Ann S. Epstein Writer

The San Diego Naval Base was commissioned in 1922 as U.S. Destroyer Base, San Diego. It grew rapidly during its first years as a repair facility and torpedo & radio school. In 1931, then Captain (later Fleet Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz assumed command and noted the “poor condition of decommissioned ships” in his report about the country’s readiness for war. During the Depression, the base survived with more than $2 million for dredging projects from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Then came WW II. Read more San Diego and Navy history in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

The Beatles television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, was watched by an estimated 74 million viewers, half the U.S. population. Their send-off two days earlier at Heathrow airport was riotous, as was their arrival at the newly re-christened JFK airport, where 3,000 screaming fans greeted them. The youthful exuberance and snarky humor of the Fab Four was the perfect antidote for a country still reeling from President Kennedy’s assassination less than three months earlier. Read more about the Beatles and their U.S. debut in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

During the 1911 Triangle Waist Company fire, employees could not escape because managers locked the doors to the stairwells and exits. This was a common practice to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks or pilfering material. Supervisors checked women’s purses on their way out each day, and even when they went to the bathroom. Read more about inhumane sweatshop conditions in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Remember when (really) “big” shoulders for women were fashionable in the 1980s, especially for those challenging the male-dominated corporate world? The trend was a revival of a style that flourished in the 1930s through the end of WWII. It began when Adrian Greenberg, costume designer for The Wizard of Oz, designed dresses with shoulder pads for MGM star Joan Crawford, who epitomized the hard-working and successful woman. Hollywood and fashion had a symbiotic relationship. Movie costumes influenced designers and the designer styles adopted by stars became popular with the general public. Read more about fashion trends and movie history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Songs from Broadway musicals boosted American spirits during the Great Depression. Cole Porter’s 1934 score for Anything Goes, starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney and William Gaxton as Billy Crockett, was a popular source. However, when the show was made into a movie in 1936, featuring Merman and Bing Crosby, Production Code censors nixed the saucy lyrics of the stage production. The only remaining numbers were “Anything Goes,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “There’ll Always Be a Lady Fair,” and “You’re the Top.” Read more music history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Pentecostals are known for speaking in tongues, whether through Glossolalia (unintelligible utterances) or Xenoglossy (articulating a natural language previously unknown to the person). Pentecostalists also practice divine healing and believe in the gift of prophecy. Many mainstream religions dispute the Christian tenets of Pentecostalism, sometimes resulting in violent clashes. Read about religious tensions in America’s heartland 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

The annual Macy’s Parade was started in 1924 by the department store’s immigrant employees, grateful for the warm welcome and open opportunities in their new country. At first called a Christmas parade, it was soon changed to Thanksgiving to make it more inclusive. The original marchers were store workers and professional entertainers who traveled from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street, wearing vibrant costumes from their homelands. The parade included floats, bands, and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. Balloons replaced live animals in 1927; helium filling was first used in 1928, and Mickey Mouse was introduced in 1934. Crowds of over one million people lined the streets to watch. Read more about the parade’s immigrant origins in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

When the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz was made, Technicolor was a relatively new process. Intense, saturated colors were a hallmark of the film. Artists debated for six weeks before choosing just the right color for the yellow brick road. Dorothy’s ruby slippers required much less debate. Read more about the making of the movie in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

In 1938, the San Diego Civic Center (now the County Administration Center) opened, including sculptor Donal Hord’s monumental stone statue “Guardian of Water,” which still stands on the Harbor Drive side of the building. Carved from a 22-ton granite block, the statue shows a pioneer woman holding a jug, symbolic of the city’s precious resource: water. The mosaic tiles at the fountain’s base symbolize clouds from which water streams into images of orchards and then flows on to the carved sea creatures in the fountain’s basin. Hord’s intent was to show the importance of water in the cycle of nature. Discover more San Diego history in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).