New Year's Eve; 1939
"In six hours, we will enter a whole new decade." Irene stood on the bank of Flat Iron Lake. The lake had two tributaries, one that went south and towards the town of Thieves' Landing. The other went north and separated a vast mountain valley from the Great Plains. The rushing waters of the northern tributary was a wonder to watch. The river ran away from Nekoti Rock, Cochinay, and through the Redemption Mountains.
Just south of the river and north of the farm was a railroad track that went through Blackwater and Manzanita Post.
Irene, Jack, and the children watched the water as the sun set to the west.
"Does the sun always go that way?," Landon asked.
"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west," Jack replied.
"What's the forties gonna hold?," Angela asked.
"Who knows?," Jack asked.
World War Two was still in full force. The economy was in the gutter. There were almost no jobs. Many people were taking pay cuts, including Jack and Irene. Clothes were more expensive, forcing families to make clothes last longer for their fast-growing children.
Irene was worried. What would happen in the new decade? How would she and Jack care for their family, especially a child who needed more than other children?
Jack and Irene were full of worry. They both had always heard that things often got worse before they got better.
Just how much worse could things get now? When would it get better? How much better would it get? How long would it take to actually get any better?
END
Author's Notes:
The Ford Roadster was an early pick-up truck. Search "pick-up truck" on Wikipedia to see a photo of it.
Events in the 1930's
Rainey Bethea has the historic distinction of being the last person being publicly and legally hanged in the United States. He was hung on August 14, 1936; in Owensboro, Kentucky; about 120 miles southwest of Bloomington.
Canada and other countries under the British Empire sign the Statute of Westminster in 1931 establishing effective parliamentary independence of Canada from the parliament of the United Kingdom.
United States Marine Corps general Smedley Butler confesses to the U.S. Congress in 1934 that a group of industrialists contacted him, requesting his aid to overthrow the U.S. government of Roosevelt and establish what he claimed would be a fascist regime in the United States.
Newfoundland voluntarily returns to British colonial rule in 1934 amid its economic crisis during the Great Depression with the creation of the Commission of Government, a non-elected body.
Canadian Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King meets with Adolf Hitler in 1937 in Berlin. King is the only North American head of government to meet with Hitler.
Amelia Earhart receives major attention in the 1930's as the first woman pilot to conduct major air flights. Her disappearance for unknown reasons in 1937 while on flight prompted search efforts which failed.
Southern Great Plains devastated by decades-long Dust Bowl.
In 1932 the Cipher Bureau broke the German Enigma cipher and overcame the ever-growing structural and operating complexities of the evolving Enigma machine with plug board, the main German cipher device during World War II.
On March 8, 1930, the first frozen foods of Clarence Birdseye were sold in Ringfield, Massachusetts, United States.
In 1930, Warner Brothers released the first All-Talking All-Color wide-screen movie, Song of the Flame; in 1930 alone, Warner Brothers released ten All-Color All-Talking feature movies in Technicolor and scores of shorts and features with color sequences.
Air mail service across the Atlantic Ocean began.
Radar was invented, known as RDF (Radio Direction Finding) by Robert Watson-Watt in 1938.
In 1933, the 3M company marketed Scotch Tape.
In 1931, RCA Victor introduced the first long-playing phonograph record.
In 1935, the British London and North Eastern Railway introduced the A4 Pacific, designed by Nigel Gresley. Just three years later, one of these, No. 4468 Mallard, would become the fastest steam locomotive in the world.
In 1936, Kodachrome is invented, being the first color film made by Eastman Kodak.
In 1936, The first regular high-definition (then defined as at least 200 lines) television service from the BBC, based at Alexandra Palace in London, officially begins broadcasting.
The Volkswagen Beetle, one of the best selling automobiles ever produced, had its roots in Nazi Germany in the late 1930's. Created by Ferdinand Porsche and his chief designer Erwin Komenda. The car would prove to be successful, and is still in production today.
First intercontinental commercial airline flights.
The chocolate chip cookie was accidentally developed by Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1930.
The Frying Pan was the first electric lap steel guitar ever produced.
Edwin Armstrong invented wide-band frequency modulation radio in 1933.
The Bass guitar was invented by Paul Tutmarc of Seattle, Washington in 1936.
Radio becomes dominant mass media in industrial nations.
"Swing" music starts becoming popular (from 1935 onward). It gradually replaces the sweet form of Jazz that had been popular for the first half of the decade.
"Delta Blues" music, the first recorded in the late 1920's, was expanded by Robert Johnson and Skip James, two of the most important and influential acts of "Blues" genre.
Sergei Rachmaninoff composed Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in 1934.
Charlie Christian becomes the first electric guitarist to be in a multiracial band with Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton in 1939.
Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937.
The Little Princess, starring Shirley Temple, was released in 1939.
The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939.
Anne Sullivan, the teacher who taught Helen Keller, died October 20, 1936, at age 70 after falling into a coma. Helen was holding her hand as she passed away.
4