In 1946, "Prisoner of Love" topped the charts, The Best Years of Our Lives packed theaters, a stamp cost 3¢, the average home went for about $5,150.
🎵 Top songs of 1946
"Prisoner of Love" — Perry Como
"To Each His Own" — Eddy Howard
"The Gypsy" — The Ink Spots
🎬 In theaters
The Best Years of Our Lives
It's a Wonderful Life
The Jolson Story
What things cost in 1946
$0.21
Gallon of gas
3¢
Postage stamp
$0.35
Movie ticket
$0.70
Gallon of milk
$5,150
Average home
$1,120
New car
$2,800
Household income
A $0.21 gallon of gas in 1946 has the buying power of roughly $3.45 today, and the 35-cent movie ticket comes to about $5.80 in today's dollars — though prices jumped sharply that year once wartime price controls ended.
The biggest moments of 1946
The baby boom began as returning veterans started families, with a record 3.4 million babies born in the U.S.
ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania.
Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life premiered, destined to become a beloved holiday classic.
Dr. Benjamin Spock published his Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care in 1946, and its reassuring advice — "you know more than you think you do" — guided a generation of new parents.
French designer Louis Réard unveiled a tiny two-piece swimsuit in Paris that July, naming it the "bikini."
The Vespa motor scooter debuted in Italy in 1946, putting a war-battered country back on wheels with style.
Toys, TV & trends of 1946
Tupperware was introduced, and its airtight seal soon made it a fixture in American kitchens.
The "Kilroy was here" doodle, brought home by GIs, popped up on walls and fences across America.
Electric trains and metal toys returned to store shelves as factories switched back from wartime production.
Procter and Gamble introduced Tide in 1946, billing the new synthetic detergent as a "washday miracle."
Minute Maid's frozen concentrated orange juice reached stores, letting families keep "fresh" juice in the new home freezer compartment.
Bubble gum finally returned to candy counters as wartime shortages eased, and kids lined up around the block when word spread.
The music scene
The big band era ended almost overnight: in December 1946, eight of the nation's top bandleaders — including Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Harry James — broke up their orchestras within a few weeks of each other. Rising costs and changing tastes handed the spotlight to the singers, and the age of the crooner began in earnest. Fittingly, Nat King Cole recorded "The Christmas Song" that year — during a summer heat wave.
At the movies
Nineteen forty-six was Hollywood's biggest year ever at the box office, with weekly movie attendance peaking around 90 million — a record never matched since. Harold Russell, a real veteran who had lost both hands in the war, won two Academy Awards for the same role in The Best Years of Our Lives, the only actor ever to do so. That fall, the first full Cannes Film Festival opened on the French Riviera.
Cartoons kids loved
Foghorn Leghorn debuted in the Warner Bros. short Walky Talky Hawky.
Daffy Duck starred in the classic cartoon The Great Piggy Bank Robbery.
Bugs Bunny remained America's favorite movie-house cartoon star in shorts like Rhapsody Rabbit.
Postwar Disney was deep in debt, so instead of grand features the studio released thriftier "package films" like 1946's Make Mine Music, stitched together from short segments. Warner Bros., meanwhile, hit its stride with three competing directing units under Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Robert McKimson — an in-house rivalry that kept the gags sharp.
The world in 1946
World population: about 2.4 billion
U.S. President: Harry S. Truman
Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri, and the United Nations General Assembly met for the first time.
The Philippines became an independent nation on July 4, 1946, ending nearly half a century of American administration.
Italians voted to abolish their monarchy and become a republic in June 1946 — the first national election in which Italian women could vote.
The Nuremberg verdicts were handed down in October 1946, concluding the most famous war crimes trial in history.
1946 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 1946?
Someone born in 1946 turns 80 in 2026 (79 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 1946?
"Prisoner of Love" by Perry Como was among the biggest hits of 1946.
What movie came out in 1946?
The Best Years of Our Lives was one of the films packing theaters in 1946.
How much did gas cost in 1946?
A gallon of gas ran about $0.21 in 1946, and a postage stamp cost 3¢.
How much did a house cost in 1946?
The average home went for roughly $5,150 in 1946, against a typical household income of about $2,800.