Almost exactly nine months after the end of World War II, historian Landon Jones remarked, “the cry of the baby was heard across the land” referring to the US. More babies were born in 1946 than ever before; 3.4 million, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 1945 and set on roll the socalled “baby boom.” Another 3.8 million babies were born; 3.9 million in 1952; and more than 4 million were born every year from 1954 until 1964, when the boom finally tapered off. By then, there were 76.4 million “baby boomers” in the United States and made up almost 40 per cent of the nation’s population.

Why the baby boom

   Some historians have attributed this phenomenon as a part of a desire for normalcy after 16 years of depression and war. Others have argued that it was a part of a Cold War campaign to fight communism by outnumbering communists. Most likely, the postwar baby boom happened for more than one....