Young Historians: Easter and 1939

During the 1930’s, children dyed eggs. Many kids in Cavendish would have used homemade dyes. Eggs would be placed in a pot with red onionskins and boiled. They would also use red cabbage leaves, spinach leaves, as well as strong brewed coffee. There were egg dye kits, similar to the PAAS dyes of today, some featured Mickey Mouse.

Because jellybeans looked like bird eggs, they were added to Easter baskets in the 1930s. We will be making paper baskets for your jellybeans. If you want the directions for the basket, go to http://www.giddygreetings.com/2010/02/easy-paper-basket.html

Our History Timeline is now up to 1939. On Easter Sunday of that year, the African American singer Marian Anderson wasn’t allowed to sing at Constitution Hall. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) owned the Hall. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady, quit the DAR in protest. She supported the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in an Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial. You can see a video of her singing “My Country Tis of Thee” that day. The concert was attended by 75,000 people and was listened to by millions via the radio.

Other events in 1939 included:

• The movie of the year was “The Wizard of Oz.” Also very popular that year were “Gone with the Wind” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

• Popular songs included: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow;” “Tuxedo Junction,” Three Little Fishes and “I Got Rhythm.”

• “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck is published. This book tells the story of an “Oakie” family who leaves the “dust bowl” and heads to California.

• German troops are marching in to European countries, including Poland. London, England prepares for war. London children are sent to the country.

• The New York World’s Fair begins and includes the first exhibition of television

• The first regular transatlantic passenger air service begins when PanAm flies 22 passengers from New York to Portugal.

• “Yearling” by Marjorie Rawlins wins the Pulitzer Prize.

• Nylon stockings are sold for the first time in the United States.

• The World Series is won by the New York Yankees. Lou Gehrig makes his famous speech, letting his fans know that he is sick. As a result, the disease ALS is more commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.”

• In October, President Roosevelt closes all US ports to submarines.

• The NFL championship is won by the Green Bay Packers.