100 Years Ago...

What was life like back in 1914?  

Here are some month-by-month highlights
 of the people and events of 100 years ago...

January:

The first steamship, the Alexandre La Valley,
 passed through the Panama Canal

February:

 Comedian Sir Charles Spencer
a.k.a Charlie Chaplin
 made his debut as in Keystone Studio's
 "Making A Living"

Making A Living
(1914)

Charlie Chaplin did not make his first appearance as
the iconic character "The Little Tramp" until the film,
"Kid Auto Races At Venice" which was
also released in 1914

March:

 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship 
was won by Theresa Weld 

April:

Babe Ruth's 1st professional game (as a pitcher)
 is a 6-hit 6-0 win

May:

US President Wilson proclaims the
first official celebration of Mother's Day

An early Mother's Day card

June: 

Tragedy In Europe...

 Has Worldwide Repercussions...

 Franz Ferdinand Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie 

 are assassinated in Sarajevo.

 A young Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip,

  fired the fatal, "Shot Heard Around The World"

 which eventually triggered the beginning of  WW1.

July:

Happy Birthday America!

 4th of July Parade in Scottsville, Virginia

August:

Germany declares war on Russia;  France and Germany mobilize their troops for conflict, Germany and Turkey sign secret alliance; Russian troops invade eastern Prussia, Belgium refuses to allow free crossing for German Army, Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia and Serbia, France declares war on Austria-Hungary; Japan joins the side of the allies, Lithuiana surrenders to Germany...

 WWI era poster

Meanwhile across the Atlantic...

President Woodrow Wilson issues America's
 "Proclamation of Neutrality" 
concerning the war in Europe.

Many Americans supported President Wilson's decision
 that the US remain neutral in the European War,
 a sentiment reflected in a popular song of the day.

September

America's favorite vacation spot is the seashore...

"By The Beautiful Sea" 

"By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea,
You and I, you and I, oh! how happy we'll be,
When each wave comes a-rolling in.
We will duck or swim,
And we'll float and fool around the water.
Over and under, and then up for air.
Pa is rich, Ma is rich, so now what do we care?
I love to be beside your side,
Beside the sea, beside the seaside,
By the beautiful sea."

October:
 

 An American Dynasty

 It was the premiere social event 
of the year for Boston society, when
the youngest bank president in America,
 the dashing Joseph P. Kennedy, married
 his lovely bride Rose Fitzgerald
 on October 7, 1914 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Their union would create one of America's
most famous and controversial political families
which included their sons, President John F. Kennedy,
 Senators Robert and Ted Kennedy,
and six other children.

November:

While American women struggled to
gain the right to vote, it was over the river
and through the woods to Grandmother's
house for Thanksgiving dinner...  

Cover Art By

Joseph Christian Leyendecker 

(1874-1951)

December:

 A (Brief) Christmas Miracle

 The famous "Christmas Truce"  briefly ended
 the bloody fighting in Europe in December, 1914.
 It only proves that everyone could have ended
the fighting once and for all,
 if they had really wanted to stop!

Doll of the Year.... 

Rose O'Neill's precious Kewpie!

See my little blue wings!

Hope you enjoyed this look back at yesteryear!