1947

                                                                     1947


     I got curious a few days ago --- just what important happenings occurred as I was entering the rat race?
     Thanks to the Internet and my wife's finally bringing us into the 21st century by setting us up with high speed Internet service, when you are curious about something the answer is only a click away. Well, being a click away is only if you know what you are doing on a computer.  I struggle and some times I strike oil.  No matter how frustrated I get (wish we hadn't thrown out the set of encyclopedias) , perseverance being my middle name and having several hours to spend clicking thru the Internet, I found some of the answers I needed.
      1947 was not a bad year.  Neither was it a great year.  On the whole it was sort of so-so. The nation had just fought a world war and was transitioning to a peace time economy.  We didn't know of the looming Korean conflict on the horizon. For now the men were coming home, starting families and getting on with all life had to offer - hence, the "baby boom".  1947 was the second year of the  "baby boom" and in excess of 3.5 million babies were born that year. I happen to think my birth was the most important .
     May 5, 1947 was a Monday.  There was a full moon at 4:53 in the morning and it was spring time in Tennessee. According to Mom and Dad, I didn't come into this world easily but I made it.  The first of five kids.  The baby boom was far from over.
     So what was going on in the US of A on May 5, 1947? 
     Harry Truman was President ( he was serving the remainder of Roosevelt's term ).  There was no vice president. The population of the US was 144,126,071 ( that one on the end was me ). Federal spending was $35.5 billion  and the National Debt was $257.1 billion. The life expectancy was 66.8 years and you could send a first class letter anywhere in the US for three cents.
     The average salary was $2,850.00 annually.  A new house cost $6,600.00 and a new car only cost $1,300.00.  Gas was 15 cents per gallon, bread was 13 cents per loaf and you could eat a porter house steak for only 69 cents per pound.
     A picnic train in Queensland Australia derailed killing 16 and injuring 38.  There was a flood in the Mississippi valley that killed 16 and caused millions in damage .
     Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her daily column, "MY DAY ", pleading for financial pledges in support of the newly formed International Refugee Organization.  She was concerned that the US had yet to lend support -  after all we were now a world leader.
     The biggest headline was in the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, La.  Seems that on May 4 there was a bold prison break at the Acre Prison in Jerusalem.  The Israeli underground force, known as the Irgun, liberated some 251 Jewish and Arab prisoners while attempting to free eight of their leaders.  I saw the movie Exodus and the prison break in the movie followed the events of the real prison break.
     Doesn't sound like exciting times.  I guess most people were busy working on the baby boom.
     The year as a whole was some what exciting though.  More of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered .
     The CIA was established and a guy named Walter Morrison invented the Frisbee.
     Jackie Robinson, the first Negro to break the color barrier in major league baseball, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers .  As great a player as he was it didn't help them win the series in Sept.
     Great Grandpa Sam Riggan passed away in February.  He was 80. Sorry I missed you Gramps.
     Barbara Walker of Memphis, Tn. was crowned the 21st Miss America in Atlantic City, NJ.  She was the last Miss America to be crowned in her bathing suit.
     The Polaroid camera was invented in 1947.  Now you can see the picture you took 60 seconds after you took it.
     May was a good month for the movies.  Two of my all time favorite movies came out in May - "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison - and what is Christmas without watching "Miracle on 34th Street" starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwen as Santa and a very young Natalie Wood.
     Unlike in the movie, the Jewish ship EXODUS was prevented from landing in Israel by the British. The ship was loaded with 4515 Jewish men, women, and mostly children from all over war torn Europe who were attempting to find a home in the birthplace of their people.  Ironically they had left countries they were born in because they felt persecuted, only to seek a homeland where the occupants swore to annihilate them. Sadly, it is now 65 years later and there is still no peace in the mid east.
     In July, according to who you want to believe, aliens crashed landed in Roswell, New Mexico. The Air Force said it was a weather balloon but nobody bought the story and from then on alien sightings have been world wide.  Sadly, I have never seen one .
     In September our newest bit of technology, "TELEVISION" broadcast Baseball's World Series for the first time. The New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games.  I can't remember when we got our first TV but I can say for sure it was not 1947 and I can't imagine many people had one then.
     October 14 found Chuck Yeager high over the California desert in an experimental jet plane called the X-1.  He was attempting to break the sound barrier (768 mph).  Chuck pushed the plane to MACH 1.07 and became the fastest man alive.  Not long after this feat his record was broken by Scott Crossfield so Chuck went back into the air and broke the record again exceeding MACH 2.
     The last most significant event of the year was that some time in late November or early December my brother Pat was conceived.  He would be one of the 3.5 + million babies born in 1948.  Welcome,  little brother.
     All in all 1947 was like most years of the era.  People were happy that the Great Depression was behind them and World War II  was over. The future looked bright.  The brass ring was there for the taking - all you had to do was reach for it.