Catching Everyone By Suprise… A Valentine’s Day to Remember…

February 13, 2023 by · Leave a Comment 

Some holidays catch us by surprise.  Countless men have either forgotten their wedding anniversary until it was either too late, or until the last minute when buying that “perfect gift” was no longer an option. So it is in spades with a more recently “invented” holiday: Valentine’s Day. While some refuse to be manipulated into yet another obligation to invest in the greeting card, flower and candy industries, yet others invent creative new ways to mark this wonderful day of romance and the celebration of love. Such was the case with Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1929. This mob hit, nicknamed The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, stumped police until more than 2 years later, and even then no one was formally charged. Hopefully, everyone this year will opt for flowers… and not the kind we see adorning graves as as we drive by our local cemetery.

 

Snapshot 1929… Homebuilding 101…

September 23, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

As of today, over 25% of my wife’s and my retirement savings have turned to dust. Ouch. Will our investments bounce back? Our 6 children and their families certainly hope so. Yes, times are tough, but are they any worse than during the height of the most recent pandemic… or the one from the early 1900’s? How about living during any of the multiple wars we’ve engaged in over the past 200+ years, during the Great Depression, or in and around some of the devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, or wildfires which have taken countess lives or stripped the survivors of their worldly possessions? Do our current financial, social, and political difficulties hold a candle to any of these?

These ponderings are not meant to diminish the sorrow, sickness, and loss of life which has befallen us over the past few years, but we’ve also learned a ton: “Don’t sweat the small stuff?”, “What are truly the most important things to hold on to?”, “Life is precious.”, to name but a few. All of these fall under the umbrella of “Homebuilding 101”.  The Author of wisdom once said, “Don’t build your house upon the sand!” This is not merely good advice, its words to live by.

Case in point…

In late October of 1929 the Stock Market crashed, and in an instant the foundation of many washed away in a torrent of bad news. For those who had built their house upon such fleeting sand as an investment portfolio, everything crumbled. Such was the case for James J. Riordan, a noteworthy investor and president of the County Trust Company of New York. His response to the crash was emblazoned on the front page of the Chicago Sunday Tribune (along with most other newspapers of the day) for all to see. Of course his reaction to the sudden loss of worldly possessions has been played out in similar fashion time-and-time again – a lesson for all of us to consider when we are seeking a foundation upon which to build our lives.

Snapshot 1929… Just prior to the “crash” – Thomas Edison’s electric lamp…

September 14, 2020 by · Leave a Comment 

When one thinks of late October, 1929, it’s hard not to focus on The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929. However, even just a few days prior to the world-altering event, people were going about their lives enjoying news of a huge new airport in Chicago which at the time featured the largest hanger in the world and celebrating the 50th anniversary of Thomas Edison’s electric light bulb. In regards to the pre-crash celebration of Edison, the October 21, 1929 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune printed a set of related cartoons on the front page, one of which is related to this joyous event. I also (accidentally?) included the 3rd due to its timeliness. Enjoy.

The slippery slope of deteriorating morality… a reminder from 1929…

February 27, 2017 by · Leave a Comment 

Through much of time certain behaviors have been universally accepted as immoral – the exploitation of women (in particular) through pornography being among them. However, perhaps it’s my age showing, but when did “Since legislating morality rarely changes behavior, let’s eliminate such legislation” become the modus operandi? As a former teacher I knew some of my students would likely cheat, but I still had rules and consequences regarding cheating. As a parent I understood my children might decide that hitting one another was a good way of handling disputes, but I still taught proper means of dealing with conflict and used my parental platform to legislate against hostile behavior. The recent (albeit well intended?) legalization of child prostitution in California in order to “protect” them from the consequences of being caught just doesn’t seem to make sense, and continues our slide down the slippery slope of immorality. I could be a bit off, but my gut tells me something is horribly wrong.

It is with these thoughts in mind I was struck by the front page of The Reform Bulletin from March 1, 1929 (see below), which focused on an effort in the State of New York to pull back on the decade old legalization of “obscene literature.” What’s “obscene literature”? Should morality be legislated, and if so, who makes the call as to which behaviors are moral and which are not? Should government take a role in the personal affairs of its citizens? Has the government overreached in this area in the past? While the answers to these questions and similar are quite complex, I think most would agree we’re not headed in the right direction – and the consequences are guaranteed to be non-partisan.

What did they do to false prophets? 1929 predicted to be a banner financial year…

April 7, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Blog-4-6-2016-Stock-Market-1929-Good-NewsHow ironic… In what was to become known as the worst financial year in U.S. history, it is interesting to read  The New York Time, January 3, 1929 front page article headed: “Stock Market Opens 1929 With Buying Rush; 5,413,610-Share Day Stirs Hope of Big Year”. Could they have been more wrong? It sure is good this NY Times writer was not graded as a Hebrew prophet – or he/she would likely have joined the throngs who brought about their own demise in late October of the same year during The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929.

Prices realized… 20th century…

September 27, 2010 by · 1 Comment 

We continue with our series on “prices realized”, with this 4th installment providing select examples of issues from the 20th century.  While there are many issues to choose from, we tried to cover a variety of collectible interests.

Note: While collectible newspapers have had a good track record of increasing in value over time (see upcoming posts), we encourage hobbyists to collect for non-financial reasons.  History in your hands…

20th century selections:

The most famous of all Stock Market Crash newspapers…
THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 25, 1929 ($1,830 – 2010)

Perhaps the nicest Titanic report to be had ?
THE EVENING TIMES, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, April 16, 1912 ($2,423 – 2008)

Best of all Pearl Harbor newspapers…
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN, 1st EXTRA, Dec. 7, 1941 ($2,352 – 2005)

Most recognized of all 20th century headlines…
CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE, Nov. 3, 1948 ($1,925 – 2005)

The previous posts in this series are:

Prices realized… 16th & 17th centuries…

Prices realized… 18th century…

Prices realized…  19th century…