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Our World: Fear and Frustration: Winter 1952 (1987)
Our World: Fear and Frustration: Winter 1952
There was frustration in the winter of 1952 with the events in Korea. The communists were a visible enemy which we were fighting, and the war had already been going on for over two years. Truce talks had been going on for a year and a half, but had become stalemated over the POW issue. Eisenhower, in his run for the White House, said that he would bring the troops home by Christmas, but he was unable to accomplish that goal. After he won the election, he did go to Korea. His son John, who had volunteered, was already there. There was concern that if he should be taken prisoner, it would create a problem for the new President. Lou Cioffi, a correspondent for CBS out of the Tokyo Bureau and serviceman Robert Modica describe the situation in Korea as the war moved into its third Christmas. They tell of what the troops did to try and make their situation feel more like home. Visits by New York's Cardinal Spellman and the Reverend Billy Graham tried to bring spiritual peace to the troops, and the USO came to lift their spirits. When all was said and done, an armistice was signed in the spring of '53. There were 33,629 soldiers killed in action, 37,000 POW's came home, and 2,200 were missing in action.
Over here there was fear of the invisible enemy, communism, but here they didn't wear uniforms. One didn't know who was or who wasn't a member or sympathizer of the Communists. Senator Joe McCarthy said that there were communists everywhere. It was politics of fear. "Red hunting" seemed to be a popular game for McCarthy and Pat McCarran and the House Unamerican Subcommittee and others. Government films and newsreels reinforced our fears. After all, the Soviets had "the bomb." Even the Boy Scouts were not immune to accusations. Ambrose Salmini was a one-man crusader to tell the truth about communism and said that hate alone was a poor weapon to use. He found three persons to make half hour recordings on the various phases of communism. One of those was Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, who spoke about communism and religion. These were distributed to industries and schools.
Private citizens were caught up in all of this. Abraham Full, a top lawyer at the United Nations and also counsel to Trygve Lie, Secretary General of the United Nations, tried to defend UN workers who were targets of the McCarran investigation. Although he was neither accused nor suspected of wrong doing, the pressure got to him and he committed suicide.
The McCarron-Walter Act further changed the immigration laws and removed race as a barrier, but added a new rule to keep out immigrants or to deport naturalized citizens who the government thought were subversive. President Truman had thought the bill was unconstitutional and discriminatory and vetoed it. However, the veto was overridden the day before Christmas.
The French ship Liberte arrived in New York just before Christmas, and the 270 members of the crew were looking forward to shore leave. Unfortunately, Leonard Martin, an immigration officer, was on board, and he felt it necessary to question the crew. When the crew chose not to answer the questions, they were denied shore time. As the ship left New York after Christmas, some in the crew noted that the Statue of Liberty looked like she was wearing a policeman's hat and holding a big stick in her hand.
Teachers thought to be communist sympathizers who refused to testify on communist activities were let go. It is said that the government planted people who pretended to be students in classes to see what was being taught.
With all the fear and frustration in the winter of '52, music kept everything together. Eddie Fisher was the "GI crooner." Fisher said that he wanted to go to Korea, and Trumen said that he would go all over the world. In an interview, Fisher said that his two years in the army were the best years of his life. And there were the stars: Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holliday, Stan Kenton, and George Shearing, who is shown playing a song he composed in ten minutes, "Lullaby Of Broadway." Deejay Hal Jackson recounted that at that time he hosted three radio shows every day in New York: "Live from Birdland" featured jazz carried on WABC, a rhythm and blues show on WLIB, and a show featuring pop singers on WMCA. Tony Bennett tells how tight budgets required that four sides (singles) be done in three hours. Albums were reserved for the classics. Ameht Ertigun of Intercity Records noted that the traditionally black rhythm and blues gave rise to Rock and Roll.
Filmdom brought out a 3-D film "Bwana Devil" which necessitated the use of special glasses for using. The hit film "Singing In the Rain" had come out earlier in the year, and for books were in the process for filming: "The Caine Mutiny," "Giant," "A Man Called Peter," and "The Old Man And The Sea." Also happening in the winter of '52: John Kennedy was elected senator for Massachusetts. The United States Atomic Energy Commission conducted the first hydrogen bomb test. George Meany was elected president of the AFL. Walter Reuther was elected president of the CIO. President Eisenhower's inauguration was carried live on television. In Denmark, George Jorgensen went into the hospital and came out Christine Jorgensen after a sex change operation. The NAACP said that 1952 was the first year in the U.S. that there were no lynchings...at least none reported. The Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns 17-7 for the NFL championship. Desi Arnaz, Jr., was born Along with the red menace, the program mentions that there was a "green menace" taking root. It was coming out of Lafayette, Georgia, and began on January 4, 1953...a carpet made of tufted plastic...Astroturf.
Our World: Inner Struggles: Fall, 1975 (1987)
Our World: Inner Struggles: Fall 1975
"Inner Struggles" didn't deal with global struggles but did deal with struggles within ourselves. These were the days of mood rings, disco, and psychobabble: having one's own space, getting one's head together, getting in touch with one's self, being mellow, and more. There was the EST convention, a marathon large group seminar where the participants were encouraged to take their fingers off the "repress" button...a time when they found a way to put themselves on stage. And there was the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his transcendental meditation, meditation for calming inner stress.
Patricia Hearst, daughter of William Randolph Hearst, had her struggle too. She was abducted (1974) by the Symbionese Liberation Army and being influenced by them took the name of Tonya. She participated in a bank robbery and was photographed brandishing a gun. In a later holdup, she drove the getaway car while William and Emily Harris robbed the bank. Hearst was captured in 1975, and the Harrises were taken a week later.
There were two attempts on the life of President Ford. The first by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the Charles Manson family. She was taken by the Secret Service when her gun didn't fire. And the other a short time later by Sara Jane Moore. In this attempt, a Vietnam Vet noticed the gun and he grabbed her arm. The gun fired, but the bullet missed Ford and went into a wall.
In New York City there were financial troubles as the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. Mayor Abraham Beam didn't like playing beggar, but asked Washington for assistance. He was denied. He said that New York and Columbus were alike...neither could get financial assistance from their own country. Meanwhile, the garbage was piling up on the streets, the teachers walked out, Broadway went dark. The President finally relented.
The film "JAWS" was having its own production troubles. The salt water at the film location was taking its toll on the electronics, mechanics, and piping of the shark. Much of the film was shot without the shark. In spite of that, the film grossed $124 million in 80 days and spawned "JAWS mania" with the sales of T-shirts and other related merchandise.
There were two struggles in Boston, one of which was a major league struggle...the 1975 World Series...Boston v. Cincinnati. Carlton Fisk's homer in the sixth game at Fenway Park threw the series into Game Seven, which Boston lost 4-3. The other struggle was between Charleston and Boston and involved the busing of students to desegregate the schools. Nearly one fourth of the students did not attend school that year. Public resistance necessitated the National Guard and the State Police to oversee the transfer of 26 thousand students. By mid-September most of the National Guard had gone home.
There was a similar situation in Louisville caused by a court order six weeks before the start of school. It was not expected to be violent. On September 3rd, the Concerned Parents of Louisville called for a boycott, and on September 5th the protest turned into a battle and police were attacked. The National Guard was called in and State Troopers rode the buses. There was considerable tension in the schools because whites were not used to going to school with blacks, and blacks were not used to going to school with whites. The two groups slowly came together. By September 17th, the Guard was gone.
And that year there was a "thrilla" in Manilla.Muhammad Ali was preparing for his third fight with Joe Frazier. This is said to have been the most widely reported battle in the Phillipines since World War II. Angelo Dundee, Eddie Futch, and Don Dunphy all commented on the fight. Ali got $4.5 million and Joe got $2 million.
Also in 1975: Andrei Sakarov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but he was not allowed to leave Russia to receive it. Dianna Niaz swam around Manhattan Island in 7 hours and 57 minutes which broke the record, which had stood for seven years, by an hour. The first black owned TV station went on the air in Detroit. Sony brought out the first VCR beta-max. Gunsmoke went off the air. Bob Considine, Casey Stengel, Arnold Toynbee, and band leader Vincent Lopez died.
Our World: Period of Adjustment: Autumn 1946 (1987)
Our World: Period of Adjustment: Fall 1946
Adjustment was the name of the game in the autumn of 1946. At the end of World War II there were about 12 million members in the Armed Forces, but a year later in 1946 about ten million were civilians again. For them, the first period of adjustment was from entering the military, and the second adjustment was becoming a civilian again. William Wyler's film "Best Year Of Our Lives" dealt with the realism of three veterans returning home and returning to civilian life. Dana Andrews played an Air Force veteran who had gotten married before his leaving and returned home to a wife who felt cheated because of his absence. Frederick March was an army Sergeant who came home to work in a bank. There was a difficult kind of adjustment for Harold Russell, who was a double amputee. Russell was not an actor who played a sailor who lost his hands. Russell was a soldier who lost his hands in an accident in North Carolina on D-Day. The army made a training film about Russell and his learning to use his "hooks". He said nothing in the film. The film "Best Years" won eight academy awards, and Russell won an award for best supporting actor.
Once back home, 800 thousand vets enrolled in college on the G.I. Bill. Enrollment at Indiana Universidy doubled in one year. Frank Jones, a sophomore at the time, and his wife recount the makeshift living conditions and financial difficulties of a young couple with a small child going to school on the G.I. Bill. Single G.I.'s got $65 a month, married G.I.'s got $90 a month, and they received free tuition.
Getting adjusted to peacetime took the women out of the factories and returned them to the home to become housewives and homemakers as the vets replaced them. Binay Venuta, a singer/actress at the Stork Club, noted that the music was live and people danced. "It was a gentler time," she said. She described the women as dressing nicely, wearing hats and gloves. Jeans were a rarity unless on the farm.
War brought inflation, then price controls which caused shortages. The black market made meat available. Butchers would put meat into a bag for a customer who didn't ask questions. If the person asked too many questions, no meat would be available to them. When the controls were lifted, prices skyrocketed.
At White Sand Proving Ground in New Mexico, German scientists were building V-2 rockets from parts brought back from Germany at the end of the war. They had enough parts to build 100 rockets. Konrad Dannenburg and the others recognized that the rockets could be very useful machines without a bomb at the top. It would allow the study of the upper atmosphere as well as a possible means of transportation and exploration. James Fagan recalled that the scientists only got off base if chaperoned and for science. Otherwise their activities were generally to walk in the desert, drink beer, or launch rockets. He said that there was not official countdown back then, just a "Hey, Albert! Is that thing ready to go?" In October, the St. Louis Cardinals made an adjustment to the Boston Athletics in Game Seven of the World Series. Enos Slaughter got on first with a single. Harry Walker hit a ball to left center, and the ball was thrown to Jerry Pesky. When Pesky got the ball, he looked to see where Slaughter was, and in doing so, he didn't get enough drive on the throw to home and Slaughter scored.
In politics, Richard Nixon and John Kennedy were both running for Congress, and Joe McCarthy was running for the senate. Being a vet seemed to be a plus for a candidate, but Nixon chose not to use that fact because he said that there were more enlisted men than officers, so a better chance. Nixon exploited his opponent Jerry Voorhis endorsement by a PAC. It was not a PAC of the C.I.O., which was thought to have communist influences, but only a citizen's PAC. McCarthy was known as "tailgunner Joe" and had a photo of himself in an pilot's seat wearing a flight suit, but he only had a desk job.
In Europe the Nuremburg Trials were held, the first war crimes trials in history. Seven men were convicted, three were acquitted, and eleven were sentenced to hang. Joseph Kingsbury-Smith of the International News Service was the only American to cover the trial. He was allowed to visit the prison the night before the hangings and saw Hermann Georing lying on the bed reading. Goering was found dead an hour later from an overdose of cyanide. Kingsbury-Smith is shown in a film clip reading is report of the hanging. In an interview, he said that Julius Striker was the only one who groaned when he was hanged. He later asked the G.I. Sergeant in charge why this was so. The reply was, "It is simple. I strangled the bastard." Kingsbury-Smith went on to say that if the noose is put to the side of the neck rather than at the back of the neck, the person strangles.
Also: The hit song was "Ole Buttermilk Sky" by Hoagy Carmichael. The first network TV soap opera was "Faraway Hill" on the Dumont Network. The box office hit was "Notorious" by Alfred Hitchcock. Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" premiered on Broadway,and "Animal Farm" by Geroge Orwell was the best selling book. Britain's biggest troop ship became the biggest luxury liner went he Queen Mary sailed to New York. Eversharp sold a retractable ball point pen for $25 and a 14 carat gold model for $100. Phillip Morris advertised a cigarette which was pasteurized for purity. The U.N. General Assembly met for the first time in New York. General Vinegar Joe Stillwell, former Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot, and race car driver Barney Oldfield died.
Our World: All Shook Up: Autumn 1957 (1986)
Our World: All Shook Up: Autumn 1957
Yes, we were all shook up that autumn. Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" began airing on ABC-TV. The program brought together both black and white artists: for example, the Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, and Bobby Darin were white, and Fats Domino, Sam Cook, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard were black. Advertising was geared toward the teen market and used teenagers to sell the product to their peers. During the show the teens danced to the music. There was a lot of shaking going on, thanks to "American Bandstand," and the kids loved it.
The Broadway theater had its share of dancing in the very popular "West Side Story" which opened on September 26th. The show, loosely based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," and gave us a look at ourselves by using gang portrayals to convey the action and relationships. In some areas of the country gangs were becoming more common. Gang members were killing each other. The percentage of teens in jail was rising in California and New York City. An actual street gang was brought backstage to help bring reality into the production.
The country itself was became "all shook up" when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik. This brought then much pride in their scientific knowledge and technological know-how, while here in America, that launch generated fear and embarrassment. Sputnik orbited the earth once every ninety-six minutes at a speed of eighteen thousand miles per hour. New York Times reporter Walter Sullivan was attending a party acknowledging the International Geophysical Year at the Soviet Embassy when he received a call from his office telling of the launch. No one else at the gathering had yet been informed of the event. When Andrew Goodpaster, White House Staff Secretary, took the news to President Eisenhower, Eisenhower was a little low key about it. John Eisenhower, the President's son,recalled that his Dad didn't realize the concern in the country.
Sputnik went up, but the Ford Edsel went down. Research and development for the Edsel took three year, but it just didn't catch on. The name itself was unpopular, dropping out of every one of the surveys taken. It did have electrical advances, one of which was a push button gear selector mounted in the center portion of the steering wheel. It was mentioned that the Edsel Citation convertible was an even trade for a Cadillac. There were folks who did like the car with tail lights that looked like eyebrows, but others thought that the front grill of the Edsel looked like an Oldsmovile that had just sucked a lemon.
Segregation still played a part in our society. Althea Gibson, a black, female tennis player, was not allowed to join the Westside Tennis Club in New York City, but she could play there for the U.S. National Championship. The U.S. Women's Singles Championship was hers.
The big story at that time was in Little Rock, Arkansas. Three years after the Supreme Court decision on desegregation, Little Rock thought it had it all planned out to accept black students into Central High, a white school. Governor Orval Faubus felt that since desegregation was a federal court order, it was the federal government's responsibility to enforce the order. He insisted that it was contrary to state law, the state constitution, and the sentiment of 85% of all those in the state who were surveyed. The National Guard and the State Troopers were stationed around the school on the first day but not to protect the students or put them into school. Some said that they were there to make sure Central High was off-limits to Negro students. The school board advised the nine black students to stay home. On September 14, Faubus met with President Eisenhower at Newport, Rhode Island, and Faub us was ordered to remove the troops. Faubus said that he would, and Eisenhower took him at his word. However, the troops remained six more days. When the troops were finally removed, Faubus left the state and left the situation in the hands of the police who were lacking training and sufficient personnel. Ten days later Eisenhower said that he would send force, if necessary, to carry out the federal order. The 101St Airborne was finally sent in to protect the civil rights of blacks. The nine black students finally were able to go to school because they were escorted by the military. Faubus was relieved when the troops came in because he felt that the government was accepting its obligation and it relieve him of any responsibility.
Also happening: In another launch in November, the Soviets sent a dog into space. In December, the U.S. launched as satellite, but it blew up on the pad. The Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees in seven games. Cardinal Spellman of New York was appointed the first Military Vicar of the U.S. The Atomic Energy Commission conducted an underground nuclear test at Yucca Flats, Nevada. Dag Hammarskjold was re-elected Secretary General of the United Nations. James Hoffa was elected Presidint of the Teamsters Union. Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti were married. Bing Crosby and Catherine Grant were married. Louis B. Mayer, Christian Dior, and Harry Teets, warden at San Quention, died.
Our World: Pursuit of Power: Autumn 1973 (1986)
Our World: Pursuit of Power: Autumn 1973
The fall of '73 was a pursuit of power in thoughts, words, and deeds on several fronts. Even the National League playoffs had a skirmish when Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds barreled into Bud Harrelson of the Mets while trying to break up a double play. The benches cleared. When Rose took the field the next inning, debris rained down on the field, and the umpires stopped the game until order could be restored. Willie Mays and other Mets players managed to quell the crowd, and the game continued. The Mets won the playoffs but lost to Oakland in the World Series. This was the last year for Willie Mays.
Two days prior to the baseball brawl, Egypt and Syria went after Israel in the Yom Kippur War. In an interview, Abba Eban remarked that the Arabs caused a scare in Israel. Because the U.S. backed Israel, the Arabs cut the oil supply to the U.S. which caused shortages of gasoline and heating oil. Lines at gas stations lengthened, sales of large cars slumped, highway speed limits were reduced to 55mph, and GM cut production of big cars.
The sports world had another battle that fall. This time it was in tennis: Billy Jean King v Bobby Riggs in the "Battle Of The Sexes" at the Astrodome. The aging Riggs felt that women couldn't equal men in the game of tennis. Wrong! King beat Riggs, and this gave the women's movement a shot in the arm. References to that match-up were made by popular comediennes Phyllis Diller, Lilly Tomlin and Bea Arthur on Maude. Also there was a change in New Jersey that girls could play Little League baseball --- if they could hit. Dolores Studendort was the first female to play tiny mite football (Thethel Park, Penn.) Roe v Wade arrived a bit earlier that year. The best selling book was "The Joy of Sex. Erica Jong put out a book "The Fear of Flying" which was about female anger and passion. In New York City, women began going on patrol with men.
Fat ties for men were in style. Pants suits for women were popular too, but not at the Supreme Court. Mini skirts showed up too...and showed quite a lot. Jill Vine Volner was the first female attorney on the Watergate prosecution team, and she wore a mini skirt. It was noted that pictures of Volner were usually full length shots, whereas pictures of the male attorneys were usually waist up shots. And speaking of Watergate....
This all began some months earlier with a small burglary at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Building, whence the name. There were allegations that the White House was participating in a cover-up of the burglary, so in May the Senate began hearings with Sam Ervin as the chairman. Things get sticky as the investigation progresses. Robert Haldeman, Nixon's Chief of Staff, and John Erlichman, Nixon's Domestic Adviser, resigned, John Dean, Special Counsel to the President, was fired, and John Dean, former Attorney General, was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice. It gets messier when it is learned that that there were tape recordings made in the Oval office. Attorney General Elliot Richardson had appointed Archibald Cox to be the special prosecutor, and Cox subpoenaed the tapes. The White House refused. Transcripts of the tapes were offered, but nothing more was to be requested. All of this power struggle led up to what came to be known as the "Saturday Night Massacre." It began earlier in the afternoon when the White House wanted wanted Cox fired and ordered Richardson to do it. He refused. Carl Feldbaum, Cox's attorney advised Cox's staff to protect the evidence because they feared a White House take over. At one in the afternoon, Cox goes on TV to explain his position. At two, Richardson refuses to fire Cox for insubordination and turned in his resignation. At five, Richardson briefs William Ruckelshaus, Deputy Attorney General, on the situation. Alexander Haig, Chief of Staff, ordered Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. He didn't and was fired. Solicitor General Robert Bork was the next in line to fire Cox. He did. Leon Jaworski became the Special Prosecutor.
To make a long, complicated story just a bit shorter, but still complicated. Tapes were handed over to Judge John Sirica. One of the tapes had an 18 minute dead spot which didn't go over too well. Eight "Impeach Nixon" resolutions were introduced in Congress. Nixon resigned and never went to trial. In the middle of all that, Vice President Spiro Agnew was accused of bribery and extortion, but was charged with tax evasion. He was out and Gerald Ford was in. He pardoned Nixon after he took over as president.
Time Magazine took an editorial position regarding the Watergate Scandal, the first time in its 50 year history they had done that. Special Prosecutors are now called Independent Counsels.
There were lots of good interviews in this show with the people involved in this slice of history.
Our World: Together and Apart: Summer 1943 (1986)
Our World: Together & Apart: 1943
The war was in Europe, but the newsreels and radio reports brought the war over here. President Roosevelt could be heard on the radio or seen in the newsreels commenting on the war or urging us to to our part in the war effort. Bugs Bunny even got into the war effort by promoting war bonds and stamps. Bonds were $18.75, and stamps were .25 cents or .10 cents. Mel Blanc comments on the effort. The Office of War Information provided posters to help us "tell the good buys from the bad." Americans did their part by rationing. We rode buses and trains, we walked, and we even devised our own unique methods of transportation. Gas was a rationed commodity. Some 40% of all vegetables were grown in victory gardens. Red ration stamps allowed people to get meat, cheese, and butter when it was available. Many people quit smoking or learned to roll their own because the ready-made cigarettes went to the GIs. Rubber tires, as well as girdles, were recycled because rubber sources were controlled by Japan. Nylon stockings could be found on the black market for $5.00 a pair.
Yet there were good times. Americans learned how to make do with less. There was almost no unemployment, and wages were at an all time high. There was lots of overtime. Prosperity brought an end to the depression. About two thirds of all production was war production. At the Henry Kaiser shipyard in Richmond, California, a new Liberty ship was produced every 12 days. Women were heavily involved in the production effort, although they had to prove that they could do the job as well as a man could. Rosie the Riveter became a popular icon. Donald Duck told us that income tax would now be taken out of every paycheck rather than in a lump sum once a year as had been done up to that time.
Many songs of the time were war songs, and many movies were war movies. Broadway had a war offering at the time, Irving Berlin's "This Is The Army." However, the biggest Broadway hit was "Oklahoma." Celeste Holm and Agnes de Mille (choreographer) both comment. Stage Door Canteens were popular for helping bring people together.
It wasn't all a bed of roses here on the home-front. Many blacks moved to the North to take jobs in the defense plants. But America was still a segregated country with colored waiting rooms, colored fallout shelters, and the like. Blacks who had gone to Detroit to work had to live in a slum area called, of all things, Paradise Valley, even though some other housing was available. Tension between blacks and whites caused a riot. It only lasted 24 hours, but the army was brought in to restore order. There were accusations about who did what to whom and what was done or not done by the police and rioters.
Japanese citizens were rounded up and sent to internment camps because they were seen as a security risk. One such camp was Manzanar, in California. Photographer Ansel Adams took a series of photographs depicting this camp. The government realized that this encampment was a bad idea, and allowed the Japanese to leave camp and join the war effort. They made up the 442 Regimental Combat Unit. They had to prove themselves and demonstrate their loyalty. Mike Nasaoki, one of the internees, tells of his experience.
Miscellaneous: Pennys were now made of zinc coated steel because copper had gone to war. Edward Noble, a wealthy candy maker, bought NBC's Blue Network which later became ABC. Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, died. The best seller that year was "Our World" by Wendell Wilkie.
Our World: 13 Days in October: 1962 (1986)
Our World: 13 Days In October
The time period for this episode is short, but powerful. These were good times. The space program influenced us in several ways. In architecture as evidenced by the Space Needle in Seattle and Dulles Airport in Washinghton. On TV we had the Jetsons space cartoon, and we could occasionally see comedian Jose Jimenez portray a space man on the Ed Sullivan show. The Three Stooges even got into the act with a space movie. Happy times were evident on television with the family shows "Ozzie and Harriet," "The Donna Reed Show," "Leave It To Beaver," and "The Beverly Hillbillies," and the popular "Music Man" was playing in the theaters. The only war was the "Cold War," with the thought of nuclear attack. Many people built fallout shelters and stocked up on canned goods and water...just in cast. The yellow signs denoting the public fallout shelter areas were ubiquitous. And according to the Gallup Organization, President Kennedy's poll number was 62%.
However, the mood changed in mid-October when photos from a U-2 flight over Cuba revealed Soviet missile installations there. News of this finding was kept secret for several days in the interest of national security. The president and others went on about their regular schedules so as not to cause any suspicion. President Kennedy's first appointment was with astronaut Wally Schirra and his family, and he and his brother Robert made other appearances.
The executive committee of the National Security Council was called together to discuss the matter and come up with a solution. Robert Kennedy, Robert McNamara (Defense Secretary), and Roswell Gilpatric (Asst. Sec. of Defense) all recommended a low key approach while the others on the council took a more forceful approach. Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson was called in as an outside adviser, and he advocated an air strike. While these meetings were going on, Kennedy met with Soviet Andre Gromiko. Gromiko denied that the Soviets had any missiles in Cuba. Kennedy said nothing of our knowledge about the Soviet buildup to Gromiko.
When Kennedy learned that the New York Times was onto a story about this, although they didn't yet know the whole story, Kennedy called the Times and told them what was happening and asked them to "sit on" the story until after his television briefing on that Monday night. The Times agreed. Kruschev arched his back and wanted to make a deal...Soviet missiles out of Cuba if U.S. missiles out of Turkey. No deal. The Soviets backed off and removed the missiles from Cuba.
As is customary in this series, there were many remarks by the people involved in this situation.
What else? --- Diet-Rite Cola was the first sugar free soft drink sold nationally. --- Iron City Beer was the first to use a pop-top can. --- The NY Yankees beat the Giants in the 7th game of the World Series. ---Dwight Eisenhower was in California campaigning for Richard Nixon, who was running for Governor. --- The Ranger 5 moon probe was launched, it missed its target by 300 miles. ---A Brit and an American were the scientists who discovered DNA. ---Bob Dylan emerged as the new folk singer. --- ABC began a one-hour newscast the same night as Kennedy's talk to the nation about the Cuban crisis. --- The Soviets won the Chess Olympics while the U.S.'s Bobby Fischer came in fourth. --- The U.S. Surgeon General formed a committee to see if smoking was harmful to the health. --- The Air Force Surgeon General said "no" to free cigarettes in Air Force Hospitals. --- Wimbledon officials ruled that women players must wear all white...including panties. Campbell Chicken Noodle Soup was eighteen cents a can. Lenny Bruce was arrested for using obscene language in public.
Our World: Forty Days in Spring: 1970 (1986)
Our World: Forty Days of Spring; 1970
This episode is about revolutions, some violent, some non-violent. It was an angry time with much anger directed at the war in Vietnam. There were about five million soldiers fighting and some forty thousand having died. There were soldiers, however, who were tired of the both the war and the protests which they felt gave aid to the enemy. Sam Brown was a coordinator of the Moritorium movement. Their plan was to shut down the country one day a month as a protest to the war. President Nixon referred to the protests as violence in the name of peace. He asked people to show their support for the war and the country. A group of workers, hard-hats, organized and marched in support, as Nixon had asked. Sending troops into Cambodia caused a reaction at Kent State in Ohio. The National Guard, was called in to restore order. When it was all over, four students were dead and nine were wounded. Larry Shafer, then a sergeant with the Ohio National Guard, Barry Levine, and Joe Lewis recount the event.
In Madison, Wisconsin, Karl Armstrong and his brother were showing their anger by bombing an ordinance plant, destroying an ROTC building, and planned to blow up a dam. Armstrong reflects on his actions.
The FBI became involved with state and local police to overcome the anti-war activities through domestic spying and infiltration John Erlichman's perception was that there was no objection to overcoming the protesters, but the methods being used were wrong. Howard Pointer, a policeman, was an infiltrator who spoke of his undercover activities. One of his assignments was to spy on Jesse Jackson's Operation Breadbasket in Chicago. Another was Bobby Seale and the Black Panther Movement, a social and political group which happened to carry guns. Seale comments that if he had been convicted after his arrest, the Panthers would rise up and cause extensive trouble. The Weathermen made the news when a bomb they were building in a New York City townhouse exploded, three were killed. The remaining supporters went underground. Bernadine Dorn issued a declaration of war, the first communication from the underground, in which she stated that protests and marches didn't do it, violence is the only way.
There was a loud non-violent revolution organized by Dennis Hayes, Earth Day. This was a war in the name of the environment, and directed against pollution. New York's Fifth Avenue was closed down for two hours for the Earth Day march, for which tens of thousands showed up. It is estimated that some 30 million people around the country participated in Earth day. A much more quiet revolution arose when Marcian (Ted) Hoff and his team produced the microchip which has changed the whole computer industry. Hoff said the microchip brought the large, very expensive computer out of its "ivory tower" and made it available to every one, as we all now well know.
This episode has a lengthy story about the flight of Apollo 13, which was intended to be a manned trip to the moon...the third manned mission. All did not go well. The explosion of an oxygen tank in the service module destroyed the power supply and blew the side off the module. The crew was forced to move into the Lunar Explorer Module (LEM) and use it as a life boat so they could conserve whatever power and oxygen they could for the command module. They had to fly around the back side of the moon, where there is no radio communication, in order to head back to earth. It was necessary to make manual steering corrections for proper alignment. The LEM was not designed to return to earth but was to be left on the moon. So the crew had to re-energize the command module so they could get back in and then jettison the LEM. They didn't know if the batteries were frozen or if the circuits would crack as they warmed up. For a time, radio communication was intermittent and full of static. Then there was the problem of reentry: was the heat shield in tact; would their trajectory be correct...if too steep, they would burn up on reentry, if too shallow, they would skip off and head back into space. There was nothing they could do if it wasn't done correctly. They did do it correctly and made it home safely. Although technically a failure, the mission was a tremendous success. Commander Jim Lovell and others describes the situation.
What else did 1970 have for us? ***Alvin Toffler's book Future Shock said that the world would become faster and cause more social change. ***The Beatles broke up. Paul McCartney said the reason was that the game changed from a music game to a money game. ***Sesame Street was banned in Mississippe because it added blacks to the show to help teach young kids to live in harmony. ***Love Story was the #1 best seller. ***Julian Bond was elected first black mayor in Atlanta in 100 years. ***The Nicks beat the Lakers for the Basketball championship. ***An F-111 cost $16 million. ***A bill was introduced to make the Daisy the National Flower. President Nixon rejected a meeting by nine black congressmen to discuss problems concerning blacks. ***China launched its first satellite. ***M*A*S*H was banned from all military installations although it won top award at the Cannes Film Festival. ***Congress enacted tougher air quality standards, and the Interior Department banned DDT. ***A pound of Long Island potatoes cost nine cents. ***Labor leader Walter Reuther and entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee died.
Our World: Summer 1969 (1986)
Our World: Summer of 1969 (first show)
"For the next hour think of your television as a time machine, and think of this not as a television studio, but as a combination of your grandmother's attic and the old neighborhood. Welcome to Our World, the stuff of yesterday. Stuff like the paperbacks we were reading; stuff like the clothes we were wearing, some of us. The toys we played with, what we watched and listened to and saw in the movies. Time traveling, each week a different time, each week a different trip." We begin with fun in the sun on Cocoa Beach where a room at the Holiday Inn was $22.00 a night and a martini cost one dollar. The U.S. was preparing for a manned mission to the moon. NBC would cancel two million dollars of programming to bring 30 hours of coverage of the flight. The preparation, flight and moon landing were detailed by extensive use of film and interviews by many of the participants, e.g., Jim Mizell, rocket engineer, Chris Kraft, Jr., director of flight operations, Jules Bergman, news correspondent, Steve Bales, controller. We also hear from Gunter Wendt. The man who closed the hatch on each Apollo flight. Also a short clip of President Nixon. Kraft noted that the average age of his team was 26 years. A voice recording of President announcing the desire to place a man on the moon by the end of the decade was also heard.
There were events happening up the coast that summer too. In New York words by correspondent Lou Chioffi and pictures described the funeral for Judy Garland. Liza Minnelli comments. Then a bit further up the coast at Chapaquiddik, we hear about Ted Kennedy's accident which left a woman dead. People tell their reaction's to the event.
Then on the gulf coast, Charles Murphy tells us in words and pictures of the destruction brought on by hurricane Camille, which left 256 dead. Murphy relates that 23 people who were having a hurricane party also died.
On the west coast, we are reminded of the "Tate-LaBianca" murders. Sharon Tate, eight months pregnant, was the wife of movie producer Roman Polanski. Sharon and four friends, three males and one other female, were killed by followers of Charles Manson. Later, Rosemary and Leno LaBianca were found dead, as reported by Dick Shoemaker. John Phillips, a frequent visitor to the Tate home, and Don Steiers, a neighbor to the LaBiancas, also comment.
The Vietnam war was still raging which prompted anti-was protests and counter culture movements. Arlo Guthrie had a song "Alice's Restaurant" which became popular and was written from his personal experience. It was later made into a movie in which he had as many of the people he could find that were involved in his arrest for littering and his objection to the government trying to draft him. Guthrie also performed at Woodstock. About two and a half million people gathered in a 17 mile circle. They wanted to show that they could have a good time without being policed and without their parents. George McGovern comments on the President's proposal to bring some men home from Vietnam.
The Smothers Brothers television show had been canceled because their satire was too controversial. They are shown performing part of a song, and they then comment on the cancellation. Laugh-In was another show which had its own censor. Dick Martin relates the method they used to get material past the censors. They would present two jokes at the censors knowing that one would be banned, but the other would get through. Hee-Haw was tops in the ratings and they said it was a down home version of Laugh-In.
And then: Life and Look magazines were popular picture magazines...Look cost fifty cents. The Rolling Stons big hit was "Honky Tonk Woman." "The Love Bug" was the top box office grosser. "True Grit" with John Wayne came out. Wayne won an Oscar for Best Actor. Charles Evers, brother to Medgar Evers, became the first black mayor of Atlanta in a hundred years. Diahann Carroll was the first on television to portray a black who wasn't a servant. President Nixon predicted a man on Mars by the year 2000. Warren Burger became the fifteenth Chief Justice. Don Drysdale of the Brooklyn Dodgers retired. Joe Namath retired because he owned a bar, he sold the bar and returned. O.J. Simpson joined the Buffalo Bills. Maureen Connolly (tennis), Rocky Marciano (boxing), Frank Loesser (composer), and Sen. Everett Dirkson died. At the A&P, sirloin steak was $1.09 a pound and bread was $0.49.
Our World: Speaking Out: Spring 1963 (1987)
Our World" Speaking Out:: Spring 1963
This episode deals mainly with the racial strife in the south and the struggle for civil rights. These times were characterized in song by artists such as Peter, Paul, and Mary, Pete Seger, Joan Baez. Bob Dylan wrote the song "Blowin' In The Wind" which became a hit for Peter, Paul, and Mary. Civil Rights had not been a priority at the time, and George Wallace's (Alabama Governor) attitude at that time was "segretation forever." Alabama had the last totally segregated university system. Wallace had blocked the door when two black students, Vivian Malone and James Head, tried to the university. A federal judge had favored admission by blacks.
Good film coverage showed what was going on behind the scenes both in Alabama and in Washington, D.C. Major players in Washington were the President, of course, the Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and the Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenback. Katzenbach was the "go-between" between Washington and Wallace. When the National Guard, under the direction of Gen. Henry Graham, was nationalized and sent put into action, Wallace relented.
Kennedy had been planning all spring in doing about segregation, but the riots, burning buildings, police dogs, and fire hoses which were seen regularly in TV hastened his actions. Theodore Sorenson was Kennedy's Special Counsel and assisted in writing the speech that Kennedy gave. Less than seven hours after Kennedy's speech on segregation, Medgar Evers, Field Director for the NAACP, was shot from ambush and was dead an hour later. Kennedy got a bill into Congress, but it lay there until 1964 because of resistance in both Congress and the country. Lots of good footage including interviews in this segment.
Martin Luther King's March On Washington was also highlighted in this show. The march focused on the plight of black people in the southern U.S. Kennedy did not want any demonstrations during this march. It was agreed that black policemen would control and arrest, if necessary, the black in the main throng, and white policemen would control and arrest, if necessary, any whites on the perimeter.
A short part of the episode dealt with Kennedy's visit to Berlin, the Berlin Wall, and Checkpoint Charlie. Kennedy was popular in Germany, and became even more popular with his "I am a Berliner" speech.
ALSO IN 1963: **The Chevy Impala was a big seller at about $3,000. Radio, $48 extra...with pushbuttons, $57 extra. **Female vocal groups were popular: The Crystals, The Chiffons, The Exciters, The Angels, The Ronettes ("Be My Baby). **Leslie Gore had the hit "It's My Party." **On the west coast, bikinis and surfing were popular as evidenced by the songs "Wipe Out," "Surfin' U.S.A.", "Surf City" (#1 on the charts), and "Surfin'Safari." The Beach Boys were popular surf singers. **The film "Beach Party" with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello came out adding to the surfing fad. **Allan Sherman had a hit song "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah." The film "Cleopatra" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor came out. **Valentina Tereshkova, 26 years old, was the first woman in space. **Seven million dollars was stolen in the great train robbery. **Betty Friedan wrote a best seller, "The Feminine Mystique" (women's lib had not emerged yet). **Kodak came out with its instamatic camera. **The Zip Code made the scene. **A "hot line" was set up between Washington and the Kremlin for instant communication. **Pope John XXIII died and Paul VI became Pope. **Jack Nicholas was the PGA champion. **Last total eclipse of the sun until 1970.
Some of the interviewees: Nicholas Katzenbach, Vivian Malone, Henry Graham, Geoge Wallace, Theodore Sorenson, Myrlie Evers, Leslie Gore. Henry Belafonte, Bryan Wilson (Beach Boys), Anna Cole (designer of the Bikini.
Our World: Duels in the Sun: Summer 1952 (1987)
Our World: Duels In The Sun: Campaign 1952
One of the duels in 1952 was a political one between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson, both running for President. This would be the first time both political conventions in Chicago were covered gavel to gavel, and an estimated 55 million people were able to watch. It was here that the term "anchor" started being used in reference to Walter Cronkite, who led the CBS-TV broadcast. Unlike today's conventions where the networks have on-site studios which overlook the convention floor, this was not the case in '52. Cronkite made his comments/analyses from a desk at the convention hall, but watched the proceedings on television. Cronkite got that job because all the "old timers" were working the radio side. TV hadn't quite been accepted yet for this type of event. However, once it became apparent how many people watched the TV broadcast, opinions soon changed. Delegates were told that they shouldn't read newspapers, smoke cigars, or pick noses because of the live coverage. Betty Furness did commercials for Westinghouse from a kitchen set in the convention hall. It is said that she logged more air time than any speaker of either party at either convention. Lots of good footage here! Television was kind to Eisenhower, but Stevenson had a difficult time adjusting to the medium.
Senator Nixon had his own duel, and TV was kind to him. Nixon had gotten himself into trouble for having a slush fund. Ted Rogers had realized what television did for selling product, so he urged Nixon to go on TV and present his side of the story. Nixon, with his wife at his side, said that he had gotten help from a friend, and then ticked off his living style, debts, and obligations. He mentioned that his wife didn't have an expensive Democrat fur coat, but did have a respectable Republican cloth coat. He also mentioned that the family had been given a cocker spaniel dog which they had named Checkers. His daughter had become very fond of the dog, and Nixon said that he wouldn't give that back. This was a very powerful speech and caused a flood of wires to be sent to the GOP headquarters. The speech has since been called the "Checkers Speech." Two other duels were taking place this summer, both involving the U.S. and the Soviet Union. One of those duels involved the fighting of the Soviet Union along with North Korea against the United States and South Korea in the Korean War. The other duel involved the Soviet Union and the United States at the Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. This was the Soviets' first Olympic participation, and the animosity of Korea was not evident in Finland. There was no television coverage of those Olympics. We relied on newsreel footage to show us Bob Richards (pole vaulter), Horace Ashenfelter in the Steeplechase, Lindy Remigino (100 meter finals ending in a photo finish, and it 20 minutes to get the photo), and Floyd Patterson (boxing).
Gas was .27 cents a gallon, but traveling became expensive if one had a family and had to stay in motor lodges. Travel lodges, or motor courts, in those days charged extra for children. Kemmons Wilson didn't like that, so he decided to build a motel with large clean rooms and a big sign and letter marque, but he would not charge extra for children. He opened the first one in Memphis, his hometown under the name of "Holiday Inn." Wilson's draftsman had been watching the movie "Holiday Inn" while making the plans and had the name written on the blueprints. The name stuck.
Theater box offices were dueling with television. Sitcoms like Ozzie and Harriet and Our Miss Brooks were gaining popularity. Only 108 westerns, mostly "B" films or worse, were made. ("B" films were usually shot in about a week and sometimes used scenes from other westerns. No one ever ran out of bullets, and one could fight all day without losing his hat or showing any marks on his face.) Once popular Gene Autry only made six films, and Roy Rogers only made one..."Son Of Paleface" starring Bob Hope. The Durango Kid series, which had been going a dozen years or more ended. It was a stereotype: white horse, masked man, fearless, couldn't be defeated, and always showed up at just the right time.
One other film which showed up that year starred Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly (hired from a photograph)..."High Noon." This was almost a non-western western. There were no Indians, no fights between farmers and ranchers, land barons and homesteaders. It was about commitment. The theme song, which recurs during the film, tells the conflict which the Marshall has with in himself. The length of the film, 85 minutes, is the same length of time unfolded in the story itself. (In my opinion, whatever that is worth, it is, was, and always will be an excellent film.) Hit song: "You Belong To Me" by Jo Stafford. ***Ronald and Nancy Reagan were newlyweds. ***There were 60 UFO sightings in a two week period. ***World Heavyweight Champion was Rocky Marciano. ***The Estate of William Randolph Hearst was reappraised at $40,449,214.70. ***Dr. and Mrs. Norman Vincent Peale were the first husband and wife team to broadcast a religious program on TV. ***The first issue of Mad Magazine came out.
High Noon (1952)
High Noon
This is probably the best non-western western I have ever seen. There were no conflicts between cowboys and Indians, between farmers and ranchers, between land barons and homesteaders...none of the stereotypical western fare, until the very end of the film when the train arrives. There was conflict however. It was the marshall's struggle in deciding whether to put off his decision to retire from the marshall's job and leave with his new wife, a non-violent Quaker, or to stay for the impending showdown. A careful listening to the recurring theme song reminds us of that struggle, "Oh, to be torn twixt love and duty...." If one watches the film and listens carefully, he/she will find a great deal of deeper meaning and emotion than might initially appear. An excellent film.
Our World: One Day in April: 1961 (1987)
Our World: One Day In April:1961
For one day in April, there was quite a bit going on. We are introduced to the people of Centralia, Illinois. In 1961, Centralia, or more precisely, in the middle of a field on Fred Kleiboeker's farm 6.5 miles from town, was the center of population of the United States. A big deal was made of it, especially by politicians running for election that fall. Several local folks reminisced about Centralia in 1961. Mike Booth mused that the "in" car, the car "to have," was the '57 Chevy. He didn't have one though. The movie "Where The Boys Are" touted the fun in Florida during spring break. Walter Shupp, mayor of Centralia, disapproved of young people going to Florida and didn't much care for the music of the day either, as noted by Fred Johnson of the Marcels, whose song "Blue Moon" was popular at the time.
The cleaning product Mr. Clean enjoyed a rather snappy musical beat in the television commercials. Lester Lanin, a big name in society dance bands, recounts that people were always asking him to play "Mr. Clean." At first, he didn't know what the people were talking about. Later, he decided to make an album of "commercial" music because the Mr. Clean song was so popular While we were enjoying peace and prosperity here, there was jubilation in Russia. Sputnik had been shot into space three years earlier, and on this day Yuri Gargarin was the first man sent into space. He orbited 188 miles above the Earth and stayed aloft for 108 minutes. Gherman Tito was the back-up astronaut. Russia was quite aware of what we were doing because they read the reports in the magazines (Life,e.g.)and newspapers. When the news of the space shot was announced, the press gave newly-elected president John Kennedy a hard time because Russia had beat us into space. Our first attempts were unsuccessful. By then, our first attempt to send a man into space was pushed back to May. John Glenn described some concerns that we were dealing with: would the effects of weightlessness cause one to black out, and if so, would the astronaut be able to recover, and would weightlessness cause the eyes to lose shape and become myopic/ Elsewhere, the world's attention was directed to Israel and the trial of Adolph Eichmann who was accused of war crimes. This was the first major trial to be televised. Telford Taylor, a journalist at the trial reported that the trial had three judges and no jury. The tapes of the trial showed the judges and also Eichmann, who was sitting in a glass cubicle. A a translator at the trial described Eichmann as mousy, insignificant, and common.
In the U.S., Kennedy was evaluating his options regarding the Bay of Pigs invasion, a plan which had been thought up by the CIA during the Eisenhower administration. Eisenhower was in favor going on with the plan. Kennedy, when he finally gave his approval, insisted that no American troops would be involved. That was true up to a point. The invasion was to have been accomplished with Cuban exiles, but they had our backing. The plan was found out and fell apart before it started.
Trivia: Hit song, "Mother-in-law" by E.R. Doe; hit movie, "Exodus." Third Annual Grammy Awards: Best music, "Georgia On My Mind" by Ray Charles; Best Female Performer, Ella Fitzgerald with "Mack The Knife." Lord & Taylor Department Store windows featured Andy Warhol's first pop art display. The average federal income tax was $646.66. A Malt in Centralia cost 0.17 cents, and an Italian silk suit in New York cost $135.
Our World: Dangerous Assumptions: Spring 1953 (1987)
Our World: Dangerous Assumptions: Spring 1953
This last episode of Our World begins on a high point with the assumption that Mt. Everest could be conquered. Eleven Brits, two New Zelanders, one Sherpa, and 36 native Sherpa guides began the climb with nine tons of supplies and one color film camera. It was assumed that it would take three days to carve an ice path to the south col and that the limited supply of oxygen wouldn't be needed until later. That three day trek turned into nine days. Edmund Hillary recounts his experience and his feelings as he and Tensing Norgay stood on the summit. It was the responsibility of Lord Hunt to make all the preparations for the trek. No one was lost on that climb.
The U.S. was three years into the Korean War. Lenin was dead, and the U.S. had a new President. The North Koreans and the Chinese agreed to a swap of prisoners at a neutral zone at the 38th parallel. On April 11, 5,800 North Korean and Chinese were swapped for 600 United Nations troops in Operation Little Switch. Adm. John Daniels, USN Ret, took part in the negotiations. Most of the prisoners were sent home shortly after their release, but 21 were flown to Valley Forge hospital for debriefing. The government wanted to be sure that what the prisoners wrote home or said for the cameras was a result of brainwashing and nothing else. Major Henry Segal said that their blank expressions made them look like zombies...the walking dead. The findings were that the men were not anti-American, but they took part because of the need to survive. They endured two four hour sessions a day The coronation of Queen Elizabeth took place that spring and was shown on television by the BBC. Fifteen cameras were placed along the parade route and five were in Wesminster Abbey. Both black and white footage and some awesome color footage highlighted this segment. It was arranged with Peter Denmock, BBC producer, to have Prince Charles brought in right before the coronation. Cost $4,600,000.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had been convicted of treason in 1951 and were sentenced to die this spring. They had run out of appeals and there was no grant of clemency from the president. There were many demonstrations. Some people thought the Rosenbergs were innocent, and others objected because this would be the first time anyone will have been executed in peacetime for conspiracy to commit espionage. William O. Douglas delayed his vacation two days to hear new arguments, but the Supreme Court reconvened and overruled Douglas. In the end, the execution was moved earlier in the evening so as not to violate the Jewish Sabbath.
On television Dinah Shore sang the praises of the Chevrolet automobiles. Perry Como, Tony Bennett, and Patti Page were shown in clips also. I Love Lucy was a big hit starring Lucille Ball, and when Lucille Ball got pregnant, so did Lucy. Life Magazine had exclusive rights to the baby pictures, but Marty Lewis, the west coast editor of the new magazine TV Guide, managed to get a picture for the cover of its first issue and scooped Life.
Television and the movies were in tight competition. Max Youngstein, one of the head men at United Artists, said that Hollywood wanted to chase off television, and they tried to give the public what they couldn't get at home on TV. Cinemascope was bought from France, and David Zanuk promoted it. The first production, staring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons, was "The Robe." Cinerama also made its debut as did 3-D movies. The second 3-D movie was The House Of Wax with Vincent Price. One had to wear special glasses to get the 3-D effect. Films were previewed on Ed Sullivan's TV show The Toast Of The Town. One such film was "Titanic" with Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwick. However, television wasn't dead. Hollywood was selling some old "B" movies to television. "Marty" was a made-for-television film. The Academy Awards were televised live with Bob Hopw as emcee. Ford Motors celebrated its 50th year with a television extravaganza starring Mary Martin and Ethel Merman. The show was done before a live audience and was aired on both ABC and CBS simultaneously.
Other happenings: ***L&M cigarettes developed the cellulose filter tip, "Just what the doctor ordered," a dangerous assumption. ***Robert Alplanalp invented the plastic spray can valve ***The Cincinnati Reds wanted to be known as the Cincinnati Redlegs so they wouldn't be taken for communists, but their official name was Cincinnati Red Stockings. ***Dizzy Dean was an announcer for Major League Baseball on television. ***A truce ended the Korean War. ***There were eleven above ground nuclear bomb tests at Yucca Flats, Nevads. ***The Structure of DNA was discovered. ***Hit song was Patti Page's How Much Is That Doggie In The Window. ***Arthur Miller's The Crucible won the Tony. ***Redbook and Look voted Marilyn Monroe the most promising newcomer.
Ray Gandolff: This is the last of the series that began last September. Our World has not been renewed for next Fall. You have been faithful and eloquent supporters of Our World and deserve better. I hope you get it.
Linda Ellerbee: Every great idea has a flaw equal to or exceeding the greatness of the idea, and nature always rides with the flaw. Take Our World ... a great idea. Our flaw was that we didn't have enough audience. But just because we won't be here next year, that doesn't mean we weren't here this year. We were, and we were proud of Our World. It was about history, and it is about to become history. Nothing is always. Thank you for watching. And by the way, if you are wondering if this thing gets easier with practice, it doesn't. And so it goes.
Our World: Halloween of 1938 (1986)
Our World: Halloween of 1938
The country didn't know it at the time, but it was heading for an unforgettable Halloween. The mood seemed to be right for it. In Europe, Hitler was flexing his muscles. He had his eyes on the western part of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetanland. People in Britain were fearful, and many wore gas masks. Over here there were bubble gum packs with trading cards with an artist's rendering of a concentration camp and the inscription, "WARNING...Don't let it happen over here!" Over here we were still coming out of a depression and millions were still out of work. On September 21 a devastating hurricane struck Long Island and New England. It came without warning and produced 200 mile per hour winds and tidal wave 40 to 40 feet high. Seven hundred lives were lost and there was over $400 million in damage.
While Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berrigan and the other big bands kept peoples' minds at ease, shows like The Shadow, played by Orson Welles, Superman, and other suspense shows kept the pot simmering, even though they were a distraction from the world events. Even Disney's hit movie "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" had a wicked witch. (Note: The Our World program often contained wry bits of humor. In this case, a short clip from the film Snow White was shown which showed her speaking to a dwarf. She said to one, "Oh, you must be Grumpy." Immediately, the picture changed to a picture of Hitler.) Now enters Orson Welles. He had been a campaigner and speech writer for Roosevelt. Roosevelt is said to have quipped that he and Welles were the two greatest actors: Welles' job was to stir the people up while mine (F.D.R.'s) was to pour oil on the troubled waters. Welles' Mercury Theater of The Air played opposite the Edgar Bergan and Charley McCarthy, the highest rated show. For Halloween, Orson Welles chose to adapt H.G. Wells' 1898 version of War Of The Worlds which was set in an English countryside. Welles wanted the script written in first person and taking place over here. A week before the show was to air a final script was yet to be seen. John Houseman and Howard Koch were the writers, and Richard Barr was Welles' assistant. The location of the story, Troy Mills, New Jersey, was determined by dropping a pencil on a map. The program began with a couple miscellaneous announcements and the introduction of a musical program. Very shortly into the music, an announcer came on with a special bulletin. This was not uncommon. There began the serious part of the hoax. Listeners who tuned in a bit late or joined the program in the middle didn't hear the announcements that this was a dramatization only and were moved to confusion and even hysteria. Steve Allen relates how he had turned the radio on for some music and was listening when the hoax began to develop. It sounded so ominous that his mother and aunt thought that they should go to Holy Name Cathedral. As they were exiting the hotel, they noticed that everyone in the lobby was just going on about their business, and the radio playing in the background had something other than what they were hearing upstairs. They had been taken in. Gloria Widlock and Richard Stives reported their observations and feelings from that strange evening. The results: lawsuits were filed, but none were ever settled; CBS apologized as did Welles; the Mercury Players had feared punishment for the hoax; the series was renewed, they got a sponsor, and both their ratings and salaries went up. They later ended up in Hollywood, Welles doing "Citizen Kane" at RKO.
Other items: ***Superman: Kent was patterned after the silent movie star Harold Lloyd and Superman was inspired by Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Writers Schuster and Segal thought that the country needed someone who could step in and do something to help, even though it was only fiction. ***The Lone Ranger made his debut. ***Smith Ballew and Lou Gehrig, playing himself, appeared in the film "Rawhide." ***The Yankees beat the Cubs in four straight in the World Series. Don Budge made the Grand Slam in tennis. Sam Snead raked in $17,000 for the year. ***Cary Grant tan Kathryn Hepburn starred in Bringing Up Baby. Thornton Wilder's Our Town won a Pulitzer Prize. ***Howard Hughes flew around the world in 91 days. ***Eddie Rickenbacker and Lawrence Rockefeller started Eastern Airlines. ***The first Xerox image was made. ***The land speed record of 357.5 miles per hour was set twice in two days.
And came Nestles' Nescafe, the buffalo nickel, the first nylon toothbrush, a pound of round steak was 35 cents, gas was 10 cents a gallon, 75 cents got you prime rib at the London Chophouse in Detroit, and the average worker made $25.00 per week.
Our World: Secrets and Surprises: Autumn 1948 (1987)
Our World: Secrets & Surprises: Autumn 1948
The country was returning to prosperity after the war, retail sales were good, new car designs were appearing...cars with no clutch, no gear shift. A new Chevrolet convertible was $1,750. And there were lots of babies! Alfred C. Kinney got twelve thousand Americans to talk about sex. Among those were Dr. Anthony Pizzo and his wife Patricia who had heard him speak and decided to sign up for the study.
Even though television was becoming popular, radio still had a big draw. Several short clips of radio shows in progress added to the story. One popular show was a give-away show starring Bert Parks, "Stop The Music." The idea was that Parks would be on the phone with a contestant and would play a musical selection. If the contestant could identify the music, the contestant won. Kenneth Crosbie of Bluffton, Indiana, was a contestant. The song identified was "Turkey In The Tree Top." This won the Crosbies some $30,000 in prizes including a new Hudson automobile, Westinghouse washer and dryer, Philco radio-TV-phono combination, and a $1,000 wardrobe for Mr. Crosbie. However, there was no television in their area, as there were few cities with stations. Fred Allen had a radio show opposite Parks. After the third week of Parks' show, Allen's show dropped from number two to number 30. Henry Morgan spoofed "Stop The Music" on Allens show with his "Cease The Melody." Although television wasn't that widespread, it did have its popular shows: The Texaco Star Theater with Milton (Uncle Milty) Berle; Emerson Radio's Toast of The Town with Ed Sullivan, and professional wrestling. Dennis James was the announcer. In order to add some life to the show, he would use a slide whistle when someone was thrown or flipped or a crackle bone, a small device that made a snapping sound, when a wrestler had an arm lock, toe hold, etc. Howdy Doody held the children's' interest, especially when Howdy was "elected" the kids' president.
Speaking of running for president, this was the year of the Harry Truman/Thomas Dewey race. Some called Truman the "accidental president" because he got the job as a result of the death of Roosevelt. Trains were used a lot for campaigning in those days. Elmo and Burns Roper had taken polls up to Labor Day, as did many others. The Ropers didn't do polls after Labor Day because they felt that the nominees were knows and minds were already made up. Then comes the early edition of the Chicago Tribune with the famous headline "Dewey Defeats Truman." The papers were pulled shortly after hitting the streets, but Truman already had his copy and used it to his advantage after the election. The Ropers were baffled at the outcome of the election when all the polls predicted a win for Dewey. The Ropers conducted another poll after the election and asked if the person had voted and who the person voted for. Dewey won again.
Although the war had ended, there was still unrest. Germany had been divided into four parts as was Berlin, one each for the United States, France, Great Britain, and Russia. Berlin was within the Russian sector, and the Russians decided to seal off Berlin from the outside. All contact with the outside was lost. President Truman and Air Force Secy. Stuart Symington along with the British devised the Berlin Air Lift to take supplies to the Berliners. Missions were flown round the clock. Planes landed at three minute intervals. Sir Freddie Laker was a pilot for the British; Lt. Gail Halvorson was a pilot for the Americans. On one layover, Halvorson had some gum which he shared with some children. They were thrilled. He told them if they would wait at the empty field at the end of the runway, he would drop candy and gum on his next flight. This went on for some time. One day he got a letter from a girl, Mercedes, who said that she never got any "candy parachutes." She told him that her house was the one with the chickens in the yard. When he and his crew could never find her house, he sent her a letter with candy and gum. The blockade was lifted May 12, 1949. In 1972, after several requests, Halvorson went to Germany and met Mercedes who still had the letter he had sent to her with the candy.
Also in 1948: Columbia brought out the long play vinyl record that plays at 33 3/3 rpm; there were more than 200 different TV models; Ronald Reagan was a democrat; the Cleveland Browns beat the Boston Braves in the World series; Political conventions were televised for the first time; Campbells V-8 made its debut; Robert Mitchum was indicted for smoking marijuana, and Time magazine was obligated to report what it was; Wild Rex Barney of the Brooklyn dodgers threw a no-hitter against the New York Gians; Mjildred Elizabeth Giller, alias, Axis Sally, was indicted for treason for her pro-Nazi broadcasts in World War II; and Norman Mailer wrote The Naked And The Dead.
Our World: Breaking Barriers: 1954 (1986)
Our World: Breaking Barriers: 1954
This episode opens with a serious medical condition facing the nation: Infantile Paralysis, otherwise known as polio. The viewer sees a line of iron lungs bing moved down a corridor; we hear about the Mothers' March Against Polio; we hear from Dr. Jonas Salk, who with his team of researchers, developed the Salk vaccine; actress Helen Hayes, who lost a daughter to the disease; three students who were inoculated in the first field test, Marilyn Bandell, Michael Rosenfield, and Donald Rosenbloom; and Elaine Whilelan, head of the March of Dimes. Dr. Salk's dead virus vaccine laid the groundwork for Dr. Albert Sabin's live oral vaccine. There were no government controls at that time, so testing moved at a faster pace.
Music was breaking its own barriers. The popular songs were about love ("Seceret Love," "Young at Heart," "When The Moon Hits Your Eye Like A Big Pizza Pie...") which were termed MOR --- middle of the road. Then came rhythm and blues and country western. The combination of R&B and CW brought R&R --- Rock and Roll. We see Bill Haley and the Comets doing James E. Myers' biggest hit, "Rock Around The Clock." It was Alan Freed who termed it rock and roll. Hollywood got into it wish Marlon Brando, leather jacket and all, and rock and roll music in "The Wild One." James E. Keyes and the Chords released Sha-Boom," but it didn't do too well. He felt that the "sha-boom" echoed the sound the bombs made when detonated. There was much H-bomb testing in those days. Johnny Perkins and the Chords tweaked the song a little bit and it became a big hit.
That moved the show into a segment on H-bomb testing in the Marshall Islands. Bernard O'Keefe was one who pushed the button at one time. He says they didn't do countdowns back then. Clips of Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower and Bishop Fulton Sheen were shown making comments about the testing. Although safety was a prime concern in the testing, many people were affected because of a wind shift which sent radiation in the wrong direction. This activity brought about some box office activity with shows like Creature From The Black Lagoon, Them, and the Japanese film Godzilla.
The sports scene was quiet this episode with only a small portion given to Roger Bannister beating the four minute mile (3:59.4) and the beginning of Sports Illustrated after a trial issue called Minorx.
Since ABC had almost no daytime programming, it put on the (Eugene) McCarthy Senate Hearings which lasted 36 days. The whole point was to search for communists in the army and the state department. He was very harsh and mean. It was his use of a "doctored" picture which began his downfall.
And then there was the Brown v. (Topeka) Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court concerning "separate, but equal" school policies which had been on the books since 1856. Earl Warren was the Chief Justice. There were no dissenters on the ruling. A popular television program for children was Ding Dong School. The color of the children at that school made no difference to anyone. Linda Brown, her mother, Charles Scott, the Topeka lawyer, and Dr. Frank Wilson, the school Principal, all gave an account.
On television: Ozzie and Harriet, Dragnet, Superman, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, Liberace, the commercial showing a peach being shaved with an electric razor, and the last of the weekly "Your Show of Shows" (Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner) because it was too expensive to produce. (Married people slept in separate beds in those days, too!)
Miscellany, and there is a lot this time: ***#1 song: "Little Things Mean A Lot" ***#1 non-fiction best seller: The Holy Bible ***Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) was Bar Mitzvahed ***Patricia Kennedy and Peter Lawford were married ***First transistor radio ***First two-seater sports car - the Corvette ***RCA was the first color TV...cost about $1,000. ***Swanson TV dinners ***Books: Life Is Worth Living (Bishop Fulton Sheen), The Power Of Positive Thinking (Dr. Norman Vincent Peale) ***Arturo Toscanini conducted his final concert ***Gangster Frank Costello was sent to prison for 5 years for tax evasion ***Dwight Eisenhower authorized the building of the Air Force Acadamy ***"Pajama Game" opened on Broadway ***Audrey Hepburn got best actress for "Roman Holiday" ***Johnny Carson made network debut with the game show Earn Your Vacation ***The tomb of Pharoah Cheops was uncovered
Our World: Long Winter, Short Spring: 1937 (1987)
Our World: Long Winter, Short Spring:1937
This episode relates four separate events in substantial detail along with some other miscellany, which is usually provided. The first part deals with the country's emerging from eight years of depression. Things are getting better, but there is still the division of blacks v. white, rich v. poor. Much of this part is told through the eyes of the still and motion picture cameras. Photographers with the Farm Security Administration recorded on film pictures of American Poverty: America's record, the people and the happenings. The Federal Theater Project arranged for inexpensive tickets so more people would have the chance to see the productions, and the Federal Writer's Project gave young writers a chance to be known. Several letters written to the White House were read which expressed the feelings of the people. Roosevelt is shown speaking to the poor.
The second part detailed the troubles at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan. Workers there became disgruntled with the low wages and long hours, 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, and talked of unionizing. They organized a sit-down strike which shut the plant down. After a period of time, the Governor, Frank Murphy, sent in troops --- not to stop the strike, but to ensure order. In order to deal a big blow, the strikers moved to the main plant which forced management to allow the union. The wives of the strikers joined in by helping in whatever way they could. (Sit-down strikes were outlawed in 1937.)
Part Three deals with the days of radio and uses short sound bites and some film clips for detail. A clip of The Big Boadcast of 1937 shows Jack Benny and George Burns and Gracie Allen. The best entertainers came right into your home on the radio, or one could go to the movie house to see them. Another clip shows Major Bowes introducing his amateur hour show (round and round she goes, and where she'll stop nobody knows). An interesting note was that "ringers" were often in the guest line-up. Votes were cast by phone, and since one couldn't see the performer, no one knew. Band music was big in those days. Benny Goodman is thought to be the first to hire a black musician...Lionel Hampton. Nice clip showing Goodman, Hampton, Harry James, trumpet, and Gene Krupa, Drums. Radio did't distinguish between black and white. Hampton related that he was always treated well by Goodman. Bandleader Artie Shaw tells that the trouble the blacks had was not with the bands or the band leaders, but with hotels and diners which would not allow blacks. Saturday night was the night of the big band remotes.
The Fourth Part visited Spain where there was civil war fighting fascism. The Spanish Republicans were standing up the elected government. Hitler and Musolini were aiding Franco. About three thousand from the U.S. as well as men from other countries went over to assist. The victory was short-lived. At this time Picasso painted Guernica, a 11.5 x25.5 foot picture depicting the cries of anguish and the horrors of war. It only took about a month to do. (NOTE: A copy of this painting is displayed outside the doors of the UN Security Council. It was covered with a blue drape, much nicer backdrop for pictures they say, on Jan. 17, 2003.) Other pieces of art from the children there were also shown.
Persons of interest: John Housman, Studs Terkel, Carl Mydans, Governor Frank Murphy, Eddie Lawrence, Artie Shaw, Lionel Hampton, and players in the sit-down strike and the Abe Lincoln Freedom Fighters who went to Spain.
Miscellany: Hit Song, "Marie" by Tommy Dorsey. Top box office star, Shirley Temple. New on NBC radio, "The Guiding Light". First issue, Look Magazine. Best sellers, Gone With The Wind and How To Win Friends And Influence People. Literature and Film, Lost Horizon, The Good Earth, and "A Star Is Born." Ronald Reagan leaves WHO radio in Des Moines,Iowa, and takes a $200/week job with Warner Bros. A Hudson Terraplane automobile $595.One dozen eggs, 0.36 cents and one half gallon of milk, 0.12 cents.
Our World: Winds of Change: Winter 1968 (1987)
Winds of Change: 1968
The "winds of change" were more like a cyclone. We find President Johnson, LBJ, in the midst of the Vietnam War which had begun some years earlier and could continue several more years. He found it difficult as time went on to balance his domestic War on Poverty with the War on Communism in Vietnam. He began losing the support of his advisers, the media, and the people. Dick Salant, President of CBS News, sent Walter Cronkite to Vietnam to see what was really going on. After Cronkite's return, CBS aired a news program with Cronkite reporting his findings and following up with his own commentary. In the program and commentary, Cronkite stated that he didn't think we were winning. LBJ commented afterward that if we lose Cronkite, we lose a whole lot of people. Of course, the continual visual images of the war on television including the incursion into the U.S. Embassy compound in Saigon didn't help. Martin Luther King also withdrew his support for the war.
In the political arena, the war dominated the primary season. LBJ had announced that he would not seek, nor would he accept the nomination for the presidency. Eugene McCarthy was a candidate. Many young people got shaves and haircuts so they could be "clean for Gene." George Wallace was also a candidate. Before Robert Kennedy declared his intentions, he offered a deal to LBJ. The deal being that Kennedy would not run if Johnson would organize a group of "wise men" who would make recommendations and then abide by those recommendations. Johnson refused. There was also Nixon and George Romney.
In the sports world, Peggy Fleming, who did not attend the opening ceremonies because her competition was early the following morning, won the gold in figure skating. Jean-Claude Killy won the gold in skiing after Karl Shrantz was disqualified. Shrantz protested saying that someone had entered the course and he was just avoiding that person. The judges went to the ABC control room and spent several hours reviewing the tapes for a final decision. (Jim McKay thinks this is probably the first use of video replay in this manner.) No one was seen. This Olympic Games was the first to be televised in color using a total of 36 cameras as opposed to 100 to be used in the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
Television saw The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, USMC, and Petticoat Junction. Laugh-In also started. George Schlater said that when the execs saw it, they didn't like it. They said no one would understand it. When Schlater said, "Well, you laughed," they let it go if the show would be tightened up a little. Jimmy Durante is seen doing the song Old Man Time on the show Hollywood Palace, which just happened to air the night before Johnson's "I shall not seek" speech. Other performers noted were Jim Morrison of the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. All died shortly after.
This episode was packed with visuals and interviews: Dean Rusk, Secy of State; Harry McPherson, LBJ speech writer; Clark Clifford, Secy of Defense; Peter Max, artist; Jeff Grudnick, CBS News; Frank Mankiewicz, RFK's press secy; Rod McKuen, writer; George Christian, LBJ's press secy; Hugh Sidey, Life Magazine; Jack Valenti; Walter Cronkite, CBS News; George Schlater, Laugh-In; Peggy Flemming, gold medal winner; Jim McKay, ABC Sports; General William Westmorland; Alan Wendt, State Dept. official at the embassy in Saigon; Philip Habib, special envoy.
Other happenings: both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated; riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago; Lt. Jane Lombardi, an Air Force nurse was the first woman to receive a combat decoration for service in Vietnam; Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was killed testing a new aircraft; the space shuttle prototype HL-10 was tested; gasoline was 33.9 cents per gallon; gas stations were having give-aways, 304 of them...Dino Dollars at Sinclair; the wars in the Falkland Islands an on Granada were taken by the military because because the government didn't want to fight another war on TV; at the ordination of an Episcopal priest in California, Hymns were sung by the rock group Mother's Laundry, and the sermon was "God Is Doing His Thing"; the Beatles were in India meditating with the Maharishi; and Lisa Marie Presley was born.
Our World: Autumn 1956 (1986)
Autumn 1956 - content
The introduction previews what will come up by saying that "this is a remarkable time," and references the Hungarian rejection of the Communists, the Mideast War and the Suez Canal crisis, the summer Olympics in Australia (held in November...their spring), segregation, Rock and Roll, and a perfect world series baseball game.
In politics, the election campaigns featured Eisenhower/Nixon and Stevenson/Kefauver. Eisenhower threw out the first ball in Game One of the World Series (Dodgers v Yankees) and Stevenson threw out the ball for the second game. In Hungary, the people, the Freedom Fighters, rejected the Communist rule, but that was short-lived. In the Middle East, Israel invaded Egypt with the backing of England and France. It was on the day of the invasion that Reuven Frank, head of NBC News initiated a new evening news program featuring Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, whose closing lines, "Good night, David; Good Night,Chet" became popular. Martin Luther King called off the eleven month old Montgomery bus boycott resulting from the incident with Rosa Parks.
In music, arts and Literature, Broadway was a hit with "My Fair Lady," where eight dollars got one the best seat in the house, The "Pajama Game," "Damn Yankees" (Gwen Verdon), "Bells Are Ringing," "Most Happy Fella," and "Mister Wonderful" (Sammy Davis). In the theater, Charleton Heston "parted the Red Sea" in the "Ten Commandments." Profiles In Courage and Peyton Place were big sellers at the book store. The advent of Rock and Roll was seen as a form of juvenile delinquency. As a result, Mayor Bernard Berry banned a concert by Bill Haley and the Comets "for the good of the community." Of Course, Elvis was becoming more popular.
In sports, as was already mentioned, Don Larson pitched a no-hitter in the World Series. In the Olympics, Hungary defeated the Russia and Yugoslavia to win the gold medal in Water Polo. After the Olympics, more than half of the Hungarian team defected.
Miscellaney: the popular cars of the year were the Ford, Chevrolet Bel-Aire, and a DeSoto for $2,732. Raid,the first aerosol bug killer was marketed, Clairon came out with "does she or doesn't she," Toreador pants were hot items, a gallon of premium gasoline cost twenty-nine cents, and the interstate system got its start.
Interviews: David Brinkley, Reuven Frank, Don Larson, Yogi Berra, Dale Mitchell, Sammy Davis, Sir Anthony Nutting, Andrew Goodpaster, Richard Nixon, Gwen Verdon, Bob Hope, Mayor Berry, Neil Martins and Gordon Stocker (the Jordanaires, Elvis' backup), Eva Szorenzi, Hungarian movie star, Ervin Sador, Hungarian polo player, and Al Oerter, American discus thrower.
Our World (1986)
History at its finest
I was fortunate to have taped the Our World episodes. I have twenty-four complete shows and two incomplete shows. There were twenty-six episodes total. I left the commercials intact, except for one show, as I recall. I was teaching Contemporary History at the time and encouraged my students to watch the program. Many of them did. It made for good discussion the next day. My chore now is to see if I can find air-dates for them. On air comments indicate which episode was first (Summer of '69) and which episode was last (Liberation Summer 1944). I plan to view all of them and write a summary of each. That is probably a good project for when the snow starts flying. I wouldn't think that a show like this would fare any better now because of all the offerings of the cable world, but it is hard to say.