I was born in 1929, so the 1930's was the decade of my childhood. While reminiscing I did a Google search and came across this information which brought back many pleasant memories, especially of the radio shows we listened to and the movies and board games.
Do you remember any of this? I do.
"By the 1930s money was scarce because of the depression, so people did what they could to make their lives happy. Movies were hot, parlor games and board games were popular. People gathered around radios to listen to the Yankees. Young people danced to the big bands.
Franklin Roosevelt influenced Americans with his Fireside Chats. The golden age of the mystery novel continued as people escaped into books, reading writers like Agatha Christie, Dashielle Hammett, and Raymond Chandler.
Radio reached its zenith of popularity in this decade. In 1939 about 80 percent of the population owned radio sets. Americans loved to laugh at the antics of such comedians as Jack Benny, Fred Allen, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Amos and Andy, and Fibber McGee and Molly.
The soap opera dominated the daytime airwaves.Our Gal Sunday began each episode with the question, "Can a girl from a little mining town in the west find happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Englishman?' Many a woman's ear was glued to her radio every day in hopes of learning the answer. The heroics of the Lone Ranger, the Green Hornet, the Shadow, and Jack Armstrong, all-American boy, thrilled listeners both young and old and sold countless boxes of cereal.
News broadcasts by commentators like H. V. Kaltenborn and Edward R. Murrow kept the public aware of the increasing crisis in Europe. Franklin Roosevelt used the medium in his "Fireside Chats" to influence public opinion.
One of the most dramatic moments in radio history occurred on May 6, 1937, when the German airship Hindenburg burst into flames as it was about to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The horror of the incident was conveyed live by the reporter Herb Morrison. His reaction to what was happening in front of him still enthralls today.
On October 30, 1938, a twenty-three-year-old Orson Welles' broadcast on his Mercury Theater of the Air the H.G. Wells story War of the Worlds. Despite the disclaimer at the end of the program, the tale of a Martian invasion of Earth panicked a million listeners who mistook the play for a newscast. Such was the influence of radio in this its golden age.
Hollywood turned out movie after movie to entertain its Depression audience and the 30's are often referred to as Hollywood's "Golden Age". Movie goers wanted mainly escapist fare that let them forget their everyday troubles for a few hours. They swooned over such matinee idols as Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, and Errol Flynn. They laughed at the likes of W. C. Fields, Bob Hope, and the Marx Brothers. America fell in love with the little curly headed moppet Shirley Temple and flocked to see her tap dance and sing to the song "The Good Ship Lollipop".
Busby Berkeley's elaborate dance numbers delighted many a fan. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers tap and ballroom dancing across the screen enthralled the audience. Notable writers like William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald penned screenplays.
Not all movies were fantasy and lightness. The picture version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath brought to film the story of the Joan family and its migration from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma to the agricultural fields of California.
One of the top money makers of all time Gone With the Wind debuted in Atlanta, Georgia in 1939. Walt Disney produced the first full-length animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937."
9 comments:
Well it is a little before I was born, so no memories of my childhood, but wisps of something now and again.
I was born in 1942, and a lot of that was still going on. I remember Our Gal Sunday, for instance. Reading this post has been like a walk through the neighborhood of my childhood.
I was born in 1935, so some of those radio days memories are very present in my childhood memory.
My mother's favorite soap opera was "One Man's Family" but think she also listened to "Our Gal Sunday" as I recall the question with which each episode began.
Paul Whiteman's orchestra was a favorite. I subsequently fell in love with George Gershwin's music. I was allowed to attend matinees of only select movies, mostly musicals which I adored, but that was likely in the 40's, though Fred Astaire was one dancer/actor I saw. Will save the rest of the names of that era for another time.
Oh yes, we, too, enjoyed Jack Benny and Fibber McGee. Seems to me I recall a show called "Duffy's Tavern." Also recall "The Shadow" -- "The Shadow knows."
Recall the newsmen you named, and others.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I remember "Duffy's Tavern"...where "the elite meet to eat!" The depression was a formative event for my family...my Dad credited me with bringing the country out of it (b. 1937), but we all knew he was kidding.
A few years younger than you (b 1938), I wasn't around for some of the specific events that you cite; but, excepting Dashielle Hammett, I remember the names and radio programs. In fact, on 9/11/2001, a real-time radio program at about 3:15 PM on which the airplane's impact on the Pentagon was being described, then hearing of the WTC twin towers and the airplane in Pennsylvania, I thought at first that it must surely be another War of the Worlds-type broadcast. Would that it had been. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Cop Car
Though I may not remember a lot of this...I certainly have heard about a lot of it. Thanks for a nice stroll down memory lane Chancy.
What a rush down memory lane. I suddenly found myself sitting in front of the huge Philco radio on Saturday mornings listening to the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet. Saturday nights were spent listening to the creek of Fibber McGee's closet door opening, and hearing the now famous George Burns line, "Say goodnight, Gracie!" Thanks for the trip.
Reading your trip down memory lane brought out my own recollection of my mother, standing at the ironing board, listening to soap operas on the radio.
Another Lone Ranger fan, I must tell you how much I enjoyed your nostalgic walk down memory lane! Although a baby boomer, your story was totally familiar as my mom and dad have told us countless stories along the same line. An avid fan of old time radio, I listen to the old shows while I am cleaning house or driving. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era. Even have my cell phone to ring to "Moonlight Serenade." Thanks for the wonderful story!
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