OCTOBER 2, 1938

SUNDAY
1938 Coca-Cola advertising artwork
$1,000 INVESTED IN COKE STOCK (KO) IN 1938
WOULD HAVE MADE YOU $7,318,352 IN THE 2025 DATASET
Min Wage Hourly$0.29
Median Home Price$4,300.00
Gas Price Avg$0.18
Bread Price Avg$0.09
Movie Ticket Avg$0.29
First Class Stamp$0.03
Milk Price Avg$0.54
Top Movies From 1938
Show screen release and event cards
1 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2 Boys Town
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Boys Town
3 Alexander's Ragtime Band
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Alexander's Ragtime Band
4 Test Pilot
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Test Pilot
5 You Can't Take It with You
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You Can't Take It with You
6 Sweethearts
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Sweethearts
7 In Old Chicago
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In Old Chicago
8 The Adventures of Robin Hood
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The Adventures of Robin Hood
9 Love Finds Andy Hardy
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Love Finds Andy Hardy
10 Marie Antoinette
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Marie Antoinette
Bringing Up Baby
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Bringing Up Baby
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
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Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
The Adventures of Marco Polo
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The Adventures of Marco Polo
Jezebel
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Jezebel
Three Comrades
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Three Comrades
Holiday
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Holiday
Carefree
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Carefree
Algiers
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Algiers
Room Service
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Room Service
Vivacious Lady
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Vivacious Lady
Mad About Music
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Mad About Music
Merrily We Live
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Merrily We Live
The Buccaneer
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The Buccaneer
Four Daughters
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Four Daughters
If I Were King
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If I Were King
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
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The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
Having Wonderful Time
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Having Wonderful Time
The Shopworn Angel
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The Shopworn Angel
The Baroness and the Butler
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The Baroness and the Butler
Block-Heads
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Block-Heads
A Yank at Oxford
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A Yank at Oxford
Too Hot to Handle
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Too Hot to Handle
The Young in Heart
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The Young in Heart
After the Thin Man
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After the Thin Man
The Good Earth
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The Good Earth
Nothing Sacred
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Nothing Sacred
The Hurricane
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The Hurricane
The Prisoner of Zenda
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The Prisoner of Zenda
Conquest
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Conquest
Heidi
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Heidi
True Confession
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True Confession
Madame X
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Madame X

October 2, 1938 Trivia

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Exact-date daily brief

October 2, 1938

On October 2, 1938, the literary world saw the release of 'Marching Orders' by I. V. Morris, a novel noted for its rich human quality, published by The Macmillan Company in New York. This date marked a time of significant societal...

Inventions & Breakthroughs of October 1938

Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.

1 Ballpoint Pen
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Ballpoint Pen
2 Atomic Fission Discovery
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Atomic Fission Discovery
3 Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon)
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Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon)
4 Duplex Transmission Radio
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Duplex Transmission Radio
5 Gas Turbine Engine Improvements
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Gas Turbine Engine Improvements
6 Automatic Telephone Switching
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Automatic Telephone Switching
7 Instant Coffee
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Instant Coffee
8 Television Camera Tube Improvements
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Television Camera Tube Improvements
9 Aircraft Cabin Oxygen Systems
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Aircraft Cabin Oxygen Systems
10 Electric Hearing Aid
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Electric Hearing Aid

The Sounds of

Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year

Headlines From October 2, 1938

Full News Archive

  • Headline: Exploring I. V. Morris's 'Marching Orders'. Impact: If I. V. Morris hadn’t decided to write a novel with a human quality, we might be living in a world where robots rule the literary scene, leaving us with nothing but algorithm-generated haikus about the weather. Fact: I. V. Morris might want you to know that the best inspiration for a novel can come from dropping fabric swatches on your foot.
  • Headline: Ambulance Crash Injures Four in 1938. Impact: This crash could have led to the invention of a new sport: ambulance flipping, which would have made the Olympics a lot more interesting. Fact: Fun fact: Ambulence drivers are not trained in stunt driving, despite what this event might suggest.
  • Headline: Art Exhibit at Carnegie in 1938. Impact: The exhibit at Carnegie could have inspired a future generation of artists to create profoundly mediocre art that’s still deemed 'groundbreaking' in the right circles. Fact: Art critics are like seagullsβ€”loud, always around when you don’t want them, and will steal your fries if you’re not careful.
  • Headline: WHAT NEWS OF LONDON?. Impact: If only this headline had asked about London’s weather instead, we might have avoided a centuries-long obsession with tea and rain. Fact: London is known for its fog, which is just nature's way of telling tourists to stop taking so many selfies.
  • Headline: THE STAGE AND ITS PERSONNEL, BOTH HERE AND ELSEWHERE; KEEPER OF THE GATE A Bit About Norman Marshall, Who Is to Produce Oscar Wilde'. Impact: The success of Oscar Wilde’s productions could have led to a world where theatre is only about witty repartee and not about the actual plot. Oh wait, that’s already true. Fact: Norman Marshall once tried to produce a musical about a potato, but it was deemed too 'starchy' for the London audience.
  • Headline: Constitutional Cases; THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. By Sir Maurice Sheldon Amos. 178 pp. Newt York: Longmans, Green & Co. $2.50.. Impact: Sir Maurice Sheldon Amos's writings may have inadvertently set off a chain reaction that led to countless law students drowning in textbooks and caffeine. Fact: The American Constitution is the only document that’s been amended more times than a teenager’s social media profile.
  • Headline: Frankfurter Is Reported Court Bill Critic; Doubt Voiced of Choice for Supreme Bench. Impact: Frankfurter’s critique of the Court Bill might have sparked an underground movement of lawyers who write scathing reviews of legal documents, leading to the rise of legal bloggers. Fact: Frankfurter was not only a critic but also a fan of the phrase 'It’s all in the wording,' which he used to win arguments at dinner parties.
  • Headline: PALLADIUM FOR PRINTS; New Photographic Process Costs Less and Generally Produces Good Results Tones Richer and Warmer A Contact Process. Impact: The introduction of the palladium photographic process might have paved the way for Instagram filters, leading to a world where everyone believes they have perfect skin. Fact: Palladium prints were once thought to be the future of photography, until someone discovered that selfies were more marketable.
  • Headline: ASSESSMENTS RISE $140,333,419 IN CITY FOR 1ST HALF OF'39; Tentative Total for Period Is Brought to $16,790,631,213 by Supplemental Roll 24,456 PARCELS REVALUED New Buildings Are Listed at $87,891,860-Figures Called For Under New Charter Tax Status of Some Changed Distribution of New Buildings ASSESSMENTS RISE $140,333,419 IN CITY NEW BUILDINGS LISTED Construction in Four of Boroughs Included on the Roll. Impact: This massive rise in assessments could have triggered a nationwide panic that led to the invention of the phrase 'What’s the deal with taxes?' in comedy clubs everywhere. Fact: Assessments are just a fancy way of saying, 'We’re here to take your money, and we’re not even sorry about it.'.
  • Headline: CIRCLE LINK IS CERTAIN; Funds for 36-Mile Road in Brooklyn, Queens to Be Voted Oct. 13 Scope of Parkway Moses Sees Passage A "Tour" of the Parkway Five-Bridge Intersection Park Near Airport. Impact: The plans for the circumferential parkway might have resulted in future generations being perpetually stuck in traffic, leading to a new era of creativity in car karaoke. Fact: Moses believed a good parkway should have more bridges than necessary, just to keep drivers guessing if they’re lost or just really bad at navigation.

Wall Street Time Machine

The Right Call: A historical $1,000 investment comparison using the stored long-range dataset.
Rank #1
JNJ
Johnson & Johnson
Price in 1938
$0.06
Stored value
$3,433,940

Johnson & Johnson - If you invested $1,000 in 1938, it would be worth $3,433,940 today (3433.9x return)

Rank #2
PG
Procter & Gamble
Price in 1938
$0.25
Stored value
$586,656

Procter & Gamble - If you invested $1,000 in 1938, it would be worth $586,656 today (586.7x return)

Rank #3
CVX
Chevron
Price in 1938
$0.31
Stored value
$474,914

Chevron - If you invested $1,000 in 1938, it would be worth $474,914 today (474.9x return)

🦸 Top 5 Comics
Action Comics #1
Action Comics #1
$8,000
Detective Comics #16
Detective Comics #16
$10,200
Adventure Comics #32
Adventure Comics #32
$50,000
Famous Funnies #47
Famous Funnies #47
$1,200
The Funnies #12
The Funnies #12
$42,000
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Scrabble
Scrabble
$250.00
MÀrklin Electric Trains
MÀrklin Electric Trains
$300.00
Monopoly
Monopoly
$200.00
Tinkertoys
Tinkertoys
$150.00
Radio Flyer Wagon
Radio Flyer Wagon
$120.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
1938 Gum Inc. Horrors of War #1 It's War
1938 Gum Inc. Horrors of War #1 It's War
$2,500
1938 Churchman's Boxing Personalities Joe Louis
1938 Churchman's Boxing Personalities Joe Louis
$32,000
1938 Wills's Three Castles Film Stars Clark Gable
1938 Wills's Three Castles Film Stars Clark Gable
$80,000
1938 Player's Cigarettes Film Stars Second Series Charlie Chaplin
1938 Player's Cigarettes Film Stars Second Series Charlie Chaplin
$250,000
1938 Gallaher Famous Cricketers Don Bradman
1938 Gallaher Famous Cricketers Don Bradman
$15,000