1949 the last year of the forties. I would be two in December. Little did I know what sort of world I was born into. At this time my family was living in Observatory, on the Cape Peninsula, Table Mountain loomed close and Rhodes memorial with its lions looked down upon us. I was still unaware of my surroundings but photographs, in my personal collection sheds some light on this period.
City Hall Durban
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In Durban the year had started out tragically, riots broke out and from January 14 – January 16 the Indian population came under attack from their African neighbours. A hundred and forty-two people were killed (Indian, African and white) and over a thousand were injured. It is difficult to apportion blame but the living conditions of the African, hostel conditions, the belief that they were being exploited by black-marketers all played a part. The contraction of the buying power of the pound after the war was also a reason for the riots. South Africa was embarking on a dangerous journey which would plague us for the next 40 years.
Rhodes Memorial
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In Europe and America there were signs that the depression and the misery brought on by World War 2 was beginning to lift. Cars and TV’s became bigger and in America at least, people had more buying power. In Britain car manufacturers began boosting output to meet the new demand. At the beginning of the year, the Berlin airlift was under way and would not end till the 12th of May when the Soviet Union lifted the blockade. This was to be one of the major incidents in the cold war.
Mao Zedong
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In China Mao Zedong had won the war and on the 1st of October he proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and Chang Kai-Shek had fled to Taiwan. Another development in the east was the declaration of independence of Indonesia. Formally a territory of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies) its independence ended years of war which broke out at the end of the Second World War.
South Africa moved forward with policies that would impact our society for decades. On the 29th of June South Africa introduces the Apartheid policy. This is followed by the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act on the 1st of July. On the 16th of December the Voortrekker monument is inaugurated and South Africa faces the beginning of its isolation from the rest of the world.
On a more upbeat note, Volkswagen sells its first “Beetle” to America. The first 45 rpm Vinyl record is released in January. George Orwell’s 1984, goes on sale. Perry Como has a hit with “You are Adorable” Frankie Laine’s Mule Train is a hit and Rogers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” debuts on Broadway.
The world’s first commercially available Computer the Ferranti Mark 1 is released.
A few popular songs from that year:
Some Enchanted Evening – Frank Sinatra
Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
Mule Train – Frankie Laine
Whispering Hope – George McCrae
Music! Music! Music! – Teresa Brewer
Riders in the Sky – Vaughan Monroe
The Hits of 1949:
My other posts 1947 and 1949
From the summer of love to the winter of our discontent.
https://steemit.com/year1947/@petruska13/from-the-summer-of-love-to-the-winter-of-our-discontent
1948 - A tumultuous year for South Africa and the world.
https://steemit.com/year1948/@petruska13/1948-a-tumultuous-year-for-south-africa-and-the-world
Thank you for reading my post, I will be uploading the year 1950 soon.
Please upvote, comment and resteem.
Regards Peter
i really like this idea! what was happening a year by a year... very clever and interesting! :)
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I will try and do two or three a week. Takes a bit of research but it also places me into that time bracket which helps to understand what influences were on the family. I will be adding some personal recollections but that will come later. Thanks for the upvote and the comment.
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