Editor’s notes:
On April 12, 1937, Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at Rugby, England.
In April of 1937, my father (Charles) and his mother returned from Coolidge, Arizona to Oak Park, Illinois to resume living with Cyrus and Laura Stafford.
From Wikipedia: “The Hindenburg disaster occurred on May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. Of the 97 people on board (36 passengers and 61 crewmen), there were 35 fatalities (13 passengers and 22 crewmen). One worker on the ground was also killed, raising the final death toll to 36.”
In May, before he finished his classes, Buddy and a couple of his friends took photos of one of their radio field experiments. The photos below are from Buddy’s photo album. His caption reads:
“May 1937—Sunday Field Tests on 5m with w9clh, staged on top of silo on Purdue Farm north of Lafayette. V antenna line up with my guts and a transit (proj. 44). Had to rope myself on to get it measured. Other equipment furnished by Sam (9tjb). Photographs by 9ozs (Adams). 1. Soldering a connection on the antenna. 2. Sam scolding Adams for walking around the edge of the silo to get the picture. 3. Sam laughing at the remark Adams made in return. Results of tests: Tired, hungry, no signals.”
On May 26, 1937, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge opens
In the summer, after he finished school, Buddy returned to Oak Park for a summer job at John E. Fast Condensers Co. He also found time to be the swim camp director.
Also that summer, at Buddy’s invitation, dad went to Indiana to spend ten days at a boy’s summer camp called Camp Tecumseh. Richard Graves, the brother of Buddy’s girlfriend, Margaret, was also at the camp, ostensibly to help keep an eye on dad, but it turned out that Richard was more of an instigator than a mentor. Dad survived the camp and got to ride the train back to Chicago with Buddy and three of his college friends.
July 5, 1937, Hormel Foods introduces “Spam” to the market.
July 15, 1937, Buchenwald Concentration Camp opens.
August 2, 1937, Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed in America, essentially rendering marijuana and all its by-products illegal.