LIFE1936-1948

The polio epidemic swept America in 1948 and no state was hit harder than North Carolina.  No one knew how it was spread and children were encouraged to stay inside during the summer months.  By 1952 almost 60,000 US children were stricken annually.  In 1955 Dr. Jonas Salk discovered the vaccine that ultimately wiped out polio.  A great American, Dr. Salk refused to patent the vaccine and left it in the public domain.  Actress Collen Townsend (on the cover) only made a couple of forgettable movies and then quit to marry a presbyterian minister.  She later headed up the Billy Graham Crusade.

Alice Marble, a 26 year old daughter of a California cattle rancher, dominated women’s tennis with her sturdy wooden racket. The 1940 census count was underway in order to capture the 130,000,000-odd Americans. About 142,000 people were employed to do the counting and they were paid 4 cents per name. In the above picture Mrs. George Townsend’s family in South Bend, IN, is being questioned. Her 14 children plus mom and dad generated 64 cents for this particular census taker.

Two years before the outbreak of WWII, while Americans danced, warplanes were being developed and refined. The B 17 was continuously refined and more than 12,500 were built at an average cost of $238,000. The Eighth Air Force flew this plane in tight formations on their way to destroy German targets. It was unpressurized, unheated and flew at 200 mph. The B 17 Flying Fortress is considered the first mass produced large aircraft. The crew wore electrically heated suits and new headgear so they could fly at high altitudes. B 17’s carried twelve 500 pound bombs.