Hitch-Hikers Get a Waiting Room of Their Own (Oct, 1939)
Um… This doesn’t seem like the greatest idea.
Hitch-Hikers Get a Waiting Room of Their Own
Performing the role of the good Samaritan to the nation-wide fraternity of automobile hitch-hikers, the owner of a service station in Albion, Mich., recently established a hitchhikers’ depot hard by his row of gasoline pumps. Nailed to a tree, a large sign visible to approaching motorists at a good distance, identifies the spot, while a painted hand, with the thumb outstretched in the traditional manner, does the spade work for tired hikers.
I love the idea.
If you look at the Doe Network lists of missing persons and unidentified remains, you’ll find a lot of listings that include the word “hitchhike” (or a variant; spelling is not always consistent at that site). Most of those have two shared characteristics: they’re female and they’re young.
Most date back 20 years or more (and I believe there is one that predates this article).
I’m calling shenanigans on this. The service station owner might have put this up, but those three girls are plants. They’ve got on heels, they’re in their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, and the ones on the ends are hamming it up in their “I’m so forlorn” poses.
Why, if it’s a “nation-wide fraternity,” are these women?
Not a lot of people think about this, but “spade work” is actually a racist turn of phrase referring to the old practice of calling African-Americans “spades.” I think most think it refers to hard work in the garden. Nope. Just something to keep in mind…
Err…. that comment above was in reference to boingboing’s post about this. (http://www.boingboing.n…) Sorry, it makes no sense in this context. Ignore!
There was no crime in 1939, people were kinder and gentler back then,
Sure there were crime in 1939, but ignorance is bliss. Young women (and men) could hitchhike in the peaceful believe that it was safe.
Rape a women in 1939 and get caught, and a few hundren people in your town hears about it. If it gets printed in a newspaper, maybe a few thousand people will read it. Get caught today, and millions of people will learn of it.
The corollary is that each of us hears of 1000 more crimes as somebody in 1939, even if the crime rate were the same.
that should have been “young women” and not “you women”, would the admin please edit my previous post?
Fixed