Where were you 70 years ago today?

**Ray1936** · July-12-09, 07:51 PM

Hey, I know where I was. Pt is probably the only other one who might be able to recall. But here's the story to the posting of this thread.

The picture below shows my Dad holding a Chicago newspaper. The sports headline says "A.L. Stars win 3-1". On the back of the photo it says "Upper Peninsula near Marquette". Well, a little research shows the AL beat the NL in the 1939 all-star game, 3-1, on July 11, 1939. Dad is no doubt holding the paper from the next day, or July 12, 1939: seventy years ago today.

That's me in the sailor suit. So there.

**Bobl** · July-12-09, 08:14 PM

Nice threads, Ray.
A few weeks later, my parents were married. As part ot the table layout at their 50th anniversary celebration, I included a copy of the front page of The Detroit News on their wedding date.
There were some more ominous headlines, involving Germany, in that newspaper!

**Blueidone** · July-12-09, 09:39 PM

I was not even a glint in my father's eye yet...

**tponetom** · July-13-09, 11:12 AM

Ray,
Not exactly 70 years, but on September 8, 1939 [[age: not quite 11) I was being hauled away to the hospital to repair my broken leg. Fencing with windmills is O.K. but don't mess with automobiles.
I sorely miss photographs, of any nature, documenting those early years.

**gazhekwe** · July-13-09, 11:17 AM

My parents were getting ready for their senior year in high school, Mom at Detroit Central, Dad in Brimley. I wasn't even a twinkle in anybody's eye yet.

**tponetom** · July-13-09, 04:44 PM

Ray:
I just remembered something. My younger sister has a picture of me at age 4. I was almost as pretty as you at that age. But then I grew up with freckles.

**Ray1936** · July-13-09, 05:25 PM

Tp, you and I have another parallel life.....my tangle with a car was about 1944 at Schaefer and Ford Road. Except for getting the wind knocked out of me, no injury. Was on my bike and it was my fault. Kind of ruined my day, though.

I'm very fortunate. Coming from a family of photography nuts, I have hundreds of old B&W photos of the family. Oldest goes back to 1859. In recent years, I've removed them from tattered old albums and re-mounted them in modern diamond-clear sleeve albums. I've also digitized them with captions, sending CD copies to family members.

I've also got tombstone photos of most of the relatives. Here's 7gt grandma Liz.

**eriedearie** · July-13-09, 11:41 PM

Dad was 14 and mom was 10. There was a State Line and 25 Appalachian mountain miles that separated them. Wasn't until Easter Sunday 1946 that a twist of fate led them to meet. They tied the knot that November. I didn't show up till 13 months later.

**Ray1936** · July-14-09, 10:40 AM

Which reminds me, Erie. I'm greatly amused at the number of family pairs who married just a few months before their first-born. I've become so good on time charting that I've learned I was conceived in Chicago but born in Detroit.

**EMG** · July-14-09, 02:47 PM

Where was I SEVENTY years ago?

A mere sperm cell in my grandfather's....oh never mind!

**eriedearie** · July-14-09, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

Which reminds me, Erie. I'm greatly amused at the number of family pairs who married just a few months before their first-born. I've become so good on time charting that I've learned I was conceived in Chicago but born in Detroit.

yeah Ray - me too! When doing my family research I look at that stuff. However, in my immediate family there seems to be an unwritten 13 month rule! Both sets of my grandparents were married 13 months before their 1st born children arrived. My mom and dad - 13 months before I was born. Me and Mr. Erie 13 months before our son; then our son and his wife 13 months before our grandson! Is it any wonder why the number 13 is my lucky number???!!!

BTW you looked soooo cute in your little sailor suit!

**Alley** · July-15-09, 01:23 PM

I was -39!

**Lowell** · July-16-09, 08:17 AM

...and for the text-messaging, Facebook-web-surfing youngins' out there, that thing Ray's dad is holding was called a "newspaper". News was actually printed on giant sheets of paper and then brought to your house by little boys on bicycles and...

The headline seems to be "ANTI-NEUTRALITY BILL DEFEATED". What a blissful shot of the world on the verge of the most devastating war ever, soon to begin on Sept. 3, 1939. The bill was a big setback for Roosevelt who wanted to take measures against supplying fascist dictators. Details Here

**Bobl** · July-16-09, 10:31 AM

A great history lesson can be found by reading newspapers of that era.
There was a lot of support for the fascists in Europe among U.S. businesses and clergy, even the American Legion.
Henry Ford, Father Coughlin and other locals come to mind.
Despite this, when push came to shove, the American manufacturing worker rose to the occasion, in support of our troops.
Who would rescue us now, with the manufacturers locating in China, India, Romania, etc?

**Omaha** · July-18-09, 02:51 PM

Nice post about newpapers, Bobl.

I wasnâ€™t around yet, but my dad was 15 and enjoying the summer between his junior and senior year at Eastern High School [[I have his 1937 year book). My mom was enjoying her summer hanging out in Whitmore Lake.

**lpg** · July-28-09, 07:25 PM

I wasn't even thought of yet. My dad was working at Michigan Malleable Iron Company in Delray. My mom was working at Wyandotte Laundry. They would not even meet until after the war broke out. They were married in 1947. I made my grand entrance in late 1949.

**oladub** · October-03-09, 01:07 AM

Before my time. My father was dairy farming in northern Ontario. My mother was attending Foch on Beniteau.

**Grundyke** · October-03-09, 09:57 AM

I was negative 36!

**reddog289** · October-04-09, 01:04 AM

Well this being Oct, I was still 29 yrs away. Yet my Dad and StepDad were killing rats around their near WestSide homes some 70yrs ago. Ray and TP was that also one of your pastimes growing up?

**the rock** · October-04-09, 06:50 AM

Back to the game--'39 All Star Game was led by "Rapid Robert" Feller of the Indians on the mound, followed in rotation by Detroit's own, Tommy Bridges, and,of course, #5, Hank Greenberg of the Tigers, at first base. Lots of Yankees in the lineup too.

I am afraid we fled Detroit that month [[ Pennington Street) and year and headed to Birmingham.

Koppitz Beer was a Detroit product back then. Also,it was kind of a sad time as the Navy was trying to salvage the ill-fated Squalus off the New Hampshire coastline. That tragedy is still talked about.

.

**Alfie1a** · October-04-09, 08:05 AM

I just received this photo this morning. It shows my dad and his sister approximately 70 years ago in Calumet, Michigan. I would bet that he was excited about that game. My mother was living somewhere near W. Grand Blvd. and Grand River at the time.

As for myself, I was a just a bunch of molecules randomely scattered about the planet.

**Alfie1a** · October-04-09, 08:07 AM

PHP Code:


...and for the text-messaging, Facebook-web-surfing youngins' out there, that thing Ray's dad is holding was called a "newspaper". News was actually printed on giant sheets of paper and then brought to your house by little boys on bicycles and...

that's funny Lowell

hmm. don't really know how you guys do that quote thing

**Ray1936** · October-04-09, 12:58 PM

In that picture, I was just three years old. I know that memories of being three years old don't hardly exist in your later years, but there was one thing on that trip that does trigger memories.

The 'big song' of that particular summer was "Donkey Serenade", by.....um, gee, that I don't remember. Unique song. Anyway, today, when I [[very rarely!) hear that song, it triggers a memory of Michigan's upper peninsula and that 1939 vacation. True.

Or maybe I remember remembering, or something like that. Who knows?

**Jimaz** · October-04-09, 02:43 PM

"The Donkey Serenade"-ALLAN JONES

**eriedearie** · October-04-09, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

Or maybe I remember remembering, or something like that. Who knows?

Ray I believe you really do remember. I remember stuff from my childhood when I was very young. I've mentioned things to my mom from our lives when I was 3 years old. My mom is excellent at remembering things from the past and she will tell me how old I was when those things happened. Like when we lived in Charleston, WV. I remember the color of our couch and the color of the walls. I remember the dog from next door. I remember going to the beautiful gold domed State Capital Building and walking all over the place. I remember walking up the steps to the capital with my father and mother holding my hands. But most of all I remember the day that my baby brother died from sudden infant death syndrome. He was 6 months old. Back then I think it was just referred to as suffocation. Yep, I was 3 years old.

So I think we can remember some very early happenings in our lives. You remembered it Ray!