OCTOBER 17, 1942

SATURDAY
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
Flying Tigers
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Flying Tigers
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'

October 17, 1942 Trivia

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Exact-date daily brief

October 17, 1942

On October 17, 1942, the United States was deep into World War II, and domestically, citizens were witnessing shifts in governmental control over food sales amid ongoing conflicts. The Office of Price Administration (OPA) issued w...

Inventions & Breakthroughs of October 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 October 17, 1942

Full News Archive

  • Headline: Commencement of Daily War Prayers. Impact: The initiation of daily prayers in Connecticut somehow led to a nationwide obsession with praying for everything from sports teams to Wi-Fi connectivity. Who knew divine intervention could be crowd-sourced?. Fact: Did you know that there’s now a prayer app for that? Because, of course, if you can’t pray while scrolling your phone, are you really praying at all?.
  • Headline: Endorsement of NYS Democratic Ticket. Impact: Endorsing a political ticket in New York State led to an endless cycle of political endorsements that eventually resulted in a reality TV show where candidates debate via karaoke. Thank you, New York!. Fact: Fun fact: The only thing more frequent than political endorsements is the number of times we’ve heard 'I’m just here to serve the people.' Spoiler alert: They usually don’t.
  • Headline: OPA Warns Against Forced Food Sales. Impact: Consumer complaints about forced food sales triggered a series of laws that led to the modern-day concept of 'Buy One Get One Free,' which ultimately caused a nationwide potato chip shortage. Thanks, OPA!. Fact: Did you know that the term 'forced food sales' could also refer to family dinners? Just kidding, we love our family dinners… mostly.
  • Headline: OPERA GROUP CONTEST; New Group Offers a $250 War Bond for Subscription Sales. Impact: The opera group's contest for war bonds set a precedent for future fundraising efforts, eventually leading to bake sales where cookies were baked with the soul of a battlefield. Delicious!. Fact: Fun fact: War bonds are like the original crowdfunding campaign, except with more drama and fewer cat videos.
  • Headline: Art Sale Brings $3,306. Impact: The art sale that brought in over $3,300 inadvertently inspired a trend where people began selling everything from their old sock collections to expired coupons. Art truly imitates life!. Fact: Fun fact: If you think your art collection is impressive, wait until you see that one guy's 'modern art' made entirely of peanut butter jars.
  • Headline: HENDERSON UNEASY ON POST-WAR CURBS; OPA Head, in Hunter Address, Warns People to Be Alert to Keep Four Freedoms BELIEVER IN COMPETITION Asserts He and Nelson Are 'Anxious to Close Shop and Go Along Home'. Impact: L. Henderson's warning about post-war curbs somehow led to an era of extreme couponing and the introduction of every conceivable law preventing people from hoarding toilet paper. Thanks for the foresight!. Fact: Did you know that the Four Freedoms were actually just the beginning? The fifth freedom is now 'freedom to binge-watch without judgment.'.
  • Headline: SCRAP PILE GOES UP BY 987,805 POUNDS; City Drive Turns to Industrial Salvage -- Fur and Garment Areas Contribute Monday YOUR SCRAP BEGINS THE JOURNEY FROM THE JUNK YARD TO THE STEEL MILL SCRAP PILE GOES UP BY 987,805 POUNDS. Impact: The scrap pile's impressive increase eventually contributed to the invention of art made from recycled materials, leading to a new genre called 'junk art' that has baffled critics ever since. You’re welcome, future galleries!. Fact: Fun fact: Every piece of junk art has a story. Mostly about how it was too expensive to throw away.
  • Headline: Niagara Hudson Hearings Suspended for a Month. Impact: The suspension of the Niagara Hudson hearings created a vacuum of political discourse that led to impromptu debates at coffee shops, where everyone became an expert on everything from energy to the best bagel toppings. Fact: Did you know that coffee shop debates often lead to more action than actual government hearings? Maybe we should just elect baristas at this point.
  • Headline: 1. CI.AEK VAV.I-TIrEE. Impact: This headline, full of confusion, might just be the reason why we all started using emojis in text messages. If only they had known the chaos was coming!. Fact: Fun fact: Many historians believe that the ancient Romans would have loved emojis. 'A picture is worth a thousand words,' right? Just ask Julius Caesar!.

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