1964: Beatles, Mustangs and Exploring with Gemini

I was reading Popular Mechanics this morning and stumbled across an ad for the Ford Mustang. This made me think about the year 1964. In a way, 1964, is a pivotal year in American history.

Why?

Look at this this way. In 1964 these things happened:

The Beatles ("British Invasion")

(Source: NARA Archives-Blackwell-Beatles Letter, pg 1)

In the pictures above, I found the the Blackwell letter in the Nara archives. Written from a teenager to the government, one can just sense the importance and the change that the Beatles would have on the culture of the time. No more big-bands or sweet rock-n-roll. The era was passing.

The Ford Mustang

(Source: Archive.org-Styling and the Experimental Car)

The Mustang has come to symbolize the Baby Boomer movement to me. Sleek, low and sporty, this auto, based on a ordinary Ford Falcon is a break from the chrome-laden cars of the late fifties. Try the film and see a facinating glimpse into car design of the early 1960's.

The Space Program-NASA-Gemini

Lastly, the Gemini program symbolizes a move into space, a transformation from the fiftes "shoot and pray" method of space exploration. Man in space was becoming a reality, with the Apollo moon landing happening in just a few years. In fact, Apollo 8 would see the first exploration of landing sites for later Apollo missions.


So, what's your opinion? Maybe it wasn't 1964....if not, what year?

Try the links below for more details.


Have a great weekend! See you Monday!


Links:

Wikipedia-1964

Archive.org Mustang design film

Nasa Gemini program

Nara historical archives

Post-War Hopes and Dreams

I've always been facinated by the early post-war years, say 46-49. Don't know why, just like 'em. I was doing some research from some old Newseek magazines in the basement and thought about Levittown. I guess most of you probably already know about it, but for those who don't, thought I would post up some information about it...and what it came to symbolize.

Americans in the late 1940's wanted nothing more than to settle down and get away from depressions, wars and the upheaval that had been the norm rather than the exception for most of their lives. We wanted our version of the "American Dream", a chance to settle down and live a little. Said the great songwriter Herb Magidson in his song, "I'll buy that dream"

"... We'll settle down in Dallas
In a little plastic palace
Oh it's not as crazy as you think..."

(Source: Herb Magidson, Songwriters Hall of Fame)


So we went to the suburbs!

(Source: Miracle on the Delaware)

No other place has come to symbolize this more than Levittown, PA. The development here was revolutionary in the way things were done. Said the New York Times:

"...'Even more important,'' he continues, ''was our own assembly-line procedures. One team would lay the slabs, another would do the framing, Another the roofing, and so on. What it amounted to was a reversal of the Detroit assembly line. There, the car moved while the workers stayed at their stations. In the case of our houses, it was the workers who moved, doing the same jobs at different locations. To the best of my knowledge, no one had ever done that before.'' As many as 36 houses were being finished each day, and every one was occupied just as soon as the last workers left...."

(Source: NY Times interview with William Levitt)

Here's some examples, pulled from the film The Quiet Revolution:

(Source: The Quiet Revolution)

and

(Source: The Quiet Revolution)

This small post hardly does justice to Levittown. Try the movies and see what you think. Even if you don't care for Levittown, the movies themselves are just great. Have a great day and see you tomorrow!

Links:

The Quiet Revolution

Miracle on the Delaware

NY Times Interview with William Levitt

Wikipedia: Levittown

Levittown Historical Society

PhotoMail! Otherwise known as V-Mail

(Source: National Archives)

Next to chow, a letter from home is one of the best things a soldier can get. However, getting mail to the soldier is not easy, particularly in times of war. The question becomes, what gets to the soldier? Is it bullets, beans, or mail? During World War II, this question was of the utmost importance, especially considering the amount of manpower deployed by the United States overseas and remote corners of the world.

The solution was V-Mail (Victory Mail) or as the Army called it, "Photomail."

(Source: US Army FM 11-150, Photomail Operation)
(Online Source of Manual: Army Heritage Collection Online)

Technically speaking the process was fairly simple. Using required forms, the letter would be photographed, placed on a roll of microfilm and then shipped overseas. Once arrived, the microfilm would then be printed out on special paper and shipped to the soldier. This also worked in reverse, that is the soldier's letters to home would be converted to V-Mail and then shipped back to the States for processing back into printed mail.

Some interesting statistics can be gathered:

• Mail weight was reduced by up to 98%.
• The printed out letters were approximately 1/4 the size of regular letters.
• During the war over 500 million V-Mail letters were shipped overseas!
  

I've found some good links below that will give you background as well as the actual field manual describing the daily operations of photomail. Have a great day!

See you tomorrow!

Links:

Duke University Libraries Digital Collection (Advertising)

National Postal Museum: V-Mail

Army Heritage Collection Online (search for V-Mail)

Wikipedia link: V-Mail

Don't Forget the Speaker!

I've always loved drive-in movies. Even though they are very few and far between here in Ohio, it's still neat every time I see one. I was on archive.org tonight doing some more investigating on the nuclear weapons tests mentioned in yesterday's post, when I came across a series of ads from the drive-in. All work and no play makes for a bored librarian, so I took a few minutes to watch some of them. Neat stuff! So I had to go grab some popcorn as well!

I thought this would make a great post and share some information to you as well. Here's a few previews just to give you an idea:

Please return the speaker if you drive off with it!

(Source: http://www.archive.org/details/DriveInMovieAds)

Hard to refuse hot coffee!
(Source: http://www.archive.org/details/DriveInMovieAds)

I've posted some links below to the Wikipedia entries and the direct link to the archive.org information as well. Take a few minutes and check them out. Maybe I can find some classic cartoons next???? I know there's some Superman cartoons somewhere!

See you tomorrow, have a great day!

Links:

Wikipedia entry on Drive-ins.
(some controversy over article, see external links for more stuff)

Internet Archive main link

Shooting Satellites and Starfish Prime

I've been reading about the proposed downing of the dying US satellite, but I don't understand all the brouhaha that appears to be upsetting everyone. I certainly don't want anyone hurt, but if we consider this whole event in the light of what happened in 1962, it is a minor issue. So what happened?

Operation Starfish Prime.

Backstory:

Doing research about a possible post on the original Telstar, I ran across information on Starfish Prime. A subset of the Operation Dominic series of nuclear tests in the early Sixties, Starfish Prime consisted of a single rocket and nuclear warhead exploded into the upper regions of the atmosphere. The resultant 1+ megaton blast lit up the skies for miles.

(Source: Archive.org and The Nuclear Vault->see below for link)

One of the staff involved in the testing said of the night skies:

"...The Hawaiian news media touted this high altitude nuclear test series as the "rainbow bombs" because of the spectacular auroral displays that had been visible from Hawaii. On the night of July 9, 1962 when Starfish Prime was scheduled, the hotels in Hawaii offered roof top bomb watching parties. It seemed that everyone in the Pacific hemisphere was watching the sky over Johnston Island and listening to April Weather...."
(Source: Wikipeda and Cecil Coale's page on Starfish Prime)

Some of the purposes of this test included:

• effects on communication
• missile killing characteristics
• nuclear detection systems
• surveillance capabilities after a nuclear blast
  

The launch vehicle for the tests was the Thor.

(Source: Archive.org and The Nuclear Vault->see below for link)

There were many other nuclear weapons tested that year in addition to this one. Try the links below for more detailed information. Have a great day!

See you tomorrow!

More details:

Direct PDF link to results of Starfish Prime

Operation Dominic I

Archive.org movie overview on Operation Dominic
(additional source: The Nuclear Vault)

Atomic Veteran's History Project

Wikipedia entry: Starfish Prime

Piasecki's Helicopters

Hi all,

Frank Piasecki passed last week.

Perhaps not as well known as Sikorsky, Frank Piasecki was one of the founding fathers of helicopter technology in the United States. Some of his designs include:

"The Flying Banana"

(Source: United States Coast Guard)


The H-21 "Shawnee"


(Source: Wikipedia)

His designs focused on heavy-lift capabilities as well as the dual-rotor concept. This can be seen by one of the airframes still in use by the US Army that he helped design:

The "Chinook"

(Source: US Army Fact Files)

In the recent past, his new designs included:

• The Heli-Stat, development of heavy lift capability by marrying multiple helicopters with airship technology.
• X49 developmental vehicle. This includes a propeller at the rear of the aircraft to increase forward speed as well as reduce the torque effect coming from the main rotor.

For more details and in-depth history, try the links below and see you tomorrow!

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation

NYTimes Obit and Background Information

Wikipedia entry: Frank Piasecki

Papermodel of "Flying Banana"
(illustrative purposes)

Boeing's link to Piasecki

Marines & Helicopters (Google link to full book)
(Background on the H-21)