Category: 1930s

Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition

Among my granddad’s things is this gloriously colorful 24 x 18 map. My guess is that Gramps mailed his request to General Foods, as Grape-Nuts was one of the foods Byrd took on his journey.

Per curtiswrightmaps.com,

It depicts Antarctica from a polar perspective, with the tip of South America visible at the very top of the image. Large areas are labeled as unexplored, inaccessible, or “claimed.” Inset maps of Byrd’s route south and the area near his camp are provided to the audience as a helpful aid. As explained in the decorative title cartouche, Byrd’s second expedition was the first to feature live two way radio broadcasts. A radio station sponsored by CBS was set up on the base camp ship and relayed weekly updates to New York via Buenos Aires.

Below, you can see the copyright of 1934. One wonders if, at age 14, Gramps ever put this on his wall. It does not appear so. Or has it simply sat inside this envelope for 86 years, going from house to house each time he moved, packed away in a box and never tossed away?

Proper Pawmenship

Among my granddad’s endless child-of-the-Depression-era keepsakes (honestly, I should start a blog just called THAT, since it could last into the next century), was this signed (pawmenship, not penmanship) image of Rin Tin Tin himself. Does he look focused or forlorn? They really should have posed him looking up. In any event, he died the next year in 1932. Other RTT’s succeeded him, but he was the legit and only German Shepherd rescued from a World War I battlefield.

Far be it for Ken–L-Ration not to send advertising and pimp their products to young kids (like my gramps) who sent off for them. After all, it’s what Rin Tin Tin ate.

Let’s Get This Fresh Hell Over With

Southerners by Kuralt

This image of a Kentucky Red Cross dental clinic in 1932 is particularly loathsome to me lately, as I had a crown put in nearly two weeks ago, and the pain remains excruciating. Who knew that even after decades of wearing a nightguard, the pressure of clenching could still fracture your teeth, and they would need crowns whose out of pocket cost was exactly the cost of your first TWO automobiles?

Stop The Cough With OG Tussin

Cactus 1938

Bottles of syrupus tolu and menthol tussin play a role in stopping the cough. While you wait, roam around the drug store and peruse its wares.

Soon the pharmacist will call your name, and you’ll pay a hefty copay. Hopefully it will do the trick.

giphy.com

Stride Rite

Crossing campus can be a tricky affair.

UT ’33

Social circles cross, and conversations must be had.

What’s the tea for ’33?

The old chap on the far left appears to be escaped British royalty, perhaps setting the precedent for Harry and Meghan.

So many sights to see!

Such sweet smiles on the faces of youth as they head into their future.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

The 1933 Retama yearbook is full of travel-related illustrations, encouraging its students to make use of modern transportation.

Even the yearbook cover is a wonderful map itself. I especially like the windblower!

When The Substitute Is Wearing White Diamonds

The Dust Bowl by Duncan & Burns

If you’ve frequented this blog, you know I loooooooathe White Diamonds. Having endured the presence of not one, but two Boomer women in my life who sported the scent, I can honestly say that it makes my stomach churn. Colognes are so subjective. In any event, these poor kids wish they were breathing the scent of rank perfume. Instead, they were stuck in an Oklahoma one-room school smack dab in the middle of the Depression, covering their mouths against the dust that had permeated the air and suffocated cattle. Dust pneumonia, aka the brown plague, proved lethal for children and the elderly. Makes the cedar pollen plumes of smoke in my home state seem tame.

Photo by Bert Garai/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Tired Of Turkey?

How about a 60 lb Nicaraguan tarpon?

by Newell F. Johnstone, 1932

That could feed Dolly Parton and all of her ELEVEN brothers and sisters. Not a big tarpon eater? Perhaps bullfrog, like this pair in a Washington DC market, sounds tastier? The patron is off her head with anticipation.

by Clifton Adams

This DC chef seems no more excited about his frog-boiling tasks as he inspects the shipment from New Orleans.

The Puerto Rican peddlers below may not be flashing any smiles, but the market promises a tasty dish from the land crabs. First they boil their little bodies, scrape the meat out of the shells, toss them in with ham, green peppers, olive oil, and seasoning, mix it up, then return it to the empty shells. An egg is then placed on top and baked. Interesting, no?

by E. John Long 1939

Maybe you would prefer something tamer, like this morning catch from Winnibigoshish Lake in Minnesota.

Clifton Adams, 1935

And a side of hush puppies please!

https://thebeachhousekitchen.com/