Class of 1938 – Imagine; dim, distant and ghostlike.
Imagine it’s November 21, 1938 – World on the eve of war – war already starting in some places. Still – very far from home, in places you knew nothing about. Life as usual.
You look at the above photo – kids in High School – maybe Sophomore or Senior. Hard to tell.
Imagine all those faces. All the hopes. All those dreams – crammed into one photo – one shutter click; frozen in time. Eternity if nothing happens first.
Can’t really imagine life then. Simpler, to be sure – but nothing worked with fingertip ease. Modern Medicine had to wait until after the War. Long Distance calls were solemn occasions and news travelled slowly, unless it had to do with your neighborhood. It was only recently that you got to hear someone reporting from a far off place in Europe; dim and distant voices coming in from Shortwave
Music was different then – in 1938 Swing was just starting to become accepted on the radio but only in short doses. Disc Jockeys were rare commodities, relegated to the early morning or late night hours, after the networks signed off.
And if you were one of those kids in the photo and you were getting up for school, no doubt things were busy around your house because all houses had one bathroom and it was a race to see who got there first. And maybe you were getting ready and you had your radio on – if you were lucky to have your own. Or there was one in the kitchen and a program, just like this one from WJR in Detroit was covering the background while you ate breakfast.
Kids in the photo – the boys scooped up by the draft less than three years later to fight a war and maybe many not coming back – the girls maybe working in Defense plants or already married and raising kids. And the kids in the photo are no doubt your grandparents or your great-grandparents or even your great-great grandparents.
Another time – another century – a last gasp at an uncomplicated life. They were kids, after all.
So imagine, if you will, you’re one of those kids or you’re related to one of those kids and you are listening to the radio and it’s November 21, 1938 – a Monday morning between 5:45 and 6:00 am over WJR in Detroit.
It’s only for fifteen minutes – you’ll be back in no time.
Imagine, If You Will . . . . – November 21, 1938 – Past Daily Weekend Pop Chronicles
Imagine it’s November 21, 1938 – World on the eve of war – war already starting in some places. Still – very far from home, in places you knew nothing about. Life as usual.
You look at the above photo – kids in High School – maybe Sophomore or Senior. Hard to tell.
Imagine all those faces. All the hopes. All those dreams – crammed into one photo – one shutter click; frozen in time. Eternity if nothing happens first.
Can’t really imagine life then. Simpler, to be sure – but nothing worked with fingertip ease. Modern Medicine had to wait until after the War. Long Distance calls were solemn occasions and news travelled slowly, unless it had to do with your neighborhood. It was only recently that you got to hear someone reporting from a far off place in Europe; dim and distant voices coming in from Shortwave
Music was different then – in 1938 Swing was just starting to become accepted on the radio but only in short doses. Disc Jockeys were rare commodities, relegated to the early morning or late night hours, after the networks signed off.
And if you were one of those kids in the photo and you were getting up for school, no doubt things were busy around your house because all houses had one bathroom and it was a race to see who got there first. And maybe you were getting ready and you had your radio on – if you were lucky to have your own. Or there was one in the kitchen and a program, just like this one from WJR in Detroit was covering the background while you ate breakfast.
Kids in the photo – the boys scooped up by the draft less than three years later to fight a war and maybe many not coming back – the girls maybe working in Defense plants or already married and raising kids. And the kids in the photo are no doubt your grandparents or your great-grandparents or even your great-great grandparents.
Another time – another century – a last gasp at an uncomplicated life. They were kids, after all.
So imagine, if you will, you’re one of those kids or you’re related to one of those kids and you are listening to the radio and it’s November 21, 1938 – a Monday morning between 5:45 and 6:00 am over WJR in Detroit.
It’s only for fifteen minutes – you’ll be back in no time.
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