Internet reference for public domain 1940s music
 

Several others have posted fine groups of songs from the 1930s and 1940s. Many of these collections are quite large and come as a package. Here's a link to a massive archive of period radio and record music (also photos, printed material etc) all of which is in public domain. You can sort through thousands of authentic cuts in any genre or language (English, German, French) you wish and download each individually - each is about 700 k to 1.8 mb and in a variety of types, ie, mp3, ogg etc. Look at www.archive.org. Set up a search as "1940s 78rpm" or "1940s Big Band ww2" or any combination of same or just search for individual artists. - Krupa, Crosby, James, Dietrich, Mayfair Hotel, Vera Lynne (sp?), Kay Kaiser, Dorothy Lamour (yep), Piaf, Chevalier, Boyer, von Schmedes, Lale Anderson etc etc.

Nice. Thanks for the share.