World War II Chronicle: May 20, 1941
Page seven features an ad for Santa Fe’s El Capitan passenger train, which can take you from Chicago to Los Angeles in under 40 hours. That’s about a dollar an hour to travel 2,000 miles, which sounds impressive. But $44.50 in 1941 dollars is nearly $900 in 20211according to USInflationCalculator.com Thinking about inflation is depressing but trains make me happy, so let’s just consider for a moment how sleek and beautiful trains were in 1941. Here’s El Capitan, which began operation in 1938.
You may be wondering why people from 80 years ago would name a train after Spanish conquistadors. That is because in 1941 people were busy working. They didn’t have time to think about the big questions in life, like should they pretend to be a cat, or switch genders, or dream up things to be offended about that has nothing to do with them…
The mile-a-minute Jeep reconnaissance car is featured on page nine… Sports on page 12 and Chicago White Sox rightfielder Taft Wright is swinging a white-hot bat. In fact he has driven in at least one run in each of the last 13 games in a row (22 RBI in total), setting an American League record… Grantland Rice discusses Max Baer’s chances against Joe Louis in a column on page 13. This match will be one of 20 Joe Louis fights where Arthur Donovan is referee. Arthur’s father Mike was world middleweight champion in the 1870s, and his son Art Jr. is soon to become one of football’s greatest defensive linemen. Art is in high school right now (Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx), but he will begin playing for Notre Dame next year. Stay tuned for more on Art Donovan Jr.
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Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 20 May 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-05-20/ed-1/