Grand Quiz Contest - First Surprise Question of Week!

Replies

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  Ambarish Ganesh

  So many people under the blue sky together-- seemed like a climax of some Priyadarshan saga! Then my eyes wandered off to the movie playing at Newsreel, about that "extra" piece of Denmark invaded by Hitler. Not worth the money, will search for its torrent instead! Close to it another banner read- A drink that refreshes with a huge Coca Cola sign. Above was another banner of Planter Peanuts. What Nonsense! Who wants to have peanuts with Coke? Beer maybe!
  
  A board of "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" hung below the Newsreel sign. As if they didn't believe that Hitler did screw Denmark big time! Then I see two people in a deep, animated discussion-
  
  Hans: What do you think about the Denmark invasion by Hitler?
  
  Fritz(staring at the Chevrolet board and totally ignoring the question): It's awesome!
  
  Hans: what!?
  
  Fritz: Sorry, what?
  
  Hans: What do you think about the Denmark invasion by Hitler?
  
  Fritz: Oh my God! When did this happen!?
  
  Hans: *Facepalm*
  
  "What is life if full of care, there's no time to stand and stare?" sang a pervert eyeing the bus full of ladies. I found an irony in that song and moved along!
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  Ramani Aswath

  A picture is worth a thousand words. This picture is worth a 1000 pages. World War II was peaking in 1940. Germany occupied Denmark. The United States of America got into the war.
  Life was turning topsy turvey. It was also business as usual. The hoardings have their own history behind them.
  Chevrolet stopped making civilian cars altogether at this time. The entire manufacturing facility was in high gear for war vehicles. However, this was useful later. People in the services learned to drive motor vehicles. Car sales boomed after the war.
  Money was scarce. Patriotism was on a high.
  Planters pushed peanuts into the market. Their mission was to succeed on small profits banking on repeat purchases. With an advertisement tag line of: "The Nickel Lunch!" – peanuts/peanut bars, their ubiquitous 5c bag of nuts was a roaring success.
  Planters
  Coca Cola president Woodruff ordered that "every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is, and whatever it costs the Company."
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  Four Roses was States best loved Bourbon Whiskey. Segrams bought it in 1940 and almost destroyed it. After Seagram sold it is back on its pedestal.
  #-Link-Snipped-#
  Curious that women are conspicuously absent.
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  Anoop Mathew

  A lost past!
  At first, the thought of beautiful luxury, fails in the awesomeness of the crowd. People move around like swarms of bees, all working their way to their separate destinations. The deliberately clustered signboards keeps me mesmerized at what I want to choose. I stare for quite a while. It’s a pit they don’t have Lady Gaga to play with in those days, or any of the cute looking girls that fill the flyovers of our common roads, to invoke the meek instinct of the everyday man. The tastes they have to display also shows their old age concepts and reserved characteristics as they plan on watching stories like Hitler’s Blitzkreig or comics like Denmark Invaders. The men who walk around in suits and hats are spot on unlike the juveniles of our times. ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’, a favorite show of mine, was showcased with glamour. The Chevrolet brand spreads its wings even as the era speaks of a new beginning for the company. The fuzzy drink CocoCola and Planters Peanuts advertisement make my stomach churn for some. And in all the lust for a shopping spree, I cast these thoughts away with a beautiful smile.
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  ISHAN TOPRE

  “Sharon, Sharon” Called Friedrich as he saw her in a bustling corner of German downtown. It was long time since their last meet. But today was different. Both were meeting in a manner that would have left the people who knew Sharon and Friedrich dumbstruck! Everything was going to change today sure.
  
  Friedrich knew her since childhood when Sharon’s family used to manage a small Hamburger stall.
  How are you Sharon? Friedrich called again. She saw in the direction of interruption and signs of recognition were visible on her face.
  
  “I am as I was before Freddy.” Perhaps this was the last thing that Friedrich expected.
  “Shall we?” And Freddy escorted her to a nearby coca cola shop. This was the very place even fifteen years now that still existed. Of course the nearby buildings were demolished and the shop was now neighbored by new enterprises like Planters Peanuts, Chevrolet showroom, NewsReel and yes a board with the name of the most infamous Nazi ruler Adolf Hitler.
  
  All the while nobody talked and Freddy kept on looking in her unmoving eyes. Something was odd in them. Understanding the meaning of silence, she replied, “I am…”
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  Varsha0802

  [SIZE=-1]as someone has truely said about war,
  
  What weak, inglorious fools we mortals are[/SIZE]
  [SIZE=-1]That war must be, or any need of war.[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]And yet, the better day is coming when[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]The teachings of the lowly Nazarene[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Shall be the rule of nations--as of men;[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]The sword and bayonet shall be preserved,[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]By the fair children of a nobler race,[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]As relics only, of a barbarous past.[/SIZE]
  
  
  It'is not an ordinary picture. It tells the history of World War II. The picture, taken by Andreas Feininger is a placid view of padestrian traffic in Times Square at 42nd Street, New york in mid 1940s.
  
  Hitler invaded Denmark and the operation was Blitzkrieg, or “The Lightning War”, an operating concept developed as a solution to the trench warfare of World War I.
  Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics overwhelmed Poland in September 1939, then, after a pause, crushed Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries in April-May 1940, and finally France in June 1940.
  
  in this picture, we can see the signboards of some prominent companies n local vendors in that era.
  [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Chevrolet did convert its manufacturing capabilities to meet the needs of the war. Civilian production of automobiles ended on January 30, 1942, but [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chevrolet produced a variety of war products from 1942-1945[/FONT]
  
  Only after America's entry into World War II did Coca-Cola begin to align itself with patriotic themes. The advertisements created before and during World War II, as well as the activity of the company during the war solidified Coca-Cola in the minds of Americans as an icon of American values and ideals.
  
  
  
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  Anil Jain

  Everybody must be wondering NEW OF DEVMARK INVASION; and how come the place can be full of Americans???
  
  
  The Newsreels reached their height of popularity in the pre television days of WW2. To explain Film homage, 1940's, Embassy Newsreel Theater, 1940, Times… | Flickr I wish, I could sit in time machine and could reach way back in #-Link-Snipped-# to express my views at its best.
  
  
  Pedestrian traffic was at its peak, may be just to have a look at the war news on the NEWREEL, with their cow boy HATS and overcoats on a windy day.
  
  
  Some would rather say, Coke logos and slogans in the classic white Spenserian script is inviting visitors and asking them for “the pause that refreshes” without coke bottle (which is seen now a days). Chevrolet managed to spend few more bucks to get the first place on the hording board over Planters Peanuts as they launched a new dashboard in their cars and trucks with three-spoke steering wheel. After five years of Prohibition, Four Roses (whiskey ad) was on the gigantic screen where, it remained through 1945.
  
  
  That’s a busy life of an American in New York!!
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  optimystix

  Here's my commentary on the picture:
  
  
  The Times Square in New York in the mid 1940’s was a potpourri of human races-the whites, the blacks and everyone in between. It was an iconic crossroad where minds and means met. This picture paints a quaint image of the life of the Yorkers in the days of the War.
  
  Newsreel, the theatre, was a real crowd puller showing film noir Hitler’s devastating invasion of Denmark. They made good fortune grabbing people’s attention by showing the Goliath Hitler crush the European nations with his trademark Blitzkrieg caught on camera, sending chill down the spine of all those who saw it.
  
  The multitude of crowds at such places made good marketing opportunity for the home grown companies to cash in the post Depression era. What would be better than hanging out a hoarding with attractive titles and equally lusty tag lines! Chevrolet, with its towering hoarding, just manages to pip Planters Peanuts and Four Roses as if attempting mockery at the mentality of those times telling people to drive a car instead of munching peanuts and drink! Coca Cola needs no advertising premium as it was already a household name, without which the American Dream could never have been complete.
  
  
  
  P.S: Thanks to AKD for her kind consideration 😀
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  Ankita Katdare

  With 29 Likes, CEan-optimystix is declared as the winner of the surprise question.