An Anti-Roosevelt Letter from 1939

This letter to the editor was published in the Miami Daily News on 28 April 1939.  I take it from the Google News run of the newspaper.

Hitler had just delivered one of his most effective speeches, one that attacked Roosevelt at length.  The letter writer expresses a considerable lack of enthusiasm for FDR, and of course he was not alone.  The isolationists were still strong enough to frustrate FDR’s attempts to oppose Hitler more directly.

The newspaper’s editorial on the same page finds that Hitler had made out “surprisingly well” in his response to FDR.

Immigration Problems in 1939

In the midst of today’s controversies about immigration in the United States, it’s good to remember that it has been a constant issue.  Today I came across a letter to the editor to the Pittsburgh Press on 15 August 1939 discussing the difficulties for an alien wishing to become a citizen.

The context was different than that of today, but the issues much the same.

Competition between Milkmen

When I was a child, milkmen still delivered milk to the door. But in Milwaukee in 1939, there was a choice of at least four companies providing the service.  In this letter from the Milwaukee Journal of April 21, 1939, a women defends the choices they provide.