MLK Federal Holiday Declared (1983)

On this day in history, President Ronal Reagan signed a bill in the White House designed a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., to be observed on the third Monday of January.  When a country observes a holiday is when a public holiday is celebrating on a date that may not be the actual event’s anniversary date.  In this case, the holiday is based around Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, as to honor the influential American civil rights leader.

Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta in 1929.  He grew up in a Baptist family, his father being a pastor at a Baptist church.  Martin Luther attended public schools in Georgia, graduating high school at the young age of fifthteen.  He continued his education by studying theology at Crozer Theological Seminary up north in Pennsylvania, where he was elected president his senior year by a predominantly white senior class.  After finishing his studies here, Martin Luther enrolled in graduate school at Boston University, where he also finished his doctorate in 1955.  In was in Boston where he met his wife ad then started his own family, having two sons and two daughters.

Civil Rights

A year before completing his doctorate degree, Martin Luther became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.  As a known advocate for civil rights for members of his race, he also served as a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organizing of its kind in the entire United States.

Three years later in 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization designed to provide leadership for the blossoming civil rights movement.  The ideals for this group were based on Christian values.  During the next eleven years, Martin Luther traveled to speak to millions, primarily to areas where there was injustice and protests.  While traveling to speak, he also wrote five books and numerous articles.  It was during this time that he led one of his more notorious protests in Birmingham, Alabama.  This caught the attention of the entire world, and it inspired a manifesto of the Negro revolution, as well as a peaceful march of 25,000 people in Washington D.C., where he then delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech”.

Nobel Peace Prize

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King. Jr. was the youngest man in history to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  When notified of his selection, he announced that he would be dedicating his prize money of more than 50,000 dollars to the civil rights movement. 

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assigned in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Sources

History.com

The_Nobel_Prize/Martin_Luther_King

The History of the American Motel

You have seen them in movies, and you have read about them in books.  With their big flashy signs in neon wording, motels are the epitome of American culture, but what makes a motel a motel and not a hotel? 

The Origin

The motel system appeared when the transportation revolution picked up.  More people were settling in different cities, and more and more people were traveling between these different cities to find economic growth.  The increase in travel meant that people needed an inexpensive place to stay for a night or two while out on the road.  Because the system was originally designed for the stereotypical motorist, it was coined the term “motor hotel”, or motel.  The layout of a motel was designed in the outdoors, while hotels doors were along a hallway inside a building.

The Holiday Inn

One of the most iconic motels in America’s history in the Holiday Inn.  While it is much larger hotel chain now, it only had three locations when it opened in 1991.  The idea of this “hotel express system” was to reinvent the hotel system.  While motels were convenient for travel, they were not so accommodating and budget-friendly when you had a family of seven, including five children.  This was the case for father Kemmons Wilson.  He took his family on a vacation, and long story short, he was outraged at being charged for every child at every roadside lodging, not to mention the lack of accommodations.  Wilson decided to create a lodging industry that would accommodate families, and he planned to conclude standardized room size (with a bathroom), free in-room television, telephones, ice machines, restaurants, and no charge for children under the age of twelve who were staying with their parents.  Due to a lack of funds, only three locations opened in 1991; however, Wilson evolved the Holiday inn by forming a partnership with Gulf Oil and Pan American Airways, which helped he to open up another two-hundred-fifty location within the next few years.

Our Photograph:

Taken in Phoenix, Arizona; this illustration of Ivory Places Motor Lodge was featured on the front of a beautiful antique postcard from 1952. Sunlight streams down onto the buildings, and palm trees decorate the perimeter of the hotel and sidewalks, making this little lodge a wonderful destination for a summertime excursion. Beside the rightmost building, an automobile is pulled up to the side with a small table and umbrella placed several feet in front, allowing visitors to relax and keep cool during their visits. Next to a palm tree, a large signboard is attached to a pole, and the name of the lodge is written in a large print font. Looking at the photograph, the viewer immediately feels as if they have been transported to the sunny streets of Arizona and are enjoying a relaxing summertime vacation.

This postcard illustration not only provided visitors with a fun way to show off their travels, but also served as a means to entice people to visit the lodge. The drawing was done with the utmost care and professionalism in order to demonstrate the lodge's grandeur to the most realistic extent. Lodges were invented in the US between the 1930s and 40s as road trips became a more frequent pastime. They provided travelers with a cheaper alternative to hotels during their journey without sacrificing the comfort of a hotel. For the owners, the expenses and maintenance are also not as costly, making lodges a profitable venture.

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Check out this post by Bob Vila to see 15 classic Roadsides to stay at in America!

https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/15-classic-roadside-motels-you-can-visit-along-america-s-highways-51859#the-blue-swallow-motel-in-tucumcari-new-mexico

sources:

Bobvila- 15 Classic Roadside Motels You Can Visit Along American Highwyas

momondo- Iconic American Lodging 

On This Day in History

“Black Thursday” is the name that the ay October 24, 1929 was given to title the first day that the stock market crashed.  This was the worst stock market crash in the United State’s history, and it kicked off the Great Depression.

What is the “Dow Jones Industrial Average- DJIA”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIJA) is a price-weighted average of thirty significant stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq.  The DIJA was invented by Charles Dow in 1896.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is often referred to as “the Dow”.  It is one of the oldest, most-watched indices in the world, and it incudes some of the most known companies in the world, such as General Electric Company, the Walt Disney Company, and Exxon Mobil Corporation.

What Happened

Prior to the New York Stock Exchange opening on this Thursday in 1929, investors were already hurrying around in a panic.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen more than 4.5 percent the day before, and when the market opened at 305.85, it immediately fell 11 percent during intra-day trading.

The stock market had already declined by a near twenty percent since its record close the month prior (September 3, 1929) and trading shares were three times normal volume.  The three leading banks at the time were Morgan Bank, Chase National Bank, and National City Band of New York.  To restore confidence in the failing market, the banks bought stock, which did cause to Dow to make a slight recovery; however, this attempt was not successful for long, and the Dow had fallen to 230.07 by the end of Black Tuesday.

After the crash, the Dow continued sliding for three more years, reaching a low n July 8, 1932.  After losing almost 90% of its value, it eventually reaches its previous high about 25 years later, November 23, 1954.

Causes

The exact cause of the stock market crash of 1929 is debated among economists, and several accepted theories exist today.  One theory is that the people and the market were overconfident.  People were unafraid to debt due to rapid growth in bank credit and more accessible loans.  The stock market was perceived as something that even ordinary people with little income could invest in because they could just borrow the money from their stockbroker and then make small investments.  Similarly, companies based their production rates to what was seen in stock trends, so they overproduced many items, including farm crops, steel, and goods. Another theory is that the government raised interests’ rates which affected market stabilizer and reduced economic growth. 

It is possible that the effects of the Stock Market Crash would had been lessened if the public had not panicked.  This only caused a bad situation to be made worse.  Hordes of people rushed to the bank to withdraw their funds and investors were unable to return their money because the bank officials had invested the money in the market.  Many banks failed because of this.  Not only did banks go bankrupt, but many people lost their entire savings, and the country fell into a “Great (economic) Depression”.

Sources:

History.com

Investopedia.com

A History of the S.S. Normandie

The S.S Normandie is most commonly known for her exquisite design and the global touristic experience it once offered.  For five years, she was the largest, heaviest, and fastest ocean liner in existence, weighing in at more than 20,00 tons than White Star’s Majestic. Not only was she the heaviest but she was also the first liner to exceed 1000 feet in length; the first liner to exceed 60,00 tons; the largest turbo-electric powered liner; and the first to make a known eastbound Atlantic crossing.

 Built by Chantiers et Ateliers de St. Nazaire and launched in 1932, Normandie made her first remarkable voyage from Le Harve to New York on May 29, 1935.  During the winter months from 1935-36, her travel was temporarily ceased to correct significant vibration issues.  While being worked on, she lost her spot as the largest liner when Cunard White Star’s Queen Mary was built and put to service; however, Normandie was put back into action soon after.

Unfortunately, Normandie’s career as a passenger liner was short-lived due to the outbreak of World War II.  She was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1940 at Pier 88 and then later taken over by the U.S. Marines, where she was renamed the U.S.S. Lafayette for Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who fought on the Colonies’ behalf in the American Revolution.  Two years later, her transformation into a troopship was nearly completed; however, while she was being loaded with supplies, a spark from a welder’s torch ignited a bale of lifejackets.  The fire spread rapidly, and the ship’s crew and firefighters were not prepared for how to put the flames.  Tipping her to her port side, she sank under Pier 88 and Pier 90.  When she was finally tower in 1973, there were plans to turn her into an aircraft carrier, but it was thought to be too costly and she was then picked apart for scraps over the next four years.

The Interior

The luxurious interior was designed in the Art Deco and Streamline Modern style.  To compare the extent of this ship’s beauty to that of a city’s, she is the Paris of ships, being nicknamed the “Ship of Lights”.  Facilities included lavish dining rooms, lounges, a swimming pool, a department store, theater, nightclub, chapel, beauty parlor, and a winter garden.  The dining room had 20-foot-tall doors adorned with bronze medallions kept it enclosed from the hall.  The functional, casual café gilled turned into an exotic nightclub and smoking lounge once the sun set, and the walls were paneled with ominous Egyptian murals.  Each first-class suite was accompanied with its own baby grand piano and private deck.  This was a ship for the rich, and many celebrities, such as Ernest Hemingway and Walt Disney, ventured out on this majestic ship.

Our Photographs

Decorated with various tables, armchairs, and lamps is the stylish lounge of SS Normandie. Round tables that are draped in white tablecloths are placed in several neat columns down the floor of the lounge, and armchairs of several different designs are arranged around the tables. Many lamps are also positioned alongside the tables to provide pleasant lighting as passengers enjoy a pleasant meal and socialize together. Along the walls, several tall, paneled windows line the ship and allow natural sunlight to fill the room. Above, the ceiling is styled in a series of square paneling and decorated with lights that run along the surface. The comfy-looking chairs and relaxed environment give the lounge a very sophisticated, yet also laid-back, feeling.

Sources:

History.net

NewYorkHistoryblog.org

Daniellaondesign.com

7 Facts You (Probably) Have Not Heard About I Love Lucy

 I Love Lucy debuted on CBS on October 15, 1951.  With Lucille Ball staring as the ever so charming, yet ambitious housewife Lucy, the show was an unexpected and immediate success. The combination of innovative filming techniques, perfectionism of Lucille Ball, and top-notch writing are a few of the factors that made this show such a hit.  The series even won five Emmy Awards, including best situation comedy and best actress (Lucille Ball); however, these awards are not the only reasons that this comedy will remain an important part of our country’s entertainment history.  Here are ten surprising facts that contributed to the show becoming so iconic in our nation.

1. I Love Lucy was the first television series to use the three-camera format.

In the early days of television, shows were filmed with just one camera, as were movies.  The idea of a three-camera format was that three cameras would be filming simultaneously, switching back and forth between cameras to capture different angles.  This way you could get a close-up and wide shots without having to set up for the different shows.

2. Three hundred audience members attended every tapping of I Love Lucy.

The set allowed for three hundred people to attend each showing of I Love Lucy because it was said that Lucille Ball performed better with a real audience.

3. The producer wanted to center the show around the lives of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball; however, both actors did not find their lives to be relatable, so they chose to center the plot around the average family.

4. The first episode of I Love Lucy aired when Lucille Ball was forty-one years old.

Lucille Ball was enrolled in drama school when she was fifteen, but the school wrote her mother saying that she was a waste of time because she was far too shy to achieve a career in show production.  Instead, Lucille Ball moved on to made her living as a model, but she soon moved to Hollywood to find more opportunities.  There, she found was a stint for one of the twelve “Goldwyn Girls” on Roman Scandals.  She worked a few smaller roles, and did not land her largest acting role until forty-one years old.

5. Each episode about Lucy's pregnancy had to be reviewed by a minister, priest and rabbi to ensure that they weren’t offensive to the television audience.

6. The theme song’s lyrics can be heard in one episode.

You can hear the lyrics to the theme song in only one episode of the series, and that is the episode “Lucy’s Last Birthday”.



7. Lucille Ball almost died while filming.

In the episode “Lucy’s Italian Movie”, there is a grape stomping scene.  Nobody noticed until they stopped filming the episode and realized that Lucille Ball was actually choking on a grape.

What is one weird fact that only you know about the history of the show?  Share in the comments below!