1930s -STRUGGLING OUT OF ADVERSITY WITH STYLE AND EXCELLENCE

THE CHRYSLER BUILDING
NEW YORK CITY

It is true that THE GREAT DEPRESSION, which began in 1929, never really ended, rather, World War II began in 1939 and consumed the world economy , and almost everything else.

Nevertheless, struggling through the horrors of mass unemployment and crumbling economic activity, the Western World in particular steadily picked itself up and patched its spirit together - even if it could not find the right formula for restoring the economy to health and vigour.

We can see this recovery of spirit in the images of the time. At the head of this Post, we see the ever beautiful Chrysler Building completed in 1930 in New York City. It has become a symbol of that brilliantly resurgent spirit, even though it had been commenced in 1928. In 1993, my wife and I were staying at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York  City(trying to exorcise the memory of our 1986 visit when we had to stay in the City's second-worst hotel The Aberdeen - another story) and we had a room looking out to The Chrysler Building - what a joy!

CHRYSLER BUILDING - EXULTANT DETAIL

The Art Deco style which was also born in the 1920s became the characteristic style of the 1930s. It was evident across the board, in architecture,transport, art and advertising and attire.One of the leading demonstrations of this, and one which also became iconic was in railway transport and it was The Twentieth Century Limited :

1930s ICONIC IMAGE

Like most streamlined Steam Locomotives, the streamlining was applied to an existing group of locomotives. The named train dated back to 1902 and was already well known, but the streamlining in 1938 brought about its iconic status. The design styling was done by Henry Dreyfuss. The New York Central Railroad gloried in the standing of its premier train. They maintained an extremely fast service covering the 960 miles between Chicago and New York at an average of the magic ( Mile a Minute) 60 mph! The train was handsome coming or going:

......or going......

A few years earlier, in fact, the British had introduced an even faster train the Silver Jubilee of 1935, picking up on the Royal Silver Jubilee, running between Newcastle and London at 67.4 mph average over 270 miles. The A4 Class Locomotives of the London and North Eastern Railway were designed and built as Streamliners under the masterly hand of Sir Nigel Gresley.

THE SILVER JUBILEE in 1936

But the recovery spirit was also notable at sea. In this element, British design fell short of the leadership one might have expected. The Queen Mary, completed in 1936,  still came across to those in the Dominions beyond the Seas as the greatest ship in the World. But that was because the Imperial propaganda machine was so good. It is plain now, for everyone to see that the French ( with the Italians, masters of design excellence) with the absolutely beautiful, stunningly elegant S.S. NORMANDIE had produced the 1930's and perhaps all time's finest ship:

S.S.NORMANDIE ENTERS NEW YORK HARBOUR
IN TRIUMPH AFTER WINNING THE COVETED  BLUE RIBAND
1935

NORMANDIE IN NEW YORK - WOWING THE LOCALS
AFTER WINNING THE BLUE RIBAND FOR THE
FASTEST ATLANTIC CROSSING 1935


But Normandie's excellence extended to the realm of art as well - nothing was too good for this great ship as the image below illustrates:

Design excellence sans Frontieres

Sadly, S.S. NORMANDIE was destroyed by fire in New York Harbour during the War as she was being gutted for troop carrying. The fire was a complete accident as an oxy-acetylene torch touched a huge curtain. The fire spread quickly. In their zeal to put out the fire, the U.S. authorities put so much water into the NORMANDIE that the great ship rolled over at her berth and sank alongside.

Automotive design moved unevenly, but spectacularly during the 1930s. Consider the following :

1931 STUTZ LE BARON SEDAN

The Stutz Le Baron of 1931 is not very far advanced from the cars of the late 1920s, but it makes a good benchmark for the beginning of the decade. Everything is there: Trunk, Mud Guards, Running Boards, Headlights, Radiator, Side opening Bonnet, Wire Wheels, Spare wheel on Mudguard.

1938 JAGUAR SS SEDAN

The 1938 Jaguar SS shows that in England not a great deal had changed, except that, true to its name, the Jaguar has adopted a very feline stance and seems poised to pounce, but all the elements are preserved save the Spare wheel on the Mudguard.

"In the East, the sun climbs slow, how slowly,

But Westward look! The land is bright!"

Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861)

And westward, across the Atlantic how true it was :

1938 BUICK WITH STYLE

The Trunk is now what we call the Boot, the Mudguards are tending to unity with the body, if not always completely there yet, the Headlamps survive but likewise, we can see their fate is fast approaching, the running boards are merely vestigial, but the side opening Bonnet appears safe as yet. Nevertheless, the ensemble is something altogether different from the Stutz and the Jaguar which are clearly old-fashioned. Modern times are here! Depression or not!

Back East in Germany, the Maybach suggests people have been concentrating on other things:

1938 Maybach D58 ZEPPELIN Sedan

The 1938 Maybach Zeppelin from Germany is an almost complete design throw back to 1931, the only concession to modern times lies in the flow of the Mudguards, the Spare wheel Metal covers and the disc wheels, though there is a boot. Minds were obviously on other things.

But, in Merrie England, where the Government was still preparing its defence plans on the basis that there would be no War for 5 years(!!), excitement was the order of the day when Vauxhall introduced the thrill a minute 1938 Ten-Four!

 What can we say? Sadly even this small windscreen is divided. Is this not Modern? Well...... look: a Boot, vestigial Running Boards, Rear Mudguards fairing into the Body, drilled Disc Wheels and, well, that's your lot for 1938 (and more than a decade to come though no-one could know!):

In the sky a miracle of modernity created a true revolution. No more, bi-plane, no more string and wire, there arrived on the scene the Douglas DC 3 of 1935:

It was a marvel of modern design and excellence in performance and reliability. Hundreds went into service and transformed Civil Aviation. No-one knew, but they were witnessing the birth of the aerial workhorse of the coming World War when thousands of these planes would be around the globe carrying troops, paratroopers, equipment, ammunition and supplies generally. They were to perform remarkable feats of difficult service and endurance. They would be known, in the military version as the Dakota. And their familiar engine drone was always re-assuring except to our enemies in their homelands. They were the Aerial success story of the 1930s, and for that matter of the 1940s.

The human spirit was sorely tried by the Great Depression, but through it all at some levels, hope shone through. It found expression in many ways as we have seen and produced a great deal of excellence. It was soon to be tried even more and further by World War II, which was to be transformative in many ways, not all for the good. But much that came out of that conflict better, had its origins in the better elements of the 1930s struggle against adversity.