Did women begin shaving their leg hair in the US because of WWII and the lack of nude stockings? Or was shaving popular before then and how did the practice begin?

by drowningcreek

In a recent TIL thread, some commenters said that shaving became popular in the US after nude leggings became scarce because of WWII.

I've read /r/askhistory posts about the removal of body hair being popular in various parts of the world prior to WWII though, so I'm curious if body hair removal (specifically leg hair shaving) just wasn't popular in the US prior to WWII. If it came about then, how did it become adopted? If it came about prior, how and why did it actually become popular in the US? Also, was leg hair on women seen as unappealing to society as it is now or has that grown over time?

mimicofmodes

There's always more to be said (although in this case there are very few sources indeed), but you may be interested in my answer to When did it become the social norm/standard for women to shave their legs completely?