Could you survive?

[V.C. Brunswick]

And a reminder to those expecting to take money back with you in hopes of staking yourself to a good start: those bills better be signed by Julian and Morgenthau (or Peppiatt, if you're in the UK). Modern currency would be utterly useless in 1937.

Look what happened to Christopher Reeve in the film Somewhere In Time. Gives the expression "showing up like a bad penny" a new meaning.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think it would be the lack of checkable background that would keep many of us out our comparable professions.

One of the most interesting differences between then and now is that there was far less emphasis on a "paper trail." Keep in mind that the Social Security Act had only just been enacted, and the first Social Security numbers had only been issued at the end of 1936 -- to get one, all you had to do is walk into a post office and fill in a slip of paper.

Verification of identity was also very simple. Birth certificates were very simple documents -- for someone of adult age in 1937, born in the early or mid-1910s, their birth certificate might be as simple as a tiny slip of paper filled in by hand by some disinterested town clerk. And millions of Americans didn't even have that -- their only proof of age might be an inscription in a family Bible or simply the claim of someone who knew them.

There was no withholding tax in the thirties, so there was no tax documentation to be submitted when you began a new job. Unless you actually worked in a profession (medicine, law, architecture, such as that) or in some other field that required a license -- frequently all you needed to do was *say* you could do the job and you'd get a chance to prove yourself -- with less than four percent of the population having graduated from college, there was very little emphasis on educational credentials in most jobs. What mattered was if you could actually do the work.

It was still very common for people who wanted to disappear for some reason or another to simply take a powder and reappear in some distant part of the country under an assumed name -- and often, they'd live the rest of their lives without being revealed.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

I was thinking that assuming a new identity would be much easier than today, and that getting a factory or service job wouldn't require much in the way of credentials, just the ability to do the job. But even without trying to be a doctor or lawyer, wouldn't you need something in the way of proof the higher up the social/career scale you went? I'm thinking of a teacher/librarian/copywriter/secretary. It would be easier to fake it, but I can imagine that an employer in those jobs would want to call your last employer. Although I can picture coming up with a tale that involves that "employer" having died or gone out of business. I'm just thinking of when my great-uncle went to Florida to begin his adult life. He told me that he had letters from friends, family, and teachers to "introduce" him to people they knew. I don't know if it was common, but I have read of people wanting that information from fiances that weren't well known - just to avoid someone who had a wife and family back East they were running away from.

I'm thinking (plotting) how to get back to my equivalent lifestyle without much in the way of immediate resources to back me up. No family, not much money, no friends, and an unwillingness to break most laws. A 30'ish looking woman who made a claim to college and professional experience, but who didn't have anything at all to support that tale might be looked at askance- although a sad, but simple story of widowhood and a desire to "forget it and get away from it all" might deflect a bunch of questions. Especially if I could consistently maintain an air of respectability. Which might also be a problem. Probably I'd lose it after the 10th comment from guys questioning my intelligence or abilities

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think the trick would be to start out small. If I wanted to break into radio in 1937, for example, I'd do it locally -- submit some script ideas to local stations and get something, anything on the air. Local stations were desperate for material, and while they didn't pay a lot, the more that could be sold, the more credibility you'd have.

If a woman could *type* in 1937, she could get a job thru an employment agency. It wouldn't be a top drawer job, but it would keep body and soul together until a record was built and resources were accumulated for something better.

There were far more opportunities for writers in 1937 then there are today -- and it was much easier for an inexperienced person to get published, especially in the magazine field, simply due to the inexhaustible appetite for new material. You wouldn't break in by selling a story to the Saturday Evening Post, for example -- but you could very easily get something into True Story. Same with radio -- you wouldn't be writing for a nationally-famous network program the first week out, but you could very easily get something on the air locally.

 

[plain old dave]

Let's see... WW1 vet First Class Petty Officer in the Navy Reserve: Check.
Civil Servant: Check. What I Do is part of law enacted in the Depression.
IMHO not much worth mentioning has been invented SINCE 1937, so I reckon I'd be OK. Would even still be able to shoot my trusty M1 in NRA Service Rifle competition; probably be a National Champ for 1938; our targets are much smaller now. Matter of fact, I might transfer over to the Green Side and work for John Garand and perfect the National Match M1 Garand 20 years early...

 

[Harp]

Would even still be able to shoot my trusty M1 in NRA Service Rifle competition; probably be a National Champ for 1938; our targets are much smaller now.

ever nickel and dime w/M1?

 

[plain old dave]

Define further. If you mean shoot on a 5-V target, no. But I would think a 75-0X offhand would be at least a 40 with 3-4 Vs...

 

[Yeps]

I'm a big believer in the "history is impossible to change" theory of time travel, myself -- anything any of us tried to do to manipulate the outcome of events using our knowledge of the future would either be negated by unexpected circumstances or would be the way history was intended to turn out all along. So using almanacs to win heaps on sports betting or using historical knowledge to prevent Pearl Harbor could only fail.

Anything that we have changed was changed already in our personal past already. We remember it.

And a reminder to those expecting to take money back with you in hopes of staking yourself to a good start: those bills better be signed by Julian and Morgenthau (or Peppiatt, if you're in the UK). Modern currency would be utterly useless in 1937.

My first while would be rough. I would probably get money for my first couple meals by street performing, I have a good enough voice to catch positive attention. I am not sure how I would work from there though, or how I would get enough to get a roof over my head.

 

[scottyrocks]

I think the trick would be to start out small.

And therein lies the difference between then and now. Today, almost no one wants to start out small. It's actually insulting to many people. In the old days, starting out small was a given for most people.

 

[Edward]

I'd be concerned about winding up like Arthur Dent, being the Only Begotten Sandwich Maker, because while I know how to use modern technology, I have no idea how it actually works, and not a whole lot of practical skills. Sure, millions of people survive on nothing, but they generally have learned extremely practical things - what berries are poisonous, when to harvest crops, which restaurants don't deliberately taint their food waste.

I think far more people would end up suffering that fate than may realise it.

I'm a big believer in the "history is impossible to change" theory of time travel, myself -- anything any of us tried to do to manipulate the outcome of events using our knowledge of the future would either be negated by unexpected circumstances or would be the way history was intended to turn out all along. So using almanacs to win heaps on sports betting or using historical knowledge to prevent Pearl Harbor could only fail.

I should have thought in times like that, attempting to make money out of even the threat of an attack on the country would be perceived as something treasonous if you weren't very careful as to how to spin it. As to Pearl Harbour, if the old conspiracy theories have any truth in them, that could throw a curveball too.

And a reminder to those expecting to take money back with you in hopes of staking yourself to a good start: those bills better be signed by Julian and Morgenthau (or Peppiatt, if you're in the UK). Modern currency would be utterly useless in 1937.

This is something I often think about too. It seems to me that to amass sufficient currency to go shopping fr a decent suit in 1937 would probably end up costing me far more than having it made today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My first while would be rough. I would probably get money for my first couple meals by street performing, I have a good enough voice to catch positive attention. I am not sure how I would work from there though, or how I would get enough to get a roof over my head.

I have fifty dollars in period currency in my desk drawer right this minute. Just in case.

(And if for whatever reason the time ship drops me off in the UK, I've got two pounds six and ninepence on hand.)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I have fifty dollars in period currency in my desk drawer right this minute. Just in case.

(And if for whatever reason the time ship drops me off in the UK, I've got two pounds six and ninepence on hand.)

Can't go wrong with silver dollars, though some $20 Double Eagles would be nicer... Oops, I forgot that gold coins were banned a few years before

£2/6s/9d = approximately $11.55

 

[Gingerella72]

There was no withholding tax in the thirties, so there was no tax documentation to be submitted when you began a new job. Unless you actually worked in a profession (medicine, law, architecture, such as that) or in some other field that required a license -- frequently all you needed to do was *say* you could do the job and you'd get a chance to prove yourself -- with less than four percent of the population having graduated from college, there was very little emphasis on educational credentials in most jobs. What mattered was if you could actually do the work.

fftopic: I sure wish it was still that way these days, my husband desperately needs a job. He is very qualified for the jobs he's applying for, just doesn't have the practical experience to list on a resume to prove it. :frusty:

 

[Undertow]

I'd be concerned about winding up like Arthur Dent, being the Only Begotten Sandwich Maker, because while I know how to use modern technology, I have no idea how it actually works, and not a whole lot of practical skills. Sure, millions of people survive on nothing, but they generally have learned extremely practical things - what berries are poisonous, when to harvest crops, which restaurants don't deliberately taint their food waste.

Although I don't disagree with this entirely, I believe one could make due. Certainly, there would be a struggle to find living accomodations, or nightly meals, but a resourceful individual could probably work wonders.

As long as you could secure some kind of employment, your odds of survival would increase significantly, even if you had to sleep in an alley, or on the skirts of town in the train yard. You would likely have to settle for odd food and odd accomodations.

And I do believe there are some folks who would perish in these conditions, as many Westerners bear little knowledge of practical living. On the other hand, the survival instinct in human beings is remarkable and often underestimated.

 

[Yeps]

And therein lies the difference between then and now. Today, almost no one wants to start out small. It's actually insulting to many people. In the old days, starting out small was a given for most people.

Well, a lot of the small no longer exists, and instead of 'paying your dues' you pay your tuition.

 

[zombi]

This one's easy for me: NO.

As a nurse, I'd be so accustomed to the way we do things now with what we have -- and probably be appalled by older techniques, lack of materials, etc. Nursing is a very different profession now, and while I could certainly be a nurse, it would be very, very difficult. Nowadays we have the ability to monitor our patients so closely. We have newer, better drugs. We have gloves that aren't latex so those of us with allergies to latex can still glove.

I'm sure I could make do? Because a nurse is a nurse, right?

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

Starting out small would be my only option. I can't type, certainly not on one of those old manuals. Those things were awful- my mom tried to teach me and, well it was ouch time. Now she could fly on them. Her only problem was the arms would jam because she typed so fast. My odds of comfortable survival would increase if she came with me . I can barely cook, and my housekeeping skills are negligible, so I couldn't get a job in domestic service. I've never waited tables, and my grandfather never let me do work on his farms. The list of what I can't do, at least not good enough to get a job, is pretty long. A job in writing might be doable, but only because I can remember enough ads to plagiarize like crazy. Helena Rubenstein and Max Factor, here I come!

But those first weeks would be unpleasant. I can sleep rough, but that would be dangerous for a woman in most decades. Manual labor wouldn't be much of an option, since I don't think they'd even hire a woman. I don't mind being the low gal on the totem pole- I've certainly been there before, but I don't think my mad 21st century skills would serve me in getting started once I stepped out of The Way Back Machine.

Lie about my age, get a job in writing, make contacts until the war starts. Join the WAVES and try like heck to get into Naval Intelligence. AND then try not to overdo it and end up being questioned about how good I am at discerning Japanese movements. (LOTS of "ifs" in there). Try and stop Pearl Harbor or talk someone into assassinating Hitler? Probably not possible. I COULD track down a particular Japanese spy in Hawaii and arrange for him to have an "accident", but that's as much as I think I could manage in the history changing department.

I just hope I could survive without breaking the law too badly. Look at how hard a time Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock had .

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Yep, nobody has patience. Instant gratification is the name of the game. Now, lack of ambition is an issue, too. In my department at work, there's 8 of us. Two, including myself, wish to make it onto something else in life. The rest sit there talking about how they will spend the next 50 years working there. My co-worker and I are just there to earn some money to get established and then either go to college or start a business or something of the like.

Well, a lot of the small no longer exists, and instead of 'paying your dues' you pay your tuition.

 

[smlemk1]

I'd find work. There were plenty of conflicts going on around the world, and every army needs logistics.

 

[Philip A.]

Could I survive? Running safaris in Africa in the 30's? You bet! Probably much better than nowadays.

I actually wish it was the 30' again around here, and not for time-period correctness...