Showing the way things were in 1939
Category: Living in the U.S.A.
This is not 1939 related but it’s important. I have mentioned it twice before:
When it was at risk of being eliminated: https://1939socal.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/net-neutrality-day/
And when it actually was eliminated: https://1939socal.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/end-of-net-neutrality/ .
Now it’s been restored. Hooray! See the details here: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-04-26/after-a-years-long-pause-the-fcc-resurrects-network-neutrality-a-boon-for-consumers .
Flying A gas stations gave out booklets with descriptions of 100 places to visit in the western U.S., Territory of Hawaii and the Philippine Islands. Above a block of text was a blank area to paste the related stamp that was available only from an Associated dealer. As described above, ten stamps promoting the 1939 Exposition in San Francisco were available everywhere while others were limited to that station’s location. The intent was for people to drive, stop for some Flying A gas and add a stamp to their book.
In the booklet in the author’s collection, the only stamp in southern California is the one shown commemorating Serra’s founding a mission on this date in 1769. In 1939, Serra’s accomplishments were an important and positive part of California’s history but as this blog is posted, the truth about his and the missions’ role show the negative side of foreigners dominating native people.
In case you were wondering why the above stamp has a number higher than 100, it is because the stamp numbers range from 101 through 200.
See 1939 images in the Shades of LA Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library:
Your blogger will go out on a limb and presume that these photos were taken in southern California in 1939. The car has a license plate and aftermarket “flipper” hubcaps so it isn’t brand new from the dealer in these shots but I’d like to believe that the photos were taken within a few weeks of taking delivery. Owning a convertible Mercury was a pretty spiffy way for a young man to show the world that he was doing well. Did he also own the boarding house or was he renting a room there so he could afford the car? We’ll probably never know.
1939 Southern California 