Historic Moments: Monday, 20 February 1939

This is part of a (hopefully daily) series detailing in real time World War II, American culture during the war and usually small town life. For information, please see this post, and this one.

Good morning everyone! I don't really know if anyone is reading this, but I like to think a few of you are. If even one person finds this interesting, then I'm happy. Now let's get going.

Today's random newspaper pick is the Roseburg News-Review in Roseburg, Oregon. I'm trying to randomly pick newspapers by region, because often American culture is different from one region to the next. Yesterday was the Southeast, my first post was the Midwest and so forth. Now it's the Pacific Northwest.

Previously in Historic Moments...

Several stories have been in the newspapers for days. One is the sale of planes from President Roosevelt to France as well as a naval base in Guam. Opponents feel both of these actions are leading a path to war. 

Tension in Africa between France and Italy are heating up. France took back land it gave to Italy because Italy broke an agreement, and as a result Mussolini is now building up troops along the Libyan border.

Spain's civil war continues. France and Britain moved to recognize the Nationalist side of the war.

Japan has continued it's massive invasion of China. They landed with air strikes, tanks, heavily armed mounted and foot soldiers and so forth. Americans are considered safe and upon recognizing this, missions were flooded with people seeking refuge or simply asking for American flags to hang outside their homes.

Notorious kidnapper and child murderer Franklin Pierce McCall is set to be executed by electric chair, today I believe. You can read about his crime in this post.

Now, on with today's news.

The article for top headline of the day tells us that the majority of Congress is in agreement with the Guam naval plans after all. The paper says the move is "new evidence of determination to bolster national defense." This doesn't mean that the opposition now agrees, simply that FDR is not alone in his belief it needs to be done.

Opponents are not alone in the belief that the president's latest decisions are a path to war. The Nazis and Italians are now publicly complaining about FDR's latest actions.

[Marshal Badoglio, Chief of the Italian General Staff] said an "imperialistic Anglo-Saxon minority excited by a man like Roosevelt, who belongs without doubt to a race of great preachers of war, is beginning to rise up again and consider inevitable a new historic demonstration of America's mission and new intervention to make the world safe for democracy."

... The great majority of Americans, he said, were the prey of propaganda because their origins, mentalities and interests differed too widely for them to form their on public opinion on International affairs, especailly those of Europe.

In general, Americans are ignorant of, or indifferent to, Europe, the writer went on with a "very" determined Anglo-Saxon minority holding the reins."

Germany was not without their opinion on the matter either. Apparently the entire press leaped upon Roosevelt. The most biting came from the Boersenzeitung (a German newspaper), who said Roosevelt "systemactially [sic] attempted to sow trouble in the world in order to assist the dark forces which support him."

Meanwhile, Rabbi Perlzweigh said before the London Jewish congress that "Roosevelt is the symbol of all forces of democracy and freedom is a sufficient declaration."

The Midwest has had a cold snap that has affected them greatly. Though the headlines claims "four states" it is actually five. The Dakotas (which I assume they're counting as one), Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.

Temperatures have been sub-zero and remember that this region is only now beginning to recover from the Dust Bowl, so this makes it even more difficult for them to deal with.

The African situation continues to build. Italy has sent 30,000 more troops to deal with France. They defend their action by saying France did it first. Instead of contacting France to let them know about the build up, Italy contacted Britain.

What is odd is that the article adds the following, which is actually a different subject entirely and it does not hint as to why this is being done.

Sir John Simon, Chancellor of the Exchequer, formally sought authority to borrow 800,000,000 pounds ($4,000,000,000) to finance rearmament, which he said was now approach the "full blast of production." 

It was "horrible" he said, to spend so much on arms. But [sic] he expressed confidence Britain could "stand the strain."

Circling back around to the French, I was kind of reminded of the film Casablanca, when I read the article at right. The only major difference is that it was the Nazis slaying the French, in the movie.

For odd news of the day, there is this article whose headline is off like the one above. It should read bombings, plural, since there were actually three separate bombs and three separate buildings. What was odd were the buildings that were bombed. There were two dairy production centers and a knitting factory that were damaged.

In any case there were only a couple of minor injuries and the event had occurred three years before. Unfortunately, the article offers no hints on what their motive may have been.

More news out of Germany is the revelation of the recruitment of spies in the US. A man by the name of George Rettig was the Director of the American branch of the German University Exchange System. It was announced by General Von Massow, who is head of the entire system, that Rettig's actions were not instructions ever given to him. Rather than replace Rettig, Massow asked the Director of International Education in New York (Stephen Pierce Dugan) to take the office over.

The Providence (R. I.) [sic] Bulletin said February 10 Rettig had sent out a circular letter requesting German students on American and Canadian campuses to supply nazi [sic] authorities with information on political and economic conditions in the United States.

The newspaper said Rettig has been recalled by Berlin because the Germany embassy in Washington felt he had acted indiscretely [sic].

There is no explanation as to how the incident was discovered, but the indiscreet comment is interesting. It was not 'what he was doing was bad', it was only 'indiscreet.'

Our kidnapper and killer, McCall, has an update. Yesterday, the Florida Supreme Court turned down a stay for his execution, but today it looks as though he has a little more time, even if they've already shaved his head.

It does not say who granted the stay, but he now has until Friday to file an appeal. We'll have to mark our calendars and see what happens next.

Along the same topic is another possible kidnapping in Pasadena, California. She is an eight-year-old girl that went missing yesterday morning. The entire article is worth reading, but it may make your blood run cold.

Hopefully we'll hear what happened to her.

The Chinese are beginning to clear out the bad Chinese blood, via guerrilla warfare. Since Japan occupied Shanghai, there have been 50 political assassinations by the Chinese. Today's news tells us that 20 Chinese gunman broke into the home of Teheng Loh, who is also Chinese. He was a one-time League of Nations delegate and was pro-Japan. The assailants worked in collusion with Loh's own bodyguards and 15 bullets were found in Loh's body. The bodyguards escaped with the gunman.

Sales and Prices

• Friskies Dog Food, 3 1/2¢/day (about $1.05/mo)
• Portable tube radio, $3.50
• Southern Pacific Railroad's round trip coach to San Francisco during World's Fair, $16.55
• Air Mail Coffee, 15¢/lb. or 39¢/3 lbs.
• Team of horses, 1300 lbs. each, $150.
• Movies, matinees 25¢, evenings 35¢, kiddies 10¢
• Used brass [they call it gold] trumpet worth $185, $50

On the radio tonight is The Lone Ranger and tomorrow night The Green Hornet.

There are a number of society type announcements. 

Finally, a leap for women in the region and a good old fashioned funny.



I wish you all a pleasant afternoon and evening. Please check back in tomorrow! 

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Images and articles from this newspaper were generously provided by the totally awesome Newspapers.com. I am not affiliated them with them in any way, just a very happy subscriber. Should you decide to subscribe, please let them know magnoliasouth sent you. No, I get nothing for it, I just want them to know. :)

Historic Moments: Sunday, 19 February 1939

This is part of a (hopefully daily) series detailing in real time World War II, American culture during the war and usually small town life. For information, please see this post, and this one.

Today's random newspaper pick is the Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama; a farming community at the time, between Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia.

This paper does not come with an absolute top headline. However, there is one obviously very important crop to the region because it has its own spot at the top right of the page (see right), right next to the title of the newspaper. 

One thing I will say is that I was disappointed in the quality of this newspaper's archive. It is very difficult to read. That said, let us move along.

We've been following FDR's battles with Congress on the sale of bombers to France to defend itself from "totalitarian governments", and building up bases in Guam. Congress is quite alarmed by FDR's decisions, rightly saying it is a path to war. Hindsight is that we know it probably would have been best to plunge into it and get it over with earlier, to save millions of live, but alas we must drudge through the destruction of humanity. 

Right now, the president is at Key West involved in a mock war with the Navy, who are performing maneuvers. He is scheduled to remain there until the 3rd of March.

The article (just below) is about where he is and what he's doing, but then it says:

That information was to the effect that a possibility existed that certain countries would renew their international demands, it was reported, were being pushed not through regular diplomatic channels, but through a more recent method of relations - the use of fear and aggression.

Mr. Roosevelt... declined to give the names of countreis involved... but observers believed he may have had in mind new gestures toward European democracies by Germany and Italy.

Things are heating up in Africa between France and Italy. France seized land that had been annexed to Italy in response to Mussolini's actions. 

The [anexation treaty] was denounced [by Mussolini] to make way for Italy's "natural aspirations," meaning new colonial ambitions expected to be gained at the expense of France.

The Secretary of the Treasury had been dragged into the whole bombers sale to France situation. FDR had ordered them, and others to work with the French. Though the secretary disagreed with what FDR was doing, he found it preposterous that "military committee" should even ask for a copy of the order. Also, the assistant Secretary of the Treasury resigned over the entire thing, two days ago.

The Spanish Civil War is still going. The latest news on that front is that Britain and France had moved to recognize Nationalist Spain, rather than the Loyalist (or Republican) Spain. It is a curious thought as to how they came to such a decision. It looks like neither were good choices.


On the surface, the headline (left) almost sounds like good news to us in the modern world. Being able to leave Germany is exactly what we would want for them. 

This is however still bad news. The order is about crossing into Poland. If they can get out of Europe then they may be safe, but sadly many will not go.

By year's end, Poland will have fallen into German hands and the Jews there will suffer simply because they exist.

FDR's Guam base plans continue to get a lot of opposition. "The minority [of the House Naval Affairs Committee] - five Republicans and a Democrat - charged that plans for development of the tiny South Pacific island is the first step toward ultimate fortification of the isle which lies amid Japan's South Pacific ??? [illegible]."

One on Senate Military Affairs Committee went so far as to say that President Roosevelt was pushing the nation toward the brink of war in order to deflect attention from "his failures in domestic policies."

Domestically, the New Deal continues to evolve. The Secretary of Commerce, Harry L. Hopkins proposed a program that will:

...establish harmony and cooperation between the business and the New Deal...

On the basis of hints in official quarters, the program is expected to offer a ??? [illegible, but probably "basis"] of peace between labor factions, between labor and industry and between government and industry - especially utilities.

A recommendation to the Wage-Hour Administration was made in respect to the woolen industry. They suggest that the wage should be set at 35¢ per hour, "only 4 cents under the 40-cent goal which the fair labor standards ??? [illegible] is designed to reach within seven years."

There is an interesting thing a local high school is doing. Both the left and right are related to it. They are hosting the debate between what the left headline (lower headline) says.

I'm sure it was quite interesting!


We've been following the kidnapper, Franklin Pierce McCall execution news. There is really nothing new to report except that he is inching closer to the electric chair. The Florida Supreme Court refused a request for a stay of execution.

This paper had a few things that I found disturbing, outside of war. I don't mean to launch into an editorial, but I first must explain my dismay at these things. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a feminist, per say. I believe in equal rights, I believe in equal pay for equal work and so forth. I do NOT believe in women having an edge over anyone, as today's so-called feminists believe.

That said, I must circle back around to equality. Take a close look at the ad (left) for a restaurant. Women today are too quick to scream harassment and offensive behaviors toward women. I scoff at the silliness of it all, but not at this ad! To imagine that it's only men and then they even go so far as to show a woman sitting there smiling happily while the man celebrates his good business fortune with a cigar, is just amazingly unbelievable... but it gets worse!

Next we have a column on manners for women in dating. The advice here is absolutely stunning. In the 1930s, there were plenty of women with good jobs and were very independent. I love classic film, and I can name dozens of films where women had careers and were highly respected, but in places such as New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Those women were usually shunned or at the minimum, frowned upon. For the rest of the nation, life was different. You were expected to marry and have children, then support your husband in his business ventures (as in the ad above left). The manners article demonstrates how women are expected to behave.

The article is difficult to read, but by clicking on it, you can try to decipher it. Probably my favorites, or what we'd call the most insulting today, are the first two. We should not talk to the waiter, or the cab driver, but let our man do it for us. I can't help but laugh at that.

As a side note, both my grandmothers were working moms. One didn't have to work, but she preferred to. The other had to and though she practically raised her children alone (my grandfather was out of town a lot due to the fact he worked for the Southern Railroad), she loved every minute of it. She was absolutely amazing.

Moving along....



Prices

• 3-room unfurnished apartment, private entrance, private bath $18.50/mo.
• Hampton Dry Cleaners, men's suit or women's plain dress, 35¢ or 3 for $1.
• A building lot in town, $400
• Good farm mule $25
• Ladies "tipless" back strap shoes, $4.95
• Croquignole permanent, $1
• Croquignole oil permanent, reg. $3, sale $2
• Individual Nestyle* [sic] permanent, reg. $5, sale $3
• Shampoo, finger wave, manicure and ??? [illegible], $100

*Should have read Nestle.

This newspaper puts out local Boy Scout news then adds tips on badges, probably for the parents to read to know what to do next.

Local society news is always fun. Who is visiting who and such.

Have a great afternoon everyone! Please come back and read it tomorrow.

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Images and articles from this newspaper were generously provided by the totally awesome Newspapers.com. I am not affiliated them with them in any way, just a very happy subscriber. Should you decide to subscribe, please let them know magnoliasouth sent you. No, I get nothing for it, I just want them to know. :)

Historic Moments: Saturday, 18 February 1939

This is part of a (hopefully daily) series detailing in real time World War II, American culture during the war and usually small town life. For information, please see this post, and this one.

Today's random newspaper pick is the Arizona Republic, coming out of Phoenix. The headline is: 

SALE OF PLANES DEFENDED 

ABOARD ROOSEVELT TRAIN, En Route to Key West, Feb. 17 - President Roosevelt today defended the sale of American military planes to France as 100 per cent [sic] legal and asserted the whole government had facilitated the transaction... 

Testimony made public by the [senate military committee] also disclosed that when Secretary Morgenthau was asked why the treasury procurement division was asked to co-operate with the French mission seeking planes he replied this was done at the request of the President. [sic]

Remember that yesterday we read that there was some discussion on creating legislation to stop Roosevelt from selling planes to France, for its defense against totalitarian government? Well, now opponents have graduated from creating legislation to simply calling it "illegal and costly".

There are some "defense and foreign policy developments" outlined, as well. Though complicated, simply put there is a schism in the administration right now. Besides yesterday's issue with the Treasury Department heads, now there is dissent from the War Department, who believe that selling planes to France is against policy. The chief of the US Army Air Service (remember that the Air Force and the Army were not yet separated at that time) "was against permitting [pro-sale mission members] to inspect planes being developed under general war department specifications."

This was all outlined in testimony, but it listed these plans:

1. A favorable report by the house naval affairs committee on a bill authorizing $52,000,000 for new air and submarine bases at Guam and 10 other Pacific and Atlantic points. 
2. Introduction of a bill.... calling for co-ordination of army, navy, and air corps activities under a single department of national defense. 
3. Proposals in both house and senate that the United States take possession of the Soviet-held Wrangel Island, near Alaska, for use as a "stopping place" in the chain of American air-defense stations. 
4. Announcement of extended field maneuvers in the East by the First. U. S. Army this summer. Approximately 67,000 men till participate in the concentration.

It goes on to fill in the gaps, in greater detail. The planes in question were made by Douglas. The mission members were indeed foreign and were supposed to be allowed to inspect the planes comma "less secret accessories." However, in an suspicious twist of fate, in their efforts to hurriedly transcribe the order, the word less was actually dropped. The interpretation of course was to assume that they were to let them inspect the planes 'with' secrets.

That actually really doesn't make any sense. I would never interpret it at all. I would call someone about the order saying it didn't make sense, but this captain stupidly added his own judgmental word.

A lot of the same stories from yesterday are listed here but none offer new news. This was common because not all newspapers were published daily.

War End Is Asked By Azana 

Britain, France Push Peace Parleys 

PARIS, Feb. 17. - Manuel Azana, president of government of Spain, who has pleaded the futility of further resistance to Insurgent Generalissimo Francisco Franco, was reported tonight to have demanded that his government make peace on any terms... 

Informed diplomatic quarters said both Britain and France actively were pushing peace negotiations at Franco's capital, Burgos. "The moment as come to end the tragic and useless blood bath with the help of France and Britain," [Azana] was quoted as having [said].

The next article requires a little background. On the 28th of May in 1938 in Princeton, FL, a five-year-old boy by the name of James "Skeegie" Bailey Cash Jr. was kidnapped. The kidnapper, Franklin Pierce McCall, said he placed handkerchiefs over the eyes and mouth of the boy, picked him up and carried him to his home, that was about 15 minutes away. He claims the boy suffocated during the kidnapping, but he believed him to be alive. This is odd because he still tried to ransom him, which sounds very much like he killed the boy beforehand, but of course no one really knows.


His ransom demand was for $10,000, which was paid (obviously) not knowing the boy was already dead. The FBI joined the hunt and soon the man was caught. I won't get into all the details. If interested you are welcome to search to read about it. However, the news of this day is about to bring the entire ordeal to a close, at least in a criminal sense. I'm sure the family never recovered from it and I'm also sure we'll hear more about him in the coming days.

Though the Dust Bowl is winding down, there is still a farming shortage. The following headline tells the main story. They say that the average dollar amounts in loans were between $3k and $4k. They also say, "The [Farm Credit Administration] is authorized to make loans to individual farmers running up to 75 per cent of the normal value of property, but not exceeding $7,500."

Grocery Sales (Pay'n Takit)
(note that my personal fav is the 48 lbs. of flour)

• Glen Oaks Green Beans, No. 2 cans, 25¢/4 cans
• Harvest Blossom Flour, 29¢/10 lbs. , 53¢/24 lbs., 98¢/48 lbs.
• Calavos Avocados, 19¢/4 ea.
• Webster's Butter 29¢/lb.
• Gem Nut Margarine, 10¢/lb.
• Western Longhorn Cheese, 18¢/lb.
• Country Sausage, 14¢/lb.
• Bacon 29¢/lb.
• Mission Bell Toilet Soap, 9¢/2 cakes
• Ivory Soap Flakes, 9¢/sm. pkg, 22¢/lg. pkg.

Women's Clothing Sales (The Boston Store)

• Tuxedo, collarless, boxy-styled coats, $18.75
• Lingerie or blouses $1.98
• Suit, $10.95
• Shoes, $6 and $6.75.

Misc

• Valley Lumber Feed and Seed's gas, 17¢ (doesn't specify if it's by the gallon or not)

Japan continues its invasion of China, which is interesting since that blurb above mentions how American forces are being built up in the Pacific. The winds of war are in the air. We still have a couple of years yet, but events are unfolding that we know are a prelude to that war.

This map though is interesting. Though the headline is about the new road, and the road is highlighted in the map (the squiggly line in the southwestern part of the map), the map is also of the current situation. I also think it's really creative. Notice how the Japanese occupied areas are sunbeams, as in the rising sun?

There is more later on about the occupation. The USS John D Edwards reported via Hong Kong what a Mrs. David Tappan, a Presbyterian missionary in  Kiungchow wrote eight days ago. She said they awoke "to the sound of bombs exploding, planes whirring and machine guns rattling. This soon had us huddling behind the stoutes of walls." She goes on to explain how the Hong Kong radio began broadcasting, warning everyone that Hainan. She says that there were calvary horses and tanks rolling in as well as heavily armed foot soldiers. The locals, who taken by complete surprise, were panic stricken and started flooding into the missions for safety. 

She says that though there was not a lot of bloodshed, save the heavy casualties a bus who accidentally came into the line of fire, the Japanese were pillaging the towns. She says "many of the poorest Chinese were stripped of all they owned."

Many Chinese were begging for American flags, which of course they didn't have, to raise in order to save themselves. Americans were treated with care and in fact, the Japanese posted "keep out" signs on buildings where Americans could be found, for their troops. 

The military also said that they spoke to the Japanese and received assurances that Americans would "be respected and protected," but also the Japanese would provide food supplies for Americans if there was trouble getting them in. 

There are small tidbits of news. One is a single sentence paragraph which says, "Britain may grant a subsidy of $5 an acre to barley growers." There is no explanation or anything. That is all it says. 

A man who translated the Bible into Chinese has died. It doesn't say if this man is the first man ever to do it, but it took him nine years to complete it. He was Rev. Dr. Spencer Lewis, was 85, died in Chentu, China. The announcement was made by the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions.

The funniest article of the day is the one to the right, but it's only funny if he wasn't hurt, and this doesn't say. The other question is, how on earth did that happen? The pants must've been made of some seriously flimsy cloth.

The Saturday edition in most papers, at least in the south and apparently Arizona in 1939, outlines local churches, their services and events for the coming week and so forth. They usually have several inspirational articles as well as news on important missionaries or evangelists passing through.

One article sticks out today and it is apparently a weekly (obviously syndicated) column titled "Weekly Sunday School Lesson" by William E. Gilroy, D. D., Editor of Advance. Today's topic is "Beverage Alcohol And Its Social Perils" [sic]. It calls prohibition a "noble experiment". It lists reasons it is perilous such as auto drunk driving accidents and the possibility of locomotive drunk operating accidents. He cites two articles from his local paper that involved a drunken brawl where a man was stabbed, and an unfaithful wife whose actions were a result of the drink.

Local Events

• Barker's Bakery is having an open house from 3p-8p where you can "Come see how the bread, rolls, cakes, and pastries you enjoy so much are made. We will have music and refreshments will be served." They sell French pastries for 10¢ among many other items listed.
• Old Timers Dance, tonight 35¢, Wed. 25¢; music by Clay Ramsey and the Old Timers.
• The Redwood Inn presents Jean and Jeanne in a tap, song and comedy floor show with Tom Dix and his band, no cost is listed.
• Airdome Dancing tonight, the dancing is free but admission is 35¢ and no liquor sold.
• Paul's Paddock Cocktail Lounge has "Adrian at the Hammond Electric organ and his singing waiters to entertain you." Cocktails 25¢ daily 4p-6p, daily music 8p-1a and they must have a short radio show because it says "Listen in KTAR every Sat. 5:45 to 6 P. M." [sic]

In Movie Theaters

• Honolulu starring Eleanor Powell, Robert Young, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (Jack Benny's Rochester); feature comes with novelty, cartoons and news.
• St. Louis Blues with Dorothy Lamour and Lloyd Nolan; feature comes with "Smashing the Spy Ring", color cartoon and news. 

Radio programs coming on tonight are the Rainbow Room Orchestra on NBC (if I'm not mistaken, I believe this show was airing when NBC had its first Pearl Harbor announcement, but I may be wrong on that) and Americans at Work episode "Silversmiths", on CBS.

In sports, the New York Yankees signed 8 players, one of which was notable Charles "Red" Ruffing. Baseball Hall of Famer George Sisler has a son who just signed onto the St. Louis Cardinals by the name of Dick Sisler. Like his father, he could pitch but will be 3rd baseman.

Polo seems popular. The season begins in Los Angeles and it ends with the international Westchester Cup on Long Island. They note that British have not won the cup since the inception the "World War in 1914". Also opening their polo season is the University of Arizona team.

It's now been a little over 9 years since the 'crash of '29'. Add to that, hoards of farmers continue to flee the plains due to sweeping losses caused by infertile land. At present, homelessness is a major problem. The public is not quick to be friendly to them, either. Many of the homeless were indeed innocent, but like today, many simply did not want to work (I have a relative that prefers to be homeless, rather than work; said person said it straight out). This illustrates that ideology.

In case you cannot read it, the line reads, "Life has been good to me . . . once in Pittsbugh I was offered a job but outside of that I've met with nothing but kindness."


Financial headlines include"Market Loses Rallying Urge As Many Traders Cash Profits", "Flour Buying Boosts Wheat" and "Butcher Cows Turn Weaker".

Southern Pacific Railway's January gross income was $15,766,513, that's up from $15,153,654 in January 1938. AT&T (Am Tel. & Tel.) closed at slightly above 157 (I cannot read the fraction).

In the Classifieds:

• Note: There were no 'help wanted ads'.
• Unfurnished house for rent: Country home, close in, 6 rooms, 2 car garage,$30/mo.
• Apartment for rent, 3 room, 1 bath, water paid, $20/mo.
• Used car for sale, 1938 Graham 4-dr. Sedan, trunk, supercharger, overdrive, 8k miles, $895.
• Used car for sale, 1939 Ford (3) Coupes [sic], $65
• An odd personals: "Desire for alcohol removed. 4-2940"
• Licensed bus rides, All American Bus Lines to Chicago $27.60 to New York $36.80, free meals.

Final thoughts, one not so good....



Enjoy your afternoon and evening, everyone!

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Images and articles from this newspaper were generously provided by the totally awesome Newspapers.com. I am not affiliated them with them in any way, just a very happy subscriber. Should you decide to subscribe, please let them know magnoliasouth sent you. No, I get nothing for it, I just want them to know. :)

Historic Moments: Friday, 17 February 1939

This is the first of a (hopefully daily) series detailing in real time World War II, American culture during the war and usually small town life. For information, please see this post, and this one.

We begin today from The Kokomo Tribune, in Indiana. I picked this newspaper randomly and on the front page we have the following headlines:

MUSSOLINI PRIVATE GUARD WOUNDED BY SHOT

INTENDED FOR IL DUCE BY INSANE MAN

A man just released from 'Insane' asylum shot one of Premier Benito Mussolini's private detectives on Wednesday while apparently waiting to assassinate the Premier, an authoritative source revealed today.

That's a shame that he didn't get him when he had the chance. I suppose his sanity may have had a part in it, but he sounds pretty dog gone sane to me.

BELGIUM POLICE FREE CONSULATE OF FRANCO MEN 

Brussels, Feb. 17 - Belgian police and firemen today stormed the Spanish government consulate building and ejected insurgent sympathizers who had seized it in an early morning coup... 

They had seized the building from its caretakers, and, shouting "Vivi Franco!" had raised the colors of Insurgent Generalissimo Francisco Franco to its flagstaff.

This is actually very interesting. Franco was a high ranking key player that sparked the Spanish Civil War that had just begun 3 years earlier, in 1936. At present, that is 17 Feb 1939, the war is still continuing. Was he a good guy? No. The Facists supported him and Wikipedia says:

Franco established a repression which was characterized by concentration camps, forced labor and executions, mostly against political and ideological enemies,^{[3][4][5][6][7]} being estimated to have caused from about 200,000 to 400,000 deaths,^[8][9]

No, definitely not a nice guy.

Then there is, what I consider, probably the most interesting and curious of all the articles here.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WILSON MAKES REPORT 

Washington, Feb. 17. - Hugh. R. Wilson, ambassador to Germany, testified before the senate military committee today on European conditions in a closed session from which even the official stenographer was excluded... 

Wilson had declined to answer many "important" questions on the grounds that the international situation was too grave... 

[Wilson] told the committee that any answers he might make to certain questions might disturb International relations and might impair his own usefulness.

This is rather scary. There is more discussion about the estimated (or rather, lack of estimated) number of warplanes in Germany. It is clear that they are concerned that Americans may be dragged into the war because they are already discussing initiating legislation that will, "... restrict Mr. Roosevelt's power to make American military airplanes available to foreign governments."

There are a couple of mentions in this same article of how Roosevelt is trying to build up the American military. In fact, the Assistant Treasury Secretary, Wayne Chatfield Tayloer, resigned the previous day and his "friends" said it was because he disagree with the Roosevelt administration on "the Treasury's part in aiding the democratic nations against totalitarian states." There was also proposal to allot funds to a naval base in Guam, as well.

Finally, there is a tiny blurb that says Japan had invaded Namto, which was across the bay from Hong Kong.



Moving along.... let's look at life.

Women's dresses were on sale at J.C. Penny's for $4.95.

It was announced that personal TV sets would go on sale beginning in May. Two New York stations will begin broadcasting by summer, but there are already one, ONE, station in Philadelphia already broadcasting. Plans are being made to start stations in Schenectady, NY, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee. Lucky devils, eh?

Hook's Drug Store, who tells you to fight winter electrically, lists a number of things on sale. A few being:
Vaseline Hair Tonic (a 50¢ size), 35¢
St. Joseph's Aspirin (bottle of 100), 35¢
Jayne's Tonic Vermifuge (no idea, but sounds interesting), 34¢
Tampax Internal Protection, 20¢ and 33¢

Other sporadic ads have things such as
Red Goose Health Shoes $3

living room suite, $66
$5 for your mattress when you buy one at $24.95
Ko-we-ba's (10.5-oz) can of asparagus, 15¢
2 Lily No. 2 cans (a no. 3 is a 20-oz can) of green beans, 26¢
bacon, 15¢/lb.
pork loin chops, 18¢/lb
butter, 26 1/2¢/lb.
sugar, 25¢/5 lb.

Apparently the prices of fashionable hats were a source of amusement. There is a comic strip, one liner about this very thing.

Mickey Rooney is in Huckleberry Finn, in theaters. When you go to that one, you get to also see a "color cartoon, novelty and news." Also in theaters is Tail Spin starring Jane Wyman, first wife of future President Ronald Reagan. You get to see the same things above, except the cartoon isn't specified as color. It is however a Disney cartoon.

There are a number of theaters and they're all 10¢ per ticket.

The Danceland Ballroom is open on Saturdays and Sundays, "9 to 12 p.m." (sic) and is "featuring Shaeffers Swing Kings with June Lindeman" whom they tout as "a charming vocalist." Cost is 25¢ per person.

If you prefer square dancing, or if you just want to also square dance, then you're in luck because square dancing is at the Tavern on Wednesday and Friday Nights.

On what looks to be the ladies page...

It's Washington's birthday and if you feel like celebrating, they have a menu for us... though it's actually a Daily Menu article. Still, sounds interesting. They suggest a colonial tea party (they list things to make), and recipes for "shield" sandwiches, chicken salad rolls and date nut stars. There is also a tip for making better clam stew using clam juice, Worcestershire, celery and salt.

The short story is "Marriage Meddlers", which they say is a sequel to "Married Comrades."

Olive Roberts Barton writes in her column "Raising A Family" that some homesickness is good for children and she tells the story of her daughter's experience at summer camp.

Columnist Alicia Hart, cautions us in "Glorifying Yourself", that "a smart woman's Easter wardrobe budget is a combination of beauty and fashion."

Betty Barclay declares some interesting facts.

DO YOU KNOW THAT- 

More than 31,000,000,000 chicken eggs are produces in the United States each year. 

Corn acreage in the United States decreased 3,000,000 in 1938 and cotton acreage approximately 8,000,000 acres. 

Louisiana experts estimate that an acre of fresh pasture in that state has an average annual feeding value equivalent to 92.8 bushels of corn. 

Berries in the tangee tree, a rare tropical plant, may be used in the same way as lipstick.

The "Help Wanted" section is divided by gender. Jobs for women include a fashion model, the way they did it back in the day where women tried on the dresses and did a catwalk for wealthy buyers. Fashion Frocks in Cincinatti is hiring girls offering free dresses and pay up to $23 per day. Half of the male jobs require a car, even for a movie operator.

A hair "oil permanent" is $1 and a used 1933 Olds 6 (4-door) sedan with new tires and is proclaimed as "extra clean" is on sale for $225.

Then finally...

Financials include Eastman Kodak closing at a whopping 174 3/4 and "Corn prices followed an irregular trend. Improved export demand gave the market a firm undertone after a slightly easier opening but follow-up buying was lacking, and prices turned downward again."

Hope you enjoyed and come back to see tomorrow's post!

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Images and articles from this newspaper were generously provided by the totally awesome Newspapers.com. I am not affiliated them with them in any way, just a very happy subscriber.

Message to and about Newspapers.com

Just a quick note here. I tried to seek permission to post Newspapers.com clipping jpg images on my blog. I tried using the Contact Us, but upon submission I got a 404 Page Not Found.

I detailed the issue here.

I tweeted to them:

@_Newspapers Important: Please fix the Contact Us page. I detailed the problem here: http://t.co/AEU9U79Irx I need to write to someone.
— MagnoliaSouth (@magnoliasouth) February 17, 2015

@_newspapers If I cannot reach you, I will assume I have permission to publish clipping jpgs on my blog, since I cannot reach you. TIA!
— MagnoliaSouth (@magnoliasouth) February 17, 2015

I got an immediate response, which totally blew me away:

@magnoliasouth You can publish any clipping you make. We ask you provide a link back to us. You can embed it using our embed code.
— Newspapers.com (@_newspapers) February 17, 2015

Many, MANY thanks to them for this. I'm proud to be a subscriber.

World War II, psychology, and real time.

I have a soft spot for both of the world wars. It is just crazy to believe that the killing of a single married couple could spark the Great War, known today as WWI. What madness! Men, women and children died for their homelands over this double murder. It just boggles my mind.

Fast forward to the 1930's. What also boggles my mind, perhaps even more, is that 99% of Germany's non-Jewish citizens could follow a monster such as Hitler. The invasion of an unprovoked country should have been the first clue that something was wrong. I just cannot understand rallying behind a leader, no matter how "enthusiastic" he sounds or as "charismatic" he is, if he's invading other countries.

It's almost like they were drugged, or brainwashed, or something. Something! I just cannot wrap my mind around it. The thing that scares me to this day is how quickly things would change for the worse. Though Hitler began dabbling in politics around 1919, his ascent into higher government wasn't until 1932.

Imagine that in only 7 years Hitler would manage to plunge Germany into a war, that would sweep across the world. Millions would die, due to his actions, before it was all over. Instead of simply building up his new country (remember that he was actually Austrian) by leading citizens in a way where they could all unite and work together, he would simply take what someone else had, throw those people aside and hand it out to Germans.

Muslim is mostly repression.

To listen to the media, they want to remind you (while treating you like a child) how real Muslims are peaceful. They do not believe in terrorism. While there are a few where this is true, I'll discuss that here as well, but the majority? I think not.

Let us take a look at history, shall we? Let's see, randomly picking a country, we'll use Turkey as an example.

The apostle Paul was from Turkey and the Revelation was sent to John, also in Turkey. Yes, they were persecuted, but pay attention now. There were numerous elaborate Christian churches in Turkey. Let us ask ourselves: how many of those still exist, and who runs them now.

The most famous is of course the Hagia Sofia. It was built a Christian church. It originates back to somewhere between 300 and 400 A.D. Then on the 29th of May in 1453, the Muslim Ottomans invaded Constantinople. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it (who, by the way, has cited its sources).

In accordance with the custom at the time Sultan Mehmet II allowed his troops three days of unbridled pillage once the city fell, after which he would claim its contents himself. Hagia Sophia was not exempted from the pillage, becoming its focal point as the invaders believed it to contain the greatest treasures of the city. Shortly after the city's defenses collapsed, pillagers made their way to the Hagia Sophia and battered down its doors. Throughout the siege worshipers participated in the Holy Liturgy and Prayer of the Hours at the Hagia Sophia, and the church formed a refuge for many of those who were unable to contribute to the city's defense, such as women, children and elderly. Trapped in the church, congregants and refugees became spoils to be divided amongst the Ottoman invaders. The building was desecrated and looted, and occupants enslaved, violated or slaughtered; while elderly and infirm were killed, women and girls were raped and the remainder chained and sold into slavery. Priests continued to perform Christian rites until stopped by the invaders. When the Sultan and his cohort entered the church, he insisted it should be at once transformed into a mosque. One of the Ulama then climbed the pulpit and recited the Shahada.

Wow. I thought the Christian Crusades were the bad guys during the Middle Ages. To read any American history book, the Crusaders are clearly are marked as such. In fact, how many of us hear about that every time the Crusades are brought up? Yet, how many times do we hear about the raping and pillaging of Christians, by Muslims, during the Middle Ages? In any case, that is the story of only one of many, many, MANY churches taken over by Muslims.

How to match a signature.

You can look at a signature and see if it looks like another signature, but that's not what I mean here. I was just reading about the proposed NFL stadium in Los Angeles. All was fine until I got near the end, then it sounded rather suspect to me.

They said some signatures were disqualified because, "the signature did not match voting records." Now I have to wonder, what does that mean, exactly? Are they looking at signature design, as the bank looks at signatures for forgeries? Or are they looking for names that do and do not match? That seems more likely, but it raises the question as to what really qualifies as a matching name. For example, if my name were Elizabeth Jane Doe on my voting record and I signed my name as Betty Doe, does that mean you eliminate my signature completely? Or what if I sign it Elizabeth J. Doe? Is that also eliminated? You see what I mean? Where do you draw the line saying it doesn't match?

Now let us consider the implications here. If it doesn't match, then this basically means that my right as a signatory is violated. I personally don't remember how I wrote my name on my voting record. Using the example above my drivers license says Elizabeth Jane Jones Doe, but my signature is actually Betty Doe. No, that's not my name, but the point is I have a nickname that I use as my signature, but my legal name is something else. I signed my driver's license that way so I could legally show you I am Betty, if it becomes a question.

So again, this means that it is very likely my rights would have been violated if they were "matching" signatures. You can roll your eyes at that a thousand times, but it does not make it any less true. If I am a registered voter and I signed the petition, my signature should count. End of story.

So how can we fix this problem? Gee, I don't know... maybe a voter ID system? Why are Democrats so quick to spit out rights violations when it comes to voter ID but not when voter signatures get eliminated? I don't understand that. It seems to me that writing down a number is much more finite than what is written in a signature. You cannot NOT match a number. It is either that number or it isn't. Unlike signatures, it isn't subjective.

Besides, I can't even read my husband's signature, so does that mean he'll never be counted? Ever? If you can't read the signature then this means you cannot match it unless the government (and this is a real laugh to even consider) would use some sort of character recognition that would scan voter records for a similar looking match. Yeah, right.

Yes I know, it's only a NFL stadium and it's not grossly important, however it still raises the issue of voter rights. When will Democrats ever learn?

How about an awesome and quick Dennis Miller quote?

These liberals are telling me that I should take it easy on the terrorists. They said that our founding fathers would have gone easier on them. They were, after all, for civil liberties. Let me ask you a question: Do you really think that our founding fathers would have put up with any of this shit? I mean, our founding fathers blew peoples' heads off because they put a tax on their morning beverage!

Per IMDb.

The old fogeys quest for good cheap travel ideas.

Before we go on, let me just say that this is a long article. Most people would suggest breaking it up into a series, but why? Personally I hate it when people do that. No, really. Let ME decide how much I want to read. If I don't have time to finish, I can come back. If I want to read it all now, well then let me read it all now! I hate it when people make decisions for me. Now that that's out of the way!

I frequently travel to California and stay there a while. I went for a month this past January. I'm also leaving in a couple of weeks for a couple of weeks.

And yes, I've seen this commercial....



It doesn't matter though because I hardly live alone. I have a house full of adults and really BIG dogs. lol! Not to mention an alarm system. Needless to say, I'm not overly concerned with that part.

That said, my biggest problem is packing light. I really REALLY try, but after traveling a lot, I've learned that to be really prepared for what I need to do, I can't pack light. Well, that's not true. I can. I just hate trying to.

My grandmother was queen of the packing world and was simply amazing. She traveled the world and carried one small bag, for her and my grandfather, at all times. This was way back in the 70s when baggage wasn't a big deal too. She carried two outfits, a camera, film and shoes. That's it. That's all she took. She would hand-wash her clothing at night and hang them to dry. She swears that they were dry by morning and then they'd shower and put on the clean clothes.

Back then hotels didn't have hair dryers, irons, microwaves, etc. You had a bathroom, some soap and a bed. Heck, you didn't even have an alarm clock! You had to ask the front desk to call you.

Anyway, as much as I would LOVE to travel like my Granny did, I can't. To begin with, I eat like a 3-year-old. I have large breasts and even if I lean over my plate, my food drops on my boobs. Yes ladies! You with the smaller girls, be happy. You've no idea what a pain in the ass it is. For this reason I have to take several tops. It's that or wear a freaking bib every meal which is NOT going to happen.

An easy, less expensive, grain free, hypoallergenic pill pocket substitute.

I have a dog that is seriously allergic to everything on the planet. I've never had a dog with allergies like hers before, so this has been a lesson that I could write a freaking book on. No kidding.

I think she's also allergic to grass, so that doesn't help. How do you keep a dog off of the grass? Well the simple answer is YOU FREAKING CAN'T!!!

The truth of Baking Soda and Baking Powder in dog foods.

Quickly I wanted to write this up. I've seen websites that warn people that baking soda and baking powder are highly toxic for dogs. The problem is that they're not explaining the whole story.

Amazon Blows American Independence Day

Today is the day that American's celebrate independence. There is a glowing misconception here in America and it's very VERY sad. To illustrate, I want everyone to be honest here. When do you (Americans only please) think the American Revolution was over? Now don't cheat! Answer this quietly to yourself.

Was it...
A. Before Americans began the war against the British.
B. During the war against the British.
C. After the war against the British.

HomeAgain Update

The other day, I wrote a rant about HomeAgain. I'm not going to explain it all over again, but you can read about that here. I promised that if I heard from them again, I would post an update and so I am.

Microchipping, dog tags and why HomeAgain is the last company I recommend.

I spent money to have my dogs microchipped and before I go further on this, let me give a small lecture here. Please do not rely only on one method of finding your dog. Don't rely on only a collar tag and don't rely on only microchipping. Be sure to do both.

It is obvious why tags are beneficial, of course. While on that, I highly recommend Boomerang Tags. Those are the most durable tags I've ever seen. I bought one for my dog years and years ago and while the color (I got plastic) may have dulled, the lettering is quite clear. That thing will last her entire life!

Weird Searches 3

Yesterday I binged watched a ton of old song videos. Some from the '70s some from the '80s, some current or fairly recent.

My favorite band of all time is the Eagles, that's right, IS. It is a single band. Anyway, I think "Hotel California" is one of the best songs in history. I can listen to it over and over again and I never tire of it. What I was surprised to learn yesterday was that Don Henley actually dated Stevie Nicks. I can't believe I didn't know this! Of course, I'm not one of those groupie fans who knows even the DNA sequence of the object of their affection.

Open Line, Say Anything!

I have written OpenOffice Templates, I've posted things elsewhere and this is the page where you can just comment for whatever reason. If it's template help, feel free to explain here. Also, you can veil your email address like whoiam at gmail dot com or whoiam at gmail dotting com (remove ing). Whatever you feel comfortable with.

Cheers!

Proof that the Library of Congress' Card Catalog search absolutely SUCKS.

So it should have been a simple task. All I had to do was look up this book. I photographed the LOC page of the book and using the number, I thought it would be very easy to find it.

WRONG!!!! Ben Franklin would be very disappointed. I mean, we all know that he would LOVE to live in today's world of technology (not so much seeing how this country has twisted the laws he helped set forth). He even founded the lending library system and would so not be happy that the public couldn't find what it was looking for.

Tell you what, how about I copy/paste exactly what I reported to them as the problem?

Your search is useless. I have visuals and since I took the time to do this so you could see the problem, please reciprocate by taking a look and fixing the problem.

Here is a book page that clearly has your catalog number on it:
http://goo.gl/IKKXwp

Here is search #1 that should have found it since it is exactly as written:
http://goo.gl/LnHNqx

Okay, fine. Maybe it can't read hyphens... it SHOULD, but whatever. Nope, wrong again.
http://goo.gl/oDyDwO

Well maybe those first two digits are for something else. They should still be "findable" but again, whatever. Let's try it with those first two digits. UGH! It still didn't work because the book I'm looking for is in freaking ENGLISH!!!!
http://goo.gl/ytZzPG

So this obviously needs fixing. Really. It does.

SERIOUSLY????!!!! My session timed out right in the middle of writing this and I've only been on this page for two minutes. TWO MINUTES!!!!!

I was forced to rewrite this entire thing in Wordpad then copy/paste it in your stupid email.

Look, this is for the public. Make it public friendly. Okay?

P.S. I'm posting this on Blogger, so others can see that they're not insane. Here's the link:
http://goo.gl/JvGWDT

Yep. To add insult to injury they had the nerve to even time out my session, which should have included the click to the feedback submission page. They should know that it takes time to write up problems accurately.

SHAME ON THEM!!!

Ancestry: My Best Frenemy

I love genealogy. Always have. I remember as a little girl, reading about my ancestors that my Great Aunt Virginia researched. I dreamed of what it was like for my ancestors and found myself sad for not knowing them personally.

I'm always on the lookout for new things. I'm getting ready to join DAR. There is little I have to do. My Aunt Virginia did most of it for me. I just have to prove up to my great grandfather, which isn't much. Still, what is odd is that I can even find marriage records for great great great great grandparents (no, I'm not kidding) but I cannot find my great grandparents' marriage record. ANYWHERE. I have the date and everything. It's just not found.

We KNOW they were married, so it's not like a skeleton in the closet or anything. In fact, they were pillars in both the church and the community. Their marriage date is a fact. I just wish I knew where my aunt found the record because I can't seem to find it.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post. The point of this is to demonstrate why Ancestry gets on my nerves... part I, because there are many.

Take this...

Notice on the left, I have "male" added as a filter? Then why are the first two hits a woman named Mary? I don't know about you all, but I've never heard of a man named Mary before.

Point is, be careful with that. There is a lot of the new search that needs fixing.