The All-American Soap Box Derby Analysis

Words: 954
Pages: 4

It’s been billed as the greatest amateur racing event in the world. It’s been called the gravity grand prix, but if you live in one of the cities which are hotbeds of soap box derby racing it is simply known as the derby. Large cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland and Atlanta and smaller ones like Anderson Indiana, White Plains New York and North Platte Nebraska have all had their share of success.
This is the third book in the series relating the story of this American tradition. The first, Tallmadge Hill, told of the inception of the race by creator Myron Scott, a newspaper photographer in Dayton Ohio. It followed the evolution of the race from a simple city race in 1933 to a national competition in 1934, and through its relocation
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With some creative promotion Scott turned it into a national competition the next year. By 1935 it had found a home in Akron. This move was solidified by the construction of Derby Downs. This unique facility, built in 1936, provided a much needed home. National sponsorship was provided by Chevrolet in cooperation with the Akron Beacon Journal and other newspapers across the nation. The All-American was flourishing due, in no small part, to the army of volunteers which enabled it run …show more content…
In America the minimum wage was 40cents an hour and recession caused unemployment to reach nineteen percent.
Publishing giant Simon and Schuster was founded.
In science, the first public demonstration of color television took place in London. Nescafe gave Americans freeze dried coffee and DuPont introduced Nylon. The march of dimes was created to combat polio, and Seeing Eye dogs were being used for the first time.
In the world of politics, Joseph Kennedy was appointed ambassador to The United Kingdom.
The nation was scared out of its wits by Orson Welles as he broadcast a Halloween adaptation of the H.G. Wells story War of the Worlds.
Action Comics gave us Superman and Dennis the Menace also made his debut.
Aviator Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan left New York for Los Angeles and wound up in Ireland.
In the sports world, Floyd Roberts took the Indianapolis 500. The Kentucky Derby was won by Lawrin. In baseball Johnny Vander Meer pitched two consecutive no hitters in a five day period and the Yankees swept the Cubs in the World Series. In football the New York Giants reigned as NFL champs and TCU captured the same honor in the NCAA, going unbeaten in eleven games. In boxing, Joe Louis avenged an earlier defeat by knocking Max Schmeling out in the first