A 2002 time traveler waking up on April 7, 1930, would find that while much is different--that morning cup of coffee, for example, costs a nickel--much is not.
The economy is shaky. Foreign evils are growing. Machine politics is threatening. Some folks are worried that the family structure is under attack by divorce and drugs.
Here's a snapshot of 1930--made possible by that bright new invention, the flashbulb!
HAVE YOU HEARD?
*More than 1,300 American banks have failed, and unemployment exceeds 4 million.
*W2XBS, a CBS experimental station, sends test transmission. First telecast: Felix the Cat.
*Nazis gain in German elections
*Two blacks accused of killing two whites are lynched by white mob in Marion, Ind.
IN THE NEWS: APRIL 7
*Cook County State's Attorney John Northrop threatens Chicago police Commissioner William Russell with indictment if there are wholesale arrests of opponents of City Hall-backed candidates in tomorrow's election.
*Judge orders warring couple to take "second honeymoon" in Hot Springs, Ark.
*"Marijuana Evil Spreading in Schools Here."
THAT'S US
*U.S. population: 122.8 million (today, 281.4 million)
*Chicago area's population: 4.3 million (today, 8.1 million)
*Leading country of birth of foreign born: Italy (today, Mexico)
HEALTH CARE
*Dental filling: $1
*Dentist annual salary: $2,391
COMING AND GOING
*Born: Astronaut Neil Armstrong, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, artist Andy Warhol
*Died: President William Taft, Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle
GOING TO THE SHOW
*Best movie Oscar: "All Quiet on the Western Front"
*Best-selling record: Tiger Rag (Mills Brothers)
*Top radio show: "Amos 'n' Andy"
*Nobel Prize for literature: Sinclair Lewis
*Pulitzer Prize for poetry: Robert Frost
*Art: Grant Wood displays "American Gothic"; Art Institute buys it for $300
SAY WHAT?
*"So long . . . until tomorrow."--News commentator Lowell Thomas
*"Gif me a visky . . . and don't be stingy baby."--Silent movie star Greta Garbo's first spoken line in a film.
*"I never met a man I didn't like."
--Humorist Will Rogers
FAMILY MATTERS
*Life expectancy: 59.7 (77.1 today)
*Age of first marriage: Men, 24.3 (26.7 today); women, 21.3. (25 today)
*Median age of mothers at first birth: 23 (24.5 today)
*First births either out of wedlock or conceived before marriage: 18 percent (53 percent today)
*Living alone: 8 percent (26 percent today)
GEE WHIZ
*Inventions: Sliced bread (Wonder), Birds Eye frozen vegetables, windshield wipers, flashbulbs; Pluto discovered.
PAYDAY
*Schoolteacher: $1,455
*Accountant: $2,340
*Lawyer: $4,218
*President Hoover: $75,000
*Babe Ruth: $80,000
*Women in the work force: 24 percent (61 percent today)
LOOKING GOOD
*Men's shirt: $1
*Men's wool suit: $10.88
*Women's coat: $13.74
*Women's handbag: $1.79
*Mickey Mouse wristwatch: $2.95
LET'S EAT
*Loaf of bread: 10 cents
*Milk: 14 cents a quart
*Beef roast: 38 cents a pound
*Gas stove: $21.50
SAY WHAT?
*Radio: $39.85
*Newspaper: 3 cents
*Phone call from New York to London: $30 for three minutes
HIT THE ROAD
*Ford: $495
*Goodyear tire: $2.95
*Chicago to Los Angeles airfare, round trip: $207
*Chicago to San Francisco rail, round trip: $90.30
HOME SWEET HOME
*Four-room apartment, 4247 N. Broadway: $45 a month
*New Beverly bungalow: $7,750
*New three-bedroom Park Ridge home with fireplace: $13,000
*New Chicago buildings: The Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium and Chicago Board of Trade
WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR
*Cubs: 90-64, finished 2nd behind baseball's home run champ, Hack Wilson (56)
*Sox: 62-92, finished 7th as Ted Lyons goes 22-15
*Bears: 9-4-1, finished 3rd with rookie Bronko Nagurski
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