During the 1940s, the population of the United States increased from 132.1 million to 150.7 million. In the same period, Ohio's population increased by more than one million from 6,907,600 to 7,946.600, exceeding the national average by about two percent. This increase actually began during the war because many couples hurried to be married before servicemen went overseas. As a result, the birth rate increased dramatically in 1943. After the war, fewer women were in the work force, and the economy was strong. Families in all socioeconomic and racial groups contributed to soaring birth rates, and the Baby Boom was underway.

Doctor Benjamin Spock's best-selling 1946 book The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care changed the way parents raised their children. Spock encouraged parents to treat their children with natural affection and to respond to them as individuals and with flexibility. He promoted raising children with warmth and understanding rather than strict discipline.

This is the Morton Downey family in 1950. With four children aged five and under, this Ohio family represents the baby boom experienced in postwar America.