I was born Wednesday, June 7, 1933 in Oklahoma. It was a partly cloudy day. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President. The country was in the grip of the Great Depression. While doing some genealogical research I began to wonder just how things were the day I was born. I consulted NewspaperArchive, a subscription website I use, to read the Ada, Oklahoma daily newspaper. I was born not far from Ada.
Prices were obviously less back then. But incomes were far less than those we see these days. The Ada Evening News issue of June 7 presented an ad for S&Q Clothiers. Arrow shirts were on sale for $1.65. You could buy woolen suits from $12.65 to $16.65. Not only that but they offered extra pants from $2.10 to $4.10. Imported Linen fabric suits made in both single and double-breasted models. Sizes 34 to 42. A $10.75 value—for $7.75. Montgomery Ward & Co., was selling pressure cookers from $10.95 to $13.75. Sloan’s Taxi would deliver parcels for 10 cents.
The cartoon page featured Freckles and his friends. The newspaper carried a piece about “Sweat Shops” in Oklahoma. It was asserted by state Senator Nat Taylor that “I found women working at lunch and drink stands for $1 and $2 a week, depending upon tips for a fair salary. These tips sometimes run $1 a day and sometimes 50 cents or less.” He proposed setting a minimum wage at $10 a week for women and $12.50 a week for men engaged in 48 hours work a week. No mention, I noticed, of equal pay between men and women.
The editorial page observed that “President Roosevelt seems to be gaining and not losing in popularity with the general public.” When have you seen a comment like that with respect to President Obama? As to congress the editorial stated, “The inability of congress to handle affairs has been pretty well proven.” Roosevelt was a Democrat. The congress was under the control of the Republican Party. Current media coverage of congress indicates little change in the public’s perception of that institution.
Veterans of World War I were being recruited by the Veteran’s Bureau into the Civilian Conservation Corps. Those hired would be assured of six months’ work at $1 per eight-hour day, on a five-day workweek. Jobs were harder to find then than they are now, it would seem. There was not mention of illegal immigration or of illegals taking American jobs.
Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford had a letter published in the newspaper’s issue. He stated, “Almost every new Ford V-8 car we have built so far this year, has cost more to manufacture than its selling price was. As you buy them at only $490 to $610; we have to depend on increasing volume to make up the difference.”
Indiana voted 2- 1 to repeal Prohibition. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt arrived on the West Coast from Washington, D.C. Will Rogers, the humorist, was on hand to personally welcome her at the airport. She had come to the West coast to be with her son, Elliott Roosevelt, who was undergoing a divorce in Nevada.
An ad for Chesterfield Cigarettes claimed in an ad that “…a cigarette like this is worth sitting up nights for! They”re milder. They satisfy.” The ad clearly targeted women, who had yet to undertake smoking on a mass scale.
Some things haven’t changed since 1933. A senate subcommittee sought authority to investigate income tax returns of partners of J. P. Morgan and Company. The subcommittee was having difficulty in questioning O. P. Van Sweringen, a “noted railroad operator” who proved to be forgetful. He kept answering question with “I don’t recall” or “I don’t remember.” About all he could remember was that he and his associates received from Morgan and Company two loans totaling almost $40,000,000 on October 21, 1910.
If you are curious about what the current events were when you were born, run a Google search and see what you can find out. It is interesting to compare those days with the current.
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