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President Harry S. Truman, who was faced with transforming the national mood from wartime to peacetime, enjoyed a good party. The tuxedoed President (far right) escorts (left to right) his wife, Bess; his daughter, Margaret; society hostess Perle Mesta; and Vice-President Alben Barkley to his 1949 ball. America's victory in the war signaled an end to austerity. European designers found ladies in the public eye to be eager consumers of glamorous gowns and showy furs.