Not a picture of John, but a snapshot of man in snow that is an example of what his photo may have looked like.
Citation: Handsome Man In Snow Boots Jacket Gloves 1940's Winter. n.d. Photograph. Ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/144889375705.
In this letter, John talks about the picture of him in the snow that arrived presumably from his sister. Snapshots began to be an everyday occurrence.
"The snapshot evolved, too. Eastman realized that people would take even more pictures if they were reminded of the power of photos to preserve memories. “Memory has a most aggravating way of storing up details for which we don’t care a crooked sixpence—and of dropping out of sight forever things we really want to know,” as one Kodak ad proclaimed. The 1943 edition of Eastman’s book How to Make Good Pictures encouraged parents to lifelog their children’s every step, producing “an intimate snapshot diary covering the entire period from cradle days to full manhood or womanhood.”
Citation: Thompson, C. (2014, September 1). The invention of the "snapshot" changed the way we viewed the world. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/invention-snapshot-changed-way-we-viewed-world-180952435/
Were soldiers stationed overseas more likely to listen to radio news? Did they have the opportunity to see Movietone reels?
How did soldiers in theater get access to world news?
How widely accessible were college classes to enlisted soldiers? John mentions taking a test to move into a different role in the Army.
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
Notes – Handwritten letter dated March 19, 1943, two pages. Includes envelope, postmarked March 19, 1943, 4:30PM, from Greenville, SC.
Aerodynamics class at BC. Brooklyn College Scrapbooks, Brooklyn College Archives.
Faculty Council approved approximately 40 undergraduate classes related to the war effort and civilian defense. Offerings included Chemical Explosives, Chemical Warfare, Cryptography, Ballistics, Navigation, Meteorology, Hispano-American Literature, Radio, Military History, International Organization, and Aerodynamics. Students could also enroll in elementary Japanese and Russian language classes, while students in the Department of Design (Art) could sign up for a 12-week Camouflage course. For more information you can read "Changing Course: Classes and Curriculum During WWII - Brooklyn College" on the City University of New York's Academic Commons.
Citation: Changing course: Classes and curriculum during WWII. Countdown to 2030. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://countdown2030.commons.gc.cuny.edu/the-1940s/changing-course-classes-and-curriculum-during-wwii/
Eager to keep abreast of what was happening across the globe, particularly in locations where family and loved ones were stationed, newspapers were not the only source of information. News was also readily available in movie theaters in the form of newsreel footage before the feature film, as well as on the radio. Movietone News (part of 20th Century-Fox) was the leading source of cinema sound newsreels for theaters in the United States, with broadcaster / journalist Lowell Thomas as a regular narrator of the newsreels. Radio networks' news departments rivaled print journalism, choosing to focus on the immediacy of radio broadcasts instead of the deeper reporting of newspaper reporters.
In the video below, Lowell Thomas narrates various newsreel clips from Movietone News.
The audio clip below is from the radio show "CBS News Around the World (AM Edition)" on June 1, 1943. In this broadcast, news reports can be heard from Australia (William J. Dunn), London (Charles Collingswood), and Moscow (Larry LeSueur). Announcing the program is Harry Marble.
Citations:
Thomas, Lowell and Truman Talley. "Movietone News." 20th Century-Fox. Retrieved on April 26, 2023. https://youtu.be/B1Gt6hPuMaw
Marble, Harry. "CBS News Around the World (AM Edition), June 1, 1943." Columbia Broadcasting System. 1943. Retrieved on April 26, 2023. https://www.otrcat.com/p/cbs-news-around-the-world-am-edition