1947 - It Was a Very Good Year!

On September 19, 1947, eighteen-year-old Robert Reece married seventeen-year-old Aunita Hood in Vinita, Oklahoma. The ceremony was delayed two hours because the groom's parents car broke down in Joplin, Mo. on the way from Springfield, Mo. to the wedding. Today Robert and Aunita, my parents, are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary.

Here is a snapshot of the world these newlyweds faced in 1947:

Harry Truman was President.

The National Debt was $258 billion dollars, down from $269 billion in 1947.

A new house cost $6,600 and a new car was $1,300.

A loaf of bread was 13 cents and a postage stamp was three cents.

The first VW Beetle arrived in the U.S. and Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League baseball. President Truman became the first president to address the nation on TV and Meet the Press first aired.  The CIA was established and Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the speed of sound.

Nolan Ryan, Mitt Romney, Elton John, Dave Barry, Stephen King, & Hillary Clinton were born. Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, Henry Ford, Josh Gibson and the famous race horse Man o' War died.

Polaroid introduced the first "instant" camera, Goodrich introduced the first tubeless tire and the transistor was invented. The movie Best Years of Our Lives won the Academy Award for "Best Picture".

Today my parents celebrate sixty-five of the "best years of their lives" together.

It hasn't all been smooth, but I'm certain having two sons that never caused them a moment's trouble made it easier.

Oh, yeah. On July 7, 1947 a UFO was reportedly found near Roswell, New Mexico. I'm not sure that the events are related, but O.J. Simpson turned up 2 days later.

One other important 1947 event - when I Googled "when was I conceived", and provided my date-of-birth, it said I was conceived "on or about December 18, 1947".

My Dad always did like to open Christmas presents early.

Happy Sixty-fifth Anniversary to the best parents I've ever had!