Sunday, September 6, 2020

On September 15, 1938 - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

For this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings, suggested, we choose a date from our family history, then go to dMarie Time Capsule to enter the date and learn events from the the date we chose.

Audrey Meinzen & Lee Doyle, abt. 1937
My parents' wedding anniversary is next week:  they were married on Tuesday, September 15, 1938.  I doubt they were paying much attention to the news or anything but each other, but I decided to see what was going on in the world around them.  This is what dMarie and the local newspaper, The Niles Daily Times, published on that date told me.

Top News Headlines
Sep 15
  • British PM Chamberlain visits Hitler at Berchtesgarden
  • Martial Law Extended after Riots in Czechoslovakia
  • Czechs Fear They May Be Asked for More Concessions
  • France Confident of Solution Without War
  • John Cobb sets world auto speed record at 350.2 MPH (lasts 1 day)
Sep 16
  • George E.T. Eyston sets world auto speed record at 357.5 MPH

President and Vice President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
John N. Garner

Top Songs 


It was the era of big bands, the fox trot, and waltzes.  My mom enjoyed music but my father, not so much.
  • "My Reverie" by Larry Clinton (here)
  • "Begin the Beguine" by Artie Shaw (here)
  • "Cry, Baby, Cry" by Larry Clinton
  • "Ti-Pi-Tin" by Horace Heidt
  • "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb
  • "Thanks for the Memory" by Shep Fields (here)
  • "Music, Maestro, Please" by Tommy Dorsey
  • "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" by Andrews Sisters
  • "I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams" by Bing Crosby (here)

Radio Programs
"Amos and Andy"
"Kraft Music Hall"

Academy Award Winners
Best Picture:   "You Can't Take It With You," directed By Frank Capra
Best Actor:      Spencer Tracy in "Boys Town"
Best Actress:   Bette Davis in "Jezebel"

Prices
Essential foods:  Bread 9¢/loaf.  Milk 50¢/gallon.  Eggs 57¢/dozen.  Cheese 17¢/loaf.
Fruit & Vegetables:  Head Lettuce 15¢/2.  Yellow Onions 17¢/10 lb.  Grapes 5¢/pound.
Meat:  Chuck Roast 17¢/lb.  Ground Beef 29¢/2#.  Dressed Chickens 25¢/lb.
Coffee 14¢/lb.
Baking supplies:  Flour 75¢/24½ lb.  Sugar  $1.15/25 lb.
For canning:  Mason Jars 65¢/doz.
Transportation:  Car  $710.  Gas 20¢/gal.
House  $6,420
Stamp  3¢/ea
Average Income  $1,808/year.  Minimum wage  25¢/hour
DOW Avg  155  (I doubt my father was investing money yet.)

This was such a fun activity, Randy.  Thanks for suggesting it.  I think it can add a lot of interest to the lives of ancestors we know little about.  And I always enjoy jumping back into the social history of my ancestors' lives.

–Nancy.

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at 8:00 PM
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4 comments:

  1. Linda StufflebeanSeptember 7, 2020 at 12:50 PM

    My favorite in your list: Baking supplies: Flour 75¢/24½ lb. Sugar $1.15/25 lb. And they say we add too much sugar to everything now! I also have to wonder who bought 24 1/2 lbs of flour at once! I agree with you - this was a fun challenge.

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    Replies
    1. JimmieSeptember 9, 2020 at 5:44 AM

      At that point in history families were much larger than today. More women baked their bread once or twice a week and when you have 6 to 10 plus people to feed 24 1/2lbs of flour probably didn't go that far, especialy when you could only buy 8 loaves of bread for that 75cents.

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    2. NancySeptember 10, 2020 at 4:37 PM

      Thank you, Linda. I thought the addition of the baking supplies was interesting, too. So inexpensive! I wasn't surprised about the quantities of flour and sugar except the flour not being 25 pounds. My mom used to buy 25-pound bags of sugar and flour like this and there were only three children, but she did bake a lot more than we do these days.

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    3. NancySeptember 10, 2020 at 4:43 PM

      Thanks for adding to the discussion, Jimmie. It's true families were larger in the 1930s and 1940s so more mouths to feed. I like your point about the cost difference of buying vs. baking bread at home. And pies and cookies -- I don't think many were available then like they are at a grocery store today. Even in the 1950s it was a treat to go into a bakery and buy rolls. Times have sure changed.

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