The Great Crash of 1929 ushered in The Great Depression. It took over a decade to get out of it, and only then because of the Second World War. At the time, people were still reeling from the First World War. We don't really want to repeat history, do we?
Wow, just this month, June 2009, the US TV airwaves went all-digital. Color movies and color TV were both being tested in 1929, before global events got in the way of mass development.
Gangsters! The time of Prohibition in the USA, and Al Capone, organized crime, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. Given today's ongoing "War on Drugs," it seems little has been done to improve public policy in the face of human nature and the resiliency of black markets since 1929, aside from re-legalizing alcohol sales and limited legalization of prostitution.
Detroit Auto Show of 1929. Nash cars.
Fascist Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, signed the Lateran Pact of 1929, cutting a deal with the Catholic Church, giving it Vatican City as a separate neutral nationality within the greater borders of Italy.
Some great books came out in English in 1929: Robert Graves' Good-bye to All That, Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms (with common place military obscenities censored), and Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (from the German, Im Westen nichts Neues / Nothing New in the West, 1928). I'd have to say, some of the greatest male literature ever written (and some of the best anti-war movie making) derives from the horrors of the First World War.
1929 also saw completion of a still-fantastic hotel in Toronto: the Fairmont Royal York / Royal York Hotel. It was the tallest building in the entire British Empire when it opened. I love the Royal York. There's something grand about taking the Via Rail First Class from Windsor to the main Toronto station, disembarking and walking right over to the hotel.
Also in 1929, Detroit's downtown building heyday saw the Guardian Building (Union Trust Building) finished. The Penobscot and Fisher Buildings were completed in 1928, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) and Detroit-Leland Hotel, in 1927. The Book Tower was finished in 1926.
Finally, in 1929 the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin flew over the Atlantic and around the world . . .
Today's Rune: Partnership.
8 comments:
As it is late, I almost didn't watch LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, until I saw the word "silent." Neat footage.
On a different note, what do you know about Detroit's Arena Gardens? The reason I ask is: I found an old roller skating admittance ticket dated Friday, Feb. 26, 1943. The ticket was given by St. Catherine CYO-YLS and cost 50 cents. Federal tax had to be paid at the box office. You're such a wealth of information, so I thought I'd bring it to your attention.
I never knew that were testing color tvs in the twenties. I always thought it was later then that.
I fear that there isn't enough war available for that particular industry to pull the economy out of this depression. We have made killing in mass quantities too efficient.
I see a new gangster movie is coming out with Johnny Depp.
Jim, I reckon' it was war time, there were Detroit riot activities in 1942 and 1943, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in April '43 over Boston.
Looks like Arena Gardens was used for misc. entertainment activities. Here's from Motor City Wrestling, for instance:
"Arena Gardens was located at the junction at 5795 Woodward, about where Hendrie and, I think, Antoinette cross in Fairview Gardens. Roller Rink was at 11000 Mack, at Fairview Avenue. For years and years, those were the two main weekly wrestling venues in Detroit. Also, Arcadia Gardens (sometimes called the Sports Palace) was in the mix for a time, too, after WWII. It was located at 3527 Woodward, at the junction with Stimson. So to my amazement Cobo and Olympia were not the only wrestling palaces in the Detroit area."
CYO = Catholic Youth Organization.
More on CYO (YLS=Youth League Sports?):
"Activities vary in accordance with local culture but often include prayer, singing, charity, sales, sports, and visiting the sick. In the United States, CYO is mainly known for its organized sports programs, notably boxing, basketball, baseball, track and field, and volleyball, as well as marching bands. Its athletic contests are often so competitive that CYO has been jokingly described as "Crush Your Opponents."" (From Wikipedia article)
Erik, love that same train ride and the walk to the hotel, too. I think the Guardian building is the most beautiful building I've ever seen.
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