DEPRESSION AND WWII 1929 - 1945

These stories relate to the Great Depression and World War II. This includes the causes of the Great Depression and how it affected American society, how the New Deal addressed the Great Depression, transformed American federalism, and initiated the welfare state. This era also encompasses the causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and abroad, and its reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs.

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'32 Ford Roadster

Was this car among the popular hot rods that raced out at the dry lakes in the 1930s?...More

Blueprint Special

Did this record play a dramatic role in the Allied victory during the Second World War?...More

Bonnie & Clyde Bullets

Could five .45 caliber bullets owned by a woman in a small Wisconsin town be responsible for the demise of the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow?...More

Broadway Ballet Shoes

A 13-year old ballet dancer in Long Island, New York, recently learned from her grandmother that her deceased grandfather once made ballet shoes for many of the top dancers in the 1920s and 30s, including the legendary Ziegfeld star Marilyn Miller...More

China Marine Jacket

Can the symbols on this unusual item of clothing identify a marine who may have witnessed a Chinese paradise tumbling into disaster?...More

Chinese Poems

In the first half of the 20th century, nearly 250,000 Chinese immigrants attempted to enter the United States...More

Early Monopoly

A man in Delaware has an old board game that bears a remarkable similarity to Monopoly, but was made 20 years before Parker Brothers patented their creation...More

Ernie Pyle's Typewriter

Did America’s most beloved battlefront correspondent bang out his dispatches on this Corona 3?...More

Goering Gun

In the dying days of the Third Reich, Hermann Goering, the former head of the mighty German Luftwaffe, was holed up in his castle in the German countryside, addicted to opium and terrified of capture by the advancing Allies...More

Hitler Films

Could these rusting film canisters contain unknown footage of one of the 20th century's most heinous murderers? ...More

Hollywood: Warner's Lighter

A Californian man spends $50 at a flea market on an antique lighter and a piece of Hollywood history. It is engraved with "Harry Warner" on one side and "Ufatone" on the other...More

Internment Artwork

A San Francisco archive has discovered a set of watercolor paintings of what appears to be a prison camp...More

Japanese Balloon Bomb

Is this scrap of fabric evidence of a secret wartime attack on the United States' mainland?...More

Jim Thorpe Ticket

A pair of sports tickets from 1927 are discovered in a used book...More

King Kong Camera

A Washington resident owns an old movie camera he believes could have been used to film the original version of 'King Kong'...More

Lou Gehrig Autograph

An Oregon man has a baseball ticket that bears an autograph “Lou Gehrig” and a scribbled date: July 4th, 1939...More

Manhattan Project Letter

Did this letter help persuade President Harry S. Truman to change policy in the post war era? ...More

Mouse Toy

Popular history has it that Mickey Mouse was born from a drawing sketched on a napkin by Walt Disney during a train ride from New York to Los Angeles in 1928...More

Newport U-Boat

Two Boston brothers have heard a rumor that two large propellers on the grounds of a hotel in Newport originally came from a German submarine that sank off the coast of Rhode Island at the end of WWII...More

Pete Gray Cartoon

Do these unsigned drawings from the golden age of comics tell the tale of a real life superhero? ...More

"Pretty Boy" Floyd's Gun

A man owns a vintage Colt automatic handgun, which family legend suggests once belonged to the Depression-era desperado, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd...More

Short-Snorter

Was this British ten-shilling note witness to the fateful agreement that forged the alliance between America and Britain?...More

Society Circus Program

Why are some of New York's wealthiest planning a high society circus at the very depth of the Great Depression?...More

Survivor Camera

Did this antique camera save a Polish Jew during the Holocaust? ...More

Superman Sketch

An Ohio woman has an intriguing drawing that she discovered in the attic of her home. It is an undated sketch of the cartoon hero Superman with a note that reads "With Best Wishes to Randall, from Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster."...More

Szyk Picture

A Polish-American art collector comes across four striking drawings while browsing an online auction...More

Texas POW Camp

A resident of Hearne, Texas recently heard rumors that a German POW camp was based in her town during World War II...More

U.S.S. Indianapolis

Could these souvenirs be remnants of one of Japan’s famous kamikaze attacks? ...More

WWII Diary

Does this diary hold the key to understanding the fate of a missing bomber pilot from World War II?...More

WWII Landing Craft

In the harbor of Bayfield, Wisconsin a craft used for dredging and hauling rocks could hold a dramatic secret...More

Wartime Baseball

A Seattle man has a baseball given to him by his father that is autographed by baseball icon Dizzy Dean. ...More