How accurate is it?A Higher Geometry

By: Ashley Schuliger

In this Power Point, we will explore the historical content of the book, A Higher Geometry. This book was placed in the 1950’s during the Cold War. Many things were normal during this time that wouldn’t be considered normal today. The question is, were these historical pieces of information used in the book accurately? Want to find out? You’re watching the right Power Point for the job.

In the text, it reads, “A slide rule would be much faster and easier than using tables in a book.” (Located on page 14, paragraph 2, and sentence 4.)

I’m pretty sure you are all familiar with the device we call a calculator, but have you heard of a slide rule? Probably not. In the time frame of 1620-1970, slide rules were used to make mathematical calculations. In the 1620’s, a man named William Oughtred created an earlier version of this device. The slide rule is normally rectangular with a fixed scale and a movable scale (number line). In order to work it, you must move the mobile scale to match up with the immobile scale. Some mathematical functions you can do with a slide rule are squaring and cubing numbers, multiplying, dividing, and finding the square and cube roots of numbers. Addition and subtraction wasn’t usually a function to be done with the use of a slide rule. Unfortunately, the calculator replaced the slide rule in the 1970’s.

A passage in the book says, “The man with the microphone introduced William T. Bailey, our United States senator and talked about how honored the town was to have such a distinguished person with us.” (Located on page 180, paragraph 9, and sentence 2.”

Can any of you name all of the U.S. senators we have had over the years? If you could, you would know that William T. Bailey was never a U.S. senator. If there really was a man named William T. Bailey, he definitely didn’t have any historical or political value to us. (In other words, he didn’t show up in Google!)

The text read, “So for six weeks, Carolyn would make twenty-five cents an hour, eight hours a day, five days a week. She would come home rich.” (Located on page 179, paragraph 3, and sentences 3 and 4.)

The minimum wage in the 1950’s was much different than what it is now. Each state has their own minimum wage law, but in the 21st century the most commonly found minimum wage is $7.25. In the 1950’s, the minimum wage was $1.00. That is $6.25 less than what it is now!! Back then in the 1950’s, one pound of potatoes cost $0.04, while the price of a pound of potatoes today is $1.98. The price of bread in the 1950’s was $0.14 while bread is $3.79 today. Salad dressing had a price of $0.39 in the 1950’s and today the price is $2.89. Finally the price of ham back then was $0.62, and today the price is $1.59. If you analyze this data, you would be able to tell that Carolyn (from the book) was actually making a lot of money for the 1950’s. Could you imagine making only $0.25 an hour? That would be considered poor in today’s society. Carolyn is lucky to be living in the 1950’s, instead of the 21st century.

A passage in the text states, “Mama was listening to Bobby Darin singing ‘Mack the Knife’ on KXOK.” (Located on page 15, paragraph 3, and sentence 3.)

Think of a song that is always played on the radio and is well known everywhere. That would describe the song “Mack the Knife” in 1959, performed by Bobby Darin. When he performs this song, it is described as if he is a marionette, bobbing his head and raising his arms and legs. On top of having a great singing career, he signed a movie contract for one million dollars with Paramount. That was a lot of money back then, and still is now! Now, Bobby Darin made the goal to become a legend by age 25, but did he succeed? Let me ask you another question. Have you ever heard of the song Splish Splash? Surprising enough, Bobby Darin was the composer of that song. I bet most of you have heard that song and are surprised that someone you have never heard of before wrote a song that is very well known! So, the answer to the question of if he is a legend is tricky to answer. Although most of you probably had no idea who Bobby Darin was, he is still a legend thanks to his amazing song Splish Splash.

The text reads, “A cream Thunderbird convertible with a glowing red interior gleamed in the spotlight as it rotated on a turntable.” (Located on page 61, paragraph 7, and sentence 1.)

I know you are probably asking yourself, “Why is a bird on a turntable?” The Thunderbird mentioned here isn’t a real bird. It is a kind of car that was fully developed and ready for production in 1954. Two men named Louis D. Crusoe and George Walker, who got the inspiration from a car in Paris, created its features. They went straight to work on the new auto design and a clay model was fully created in 1953. The car was finally ready to be built during the summer of 1953. When it was completed, the only thing that the car needed was a name. Over 1,000 names were considered but none of them passed. Luckily, Alden “Gib” Gibson came up with the name “Thunderbird”, which was accepted as this new car’s name. The name Thunderbird came from an Indian legend of which the Thunderbird was a “divine helper of man”.

A passage in the book states, “Anatomy of a Murder must be a wonderful movie to draw such a crowd.” (Located on page 61, paragraph 5, and sentence 4.)

You’re reading this right: Anatomy of a Murder. This movie started off as a 65-week best selling book in 1958. It was written by a man named John D. Voelker, who was a lawyer and prosecutor before he began to write. This is where his inspiration came from. The story is mainly about a lawyer who has to determine if the offender’s murder is justified. A year later in 1959, the book was turned into a movie with James Stewart as the protagonist. The movie was very direct on some obscene subjects and was banned from screening in Chicago due to it. The federal judge eventually removed the ban. This movie also included a jazz soundtrack composed by Duke Ellington.

The text says, “Well, we didn’t have a television so I didn’t have to worry about that particular sin.” (Located on page 5, paragraph 6, and sentence 1.)

I bet that all of you know what a T.V. is, right? Although it is extremely common to own a T.V., a long time ago not many people had a T.V. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the T.V. became more popular due to the decrease in price. This didn’t mean that everyone had one, but more people had a T.V. than ever before. Due to the increasing popularity of T.V., many more T.V. shows were created. An example would be I Love Lucy (shown in the picture to the right). Also, the first ever televised press conference was done by Dwight D. Eisenhower all because of the television.

The text reads, “Later, we danced to “Love Me Tender” and I stepped close to Mike and shut my eyes, laying my cheek against his shoulder.” (Located on page 101, paragraph 7, and sentence 1.)

I’m pretty sure you have all heard of Elvis Presley, but have you heard of the song “Love Me Tender”? In 1956, Elvis was asked play a role in the movie Love Me Tender. The song that Elvis needed to sing had to be a non-rock ballad. This meant a new song was needed. This new song was named “Love Me Tender”. It is said that the tune is from a 95 year old song called Aura Lee, and the director of the movie wrote the lyrics. In 1956, Elvis was recorded this song. “Love Me Tender” was ranked at the top of the billboard for five weeks.

The text states, “I was so relieved Mike didn’t mind donating a dollar to the FHA that I babbled, ‘I’ll get my corsage box. We can use that.’” (Located on page 39, paragraph 8, and sentences 1 and 2.)

Now, I know you think it is silly, but in the 1950’s, women were expected to take care of the household and not go to college. The Future Homemakers of America (FHA) was a club at school for those individuals who wanted to learn how to sew, cook, and many other things along that line. In 1945, FHA was created in Chicago, Illinois. It was also during that year that the American Home Economics Association and the U.S. office of education became the co-sponsors of the FHA club. During the year of 1948, an important meeting of the FHA club took place. It was the first national meeting for the FHA, and it took place in Kansas City. In 1965, FHA and a club called the New Homemakers of America (created by African American women) came together to become one organization. Since 1999, the club was called Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).

A passage in the text says, “Carolyn flipped through the pages of the little jukebox standard on our table.” (Located on page 102, paragraph 9, and sentence 2.)

I bet you are all familiar with a music playing device called an iPod, but have you heard of the original iPod? It was well known as a jukebox. During 1889, the first jukebox (coin operated phonograph) was built. The Pacific Phonograph Company was the first to create it. This original jukebox was a large rectangular prism with a handle attached. In order to work it, you had to put a coin into the coin slot and crank the handle. It would then spin a cylinder inside and play a single song. If you wanted to play a different song, you would have to use a different jukebox that played a different song. In 1926, the jukebox was redesigned into an electric version, but instead of a cylinder, it had actual records. You would have to insert a coin, push the button of the song you wanted, and it would be played. The type of jukebox mentioned in A Higher Geometry was known as a counter-top jukebox. It was most popular around 1938. During 1940-1942, many companies made new designs for the jukebox. This caused the counter-top jukeboxes to become less popular. They still made them, but not as many of them were purchased.

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