Centennial: Life in 1909
Northern exploration, very much the fashion in 1909.
Let's see what was going on last time an '09 rolled around!
Here's a list of selected events that happened in 1909 from Wikipedia. The whole article is here.
(I know, I know, never trust the Wiki, say the gloomy ones. But this is the type of thing that it usually gets right, because it's written by passionate amateurs and isn't popular enough of a subject to be vandalized. So let's just be trusting for a moment. And if anything looks suspicious and doesn't check out, well, write me a nasty, scolding note.)
(My notes in brackets, btw.)
January 16 - Ernest Shackleton's expedition claims to have found the magnetic South Pole, but the location recorded for it may be incorrect.
January 27 - The Young Left is founded in Norway. [The old Left must have felt terribly left out.]
January 28 - United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.
February 12 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
February 20- The Futurist Manifesto, written by Filippo Marinetti, is published in the Paris newspaper Le Figaro. [note to self: write new Futurist manifesto; I'm sure some updating is necessary.]
February 24 - The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.
March 10 - The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 is signed in Bangkok. [I like Bangkok. Wish I could get back there.]
March 23 - Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. [If the Smithsonian and National Geographic Society want to sponsor a trip to Africa for me, I'm available.]
March 31 Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina. [And starts no end of trouble.]
Construction begins on the RMS Titanic at Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast. [Psst--put in more watertight compartments.]
April 6 - Robert Peary, Matthew Henson, and four Eskimo explorers allegedly reach the North Pole.
April 18 - Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
April 27 - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V. He is sent to the Ottoman port city of Thessaloniki (Selanik) the next day. [Well, there's a recipe for future unpleasant family gatherings.]
May 13 - The first Giro d'Italia is held, in Milan, and is won by Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna.
June 2 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time. [Damn it Alfred! Haven't you had enough?!]
June 9 - Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, becomes the first woman to drive across the United States. With 3 female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for 59 days she drives a Maxwell automobile 3,800 miles, from Manhattan, New York to San Francisco, California.
June 15 - Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference. [I once heard an English person describe the game of cricket as a "cross between baseball and death."]
July 16 - A revolution forces Mohammad Ali Shah, Persian Shah of the Qajar dynasty to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. He proceeds to leave Persia for Imperial Russia, reportedly seeking the assistance of Nicholas II of Russia in regaining the throne. [That would be Nicholas "Can't you see I have my own problems?!!" II.]
August 12 - The first event is held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
October 8
An earthquake in the Zagreb area leads Andrija Mohorovicic to identify the Mohorovicic discontinuity. [I'm not sure what this means, but it sounds fascinating!]
October 26 - Korean nationalist An Jung-geun assassinates Ito Hirobumi, a former Prime Minister of Japan, in Harbin, China, in protest of the Japanese annexation of Korea.
November 11 - The U.S. Navy founds a navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
November 13 - Ballinger-Pinchot scandal begins: Collier's Magazine accuses U.S. Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of questionable dealings in Alaskan coal fields. [Three certainties in life: death, taxes, and politicians involved in questionable dealings.]
November 18 - Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including 2 Americans) are executed by order of dictator Jose Santos Zelaya.
December 4
The first Grey Cup Championship game is played.
The Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club is founded. [Bravo, Habs!]
The University of Bristol is founded and receives its Royal Charter. [The Royal Charter apparently includes a rule stating that Americans who spent their junior year at Bristol are required to receive some kind of alumni mailing at least once a week--for life.]
December 17 - Leopold II of Belgium dies and is succeeded by his nephew Albert I of Belgium.
December 31 - The Manhattan Bridge opens. [The stories I could tell. You don't even want to know.]
Selected Notable People Born in 1909 [Selected by me, which means only those who interested me. Sorry rugby team managers and obscure diplomats.]
January 1 - Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
January 15 Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939); Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
January 22 Ann Sothern, American actress (d. 2001)
February 3 - Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
February 9 - Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born actress and singer (d. 1955); Dean Rusk, American politician (d. 1994) [Carmen Miranda! The Brazilian Bombshell! Bananas Were Her Business.]
February 11 - Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959); Joseph Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (d. 1993)
February 16 - Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)
February 18 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
May 6 - Loyd Sigmon, American amateur ("ham") radio broadcaster (d. 2004)
May 10 - Mother Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
May 15 - James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
May 18 - Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
May 30 - Benny Goodman, American musician (d. 1986)
June 6 - Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (d. 1997)
June 7 - Jessica Tandy, English actress (d. 1994)
June 14 - Burl Ives, American singer (d. 1995)
June 20 - Errol Flynn, Australian-born actor (d. 1959) [Woo hoo! Here to make the world more fun!]
June 26 - Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)
August 10 - Leo Fender, American guitar inventor and manufacturer (d. 1991)
August 25 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1993) [Notice it doesn't say "dancer." That's because she was a terrible dancer.]
September 7 - Elia Kazan, Hungarian-born film director (d. 2003)
September 28 - Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)
October 10 - Robert F. Boyle, American production designer and art director
October 28 - Francis Bacon, Irish painter (d. 1992)
November 9 - Kay Thompson, American author and actress (d. 1998) [That's the Fabulous, Multitalented Kay Thompson!]
November 18 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (d. 1976)
November 22 - Mikhail Mil, Russian helicopter manufacterer (d. 1970) [Helicopters are so interesting.]
November 26 - Eugene Ionesco, Romanian-born playwright (d. 1994)
November 27 - James Agee, American writer (d. 1955)
December 14 - Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
Keep reading for a list of prices in 1909 and a collection of pictures (why yes, I am unemployed).
Price list from 1909, courtesy of the Morris County Library (where I spent some of the happiest days of my life, I might add).
a survey of retail prices advertised in the Daily Record, September 1-15, 1909
| Automobiles New None advertised Used several advertised, no prices Clothing Employment Food & beverages |
Household & seasonal goods Baby crib, 2.98-4.75/each Bed, brass, 15.00-25.00/each Bed spread, white crochet, full size, .98-1.39/each Blanket, wool, 3.98-5.98/each Carpet sweeper, Puritan, 1.65/each Cleanser, Dutch, .07/pkg Coal, 5.25-6.75/ton Dinnerware, fine Austrian China, 100 piece set, 14.00/set Flower pot, up to 12", .02-.35/each Laundry detergent, Grandma's Washing Powder, .15/pkg Linoleum, .35-1.50/square yard Mason jars, quart size, .48/dozen Muffin tins, Turk's Head, 12 cups, .29/each Range, Ben Hur, 18.50/each Refrigerator, 24 1/2" wide, 16 1/2 " deep, 39" high, 6.00/each Rocking chair, oak, 3.95-6.98/each Rug, Oriental, 1.00/square foot Sheets, 68" X 90", .42-.55/each Table, folding, 36", .49-1.50/each Tea pot, enamel, 3 & 4 quart size, .29/each Newspaper Personal care & health Real estate Recreation & amusements School supplies |
Now pictures:
A brand new 1909 Winton 6 auto on the left.
A test flight in 1909. I believe that's Orville Wright in the foreground, timing the flight.
The Voice of the Violin, a 1909 workers' rights film directed by DW Griffith.
An Arrow Collar man, always in style.
1909 ladies' fashions.
The Brooklyn Marathon, 1909!
Harvard-Yale game ticket. Make sure you don't buy yours from a speculator.
A high school football team, 1909, Spokane, Washington.
1909 World Series, Pittsburgh defeats Detroit.
Opening Day was always exciting.
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