Sunday, June 28, 2015

SUNDAYS WITH SHARON: Living The Dream

Sometimes we aren't thankful enough for our successes. The world has gotten to be a strange and dangerous place. In my talk yesterday, I discussed how now is the perfect time to be a writer. And who can forget the 2008-2009 time when we were worried the stock market would crash and there'd be war right around the corner? Some writers wrote their best works, and great movies were produced during another dangerous time.

Here's what was happening some 70+ years ago:

Major Political/World Events:

            General Franco and his Nationalists won the Spanish Civil War
            Germany and Italy sign the “Pact of Steel”
            Germany annexes remaining Czech territories, Czech Republic is dissolved
            Italy occupies Albania
            Soviet-Japanese border war erupts
            Nazi-Soviet pact formed
            Germany invades Poland (beginning WWII)
            Britain, France, India, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany
            US decides to remain neutral, but begins to arm for war to help ease
                        effects of the depression
            USSR attacks Finland
            USSR is expelled from the League of Nations (precursor to UN)
Albert Einstein writes letter to FDR about the possibility of an atomic bomb
and the Manhattan Project is launched


Other background for those times:

World Leaders are:

            USSR:              Joseph Stalin
            UK                   Neville Chamberlain
            USA:                Franklin D. Roosevelt
            Japan:             goes through 4 in less than 8 months
            Australia:        goes through 4 in less than 5 months
            Germany:       Adolf Hitler
            Italy:               Benito Mussolini

And then some major accomplishments:


            Gone With The Wind is made from Margaret Mitchell’s book in 1936
            Heinkel He 178 is the first jet aircraft to fly
            John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath
            Of Mice and Men was made
            The Jefferson Memorial is started in Washington, DC
            Hewlett Packard is formed
            The first air conditioner is offered in a car: Packard
            New York World’s Fair is hosted by US

Here’s what things cost:

            Average new home price: $3,800.
            Average wages per year: $1,730.
            Cost of a gallon of Gas:  10 cents
            Average cost to rent a house:  $28. Per month
            Loaf of bread:  8 cents
            1# Hamburger:   14 cents
            Average new car:  $700.
            Toaster:  $16.
            Due to increased usage, cost of electricity is cut ½ in 10 years


Do you know that people thought publishing houses and the movie studios were done? That no new books would be printed, movies made?

They were wrong then. They are wrong now. Keep Writing!! 

4 comments:

  1. I love that shirt. And another great blog. People don't look back at history as much as they should. You have to remember the past while you look ahead to the future.

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    Replies
    1. I agree, Karen. Says a lot when we look at where we've come.

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  2. Another thoughtful posts Sharon.Nice shirt

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