Synopsis "Past Imperfect: Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times (in English)"
The twenty years, 1929-1949, that spanned the Great Depression, World War II, and Post-War, years of sacrifice, calamity, and renewal, was a period of continuous convulsions characterized by despair, grief, and hope. To recapture the essence of this tumultuous period, recollections of a small group of former high school classmates, friends, and siblings--residents of Staten Island, New York City's once semi-rural, sparsely populated community--have been assembled into a collective narrative. The nature of this long ago, never to be repeated environment, differed sharply from what we see today. In schools, discipline was strict; students and parents rarely challenged administrators, few students owned cars, Black athletes were the exception, and teen-aged pregnancy, rare, was often scandalized. During Depression Years, horse-drawn wagons peddled goods on city streets; small neighborhood shops satisfied most shopping needs; kerosene stoves and basement coal furnaces heated most homes; tin window boxes and wooden ice boxes provided refrigeration; radio, multi-edition newspapers, and movie newsreels were major sources of entertainment and news; moviegoers, following a bouncing ball on the screen, sang together; and teens hung out in soda fountain booths. During the War, physically fit males were drafted; student volunteers worked on Vermont dairy farms; food, clothing, shoes, and gasoline were rationed; ship convoys formed in New York harbor; German attack submarines patrolled off-shore; spies were discovered on Staten Island; air raid wardens enforced blackouts; banners on front doors identified Gold Star Mothers, mothers of the war dead; daily newspapers listed the dead and wounded; hoarding was condemned, bond and scrap collection drives supported the war; and Italian POWs were invited to afternoon teas.
