{"product_id":"past-imperfect-james-w-clinton-9781495454233","title":"Past Imperfect: Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times","description":"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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James W. Clinton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1495454231\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781495454233\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/25\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 182\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.39d","brand":"James W. Clinton","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48436769685759,"sku":"9781495454233","price":7.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_542142e8-482d-41d4-8c92-afab6d32276c.jpg?v=1777157664","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/past-imperfect-james-w-clinton-9781495454233","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}