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Welcome to Retroville! It’s 1945!
IN THE NEWS:
- Yalta Conference (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin) where they plan the final defeat of Germany
- Hitler commits suicide along with his lover, Eva Braun, and several aides in a bunker in Berlin as the Allied Forces move into the city
- Germany surrenders and May 8 is declared V-E Day (Victory Europe)
- San Francisco Conference establishes the United Nations
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies while in office
- Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes President
- Potsdam Conference (Truman, Churchill, Stalin) establishes the basis of German reconstruction and refugee assistance
- U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Japan surrenders and September 2 is declared V-J Day (Victory Japan)
ON THE RADIO:
- The Adventures of Topper
- Alan Young Show
- Amos and Andy
- Batman
- Black Museum
- Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore Show
- Life of Riley
- Lone Ranger
- Lum and Abner
- Lux Radio Theatre
- Shadow
ON TELEVISION:
- Networks continue limited news broadcasts
- England continues to ban television broadcasts due to war
- Commercial programming resumed in September
FADS & FASHION:
- Suburban housing
- Pea shooters
- Silly Putty
WHAT THINGS COST:
- Car: $1,250
- Gasoline: 21 cents per gallon
- House: $10,000
- Bread: 9 cents per loaf
- Milk: 62 cents per gallon
- Postage Stamp: 3 cents
- Average Annual Salary: $2,900
- Minimum Wage: 40 cents per hour
ACADEMY AWARD – BEST PICTURE:
- The Lost Weekend – a drama by Billy Wilder starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman
TONY AWARD – BEST MUSICAL:
- The Tony Awards begin in 1947 (look ahead to 1949 to see the first winner)
PULITZER PRIZES:
- A Bell For Adano by John Hersey (novel)
- Harvey by Mary Chase (drama)
- Unfinished Business by Stephen Bonsal (history)
- George Bancroft: Brahmin Rebel by Russell Blaine Nye (biography)
- V-Letter and Other Poems by Karl Shapiro (poetry)
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE:
- Cordell Hull, USA 1871-1955, former Secretary of State, one of the initiators of the United Nations
TOP SONGS:
- Rum and Coca-Cola by The Andrews Sisters
- On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Sante Fe by Johnny Mercer
- Till The End of Time by Perry Como
- Sentimental Journey by Les Brown
