New York – Hipstory

A Lasting Memory: New York Yankees Game and World’s Fair in 1940

To Miss Helen Fussy from Irene. June 8, 1940

Dearest Helen,

I saw a big league game to-day — New York Yankees via Cleveland. To-morrow we will start at the fair, with Mother.

Love,

Irene

Headlines of World War II dominated the newspapers in June of 1940. Germany continued its assault on North-West Europe in the Battle of France. And, on June 10 of 1940, Italy would join Germany to become one of the “Axis” powers. The rumblings of war were becoming louder, yet daily life in the United States continued without breaking, though perhaps with a wary eye toward the future.

It was in the shadow of these events that Miss Irene attended a big league game. On June 8, 1940, the New York Yankees played the Cleveland Indians. The game lasted one hour and forty one minutes, and Irene was one of 16,067 people in attendance. I’m disappointed to inform you that the Yankees did not win. In fact, they were trounced. The Cleve beat the Yankees with a score of 3-0. Poor Irene, though she didn’t seem to mind.

The New York World’s Fair opened in Flushing Meadows, New York (Queens) in 1939 and remained open until October of 1940. The 1939 fair differed, however, from the 1940 fair. Ten countries did not return to the fair in 1940, including some under German occupation. Moreover, the fair’s theme changed from “Building the Amusement of Tomorrow” to “For Peace and Freedom.” The admission price was cut from 75 cents to 50 cents, and campaigns were run along the midwest in an effort to attract more rural visitors.

Since Irene sent a message to Minnesota, I have to guess that the advertisements worked on her family. Despite the more somber and patriotic mood of the fair, I’m sure Irene was dazzled by her experience. At least I like to think so.

As for Miss Helen Fussy, as is often the case with young women, it’s difficult to know if the information I found on her is true. What I can say is that there was a Helen Fussy living in Minnesota in 1940. She was 24 years of age, and there was an Irene Fussy living in Minnesota who was 13 in the same census. Are the two sisters, or simply friends? It’s difficult to know for certain. However, I do hope that Irene’s memory of her big-league game and time at the fair stayed with her for a long time.

And of course, the memory hasn’t died. It’s preserved in a quick postcard written to Helen and sent in the heady days of a New York summer.

Front of Postcard: Barbizon Plaza

Postcard from 1944: Connecting Lives Across Geographic and Cultural Differences

Mrs. W.W. Roswell, 1944

Dear Mrs. Roswell,

Just a few lines in answer to your recent little letter. You asked me if Sue would enjoy a little (??). I think she would love it as she loves mine. I have a 9-12 from China in my living room. Sue and (?) were here for dinner and Edwards 19th birthday party. So glad he could be home (rest of text unclear).

Lots of love to you forever

This postcard is slightly frustrating to me, because I can’t make large parts of it out. The handwriting is long and spread out, then scrunches together at the bottom and top as the writer tries to make up for her previous luxurious writing. Since this is 1944, and Edward is turning 19, I wonder if he went to war, or had been back from war. I can’t research it either, because I can’t quite make out the senders name or last name.

What I do love about this postcard is imagining the differences between the sender and the receiver. New York has always been a bustling center of activity, and in 1944 it was no different, especially with a war on. Hood River, Oregon, in contrast, is still fairly rural. The 2020 census indicated only 8,000 some odd people, up by 3,000 from the year 2000. That tells me that in 1944, it would have been a largely agricultural community, connected to the rest of the world by railway. Mrs. Roswell and her friend must have lived markedly different lives, but managed to connect through family ties and friendship.