08/26/2026
Step Back in Time: Yonkers, 1942
When "Lost in Yonkers" begins, America is in the first year of World War II, and everyday life looks very different for the Kurnitz family.
🇺🇸 Nothing went to waste.
With the war effort underway, Americans were encouraged to save and collect scrap metal, rubber, paper, and other reusable materials. Scrap drives became a patriotic part of community life, and scrap itself could have real value. When Jay and Arty’s father, Eddie, hits the road selling scrap iron to pay his debts, he’s working in a business that was especially relevant in wartime America.
🍭 Neighborhood candy stores were a gathering place.
Before supermarkets, malls, and convenience stores became fixtures of American life, small neighborhood shops were everywhere. A candy store like Grandma Kurnitz’s might sell penny candy, newspapers, ci******es, sodas, ice cream, and other small necessities. Sugar rationing began in the US in 1942, making sweets a little more precious. Imagine running a candy store when one of your most important ingredients was suddenly rationed!
💰 Every dollar counted.
In 1942, a loaf of bread cost roughly a dime, a movie ticket was around a quarter, and many candies could still be bought for a penny or a nickel. Entertainment was considered a real luxury in a time when resources were scarce.
📻 The radio was the center of the home
There was no television in the average American living room. Families gathered around the radio for comedy programs, dramas, music, baseball games, and especially in 1942, wartime news. Young men were leaving for military service, and radios carried updates from Europe and the Pacific. Even thousands of miles from the fighting, the uncertainty of war would have been part of the atmosphere surrounding the Kurnitz family.
The world was a different place in 1942, come learn more about life in Yonkers with the Kurnitz family as WCT brings Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" to the stage this September 17–20!
🎬 Directed by Taylor Evans
📍 Location: Bethlehem United Methodist Church
5300 Nesbit Rd., Waxhaw, NC 29720
🎟️ Price: $20
Tickets can be purchased at
waxhawcommunitytheatre.com/tickets
