SEPTEMBER 23, 1942

WEDNESDAY
1942 Coca-Cola advertising artwork
$1,000 INVESTED IN COKE STOCK (KO) IN 1942
WOULD HAVE MADE YOU $8,968,676 IN THE 2025 DATASET
Min Wage Hourly$0.39
Median Home Price$4,680.00
Gas Price Avg$0.20
Bread Price Avg$0.10
Movie Ticket Avg$0.33
First Class Stamp$0.03
Milk Price Avg$0.61
Top Movies From 1942
Show screen release and event cards
1 Mrs. Miniver
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Mrs. Miniver
2 Random Harvest
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Random Harvest
3 Yankee Doodle Dandy
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Yankee Doodle Dandy
4 Reap the Wild Wind
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Reap the Wild Wind
5 Road to Morocco
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Road to Morocco
6 Holiday Inn
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Holiday Inn
7 Wake Island
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Wake Island
8 The Pride of the Yankees
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The Pride of the Yankees
9 Kings Row
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Kings Row
10 For Me and My Gal
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For Me and My Gal
The Man Who Came to Dinner
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The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Palm Beach Story
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The Palm Beach Story
To Be or Not to Be
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To Be or Not to Be
Woman of the Year
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Woman of the Year
In This Our Life
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In This Our Life
The Talk of the Town
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The Talk of the Town
The Male Animal
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The Male Animal
My Favorite Blonde
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My Favorite Blonde
This Above All
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This Above All
The Spoilers
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The Spoilers
Across the Pacific
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Across the Pacific
The Magnificent Ambersons
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The Magnificent Ambersons
The Pied Piper
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The Pied Piper
The Major and the Minor
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The Major and the Minor
Saboteur
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Saboteur
Larceny, Inc.
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Larceny, Inc.
Moontide
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Moontide
The Ghost of Frankenstein
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The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Big Street
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The Big Street
Bambi
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Bambi
Tales of Manhattan
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Tales of Manhattan
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
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Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
The Glass Key
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The Glass Key
The Jungle Book
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The Jungle Book
Tarzan's New York Adventure
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Tarzan's New York Adventure
The Maltese Falcon
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The Maltese Falcon
Citizen Kane
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Citizen Kane
The Wolf Man
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The Wolf Man
Suspicion
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Suspicion
Dumbo
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Dumbo
Sullivan's Travels
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Sullivan's Travels
Ball of Fire
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Ball of Fire
Shadow of the Thin Man
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Shadow of the Thin Man
Hellzapoppin'
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Hellzapoppin'

September 23, 1942 Trivia

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Exact-date daily brief

September 23, 1942

On September 23, 1942, the War Council in Albany implemented a significant recommendation by Bernard Baruch, limiting the speed of cars in the state of New York to 35 miles per hour. This decision came at a time when World War II...

Inventions & Breakthroughs of September 1942

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

1 Atomic Reactor (Chicago Pile-1)
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Atomic Reactor (Chicago Pile-1)
2 Electronic Countermeasures Systems
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Electronic Countermeasures Systems
3 Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
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Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
4 Modern Rocket Engine
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Modern Rocket Engine
5 High-Altitude Pressure Suit
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High-Altitude Pressure Suit
6 Amphibious Landing Craft
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Amphibious Landing Craft
7 Synthetic Rubber (GR-S)
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Synthetic Rubber (GR-S)
8 Automatic Analog Computer
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Automatic Analog Computer
9 Magnetic Mine Detection
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Magnetic Mine Detection
10 Portable Field Radio
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Portable Field Radio

The Sounds of

Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year

Headlines From September 23, 1942

Full News Archive

  • Headline: Speed Limit Set for Cars in 1942. Impact: Restricting car speeds to 35 mph set a precedent that led to the global obsession with speed limits. Today, we have entire industries dedicated to avoiding traffic tickets instead of just learning how to drive properly. Fact: This speed limit was actually a genius plan to slow down the rise of road rage. Because, you know, nothing calms a furious driver like a leisurely cruise.
  • Headline: Tragic Plane Crash in East Hartford. Impact: The tragic loss of the pilot became a rallying cry for aviation safety, ultimately leading to the invention of the 'no more pilot fatalities' club, which remains ironically unfulfilled. Fact: Sgt Kroskiewicz's death sparked debates that led to safety regulations. If only he could see the endless 'safety first' slogans plastered on every plane today.
  • Headline: WAVES KEEP CIVIL RIGHTS; Bennett Rules Public Employes Who Enlist Are Protected. Impact: The WAVES ruling turned out to be a significant step in civil rights, leading to future generations of activists who would realize that 'enlist and protect' could also mean 'enlist and fight for rights'. Fact: The WAVES program was so effective that it made the term 'wave' synonymous with progress, though beachgoers were left confused wondering why they weren't invited.
  • Headline: Hope in New WPB Set-Up; Changes in Personnel Inspire Optimism in Navy and War Departments Especially. Impact: The 'hope' in the WPB set-up translated into a decade-long series of bureaucratic reshuffles that led to more people working in offices than on actual war efforts. Thanks, optimism!. Fact: If optimism were a currency, the WPB would have been richer than Scrooge McDuck. Sadly, it didn’t pay the bills.
  • Headline: Brooks Gets NBC News Post. Impact: Brooks getting the NBC news post initiated the long-standing tradition of journalists who have no idea what they're doing but somehow get promoted anyway, paving the way for future reality TV stars. Fact: Brooks was probably the only one who thought, 'I can make the news exciting!' Spoiler alert: He couldn't.
  • Headline: HOUSE WILL VOTE ON POLL-TAX BILL; Last Signature Obtained to Discharge Committee Which Had Measure 18 Months ACTION EXPECTED OCT. 12 Representatives of 8 States Renew Their Fight to Save Local Election Law. Impact: The house voting on the poll-tax bill became a pivotal moment for civic engagement, inspiring future generations to think, 'If they can argue about taxes, I can argue about anything!'. Fact: Poll taxes were the original 'no taxation without representation' dilemma, but somehow the whole 'no taxation with representation' thing never caught on.
  • Headline: Brown Concedes Close Vote.. Impact: Brown conceding the close vote led to a series of political battles that would inspire every future politician to say, 'Well, at least I didn’t lose by a landslide!'. Fact: In politics, a close vote is like a participation trophyβ€”everyone pretends it’s a big deal while secretly wishing they’d just won outright.
  • Headline: RIVER OIL BARGES SOON; To Move on the Mississippi and Ohio in Sixty Days. Impact: The oil barge operation on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers would later become a case study in how to exploit natural resources while simultaneously destroying local ecosystems, leading to the rise of environmental activism. Fact: The phrase 'river oil barge' is still used by conspiracy theorists who believe it’s code for 'secret government project to turn water into gas'. Spoiler: It’s not.

Wall Street Time Machine

The Right Call: A historical $1,000 investment comparison using the stored long-range dataset.
Rank #1
KMB
Kimberly-Clark
Price in 1942
$0.69
Stored value
$147,887

Kimberly-Clark - If you invested $1,000 in 1942, it would be worth $147,887 today (147.9x return)

Rank #3
CVX
Chevron
Price in 1942
$0.31
Stored value
$474,914

Chevron - If you invested $1,000 in 1942, it would be worth $474,914 today (474.9x return)

🦸 Top 5 Comics
Wonder Woman #1
Wonder Woman #1
$25,000
All Star Comics #11
All Star Comics #11
$3,000
Captain America Comics #13
Captain America Comics #13
$20,000
Hit Comics #27
Hit Comics #27
$10,200
Detective Comics #66
Detective Comics #66
$1,500
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Inflatable Airplane
Inflatable Airplane
$120.00
Tin Soldiers
Tin Soldiers
$75.00
Simple Wooden Blocks
Simple Wooden Blocks
$75.00
Yo-Yo
Yo-Yo
$1350.00
Silhouette Jigsaw Puzzles
Silhouette Jigsaw Puzzles
$25.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
War Gum (1942)
War Gum (1942)
$2,000
Gill'S Cigarette Cards - Military Series
Gill'S Cigarette Cards - Military Series
$20
British Wartime Stamps
British Wartime Stamps
$10,000,000
Canada War Savings Stamps
Canada War Savings Stamps
$2,000
Ration Card Series
Ration Card Series
$1,000