Marking Time

Timepieces

            To control time, has been the source of many science fiction stories.  Travel in time, stop time, warp time, it is something many have wanted to do.  Yet the closet to time control has been the clock, watch, hour glass or some other device.  Years ago the pocket watch with its fob was a symbol of distinction.  The retirement watch, a reward for a job complemented.  The year clock for a wedding gift. 

            All are types of time control.  Yet they are futile gestures, for time has its own pace and is influenced by nothing. 

            Time is used to mark events in history, personal or a world class time event.  What year did war happen, when was the plague, what is the date of birth, or what year was the marriage.  Events happen and they are marked as a passage in time.  So that little clock on the wall gives of seconds, minutes and hours.  Then it shifts to the calendar to give us days, weeks, months and years.  Time is always masked in some fashion. 

            That buzzer on the night stand reminds up to get up, it tells us when to leave for an appointment or when somebody is arriving.  There are reminders of anniversaries, celebrations.  The list is endless on how we roll with time and the ways we try to control the machine of time.

            Before the clock, our lives were measured by the sun and the moon.  Traveling was done by the locations of the stars.  Time has been a constant yet it has never really fit into our concepts of time.  We have a leap year to get back on time.  The control of time is not us, but our reaction to it. 

            Doggedly the sun rises, it sets, the moon rises and the sun returns in the morning.  Always there to remind us the ole sol passes overhead. 

            We try to save time by calling it daylight savings.  What time has been saved.  The sun shall rise at its appointed time not when we say it is savings time. 

            Sometimes we are so funny as we put labels on things and expect others to believe in those labels.

            Then there is one most all people enjoy, that Happy Hour when it is beer thirty time. 

That is a how a lot of people dealt with the cold war. 

           

Famine In Russia

Communist Famine

            Recently read a blog about the famine that struck Russia in 1918m during the communist revolution.   This made me pause and reflect back on other stories I read about, during that time period nod before.  1918 was the year of the Spanish Flu pandemic.  It was also the end of WWI.  For the beginning of this story one must go back to 1850’s. 

            In 1850, Russia was ruled by a monarchy, Katherine was the ruler at this time.  There were vast lands in Russia that were very arable.  Katherine’s envoys went to Germany and offered free land to German farmers if they would settle in this land and farm it.  The Germans agreed to the conditions, they would not be a part of Russian rule nor could they be conscripted into the military.  On these conditions the Germans emigrated to Russia and began farming.  The Germans became prosperous and had a great market for their products in Russia. 

            During the 1889’s the Czar’s came to power and deposed Queen Katherine.  With the queen gone, the agreement with the Germans was ignored by the Czar’s.  They began taxing them and conscripting their men as soldiers.  No longer was there protection, the Germans began fleeing their lands and returning to their homes in Germany and many continued on to the Americas.  The first great emigration from Russia had begun..

            As these Germans began arriving in the New World, they continued their faming in new lands, North America into South America.  In the United States, many little communities grew up around these new Russian/German settlers. 

            In Russia, the iron fists of the Czars were met with resistance by the Bolshevik’s.  A revolutionary group, which was intent on overthrowing the Czars.  Lenin and his communist minions joined the Bolsheviks’ and the communist revolution was underway. 

            During this upheaval in Russia, late 1800’s, early 1900’s, many young men were taken into the military to fight.  The Germans for the most part had quit farming in Russia, then the closing of the young men, even took more farmers off the land.  With farmers becoming scarce, foods became short supply.  The revolution had killed so many, that finding people to work had become rare. 

            During this time period, WWI was destroying farmland in Europe and the farmers were at war.  So food supplies for Russia in Europe had dried up.  Food in Europe was a rare commodity. 

            Demand for food was growing.  The price of wheat in the US was going skyrocket prices.  Suddenly farmers were making money like bankers.  With the high price of wheat, more ground was broken for farming and large mortgages were taken on the land for more equipment. 

            Lenin reached out to the US for help and met with some resistance, yet the DC politicians relented.  Using a caveat of condemnations of the communist Lenin and his practices, relief food supplies were sent to Russia. This pushed the price of wheat even higher.  By 1920, farming had begun again in Europe and Russia settled down.  Yet during the famine in Russia, millions of people died. 

            The politics of war, revolution and controlling dictatorships’, had left a giant scar on the land.    Farming that had been noble, suddenly was poverty flats.  The price of wheat in the United States, had hit barrel bottom.  No longer was there a market for wheat.  Piles of overproduced wheat and other crops were stacking up on the land and going to rot.  Many farmers were forced into bankruptcy and lost their farms. 

            The Germans that had fled Russia in the 1880’s were bitten by the Russians again, a few decades later. 

            It is amazing how interconnected, non related events can be. 

COMMUNISTS

Communism

            After WWII it was the Cold War and The Bomb that fed the country’s paranoia.  Most publications back then featured stories about communism and the iron curtain.  Schools would practice bomb drills and there were civil defense shelters.  There was a certain level of fear in the background of society as people went about their daily routine. 

            Germany had been divided into sectors by the allies and they were to govern Germany.  The idea was to prevent another war with the Germans.  A different type of war evolved.  The Communists of Russia had different notions on how to rule the world.  The communists spread their sphere of influence across Eastern Europe and parts of Asia.  The Soviet Empire spread communism across the land creating more fear in the states. 

            East Germany was cut off from the rest of the world by the Iron Curtain.  Berlin was in the Russian sector but it had been divided into sectors and the allies had control of a portion of Berlin.  No longer were roadways open across East Germany, the Russians had closed off land travel.  Aircraft became the mode to get in and out of Berlin.  Another dagger of fear had been driven in fabric of the Free World. 

            Fear of communism was wide spread across Europe and North America.  The fear of the Communists rivaled the fear of the Fascists.  Many did not see much difference between the two extremes of oppression.  The communists wantonly killed their opponents like the fascists did.  Under communism, quality of life fell to a miserable level. 

            Poverty in Russia had increased under communism.  People were going hungry.  There were few jobs available.  Getting out from under the communists thumb became of Paramount importance for many stuck behind the Iron Curtain.  Food was flown into East Berlin because of the Russian blockade in East Germany.  It was tense moments in the world because of the actions by Russia. 

            The war with the Axis powers was still fresh in the minds of many.  The tremendous destructive power of the nuclear bombs had rattled the bones of many people.  Here the communists were oppressing people worse then Halter had.  The stench of another war was on the horizon. 

Advertising

Live Like Lucy

          The head line for the ad, read, Live Like Lucy, how effective was it?  Back in the 50’s, probably very effective.  The cover for Life magazine had a picture of the Arnaz family featuring Lucy.  So it probably grabbed more than a few customers.

          Television during the 50’s opened up more doors for advertisers.  Now customers could see how the Hollywood types lived.  So many people want to emulate the rich and the TV gave the average person a glimpse into how the rich and famous lived. 

          No longer was it just voices coming over the radio, now one could watch these voices and didn’t have to wait for the latest magazine to come with pictures of the stars.  The world of instant gratification was on it s way.  Click the on switch and Hollywood showed in a flickering screen in all its glory.

          Stars of the little screen had more ways to make money, they could promote products, travel the country promoting their shows as they promoted the products.  The effect of the media on the masses was just beginning.  Advertisers were exercising a new control over consumers that they had never experienced before.  The media was growing in influence over the masses that watched the little screen of television. 

          Live Like Lucy, was but one way the mass medium influenced people’s decisions.  The influence of the mass media was just taking root in the lives of people. 

          Not only was Lucy being used to sell magazines, she was also selling furniture and a lifestyle. 

          Side note, look at the price of the bedroom set.

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