SEVENTY YEARS PAST

SEVENTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  

1946

Most members of our class were born in '46 and are reaching the 70 year mark this year. That's a big one to celebrate--HUGE!!  We can no longer deny that we are full-fledged senior citizens when the mirror brings the realization we have reached a certain age that some describe as "older than dirt"!   But, at our 50th reunion, everyone looked so good and young for our age that it's a surprise to add up the years.  

Taking stock of seven decades of change, we can only feel gratitude for the experience of living this wonderful life and reaching this septuagenarian stage.  We have so much in common with others our age that it's a special joy to be reconnected as a class through this part of the journey; celebrating old and new friendships with classmates makes this time richer still.  That we would want to celebrate this milestone birthday together warms all our hearts and this August we will do so through the hospitality of Roland and Judy Draeger (if you haven't received details of this 70th birthdays party please comment below and I'll contact you).  

As I make this post on Memorial Day 2016, and visit the Memorial Tribute to deceased members of our class, it brings pause that those members aren't with us to share in this time. Their memories and spirits are always with us when we gather and relive old times.  In the words of our Alma Mater:  "Glacier we will cherish, through all the years to come, And when we're gone, the memories will linger on and on...."  It's special to be making still more memories to cherish in the days to come.  

In tribute to those of us born in 1946, here are the highlights of that eventful year.  Enjoy every day.  Stay well.  Happy 70th Birthday GHS '64!  See you in August!

1946 

Following the end of the war people expected a better life than before the war years with the Great Depression causing poverty and hardship worldwide. There were major shortages in jobs and housing for those returning from war.  Around the world the start of the baby boom also started as couples married and had children. There were still shortages of food and materials. 

U.S. Statistics

President: Harry S Truman
Vice President: nonePopulation: 141,388,566Life expectancy: 66.7 yearsHomicide Rate (per 100,000): 6.4
Economics

• New house $5,600.00 

• Average House Price 1,459

• Average wages per year $2,500.00 

• Cost of a gallon of Gas15 cents 

• Average Cost of a new car $1,120.00 

• Worlds First Electric Blanket $39.50 

• Men's Ties $1.50 

• Watermans Pen $8.75

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $222.6 billion
Federal spending:   $55.23 billion
Federal debt:   $271.0 billion
Dow Jones High/Low:   212/165
Consumer Price Index:   19.5
Unemployment:   3.9%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.03
Average Costs: (source: The People History)

News:

• First Meeting of United Nations:  January, 1946

• Five die in riot at Alcatraz
• Bikinis were introduced in Paris (reached U.S. much later in the 1960s)
• Thirty million people are close to starving in China
• Phillippines gain independence after 48 years of U.S. rule
• 7.4 magnitude undersea earthquake in Alaska causes tsunami in Hawaii with waves reaching sixty feet and 150+ deaths (photo of Hilo)

• Tupperware introduced to U.S. consumers in hardware and department stores
• UNICEF fund established
• War crimes trials held in Nuremburg and Tokyo
• Introduction of the first programmable, general purpose electronic digital computer at University of Pennsylania.  Called ENIAC, it sttod for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.

• Former Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his famous "Iron Curtain" speech while visiting the U.S.

Sports

• World Series

      St. Louis Cardinals d. Boston Red Sox (4-3)

• Stanley Cup

      Montreal d. Boston (4-1)

• Wimbledon

      Women: Pauline Betz d. L. Brough (6-2 6-4)
      Men: Yvon Petra d. G. Brown (6-2 6-4 7-9 5-7 6-4)

• Kentucky Derby Champion

      Assault

• NCAA Basketball Championship

      Oklahoma A&M d. North Carolina (43-40)

• NCAA Football Champions

      Notre Dame (8-0-1)

• World Cup

       Not Held

Science

• US Atomic Energy Commission formed 
• Vincent du Vigneaud (US) synthesizes penicillin
• US Army makes radar contact with the moon for the first time

Books

• Elizabeth Bishop, North and South
• Albert Camus, The Stranger
• Robert Lowell, Lord Weary's Castle
• Carson McCullers, The Member of the Wedding
• Benjamin Spock, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
• Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men
• Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
• Eudora Welty, Delta Wedding
• William Carlos Williams, Paterson, Part One

Movies

• It's a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra (director), James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
• The Best Years of Our Lives, William Wyler (director), Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy
• The Razor's Edge, Edmund Goulding (director), Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter

Academy Awards

    Best Movie:  The Lost Weekend produced by Paramount 

   Best Director:  Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend

   Best Actor:    Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend

   Best Actress:  Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce

Music (top 5 for the year)

To listen, click on the hot linked title of the song: 

   Prisoner of Love, Perry Como

   To Each His Own, Eddy Howard

   The Gypsy, Inkspots

   Five Minutes More, Frank Sinatra

   Oh! What It Seemed to Be, Frankie Carle

Somehow, listening to these tunes makes me realize how very long seventy years is!  We've come a long, long way and still enjoying the ride.  See you all in August.  Thank you to Roland and Judy Draeger for offering 'Hillbilly Heaven' for our gathering.  And to Linda Putman Wise,  Larry Freeburn, and Judy Huntington Jewell for all the organization and behind the scenes work to give us all a fun day.  Looking forward to it!  Best to all!  

Respectfully submitted:  5/30/2016

Diana Stillwell Carew

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