On Jan. 19, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. (from this morning’s NY Times)
In 1937, my mother was only 20 years old and a nursing student; dad was 24 and already working on the New York Central Railroad. Here’s what the world of that time looked like:
- Poland refuses to sign agreement to return Danzig to Germany
- Purge of USSR generals
- Geroge VI crowned King of Great Britain; broadcast of ceremonies is first worldwide program heard in the U.S.
- Spanish rebels take Malaga; Franco begins naval blockade
- All-India Congress Party wins elections
- Mussolini visits Libya and Berlin
- Italy and Yugoslavia sign Belgrade Pact
- Roosevelt signs U.S. Neutrality Act
- Neville Chamberlain become Prime Minister of Great Britain
- Aggressive Japanese war policy begins
- Chiang Kai shek unites with Communists led by Mao Tse-tung
- Royal Commission on Palestine recommends the establishment of Arab and Jewish states
- Bakr Sidqi, dictator of Iraq, assassinated
- Wall Street stock market decline signals serious economic recession in the U.S.
- U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of minimum wage for women
- Lord Halifax visits Hitler; beginning of policy of appeasement
- Italy withdraws from League of Nations
- Strike against Republic Steel in Chicago; 4 killed, 84 hurt
- Literature: Hemingway: “To Have and to Have not,” Steinbeck: “Of Mice and Men”
- The arts: Picasso: “Guernica,” Klee: “Revolution of the Viaducts,” Miro: “Still Life With Old Shoe,” and the films of that year include “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Camille,” “Life of Zola”
- Popular songs: “The Lady is a Tramp,” “Harbor Lights,” “I’ve got my Love to Keep me Warm”
- Science: insulin used to control diabetes; Crystalline vitamins K and A first obtained; nylon is patented (duPont Co..)
- Amelia Earhart lost in Pacific
- Lincoln Tunnel opens between NY and NJ
- Hindenburg disaster
- Golden Gate bridge opens in San Francisco
- Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson
- Joe Louis wins heavyweight championship
- War Admiral is triple crown winner
I think of these tumultous times as the backdrop to my parents’ courtship (a narrow lens through which to view the world, admittedly). There was all the romance triggered by the whole King/divorced woman scandal; the songs were dreamy; and while war was building in Europe, we, as Americans would hardly have been aware of the Middle East at that time; at any rate we felt safe from war with neutrality our official policy.
My parents had lived with the Great Depression for years; they knew how to survive. They used to tell us about going dancing, playing sports; indeed, they met at a softball game.
But as I read through the list of events, I’m amazed by how many truly devastating things were going on. Of course, I’m looking back, not forward, so I can see where this is all headed.
Wish I could do the same for 2012. I think.
