How much information about military weapons, vehicles, ships etc would an American civilian in WW2 have access to?

In a book I read as a kid (I can't remember the name) some of the characters, boys about 12 years old, argue over who has the best tanks. They compare the Tiger to the Sherman, as well as tanks from the Commonwealth and the USSR. I would have though civilians wouldn't have enough information available to even know the names of the enemy tanks, much less argue about specifications like speed, armor, guns etc. In fact, would they even have knowledge of their own countries weapons beyond their names?