Category: Learn History Through Fiction

The appearance of the Munchkins in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz has little to do with L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel on which the movie is based. In the book, Munchkins are described only as shorter than usual in stature and clad from top to toe in blue. The hairdos (for example, the bald heads and spit curls) and elaborate costumes (for example, the flowing blue robe and high hat of the Coroner, the Mayor’s green frock coat and plaid vest, the Lullaby League’s pink tutus, and the Lollipop Guild’s Tartan shirts and striped tights) are the invention of costume designer Adrian Greenberg and makeup artist Jack Dawn. Read more about the Munchkins and the movie in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Women joining the labor force at the turn of the 19th century played a major role in turning the public tide in favor of women’s suffrage. Among them were women who worked for the circus where, unlike other fields, their pay was commensurate with that of male performers. In 1912, at the same time women staged a massive march in New York City to promote the 19th Amendment, the Barnum & Bailey’s Circus Women’s Equal Rights Society was founded. The circus was then the most popular form of entertainment in America which magnified the volume and reach of their voices. Read more about the fight for women’s suffrage in On the Shore (see NOVELS).

The job description of a Navy janitor or cleaning woman circa WWII listed over 100 chores with sub-tasks. For example: Clean windows, glass partitions, and mirrors with soapy water or other cleaners, sponges, and squeegees. Mix water and detergents or acids according to specifications to prepare cleaning solutions. Clean chimneys, flues, and connecting pipes. Requisition supplies. Set up, arrange, and remove decorations, furniture, ladders, and scaffolding to prepare for events such as banquets and meetings. Spray insecticides and fumigants to prevent insect and rodent infestation. Read more about the work performed by a Navy cleaning woman before, during, and after WWII in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Hollywood played a prominent role during World War Two, producing movies to promote propaganda and boost morale. Among those released by the War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry were Women in Defense (1941) with Katherine Hepburn and written by Eleanor Roosevelt and The Battle of Midway (1942), directed by John Ford and academy award winner for best documentary. There were also cartoons featuring the seven dwarfs and Popeye, as well as films warning soldiers of the dangers of venereal disease films. Read more about Hollywood and WWII in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

An Italian tradition (superstition) used a threaded needle test to determine the sex of an unborn child. (1) Thread an ordinary sewing needle with a foot-long thread. (2) Hold the end of the thread. (3) Dangle the needle six inches above the expecting mother’s stomach. (4) Observe the needle’s motion. If it moves in a circle, the baby is a girl. If it moves back and forth, it’s a boy. Sometimes a ring was substituted for the needle. Read more about pregnancy and childbirth 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Reflecting on his life, President Dwight David Eisenhower, a.k.a. Ike, said, “Not making the baseball team at West Point was one of my greatest disappointments, maybe the greatest.” He did make the football team (he was a varsity starter as a running back and linebacker in 1912), but after he broke his leg, he turned to coaching and other sports including gymnastics and fencing. Ike famously played a lot of golf during his presidency. Read more about 1950s culture in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Hallmark, founded in 1910 as Hall Brothers greeting cards (by siblings Joyce, Rollie, and William), changed its name to Hallmark Cards in 1954. The company introduced gift wrap in 1917 and added “Hallmark” on the back of its cards in 1928 as a sign of quality. Hallmark was the first company to advertise nationally, beginning in print with Ladies Home Journal in 1918 and then on radio with Chicago’s “Tony Wons Radio Scrapbook” in 1928. Read about how an inventive greeting card designer wooed a young Italian immigrant 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Although the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz received positive reviews, the film was initially a box office failure. MGM’s most expensive picture to date, at $2.8 million to make and distribute, it grossed only $3 million, barely recouping its cost. The movie was re-released in 1949 and netted another $1.5 million. Telecasts, beginning in 1956 and an annual tradition through 1991, finally enabled the studio to more than recoup its investment. Read more about the making of the movie and its subsequent history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

 

Some of the world’s oldest structures have survived for 5,000 years in Scotland’s Orkney Islands, from Stone Age villages complete with kitchen hearths and bedsteads to a Neolithic tomb covered by Viking graffiti. Heavy rainfall, which has increased nearly 26% in the last 50 years, is dissolving the crusts of soil and sand packs that protect these remnants of civilizations. “Heritage is falling into the sea,” says archaeology Professor Jane Downes. Read about the modern historical role the Orkneys played in WWI, including the sinking of the German fleet, in On the Shore (see NOVELS).

One hundred years ago today, September 26, 1918, was the beginning of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War One. The battle lasted 47 days until the Armistice of November 11, 1918 (now celebrated as Veteran’s Day). The battle, fought on the Western Front, was the turning point in the Allied defeat of Germany. It was the largest offensive in U.S. history, involving 1.2 million soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). At the end, over 26,000 Americans, 28,000 Germans, and countless French had died. Read more about WWI in On the Shore (see NOVELS).