May 1942.

Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

A woman aircraft worker at Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, California, shown checking electrical assemblies in June 1942.

David Bransby/Library of Congress

A woman working on an airplane motor at a North American Aviation Inc. plant in California, June 1942.

Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

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