Time Capsule Tuesday

 Mary Margaret Hesser Ranney, my 2nd great-grandmother, passed away on Wednesday, October 6, 1920, at the age of 78.  She passed less than a month after her husband of nearly 52 years, Comfort Ranney.

So let's take a look at what was happening in the United States in October of 1920 and during that entire year.

In 1920, Woodrow Wilson was President, and the Vice President was Thomas R. Marshall.  It was the 66th Congress that year.  

1920 was a Census year.  This census was the first to record a population exceeding 100 million.  Because there are so many mixed-race persons and because so many Americans with some black ancestry appear white, the Census Bureau stops counting mixed-race people and the one-drop rule becomes the national legal standard.  (The one-drop rule asserted that any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry - "one drop" of black blood - is considered black.)

In 1920, Prohibition in the United States begins with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution coming into effect. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.

The U.S. Post Office rules that children may not be sent via parcel post.  Was this even a thing?!  

The first commercial radio station in the U.S., 8MK (WWJ), owned by the Detroit News, begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.

The National Football League is founded.

The Nineteenth Amended to the United States Constitution is passed, guaranteeing women's suffrage.

The first domestic radio sets come to the stores - Westinghouse costs $10.

In the November presidential election, Warren G. Harding defeats James M Cox.  This is the first national election in which women have the right to vote.

 1920 Prices

Bread:  $.11/loaf

Milk: $.58/gal

Eggs:  $.39/dozen

Car: $345

Gas: $.30/gal

 House: $6,296

Stamp: $.02/each

Average Income: $1,130/year

Top Songs for 1920:

The Love Boat by Gene Buck

Margie by Benny Davis

Whose Baby Are You? by Anne Caldwell

Avalon by Al Jolson

Japanese Sandman by Raymond Egan

Mah Lindy Lou by Lily Strikland

Top Books in 1920:

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

The Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Top Films of 1920:

Way Down East starring Lillian Gish and Richard Barthelmess

Over the Hill to the Poorhouse (a silent film) starring Mary Carr

Passion (A German film released in the U.S.) starring Pola Negri and Emil Jannings 

The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks

Hot New Toys in 1920:

Raggedy Ann

Crayola Crayons

Tiddledy Winks

Parcheesi

Snakes and Ladders

Lionel Trains

Lincoln Logs

Ouija Boards

Pogo Stick

Teddy Bear

Also... 1920 was the beginning of the Roaring Twenties!

People born on October 6, 1920:

1846 - George Westinghouse, responsible for alternating current in the U.S.

1909 - Carol Lombard, actress (My Man Godfrey, In Name Only)

1925 - Shana Alexander, NYC journalist (60 Minutes)

Happenings on October 6, 1920:

* Since the invention of the airplane in 1903, flying after dusk had been too dangerous to attempt.  On this date, a demonstration was held at midnight on Long Island, New York, of an airplane equipped with powerful arc lamps bright enough for the pilot to illuminate a landing site while making an approach to an airport.  Because arc lighting was a fire hazard, the test also demonstrated that an aircraft could make a safe approach even while the metal was ablaze.  

* The U.S. Navy made its first public demonstration of the new magnetized Ambrose Channel pilot cable navigational aid.  This introduced the first technology that would allow ships to sail into New York using only instruments during heavy fog, rather than having to wait outside for the fog to clear.  

* For the first time in eight years, a passenger train from Mexico was allowed to cross into the United States, as President-Elect Alvaro Obregon traveled rom Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas for a visit.