Take the "Time Travel Challenge!"

[scottyrocks]

I'm surprised nobody's yet suggested the Gary Sparrow expedient of making friends with a printer -- someone willing and able to perhaps forge certain necessary and helpful documents. There were plenty of skilled forgers around in the Era -- especially during the war era, when the country was awash in counterfeit ration coupons and the like. It wouldn't have taken too much poking and probing to come up with someone willing to do a little job for a small financial consideration, and since the instant-verification culture of the Internet didn't yet exist there's a pretty good chance you could get away with it. Of course, if you *did* get caught, you'd better have a good backup story ready -- "I'm a time traveler from the 21st Century" might have landed you in what was quaintly known at the time as "the Laughing Academy."

I'm a honest guy and almost never think of doing things in a less than legal way, so that never occurred to me.

I would almost have to “un-learn” the current law from scratch…if that makes any sense.

Makes perfect sense. As a teacher, I know so much about my own era that I think it would be extraordinarily difficult to 'keep my mouth shut' about things that haven't happened yet.

I don’t know. I’m a half-way decent carpenter.

Me, too. I had forgotten about it which is ridiculous. considering I am always doing home improvements at home (duh). Although I'd have to learn plaster/lathe as drywall/pre-mixed joint compound wasn't invented yet.

 

[Cobden]

New York, 2nd September 1929. With British documentation. First off visit the Consulate-General with a cock and bull story about an elaborate theft after stepping off a steam. Get new passport, and perhaps a few extra dollars to see me on my way. Then visit a stock broker and do quite a bit of short selling. Wait a year, place all remaining money on Gallant Fox winning the triple crown. Then invest the remainder in Boeing and perhaps a few other armament manufacturers just in time for WWII

 

[time travel kiwi]

In 'between the wars' New Zealand you could just say you had come straight off the boats and lost your papers.I would avoid certain areas of New Zealand because that was a bad decade or two for quakes,so Auckland I guess as our biggest city.Temp agency apply for retail or cook-general position.Look for a boarding house or similar.Start from there...

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's a good point -- it's entirely possible the "just off the boat" strategy could work in the US as well, especially if you know a foreign language, are good at dialects, and could pass as an immigrant. You'd have to be an "illegal immigrant," of course, but that might actually make it easier to find a no-questions-asked job that you could use as a platform for saving up some cash and planning further strategy. There were a lot of European immigrants in the teens and twenties, especially, who never bothered with the formality of going thru Ellis Island -- some of them went so far as to jump off the boat unseen before it landed and swim undetected to shore, where they could easily vanish into the crowd. As long as they kept out of trouble, they could easily be assimilated without detection.

 

[scottyrocks]

And then there was the knowledge of what was to come. A present-day studying-up of what stocks were going to rise, and when, would go a long way towards making a ton-o-cash.

 

[AntonAAK]

And then there was the knowledge of what was to come. A present-day studying-up of what stocks were going to rise, and when, would go a long way towards making a ton-o-cash.

Exactly! Memorising some stock market figures and racing results would make that $50 go a long way. Work wouldn't need to be an option.

 

[Edward]

I think I'd have to rely on that sort of foreknowledge of the future too. Either that or get used to doing very basic labouring, for which I doubt very much I have the physical strength. I'm not really qualified to do anything other than my current job, so much of which is rooted in an around contemporary concerns.

Assuming this wasn't a quick-trip option and I was likely to be trapped there (not something I'd volunteer for for sure - It's much easier, I believe to not fit in today than it would have been back then), there's no way I'd consider going earlier than 1946. Nothing about living through the war strikes me as either glamorous or desirable. There would, I suppose, be the temptation to use foreknowledge to successfully assassinate Hitler and prevent the nuclear strikes on Japan by some alternative, but that would be far too complicated, and far too dangerous when it comes to messing with timelines.

Depending upon how kindly I'd be likely to be treated, a large part of me would be tempted to simply tell the truth and take up residence in an asylum, but I highly doubt that would have been a pleasant place to be back then.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I should have specified that the law of time travel that applies here is that anything you do in the past is part of what's already happened -- for the purposes of this exercise, we'll asssume that history is immutable, and thus any effort to kill Hitler or change other established events will fail. When you go back, you become a part of whatever actually happened at the time, because you always were a part of it.

It's OK to memorize stock results, sports outcomes, or other such events that could be capitalized upon -- but you're limited to what you can carry in your head, so be sure you get your facts absolutely straight. You can't take books or other reference sources with you. And be careful not to arouse suspicion that you might be cheating, especially when it comes to dealing with gamblers. They won't likely take it kindly.

 

[Flicka]

I'm surprised nobody's yet suggested the Gary Sparrow expedient of making friends with a printer -- someone willing and able to perhaps forge certain necessary and helpful documents. There were plenty of skilled forgers around in the Era -- especially during the war era, when the country was awash in counterfeit ration coupons and the like. It wouldn't have taken too much poking and probing to come up with someone willing to do a little job for a small financial consideration, and since the instant-verification culture of the Internet didn't yet exist there's a pretty good chance you could get away with it. Of course, if you *did* get caught, you'd better have a good backup story ready -- "I'm a time traveler from the 21st Century" might have landed you in what was quaintly known at the time as "the Laughing Academy."

I can honestly say that I thought about it, but just decided that I have absolutely no idea about how to go about finding such a person in the '30s (or today - in 18th century London, possibly). I also thought about using the 'off the boat'-scenario in New York. I figured I might possibly find some countrymen willing to help out a fellow Swede with few questions asked...

I don't think the war was glamorous (though less horrible here and in USA than on the continent or in England) but I would still opt for pre-war and while I'm miffed nothing I do would change anything, I'd still like the opportunity to raise my voice against Fascism. I think I'd rather do that and perish than get a HEA, actually.

 

[scottyrocks]

It's OK to memorize stock results, sports outcomes, or other such events that could be capitalized upon -- but you're limited to what you can carry in your head, so be sure you get your facts absolutely straight. You can't take books or other reference sources with you.

I'd write the most important stuff in pencil on the back of that birth certificate I'm allowed to take with me.

 

[Edward]

No war years for me, then. Even if I headed to the twenty-six counties, declared neutral in the 1939-45 conflict, where I would not have to qualify as a citizen, or stayed in my native Six Counties (where, of course, conscription was never an issue, but it was still bombed) I wouldn't be keen on living through that world experience. There's a small danger I'd have gotten myself into a lot of trouble in any country at war on either side, given a pronounced distaste for propaganda. I would not have made a good journalist in that period on that regard as I doubt very much I would have been able to bring myself to tow the line. Maybe I could work the war into my backstory if I arrived at the correct time - might be able to explain the absence of some documents that way, also a neat excuse for amnesia might be handy for the first while. I imagine, though, I'd end up very frustrated very quickly by a lot of the attitudes still prevalent at the time, as well as by the lack of certain technologies. The idea alone of living in a smalltown anywhere without the benefits of global communications gives me the claustrophobic, cold shivers.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I can honestly say that I thought about it, but just decided that I have absolutely no idea about how to go about finding such a person in the '30s (or today - in 18th century London, possibly). I also thought about using the 'off the boat'-scenario in New York. I figured I might possibly find some countrymen willing to help out a fellow Swede with few questions asked...

I think it'd be much easier for a man to connect up with dodgy characters who could perhaps help him out -- a few discreet questions in a poolroom or bar in the shady part of town would likely lead to the necessary sources. But for a lone woman to go into such a place and start asking questions would lead to suspicions at best and dangerous assumptions at worst. A woman might befriend a man who would be willing to stick his neck out on her behalf, but that would likely lead to questions as well -- at the very least he'd want to know why, and you'd have to tell him some plausible story to explain the circumstances.

I'd be sorely tempted, myself, to get involved in the union movement of the late thirties -- at the very least, I'd love to bounce a few rocks or bottles off the heads of some scabs -- but the louder you are, and the more attention you attract, the more likely questions are to be asked. So, again, any sort of public activism or activty will need to have a bulletproof cover story back of it.

If I could make it into the war era, I could have my pick of theatre jobs -- draft-exempt projectionists were desperately, desperately needed, and a lot of women found their way into booths then.

 

[Flicka]

No war years for me, then. Even if I headed to the twenty-six counties, declared neutral in the 1939-45 conflict, where I would not have to qualify as a citizen, or stayed in my native Six Counties (where, of course, conscription was never an issue, but it was still bombed) I wouldn't be keen on living through that world experience. There's a small danger I'd have gotten myself into a lot of trouble in any country at war on either side, given a pronounced distaste for propaganda. I would not have made a good journalist in that period on that regard as I doubt very much I would have been able to bring myself to tow the line. Maybe I could work the war into my backstory if I arrived at the correct time - might be able to explain the absence of some documents that way, also a neat excuse for amnesia might be handy for the first while. I imagine, though, I'd end up very frustrated very quickly by a lot of the attitudes still prevalent at the time, as well as by the lack of certain technologies. The idea alone of living in a smalltown anywhere without the benefits of global communications gives me the claustrophobic, cold shivers.

Since we were supposedly neutral, we didn't take sides so there was no official propaganda for either side. On the other hand, there were considerable attempts to censor papers critical to Germany or our stance (as in allowing Germany to ship troops across our territory) but some papers persisted. It was all about choosing carefully who you wrote for.

 

[Cobden]

I think part of the trick would be to develop a sense of plausible lack of documentation - far easier in this period then is often supposed. The unpleasantness in Ireland during the 1920's led to the destruction of many records, for example, or born of missionary parents in some forgotten outpost of the Empire would both lead to such. Austria-Hungarian or White Russian refugee are also plausible reasons for such a lack (though, of course, fraught with dangers).

 

[time travel kiwi]

I suppose as a lady there is the old 'meet a good man and marry him route'.Just would need to find a church that would accept 'my records were in flood X or earthquake Y'...No shortage of historical disasters in a country of wooden buildings placed squarely on the pacific ring of fire.Today we are having the first anniversary of losing a large part of our second largest city to an earthquake.

 

[rue]

Gosh... I've been trying to come up with a good answer for this, but I'm really stuck. I'm guessing I'd go back to L.A., because I know the area and it's a big city, at the age of 22 in 1940. I'd say that all my belongings burned in a house fire. Then I'd get a room at a women's boarding house and get a job at a department store in makeup so I would have a uniform to wear at work. It's the only thing I can think of [huh]

 

[thecardigankid]

I would go back in time to March 20th 1976. I would have then taken my $50 and opened a bank account. I would then take out a large loan and then on April 1st 1976 I would invest that large loan and become a key share holder in Apple with my earnings from the company going back into a retirement fund that accumulates interest overtime. Then at the end of my 30 days I'd come back to 2012 and reap the benefits of having a retirement funded by 36 years of profit from Apple with interest....be sittin pretty good.

 

[vitanola]

I would hope to be deposited in my home-town, Cleveland, Ohio, in the autumn of 1921. I have a pretty fair familiarity with the city as it was at that time. In the fluid society of that day one could easily claim to be a recent immigrant from one obscure midwestern hamlet or other, a village like Bankers, Michigan, Hibbard, Indiana, or Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, to account for the lack of local history.

I would think it advisable that I find cheap lodging at a (barely) respectable working-class rooming house, on the Near West Side, perhaps, or in the Haymarket in a pinch. Rent would be about $5.00 a week in this class of establishment. Initially one would have to very carefully husband one's resources in this situation, and so it would be best not to board with the land-lady until AFTER one had secured work, which board at this time cost between $5.00 and $6.00/week in lodging-houses of the meaner sort. Until then, sustenance can be had pretty cheaply of the pushcarts at the Central Market and at the dives around Fourth Street.

The period selected is at the beginning of the great expansion which followed the Depression of 1920. This would be an auspicious time to seek employment, particularly in a technical or industrial position. Should one be lucky enough to find a job (and but $12.50/week would DO, at least as a start, though of course a regular industrial wage of $30.00/week is to be desired).

A Joseph and Feiss "Famous Fifteen Dollar Blue Serge Special", available as a slight irregular with two pairs trousers for but $12.50 at the manufacturer's commissary, a couple of irregular Webb-kraft union suits (purchased for but seventy-five cents each at Birnbaum's on Scovill Avenue) along with a couple of $1.00 irregular Shal-Krest shirts and three pair of Phoenix Knitting Mill hose ( irregular, 10 cents the pair at Birnbaum's) would take care of my wardrobe for the time being.

As to the specifics of a job, well, 1921 was the beginning of the radio boom. Every two-bit appliance, sporting-goods, and electrical store was trying to get in on the business while the fad lasted. My technical radio skills are pretty good, and I've had a great deal of experience at building sets using 1920's circuits, parts, materials, and construction techniques. More experience, probably, than just about anyone who was in the radio game back in 1921! There was, at that time, a great demand for this sort of skill, and a terrible shortage of competent workers in the field.

I'm all at sixes and sevens as to whether it would be kosher to "develop" any technical advances in the art, as this rather smacks of appropriating the work of others, but of course one can always wonder how an idea can be another's WHEN THEY HAVE NOT YET THOUGHT OF IT!

Hmmm... I do believe that the Neutrodyne might just be the sensation of the 1922 season... Perhaps I should look up the folks over at WorkRite over on Chester Avenue, or check with Art over at Newman-Stern. Perhaps Charles Brush needs assistance growing Rochelle Salt crystals. I do have an idea for a very cheap and sensitive headphone and loudspeaker driver...

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

I suppose hanging on to Lizzie's skirt isn't an option? Darn.

On the one hand, I think I have a few skills that would enable me to make a legitimate living. OTOH...I'm not so sure as to stake my well-being on it. So, plunk my 21 year old butt down in Louisville, KY in April of 1938, the day betting opens on the Grand National. At a CLASSY betting establishment. $50 on the nose for Battleship. When queried by gentlemen (well-meaning I'm sure), I'll claim I always liked Navy men. It's a nice, ditzy answer. I can do ditzy. And at 40-1 odds, I just made a nice chunk of change. Collect winnings and get the heck out of there. Get a taxi to the Seelbach Hotel and take a deep breath. Get rid of the ditz and go for sweet. I imagine young ladies with no luggage are a bit suspicious, so tell a manager the truth. I made a nice bet on a lark, and the Seelbach seemed the safest place in town. Put most of money in hotel safe, have dinner, and plan a shopping trip to acquire a slightly larger wardrobe, one impressive ring, luggage, and one great suit.

Relax for a couple of days, then find a bank to stash money in. Find cheaper but respectable lodgings, hang around till May 7th. Derby Day! Get the best ticket I can manage, and put on suit and ring. Head to Churchill Downs, have one drink, and put $1000 on the nose for Lawrin. Act like I own the place. Take my $8000 call a taxi, go get my luggage and head back to the Seelbach. Money into the safe and wallow in luxury until the bank opens.

About that paperwork . That birth certificate should take care of opening a bank account. I need more than that! According to the movie canon of the 30s, a dame in trouble can always turn to a private investigator for help. But I'll ask that nice man at the bank to recommend several. For the banker, I need to find out just how much financial trouble my ne'er do well brother is in. For Sam Spade's twin, I need some fake school papers and a letter from a deceased Methodist minister. Kentucky is crawling with women's seminaries (private high schools) I was always told to never tell too elaborate a lie. In this case, I just made some money playing the ponies and I want to start my life over in California, away from everybody. *tragic sniffle* Preferably at UCLA. $100 dollars now, another $100 when I'm accepted into UCLA.

At approximately $1000 a year in tuition and expenses, and my $8000 profit on the ponies, I think I've got my expenses covered for a couple of years. I didn't do too badly when I took a couple of classes in Chinese, but for my new life as an young woman on her own- I think 1938 would be a good time to start studying Japanese. Lovely art and poetry you know

BTW, there's a horse race coming up in November. While War Admiral is a fine animal, I hear that Seabiscuit is one heck of a horse. I might have to place one more bet for old times sake.

Three races. $50 to start. Potential outcome: +$20,000. No sports almanac or prodigious memory required. And either make a career for myself or marry some nice man. But oh those stocking shortages!

 

[AntonAAK]

I suppose hanging on to Lizzie's skirt isn't an option? Darn.

On the one hand, I think I have a few skills that would enable me to make a legitimate living. OTOH...I'm not so sure as to stake my well-being on it. So, plunk my 21 year old butt down in Louisville, KY in April of 1938, the day betting opens on the Grand National. At a CLASSY betting establishment. $50 on the nose for Battleship. When queried by gentlemen (well-meaning I'm sure), I'll claim I always liked Navy men. It's a nice, ditzy answer. I can do ditzy. And at 40-1 odds, I just made a nice chunk of change. Collect winnings and get the heck out of there. Get a taxi to the Seelbach Hotel and take a deep breath. Get rid of the ditz and go for sweet. I imagine young ladies with no luggage are a bit suspicious, so tell a manager the truth. I made a nice bet on a lark, and the Seelbach seemed the safest place in town. Put most of money in hotel safe, have dinner, and plan a shopping trip to acquire a slightly larger wardrobe, one impressive ring, luggage, and one great suit.

Relax for a couple of days, then find a bank to stash money in. Find cheaper but respectable lodgings, hang around till May 7th. Derby Day! Get the best ticket I can manage, and put on suit and ring. Head to Churchill Downs, have one drink, and put $1000 on the nose for Lawrin. Act like I own the place. Take my $8000 call a taxi, go get my luggage and head back to the Seelbach. Money into the safe and wallow in luxury until the bank opens.

About that paperwork . That birth certificate should take care of opening a bank account. I need more than that! According to the movie canon of the 30s, a dame in trouble can always turn to a private investigator for help. But I'll ask that nice man at the bank to recommend several. For the banker, I need to find out just how much financial trouble my ne'er do well brother is in. For Sam Spade's twin, I need some fake school papers and a letter from a deceased Methodist minister. Kentucky is crawling with women's seminaries (private high schools) I was always told to never tell too elaborate a lie. In this case, I just made some money playing the ponies and I want to start my life over in California, away from everybody. *tragic sniffle* Preferably at UCLA. $100 dollars now, another $100 when I'm accepted into UCLA.

At approximately $1000 a year in tuition and expenses, and my $8000 profit on the ponies, I think I've got my expenses covered for a couple of years. I didn't do too badly when I took a couple of classes in Chinese, but for my new life as an young woman on her own- I think 1938 would be a good time to start studying Japanese. Lovely art and poetry you know

BTW, there's a horse race coming up in November. While War Admiral is a fine animal, I hear that Seabiscuit is one heck of a horse. I might have to place one more bet for old times sake.

Three races. $50 to start. Potential outcome: +$20,000. No sports almanac or prodigious memory required. And either make a career for myself or marry some nice man. But oh those stocking shortages!

:eusa_clap