The dark clouds of war hung all over Europe and Hitler's Third Reich ruled supreme from the outskirts of Leningrad to the Channel Islands. It was a time recorded only in black and white photographs, when hurlers wore baggy shorts and sported Brylcreem-ed hair.
Connie Buckley was just 25 when he led Cork out onto Croke Park on the first Sunday in September 1941 to record an easy 5-11 to 0-6 victory over Dublin and launch the Leesiders on the start of a record-breaking four in a row achievement.
A veteran of the famous 1939 thunder and lightning final, when Kilkenny beat Cork with a last minute point on the day that Hitler invaded Poland, Connie had the honour of captaining Cork after his club, Glen Rovers, had won their sixth of eight county titles on the trot.
Joining him on that team were fellow Glen men and hurling legends Jack Lynch and Christy Ring, as well as his younger brother, Din Joe, now aged 86, who went on to play in all four-in-a-row winning teams.
Now aged 90, Connie no longer goes to games but he continues to follow the technicolour fortunes of the current Cork hurlers closely on TV at his home in Blackpool and reckons that they are good enough to beat the Noresiders and make it another Rebel three in a row.
"They're a good team - Seán Óg Ó hAilpin is very dependable, all the backs are and Brian Corcoran at full forward is a good strong hurler - you need to be strong at full forward," said Connie, the oldest surviving All-Ireland-winning hurling captain.
"Kilkenny always had classy hurlers but I fancy Cork can do it all right if they hold their heads - they can't afford to waste any chances with those fellows and they can't afford to let Shefflin loose either, but if he's marked closely he won't find it so easy."
But it's not just hurling gear and hairstyles that have changed in 60 years. So has hurling, in particular Cork's game - from first-time pulling to a more controlled running, passing game - but Connie reckons the change isn't necessarily for the better.
"Yerra, there's too much picking the ball nowadays - if you went to pick it long 'go, 'twould be whipped off you. You had to strike the ball first time. There was no such thing as twisting or turning: you hit the ball - you had to hit the ball or you'd be hit," he said emphatically.
"Kilkenny have always been good hurlers, always and ever, but the way to beat them is to get low hard ball into your forwards because it you play in high, they'll just pick it out of the air ."
