LIFE 1943

  

LIFE was an important news magazine that was published every week for many decades, before becoming a monthly magazine in 1972, and eventually, ceasing to publish in 2000. I grew up with LIFE magazine in our household in India, along with National Geographic, Time and Reader’s Digest. You see, my parents were quite in tune with what was happening in the US.

 

So, I picked up a copy of a LIFE magazine at a flea market in Pasadena. It was the June 14, 1943 issue, with cover story of High School graduation. This was a special graduation for many students, as almost all male (called “boys”) were drafted and went to war. Remember, World War II was still raging. None of the graduating women was drafted and many were destined to go to college.

 

This is a remarkable issue in terms of what it shows and what it does not.

 

As can be expected, the issue has many reports and photos from the battle front. The main story is on the war in North Africa, including that on bombing of Tunis. There is a story on a movie called “Five Graves to Cairo” featuring the actor who played Field Marshal Rommel. 

 

The Nazi war on Russian civilians is described using graphic drawings by an artist. What a horrible war it was!!There is a report on Attu Island of Japan. The Allied soldiers are shown fighting Japanese hiding in snow. Pearl Harbor salvage operation is described in detail. 

 

There are many other non-war related stories as well. There are photos of a monkey digging up a garden, a guy called James Byrne (known as “assistant president”) giving a speech in South Carolina, bare backs as the latest fashion (how scandalous!), a woman called “the pretzel girl” based on her remarkable aerobics, carnivorous plants, and Literary England (showing places that were selected by English authors for their books). Of course, there are photos from the afore mentioned high school graduation, in which every woman (“girl”) looks identical, and so does every man (“boy”). All white.

 

What is really interesting is to go through the advertisements occupying good deal of the magazine. Here are some observations:

 

·      At the first glance, there is not a single black, brown or Asian person in the entire magazine….not one in the stories, and none in the advertisements. The only place I found, after much searching, is an advertisement for Seaforth toiletries, where a British officer in Calcutta orders an Indian servant to bring him a jugful of something so he can shave. 

·      There is a Rube Goldberg’s contraption (remember him?) that shows how a war worker sawing off a pipe would eventually launch “Adolf, Musso and Hiro” by big guns so that “they never trouble the civilized world again”. 

·      There are several full-page advertisements by car companies (Oldsmobile, Buick, Chevrolet) building war machinery. Also, shown is a Boeing factory making bombers.

·      There were numerous types of whiskies being sold during that time, as is apparent from the advertisements. These include, Paul Jones (never heard of it), Seagram’s, VAT69, Canadian Club and Teacher’s. Also advertised are Gordon’s Gin, and Merito rum. No wines or beers. 

·      There is a cute advertisement for Easterbrook fountain pen, which allows writers to change points (nibs), also one on razor blades (remember them?)

·      Interestingly, a lot of advertisements show grooming products for men. Toiletries, shaving lotions, tie bars, cuff links, shirts, “Bill folds”, and so on. 

·      Finally, of course, there are advertisements for cigarettes and cigars. Smoking was in full bloom.

 

 

Different times, indeed. 

Far out

 I enjoy thinking about the future. So, I like to read science fiction books, especially those that are based on hard science. These books provide scenarios on how the future might evolve. 

To that end, I have enjoyed reading books written by Kim Stanley Robinson, a prolific author based in California. The last book I read, “2312” is as interesting as the previous one. 

 

As the title suggests, Kim describes the world almost 300 years from now. Several intriguing developments that have taken place by the time year 2312 arrives

 

Human beings now live on most of the planets, and many of their moons. For each planet (and moon) humans have developed a way of living appropriate for the climate condition. 

 

·      On Mercury, where a principal character lives, the problem is heat from sun. If you are in open sunlight, you will get fried in no time. So, you have to keep moving ahead of sunrise. That is not a major problem because the planet revolves very slowly. What is a particularly intriguing solution is that an entire city, called the Terminator, is built to move on rails. Of course, if there is a problem with the rails and the city cannot move, there is a huge crisis.

·      On Venus, humans have designed a solar shield, once again to protect the plane from intense heat. If the solar shield is threatened, the entire population on Venus is at risk. 

·      For the population living on Titan, a moon of Saturn, where another important character is from, the problem is reverse. It is too cold, and so the habitats are designed to allow people to survive intense cold.

 

Transportation among these planets and moons is provided on asteroids that are hollowed to provide capacity and luxury to travelers. They rotate slowly so humans are able to enjoy “gravity” in form of centrifugal force. Called terrariums, these massive spaceships come in different flavors each suited to different expectations of long travel. 

 

Space elevators, anchored at equators, are commonly used to transport people from the planet to a geosynchronous orbit. This way, they can catch ferries to spaceships without having to burn a lot of fuel to get into the orbit. Both Earth and Mars have such space elevators. 

 

There is a move to repopulate earth with animals—reanimation---that involves dropping animals using various landing technologies. Of course, this repopulating is not enthusiastically endorsed by everyone. 

In the future, humans don’t come as either male or female. There are multiple varieties, and most humans come equipped with both sex organs. That is the case with the two main characters of the book. 

 

Artificial intelligence has a firm hold on civilization. Most people have an AI device, “qube”, embedded in their heads. Some, however, prefer to wear them on wrists (like an Apple watch). These qubes provide whatever assistance their humans need. There are also humanoids, robots, walking around and they are indistinguishable from humans. One main part of the story deals with a coup engineered by the qubes against humanity. 

 

The book is a fascinating journey through an imagined future. The detail with which Kim paints the picture made this book a NY Times Bestseller and won the Nebula Award. 

 

 

It does stretch your imagination.