A year in review

Among the things I find enjoyable in mass media this time of year are the annual year-end reviews. They are a staple item used throughout all media (print, radio, TV) and a wide variety of genres (sports, arts, politics, etc.), but the old three-letter, legacy television networks were always particularly good at it. During the decompression period that lies between Christmas and the new year, those retrospectives were entertaining, educational, and often amusing.

As I sit down to write this week, I find myself tempted to share what I have enjoyed so much in the past, but why do what everyone else is doing? I have given this some thought and decided that in the interest of contrarian fun, I will indeed offer an end-of-year retrospective, but not for the year 2022. Instead, let’s have a look in the rear-view mirror at the events of 1922.

Perhaps you have read that in 1922, our President was Warren G. Harding, a serial philanderer who rose to power on the backs of connections made as a newspaper publisher. In June of that year, Harding approved the lease of reserved oil properties to political cronies in what became known as the “Teapot Dome” affair, considered the greatest government scandal in American history until Watergate. Harding never fully felt the disgrace of his crookery, dying suddenly from heart complications in August of the following year. With his misdeeds now upstaged by the Nixon Whitehouse, Harding is presently best known for the scintillating letters written to his mistress, frequently mentioning the exploits of his dear friend, “Jerry.”

Also in 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Woman’s Suffrage Amendment against challenges to its ratification in 1920, and in March, a census report was published indicating that 11% of the U.S. population spoke no English. In sports, the New York Giants beat the Yankees 5-3 in the final game to win the World Series, and in the world of business, Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company for $8 million. 1922 is also the year that “Talkies” were born when Inventor Lee De Forest announced the successful test of a motion picture process that allowed graphics and sound to be played on a single ribbon.

In January of 1922, hyperinflation raised the German-American exchange rate to 186 German Marks to the Dollar.

In the arts, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong joined King Oliver’s jazz band and silent movie comic Fatty Arbuckle was acquitted of manslaughter charges; his career never recovered. Prohibition had been in force since 1920, but in 1922 Federal agents declared war on hip flasks, arresting and prosecuting those who disregarded the Volstead Act and “brought their own.” Later in the year, President Harding also banned liquor from all ships entering US Ports.

In March of 1922, German hyperinflation raised the exchange rate to 338 Marks to the Dollar.

Although Charles Lindbergh wouldn’t make his Atlantic crossing for another five years, the aviation community was active in 1922. Jimmy Doolittle, who later gained notoriety for leading an unlikely bombing raid against Japan, set an early record by flying coast to coast in 22.5 hours with only one stop. During the same year, a German sailplane made the longest glider flight in two hours, ten seconds and Lilian Gatlin became the first woman to fly across the country, landing in Long Island 27 hours after leaving San Francisco.

In July of 1922, the German exchange rate rose to 670 Marks to the Dollar.

Also in Germany, an estimated crowd of 50,000 gathered at a National Socialist rally to hear rising star Adolph Hitler speak. In an article praising his oratory skills, The New York Times wrote, "Hitler's anti-Semitism was not so violent or genuine as it sounded."

In neighboring Soviet Russia, Vladimir Lenin named a young Joseph Stalin as General Secretary of the Communist Party. Two months later, Lenin suffered a stroke and before the year was out, Soviet Russia was renamed as Union of Soviet Socialists (U.S.S.R.). Mussolini was also active during 1922, toppling the Italian government in a bloodless coup and setting the stage for his fascist government to play a role in the coming second world war.

In October, the German exchange rate rose to 4,500 Marks to the Dollar.

Alexander Graham Bell died at age 75 and archaeologist Lord Carnarvon discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun, who was buried in 1337 B.C. In November, the BBC began its first daily broadcasts over a Marconi radio, and in December, Nijls Boer won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the emerging field of Quantum Mechanics (in the prior year, the award had gone to Albert Einstein). It should also be noted that in that year, a Geological Survey indicated that the U.S. oil supply would only last for 20 years.

In Nebraska, Charles W. Bryan, a Democrat, former Mayor of Lincoln, and the kid-brother of William Jennings Bryan, defeated Republican Charles H. Randall to become the 20th Governor of Nebraska. Bryan, after serving a term as governor, ran for vice president as a running mate for John W. Davis, who was summarily trounced by Calvin Coolidge. Bryan then returned to Nebraska to run for Governor again, winning the distinction of being both the 20th and 23rd Governor of Nebraska.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers finished the 1922 season with seven wins and only one loss, and Willa Cather published “One of Ours.” On Christmas Day, the temperature reached 62 degrees in Grand Island, and locally, 1922 is the year our beautiful Keystone Hotel was constructed.

Also, by the year’s end, Germany’s mega-inflation decreased the value of the currency to 4.5 billion German Marks to the US Dollar. A new currency was not introduced until 1924.

What is refreshing about reading the news from 1922 is that there is no mention of election tampering and even though traces of the 1918 Spanish Flu were still being felt around the world, there were no reports of mandatory masks or economic shutdowns. Is it realistic to expect anything so nice in 2023? I wouldn’t bet on it but I wish you all a very happy, safe, and healthy new year. I’ll see you on the other side.