1937: this month, JS celebrates its 70th anniversary: what were kids like you reading about in 1937?

Amelia Earhart Disappears

The whole world was saddened this summer when America's First Lady of Aviation, Amelia Earhart, came down at sea on the last lap of her round-the-world flight. Miss Earhart and [her navigator] Fred Noonan radioed from somewhere in the Pacific, near tiny Howland Island, that their [plane] was nearly out of gas. They never reached the island. Though ships and airplanes searched the ocean for hundreds of miles, no trace of the brave flyers was found.

--JS September 18, 1937

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The first issue of JS reported one of the biggest stories of the century: Amelia Earhart's plane was lost! At the time, Earhart had the fame and glamour of a pop star. In 1928, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1935, she made the first successful solo flight from California to Hawaii. The 1937 round-the-world flight was the next step in her quest to disprove the common idea that aviation was "man's work."

Ever since, people have sought clues to Earhart's disappearance. To this day, the mystery remains.

Discoveries and Inventions

The report lists the discoveries and inventions that are fast changing our way of life. And it also lists other discoveries that, while not yet perfected, are now being tried out. [The list includes] ... foods grown without soil, gasoline produced from coal, steep-flight airplanes, ready-made houses, air-conditioning for all types of buildings,... artificial cotton, artificial rubber, the automobile trailer, [and] a giant atom-smasher.

--JS September 18, 1937

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From the very beginning, JS kept readers up-to-date on "Science and Invention Changing the World Before Your Eyes." First-issue readers learned about a report just issued by the National Resources Committee, a study group appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The excerpt at left is from the JS article. How many of those "tryout" inventions are used today? Also new and promising in 1937: the television set and the "electric eye," which today tells supermarket doors to swing open at your approach.

The Great Depression

"I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished."

--President Franklin D. Roosevelt Second Inaugural Address, 1937

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In 1937, the U.S. was suffering from a severe economic slump called the Great Depression. It had started in 1929, with a collapse of the stock market. People's savings were wiped out. By 1932, a third of the U.S. labor force was out of work.

Meanwhile, the Great Plains region was suffering a drought. Without rain since 1931, cropland dried up and blew away. The loss of farm production made the Depression worse. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, first elected in 1932, worked with Congress to establish employment, land-preservation, and social-aid programs.

The Depression ended with the onset of World War II (1939-1945). The U.S. entered the war in 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. JS kept readers informed about the war, and much else that was happening in their world. Today, as we turn 70, that remains our goal.

"I do not propose to let the people down. I am sure the Congress of the United States will not let the people down." ... [President Roosevelt] said that if New Deal [recovery] policies were followed, prosperity would be restored to the United States. He asked members of Congress to forget their special local interests, and to work for the good of the whole nation.

--JS January 15, 1938

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THEN AND NOW: U.S. POPULATION: Then: 122,775,046 * Now: 302,003,093 U.S. STATES: Then: 48 Now: 50 URBAN/RURAL POP.: Then: 56% urban, 44% rural * Now: 79% urban, 21 % rural POP. UNDER AGE 15: Then: 29.4% * Now: 21.4% SAMPLE PRICES: Then: box of cornflakes, 8 cents; quart of milk, 10 cents; movie ticket, 20 cents * Now: box of cornflakes, $3.99; quart of milk, $1.25; movie ticket, $10