Are you planning a vacation? This is what you would have to deal with when traveling by car in 1943 in America. EASING OF GAS BRINGS TROUBLES Easterners Want To Make Short Trips (Article from The Tuscaloosa News July 7, 1943) WASHINGTON, July 7, 1943 – (AP) – The Office of Price Administration (OPA) headed […]
Tag: American history
The dangers of tight trousers – Can you believe this actually happened? It was reported in Birmingham newspaper
Sometimes I discover the funniest things in old newspapers and this article is one. Be sure to share this funny story with your friends. They could probably use a laugh. The Danger of Tight Trousers (Transcribed from the Birmingham Iron Age April 24, 1884) From the Philadelphia Record “Here, conductor, this young man’s fainted.” These […]
Life was hard for sharecroppers [pictures] in Southeast Missouri in the years after the Great Depression
Southast Missouri is known as the “boot heel”, ‘Mississippi lowlands”, or “swamp east”. Located in the northernmost portion of the Mississippi delta, it is composed largely of rich alluvial soils and includes some of the richest farm lands in the state. Stories abound about this section of the state such as: The boot heel was […]
The way we listen to music, radio and news has changed drastically – Do you remember these days? [videos]
(When I listened to my transistor radio way back when I thought I was being modern and never could have imagined the world of music we live in today. This story by contributing author, Dorothy Gast from Alabama, takes us back even further… and I discovered an amazing interview when the first time Arthur Godfrey […]
The hermit of Portland, Maine in 1936 – What was his real name?
You never know what interesting photographs you might run across while doing research. Below are some pictures taken by Paul Carter, a Resettlement Administration employee in 1936 while his was visiting Freeport, Maine. The man in the photographs must have been quite a character and very inventive. I’d love to know more about him. The hermit […]
You don’t know anything about how many people are living in trailers, till you ‘hit’ Florida”
Many people traveled to California from all over the country in the 1930’s seeking work due to the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. They traveled in many vehicles, by trains, trucks, cars and many were homemade trailers. Some even walked. Dorothea Lange, photograher captured many of these various modes of transportation. The song, A Traveler’s […]
Troubles continue for Hightstown, New Jersey homesteaders
Troubles continue for Hightstown, New Jersey homesteaders (continued from Troubles Loom Ahead for Hightstown, New Jersey Homesteaders) Hightstown, New Jersey again ran into trouble in November of 1935 when “the factory plan was temporarily dropped by the Resettlement Administration, and Blitzer was dismissed. It was rumored that the project would be discontinued or that it […]
Did you know that a freak hail storm hit Washington, D. C. April 29, 1938? See cool pics
A freak hail storm hit the Nation’s Capitol. Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1938. The rain storm, brought down pellets of hail as large as moth balls. The hail pellets pierced cloth auto tops as if they were made of paper-mache. Rep. Patrick Boland of Pa., House whip, inspected the hail storm (Harris & Ewing, photographer April 29, […]
Ellis Island was the gateway to America for millions – remarkable photographs and film of their arrival
Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the nation’s busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. Millions of newly arrived immigrants passed through the station during that time–in fact, it has been estimated that close to 40 percent of all current U.S. […]
Extraordinary photographs from 1914 of immigrant families in west Texas
Lewis Wickes Hine (September 26, 1874 – November 3, 1940) was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing the child labor laws in the United States. Below are some photographs he took in 1913 in Texas with his comments. The song below, […]