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2009/10/29 1929This is the 80th anniversary of the stock market crash that started the Great Depression in the U.S.A. It was a momentous year in other ways, too.
1929:
Yikes to that last one; hope the Yankees will win this World Series, although they sure got off to a lousy start! As to the rest; the world is in turmoil..so what's new? This is almost twenty years before the Jewish State of Israel was formed; yet, the strife reads much the same as now. Discouuraging. Certainly big excitement in the movies with the arrival of 'talkies." I sometimes watch a silent movie on the class movie channel. This is a good thing to do, as it forces one to be attentive every minute....no running off for a snack or reading a few pages of the novel at hand. If you fail to read a frame, you're lost! lol As always, the literature and art last and last. I have noted this in every 'history' blog I've written. Isn't it reassuring? Even in the midst of chaos, great works are produced. We know this year marked the beginning of the Great Depression; that Hitler was poising Germany for WWII; so it is with dread that I even looked at this page in my wonderful history book, "The Timetables of History," by Bernard Grun. If you don't have this book, I can't urge you strongly enough to buy it.
2009/8/13 1961On Aug. 13, 1961, Berlin was divided as East Germany sealed off the border between the city's eastern and western sectors in order to halt the flight of refugees. (from today's NY Times)
In 1961, I was a college student, living in a dorm, enjoying the whole experience of college very, very much. The world was, or so it seemed to me, relatively peaceful.
Here is the real world of 1961:
So there it is, not such a peaceful time at all. I remember the terror we on the east coast felt during the Bay of Pigs event, the horror the Berlin Wall went up in Germany; but we also knew the thrill of the beginning of space travel. Most of all perhaps, was the utter joy in Kennedy's having won; he was so young, so handsome and charming. It has been a long time since we've had a young, handsome, charming and articulate President. During the past election, I..as so many..thought of Kennedy often. Of course, we were just ratcheting up our connections in Vietnam. In 1961, we didn't pay that close attention. Boy, did that ever change in the next few years. And the Freedom Riders caught our attention in a way that wouldn't let us ignore the problems of racism any more. The stage was set for the tumultous time we think of when we say "1960s." They began as just an extension of the '50s, but then they changed, and changed, and changed. We never did get back to the 50s, and what a good thing that is on so many fronts. Still, it's hard not to miss the prosperity of that time. Partly, of course, it's just that we 50s kids are now adults, ok old people, and we know that nothing is ever as simple as it seems/seemed. And yet we live these good lives! 2009/6/17 Amelia Earheart"On June 17, 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman. She flew from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours." From today's NY Times.
This was a decade when women were making huge strides towards equality. Amelia was a true heroine, going way beyond equality into superhero status.
I give you 1928, which in general, was an eventful year on all fronts:
A vibrant, exciting year. And, as we know from history, just one short year away from "Black Friday" and the beginning of the Great Depression. But, oh those songs. We still sing them; Mickey Mouse is here for eternity it appears; The artists, the composers...we know them all so well today. Russia and China...in 1928, that must have seemed so hopeful. History informs us of the outcomes there. And as always, there were political assassinations, political turmoil. We don't really understand peace, do we?
2009/5/20 The Eiffel Tower On the brink of my trip to Paris, I am thinking about the Eiffel Tower; well, all things French, actually. But in particular the ET.
The tower was designed in 1889 by Alexander Gustave Eiffel for the Paris World Exhibition. Feelings were mixed, to say the least, about this tall gangly building...so un-French. Now, of course, it has iconic value.
Other notable events of 1889:
Interesting times. The British Empire controlled much of the world. Scientific discoveries were providing new hopes in medicine, and there was one exciting invention after another. Just the previous year, for instance, George Eastman perfected his "Kodak" box camera. The U.S. was realizing its "Manifest Destiny" to own all the land from sea to sea. And doesn't that bring Woody Guthrie to mind: "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York Island" ? Individuals like Rhodes and all those Vanderbilts were becoming millionaires, which in today's terms, was really billionaires. This was also the time of some infamous crimes, most notably perhaps, Jack the Ripper in London, who in 1888 killed six women. And there was the World Exhibition in Paris, a place where ordinary citizens could see so many of the marvels of science and industry...and gawk at that amazing tower.
2009/1/20 Inauguration Day Everything that can possibly be said about this momentous day has already been said. I am just a silent, awed observer. I had thought I had seen my share of historic events.....Vietnam, Watergate, assassinations of Kennedy, King, and Kennedy, Woodstock, the beginnings of women's lib, and so much more. But this was unanticipated, this is a true miracle...and what a positive, powerful statement about our country. The world in general seems to think better of us now. That alone is a huge relief. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired of so many hating us.
Obama is a brilliant man, a reader and thinker. How wonderful to have a man of that quality in the White House. I wish him well, very very well. God Bless!! 2009/1/12 Once, we couldn't even vote On Jan. 12, 1915, the United States House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote. This is the NY Times' 'look back' for the day. When we say, 'It's a man's world," we are partially joking...today. Not so long ago, it really was.
1915:
What a grim year. And yet, and yet, look at the amazing progress of science and engineering. Einstein, Ford....life changers, both of them. I had never heard about that Cornell professor, had you? It certainly never appeared in my high school textbooks. But my mind is on women. We couldn't vote; the one person who wanted to help free women from constant childbirth was jailed. My own grandmother was just 30 years old that year. How different her life was than ours today, especially our daughters. I was raised during the relatively respressive 1950s and took sexism for granted, for normal. The '60s changed all that for most of us. What a struggle to bring our minds to a different understanding, to start thinking of ourselves as fully human, not just extensions of the males in our lives. 2008/12/24 'Twas the night before Christmas.... Clement Moore wrote those words in 1822, and in doing so, created the Santa Claus we still love today. So what else, you ask, went on in 1822?
Wow! What was in the air to cause two such famous scientists to be born in the same year. I wonder if their parents lived to see their great achievments? Of course there were troubles...in Europe, in Greece; is there ever a year with no violent troubles? What is it with us humans?? I'm thinking this, of course, because here it is, the season of "Peace on earth, good will to man." If only. So there was the Reverend Clement Moore, composing his Christmas fantasy, based on the Dutch custom of St. Niklaus, bringing joy to the hearts of children. And an 11 -year old Liszt performing in public; Schubert composing. Always, always, some hope and joy. Wishing you the same. Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah.
2008/10/20 Oh so long agoOn Oct. 20, 1973, in the so-called Saturday Night Massacre, President Nixon abolished the office of special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, accepted the resignation of Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and fired Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus. (From this morning's New York Times)
1973: I was thirty-one, so although I remember these events, I looked through the eyes of a very young woman. Now I look back and see that this was the beginning of disillusionment in government...for me, for pretty much everyone. The whole Watergate scandal gave us a much too up-close view of how politics really work. UGH.
So what else went on that year? Here we go:
I just saw "Caberet" at our local community theater a couple of months ago. It's a timeless classic; same for "Godfather," which seems to play almost continuously on tv. And I remember when OJ Simpson was a hero and role-model. Now that I live near Notre Dame, I care more about their teams; back then, not so much. The Middle East appears to have been in its usual turmoil. Some variations on the theme, to be sure, but honestly, will there ever be peace over there?? Hmmm, do we now have an entire generation who thinks of George Foreman as that guy who sells grills? He was a hero in his day; it's wonderful he was able to carve out a 2nd career, isn't it? I remember waiting in line to buy gas... long, long lines at the pumps. We were so worried about running out of oil. Does this sound familiar? Well, we didn't develop alternate sources of energy then, or at least not to the needed extent. Will we this time around?
2008/10/13 Brother, can you spare a dime? I've been thinking about this slogan from the great depression of the 1930s and wondering what the equivalent will be in the coming one. "Brother, can you spare a dollar?" More likely, "Brother, can you spare a C-note?"
My parents were teenagers during the Great Depression, so my own 'memories' of it are strictly through their descriptions. I'm pretty sure I don't want to go through one though. Having been poor, I at least have some coping skills, but geez.
In 1933, the U.S. went off the gold standard. Family lore has it that my grandparents felt that was only temporary, so missed the window of opportunity for converting their notes. Thus, down the tube went anything resembling a family fortune. That same year, the PWA, Public Works Administration was created; thus, there were finally jobs. Prohibition was repealed, putting gangsters out of the bootlegging business. So, on the one hand, we have the government creating jobs; on the other, eliminating them. LOL If only the gangsters had paid taxes, oh how differently things could have turned out. Ok, that's something of a non sequitor, but you know what I'm getting at.
While we Americans were struggling with feeding the populace, Hitler was opening concentration camps; Ghandhi was practicing civil disobedience in India; France had a general strike; and the Prince of Wales briefly was king before he ran off with Wallis Simpson. Interesting times; frightening times. Like now.
I can barely stand to read the paper in the morning, but like some horror movie, the articles about finance draw me to them. Where will this all end? Should we just put our money in a jar and bury it in the backyard?
2008/9/21 1938On Sept. 21, 1938, a hurricane struck parts of New York and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming more than 600 lives. This was in this a.m.'s New York Times, and with hurricanes on all of our minds, it caught my eye.
1938:
What a dreadful year. Hatred and prejudice were rampant, and we know how all the HItler business worked out, making it even more frightening to read these things. I hadn't realized integration of colleges had begun that early in the USA, but good for the Supreme Court! As always, of course, the good is juxtaposed with the hideous: The Golden Gate Bridge...still there, still gorgeous; "Snow White" has never lost popularity. Indeed, there were a few weeks recently when my two-yr-old granddaughter would wear only her Snow White Costume, day and night. Everyone, or so I've heard, followed the saga of the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson closely; War Admiral was an amazing horse. Did you see the movie "Sea Bisuit"? It depicts the race between Sea Biscuit and War Admiral, and the film catches the excitement that swept our country for that even. As for boxing, who hasn't heard of Joe Louis? All the coverage of and interest in these social and sports events now seem like so much 'head in the sand" behavior. It was, perhaps, too awful to contemplate what was happening in Nazi Germany; too awful to even think about what was happening to the Jews; too awful to imagine Hitler taking over all of Europe. So, being human, it would seem meant over-attention to horses, bridges, boxers. Understandable, but so very sad. I find myself wishing the USA had involved itself in the European War much earlier, but we can't go back; and the Allies did win. The Jews have their own State now, Israel, although I'm not sure how much safer they are there with all the hostility surrounding them. One can hope, one can pray. As we must do now for our own 2008 country. An unwanted war; a nasty presidential race; the banks and Wall Street collapsing all around us. And hurricane Ike knocking Texas for a loop...one more time. But now, right this very minutue, I have a million things to do, so "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go."
2008/9/11 In MemoryOn Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center in New York, causing the 110-story twin towers to collapse. Another hijacked airliner hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
Being attacked on our own soil is still the most shocking event of our collectives lives. Not since the attack on Pearl Harbor, when HI was not yet a state, has the enemy struck us so close.
Are we safer now? I have no assurance of that; the rhetoric spouted by politicians says 'yes'...........is it true? How can we know? 2008/7/22 The year of the 'monkey trial'....1925On July 21, 1925, the ''monkey trial'' ended in Dayton, Tenn., with John T. Scopes convicted of violating state law for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. (The conviction was later overturned.)
Certainly we have all heard about this famous trial. What else do you remember about 1925? Any of this:
So there you have it, a peek at the peaceful time between the two World Wars. People dancing the Charleston, just like we have seen in the movies, doing crossword puzzles, playing contract bridge. I had no idea tv was already in the works so early. We did not get our first set until 1950, when I was 8 years old. Of course, there is also foreshadowing on the list: Hitler and "Mein Kampf" most prominently. Were people just having too much fun to notice what was going on? I was particularly interested in learning that the narcotics trade was already a source of enough concern for an 'international convention' about it! Wow; 83 years later, and we are more worried than ever. The lasting legacy of that year, perhaps, is the wonderful literature. 2008/6/16 1966On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Miranda vs. Arizona decision, ruling that criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights prior to questioning by police. (From Friday's NY Times)
Hmmm, have I watched too many cop shows on tv? I had forgotten the big deal when Miranda rights were instituted. 1966 had some other events of interest, too:
And so much more! What a busy year 1966 was. I was in my early 20s, a mini-skirt wearing war protestor, singing along to "Eleanor Rigby." It seens very very long ago. The literature has held, I'm glad to see, as I read everything popular that year, saw all the movies, and in general cared about keeping up with things then. (Not so much now) Certainly our three big concerns were the war, Civil Rights, and women's lib. It was exciting to engage in 'consciousness raising' sessions, to broaden our idea of what it meant to be a woman. We explored our inner racism, too, trying to understand, to be better people, to confront and rid ourselves of the biases with which we had been raised. And most of us were in despair over the war. Just like now. Do we EVER learn? As a nation, i mean.
2008/4/13 Fly me to the moonOn April 13, 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. (The astronauts managed to return safely.) This quotation is from today's NY Times. It has prompted me to look back to 1970, which truly seems like a hundred years ago, rather than a mere thirty-eight. Waaaay back then I still lived in upstate New York. Noel was, on April 13, not yet six years old. With her younger child now nine, you can see why 1970 seems like a long time ago.
So here goes, 1970:
So there you have it. Did i say it seemed like 100 years ago? After writing out this list, I've changed my mind: it seems like TODAY. We are reducing troop levels in an upopular war; hijacking remains a concern; and how about that bear market? Temporary peace treaties in the mideast? Don't seem to do much good, do they? Kent State was the shocker of the year for many of us. Do you remember the horror we all felt? Truly, campus protests had gotten way out of hand and something had to be done to contain them. I remember the stomping feet of protest at Albany State. Scary stuff. But shooting students? Shooting to KILL? I did have a good laugh at those hospital costs of $81 a day! hahaha In 2008, my plumber makes $85 an hour. Oscar's hospital bill for three days was around $40,000, and that was two years ago. The steady positives in our lives all seem to center around the arts and sports. Thank God we have them!
2008/3/4 1933On March 4, 1933, the start of President Roosevelt's first administration brought with it the first woman to serve in the Cabinet: Labor Secretary Frances Perkins. From today's New York Times My parents weren't even married in 1933; indeed, mother was only 16, dad 20, so this is ancient history for our family.
In 1933
What a year to be young adults in America! My parents talked often of the Great Depression and its effects on daily life. It was such a challenging time, and lucky for them they were so young and adaptable. What I never heard from them was awareness of and concern for Hitler and all that horror that was beginning in Germany. Were we really so blind, so naive? How else to explain it? My grandmother used to tell me about the banking crisis, the closing of banks, and the changing from the Gold Standard. Apparently, there was a window of opportunity for converting one's funds to the new standard. For some reason our family chose not to do that, and lost pretty much all their money as a result. At least that is what my grandmother, and later, my mother told me. I do know that during the years just before that, my uncle and aunt were college students, so I suppose ther must have been some money at one time. All I really know is that we were raised on the poor side. And how fortunate that has turned out to be in life: knowing how to make do, live on very little, become incredibly handy at repairs, sewing, painting and papering; you name it, we are quite self-sufficient! Not least of the advantages of being poor as a child is the drive it instills in one to rise out of that. I'm not talking about the grinding, soul-sucking poverty of some, but just a general dearth of material goods. In attitude, we have never been poor...simply without money. Big difference.
2008/2/19 1945On Feb. 19, 1945, during World War II, some 30,000 United States Marines landed on the Western Pacific island of Iwo Jima, where they encountered ferocious resistance from Japanese forces. The Americans took control of the strategically important island after a month-long battle. (From "Looking Back" in today's NY Times.
1945, the year my brother was born, was truly momentous....war, war, war. I was only three years old, so of course remember none of it. But that doesn't mean it didn't have an impact, as how could it not when it affected our family, our town, our country so much?
1945:
What a year! Are you exhausted just reading all that? We all know WWII history pretty well, so I didn't put every battle in. Interesting about Vietnam though...foreshadowing of what was to come? And there was China, in-fighting desperately before ultimately becoming Communist. On the home front, those antibiotics we so take for granted were truly miracles in 1945. I am always astounded by the way humans, even in the midst of turmoil, can make room in their lives for literature and the arts; for wonder at something like the Guggenheim museum; for baseball and horse racing. Graziano and Arcaro were names often heard in our house...my dad loved the ponies especially!
2008/1/1 100 years ago It's 2008! Wow! I was thinking this morning of my grandparents and could imagine them, 100 years ago, saying, "It's 1908! Wow!"
So, let's take a peek at 1908:
It's so easy to sumarize a year decades after it happened; not so easy to predict what one will be like. I think, however, that we can predict a few things about 2008: the political campaigns will heat up to the point we're sick of them; the Middle East will grow ever more explosive; we still won't have health insurance for all Americans; and.........gosh, that's all a bit negative sounding, so let's change the subject. 1908 was a pretty exciting year. Russia still had a Czar, with all that glamour. The Model T was produced......where would we be without cars today? Although, I see a push to increase public transportation because of the pollution, and what a good idea that is. I would love to be able to hop on a really fast train sometimes instead of driving or flying. And don't you love that the fountain pen became popular about then? My grandfather loved fountain pens and always gave his grandchildren Parker pens for birthdays. I cherished mine, which had my name engraved on it. And that "Bakelite" that was invented in 1908? Today it is a pricey collectible. Yes the world of 1908 was full of political unrest. That just seems to be our way, doesn't it? I can't think of one year ever that was free of strife. So perhaps today, just for this one day, we can all think peaceful thoughts; cherish our significant others; eat healthy foods; be glad that the human race has managed to survive; and COUNT OUR BLESSINGS...which, let's face it, if you have time to sit around reading blogs, you must have plenty of!! LOL Happy New Year!!
2007/11/19 1863On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania. From today's New York Times On This Day
1863:
Hard to believe that such a relatively short time ago our world was so different, isn't it? Heck, Henry Ford was just born in 1863, and now we are so addicted to automobiles that we are in them half our lives, or so it seems. I don't know about where you live, but I can't even run out for milk and eggs without driving. We all have studied the American Civil War in school, but who knew Afghanistan was suffering through one at the same time? And free mail delivery was, at this time, a cutting-edge idea!! This hit me as I am sitting here today waiting for my mail carrier to deliver the entire week's worth of mail that accumulated while I was in NC. We complain about the cost of postage, but look at the service we get.
2007/6/27 1950
(From today's New York Times)
In 1950, I was eight years old, the same age Austin is right now. Was I as clueless? Oh yes, totally clueless. My world was very small back then, but oh so many things were happening in the larger world.
1950:
So there it is, from my favorite book The Timetables of History by Bernard Grun. And what, you wonder, did clueless Barbie remember of all that? Well, the songs for sure, all of which were sung frequently in our home. Ten years later, I read "The Martian Chronicles," which are still one of my favorite sci-fi works. And of course I knew who won the World Series! But that's about it. Third graders were largely protected from world news back then, and maybe that's not a bad thing. Kept us from worrying, at least somewhat. We still had monsters under our beds, of course, but Korea? Vietnam? Never entered our consciousness. 2007/6/4 1953 On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain was crowned in Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI. That was the New York Time's "Looking Back" item a couple of days ago.
In 1953, I was eleven years old, not quite a teenager. Elvis hadn't even sung on the Ed Sullivan show yet....does that make 1953 sound like a million years ago, or what?
Here's a look at the world of 1953:
All we grade-school age kids knew of the turmoil in the world was related to those H-bomb tests. Yes, we were the generation that had bomb drills in school. Under the desk, in the hall, wherever...how safe could we possibly have been? But the drill appeased the parents, I guess, who thought the schools were at least trying. We all had "I like Ike" Buttons; in our house, the new dog was even named Ike. And we sang those sweet, sweet songs, little suspecting that rock and roll was just on the horizon. "How much is that doggy in the window? The one with the waggly tale?" We sang that until I thought my mother would scream. There was quite a lot of stage-setting for the 1960s, I noticed while writing this. Kinsey and Simon de Beauvoir, what were they doing but fomenting revolution! The whole Vietnam-Laos incident set a more lethal stage for events to come. It was my generation that came of age in the '60s, experiencing women's liberation, and sending our classmates off to Vietnam. How interesting that a connection was made between smoking and lung cancer that early. I heard nothing of it until sometime in the 1960s, if then. We pretty much all smoked, in the home, in the car, on planes; heck, when I was in college, we smoked right in the classroom! And oh, those NY Yankees. Our whole school went to the gym to watch the series on tv when the Yankees played. For me, there's never been another team. Now the Dodgers aren't even in Brooklyn where they belong, although I can't seem to remember exactly where they are. To me they ceased to exist when they moved. LOL It's always fun to look back, for all the events of our childhoods most surely influence who we become as adults. Our generation, for instance, knew polio. Indeed, one of my cousins died of it after a prolonged stay in an iron lung. Is it any wonder, then, that so many of us in our 60s are so health-conscious? I see foreshadowing throughout this entry; hope you do, too. |
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