It will always be May 1936...

[V.C. Brunswick]

Is there a specific year in the Golden Era that you have chosen to be your year? Perhaps it's because of a particular historic event or maybe you completely live the vintage lifestyle and that is the year you've chosen to "live in."

For me 1936 simply arrived through a number of coincidences. One of them was that the very first movie I ever saw that sparked my interest in the Golden Era was The Sting which is set in 1936. As a kid I was an avid fan of the Our Gang comedies and my favorite was one entitled The Our Gang Follies of 1936. Also living in Southern California one of the major attractions is, of course, the Queen Mary which I developed a great interest in. Her maiden voyage was in May 1936, hence the title of this thread. And then a couple of years ago it was when I was looking for a prewar vintage bike the first one to come along was a 1936 Schwinn Cycleplane of which I'm the proud owner.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If I had to choose a specific cultural moment, it would be the period from just after the 1936 election up thru the summer of 1938, simply because I think that's the moment of time where someone like me would have been the most in tune with the mainstream.

I don't try to "relive" that moment so much as I find it a continually fascinating period to revisit. I'm constantly reading newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and books from that period, and find that the more I read, the more I find that the general zeitgeist of the period agrees with me. I also think that radio and popular music were at a particular peak at that point, and when I hear a program or a song I really enjoy, more often than not it came from those months.

I have a couple of NBC broadcasts from the Queen Mary's maiden voyage -- PM me if you'd like to hear them.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My favorite year of them all would probably be 1959, good music on the radio, cars at their very height for styling, an optimistic, thriving America. What's not to like?

As for an era, entirely? I'd go 1946-1970.

 

[Big J]

For me, the golden summer of 1940, an airfield in Kent, and waiting for the dispersal hut telephone to ring.

 

[stevew443]

If I had to pick a year (or two), I think it would be 1938 or 1939. I so love the music from those two years. Artie Shaw was at his peak, Benny Goodman was doing great, and Glenn Miller was starting to really kick it out. For some reason, it seems as if I have begun to relive my father's youth since he died. He was born in 1923, so the music that has become my relaxation music is the same that he listened to as a teenager.

Personally, My Favorite Year (that sounds like a good title for a movie) would be 1968, when I turned 16, had my own business bringing in huge dollars for a kid, had my first girl friend and everything was perfect in my world.

 

[Stearmen]

Probably the first half of the 30s. It was the last time, that regular men, on a shoestring budget, could set the absolute worlds speed record! We will never see that again.

 

[vitanola]

October of 1931.

I've set that cut-off date for the contents of the new place. My interests are primarily in 'Twenties stuff, but there is much of interest in the early 1930's. As fare as being in tune with any Zeitgeist, I suppose that would be the run-up to the election of 1912 for me.

 

[scotrace]

My Wifi network is called: "Always 1935."

I wonder if the neighbors have figured out which house it belongs to.
I'm wondering who "Doug Never Poops." belongs to.

 

[Bushman]

Winter 1944, for me. I've always loved this time period in history. So decisive for the Allies.

 

[Edward]

I can't imagine me wanting to actually live in a specific historical period - too many things from the present day that I'd miss, and too many periods of history I'd like to visit. Not many conflicts - I certainly have no interest in living through WW2, it must have been rubbish compared to living in peacetime, though I'd be fascinated to drop through Dublin in the immediate aftermath of the 16 Rising, or during the period of negotiation on the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. Berlin and New York in the mid twenties. London in the late forties and into the early fifties.... and again in 1960 and 1976/77 (all providing I could hide my accent or was rich). I'd be interested to live in New York or Berlin for six months c.1922, but only on a filthy rich person's budget.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

One of my neighbors is "Get your own WI-FI" lol

My Wifi network is called: "Always 1935."

I wonder if the neighbors have figured out which house it belongs to.
I'm wondering who "Doug Never Poops." belongs to.

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

I don't think I could choose a single few years as my favorite. For automobiles in general, I like about 1910 to 1912 as the ideal peak. They were refined enough for reliable travel, and at the peak character and charm as well. In another sense, I really like the truly primitive automobiles that came before, as well as the more modern cars for several years later. For most common cars, my interest begins to fall off fast after about 1927. The exception would be high-end (mostly European) classics from the '30s and '40s. They are truly works of art. However, I would never choose one of those over a great Horseless Carriage.
For popular music? My favorite era is the hot and jazzy sounds from about 1924 through 1932. I also listen to a lot of country music from those same years. Comedy and Vaudeville bits I love it all from before 1910 up until 1932. I also like much of the popular music from the late 1800s. Then again, We could go down the path of the great classical music, symphonies, opera, even ballet (I am listening to "Swan Lake" as I type), from the 17th century up until the 1920s.
My favorite film era is from about 1920 through 1928, although I enjoy many hundreds of films all that way up until almost now.
With radios and phonographs, cars and movies, and great suits and hats, the 1920s in general would be my era.
I need to go for an extended visit, and soon! W2