- Part of The March of Time series, this episode (Volume 13, Number 1) deals with the question of whether people are happy. Despite new technology and labor saving devices everywhere, people seem to have no more time on their hands and in many ways seem unhappier. The correspondence with advice columnist such as Dorothy Dix, seems to be growing. Health and fitness advocates, like Charles Atlas, have a booming business as people search for something that will make them feel better. Fortune tellers and self-styled counselors on the radio are popular but, in the opinion of doctors, dangerous.—garykmcd
- About once a year, the people at Time/Life and The March of Time offices would decide to lighten up a bit and release something with less of a "the sky is falling approach." It had come to their attention, probably through a "Life Magazine" spread, that the American public was spending more than $150,000,000 a year (1946) on fortune tellers and fortune-telling devices. (They ought to see us now.) They quickly concluded that Americans were seeking to know the future from numerologists and the like, and also had to seek advice from newspaper columnists such as Dorothy Dix ( a forerunner of Ann Landers and Dear Abby) on how to cope, or make it through the day. First rattle out of the box they consult with an Harvard anthropologist named Earnest Albert Hooton, who is quick to express his theory on mankind's future. His theory was that "while technology perfects machines which feeble minds can operate, man's illogical beliefs will still persist." Earnest, in his only film appearance, didn't appear to be a ball of fun but he had no qualms about calling a spade a spade and, evidently, didn't believe in taking prisoners. They also visit with famed body-builder Charles Atlas whose ads for his "Dynamic Tension" course were in the pages of most weekly magazines and the back covers of comic books. The ads that asked if you were tired of being a 97-pound-weakling who had sand kicked in his face at the beach and whose girl friend was ashamed of him and would run off with the beach bully. Mr. Atlas sold a lot of "Dynamic Tension" courses, which primarily advised the buyer to place a fist in the palm of the other hand and push like hell.It worked, and still does, but why would anybody want to pay Charles Atlas to point this out to them? (See Earnest Albert Hooton's comment about feeble minds and illogical beliefs.) After about 17 minutes of this, the narrator came back on with his usual-ending pronouncement of "and TIME MARCHES ON!" Don't it, tho? But not very dang far.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
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