This Day in Pop Culture for June 4

1947: The Christmas Movie that Opened During Summer

Believe it or not, the Christmas movie classic, Miracle on 34th Street opened in theaters on this day in 1947. But why was it released during the summer? Darryl F. Zanuck, the studio head of 20th Century Fox, was hoping for higher profits as he believed that most people went to the movies during summer.

In order to attract audiences, the movie poster barely shows Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood who played Kris Kringle and Susan Walker and instead prominently features Maureen O’Hara and John Payne on a yellow background.

The five-minute long trailer never mentions that the movie is a holiday film and most mostly contains interviews. Regardless, the movie was a hug hit bringing in $2.7 million in ticket sales. (The budget was just $630,000).

Scenes of the Macy’s parade were filmed during the actual 1946 parade. The movie also won three Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Writing, Original Story and Best Writing, Screenplay. (Image: 20th Century Fox)

1938: The First National Doughnut Day

When American soldiers went to war in 1917, several women from the Salvation Army followed them to France to create a “home away from home”. This included darning socks, mending uniforms and creating doughnuts from scratch. Years later, the first National Doughnut Day was celebrated in Chicago as a way to raise money for the needy.

Today, National Doughnut Day is celebrated on the first Friday of June and is used more or less as a reason for people to snag a free doughnut at some local bakery. (Wikipedia)

1952: Secretaries Get Their Own Day

In 1952, the National Secretaries Association created National Secretaries Day with the help of a variety of office products manufacturers to recognize secretaries contribution to the workplace. The very first one was celebrated on this day as part of the National Secretaries week.

In 1995, the event was moved up to the last full week in April. The name was changed to Professional Secretaries Week in 1981 and in 1998, it was re-branded as Administrative Professionals Week to encompass the expanding responsibilities and wide-ranging job titles of administrative support staff. (Image: Pixabay)

1937: Shoppers Use a Store Cart for the First Time

It wasn’t until this day that the first shopping carts were introduced at the Humpty Dumpty Supermarket in Oklahoma City. Also known as a carriage, buggy or trolley in England, the first shopping carts were designed by Sylvan Goldman who was the owner of the store at the time.

Wrestling about how to get customers to move more groceries, he put a basket on the seat of a folding chair and added wheels to the legs. Then his store’s mechanic tinkered with it some more.

The first “folding basket carriers” were basically two wire baskets attached to a metal frame. A patent for Arthur Kosted’s version was awarded on April 9, 1940 titled, “Folding Basket Carriage for Self-Service Stores” and was advertised as the invention as part of a new “No Basket Carrying Plan.” However, they were not a hit right away.

Women likened the carriers to a baby carriage and men thought that they were effeminate. It took both male and female models to demonstrate how to use the devices for the carts to catch on.

1917: First Pulitzer Prizes are Given Out

It was on this day that Publisher Joseph Pulitzer gave money to Columbia University for the purpose of rewarding excellence in American journalism, literature, and music.

The first awards were given to the New York Tribune (for an article about the first anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania), Herbert Bayard Swope from New York World (for writing various articles called “Inside the German Empire”), Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliott (for writing the biography Julie Ward Howe) and Jean Jules Jusserand (for writing With Americans of Past and Present Days). (Image: Wikimedia)