13th & Walnut

13th and Walnut. On this block in 1930. , Long before it was a busy commercial corridor. Walnut Street was a fashionable residential address. But by 1930, the wealthy occupants of houses like these on the 1200 block had moved on, to mansions at Rittenhouse Square and elsewhere, and the once-quiet sidewalks thronged with shoppers, office workers and boarding house residents. To ease the congestion, the Evening Bulletin reported on the City's plan to clear Walnut Street sidewalks from 12th to Broad of all steps, railings, and other "obstructions to pedestrian travel" such as the steps of the two buildings shown here., In 1930 , President: Herbert Hoover , Mayor: Harry Arista Mackey (R) , Philadelphia population: 1,950,961, Money matters , Average salary: $1,368 , Trolley 5¢; bus 8¢ cash, 2 tokens for 15¢ , Postage stamp: 2¢ , Baby Ruth: 5¢ , Bread: 9¢ a loaf , Coca Cola, one bottle: 5¢ , Campbell's tomato soup: 10¢ / can , Milk: 14¢ / quart , Wrigley's spearmint gum: 39¢ , Elgin bicycle, top of the line: $32.25 , Tinkertoy box (one set): 69¢, Events , March 12, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi began a 200-mile march to the sea to protest a British tax on salt. The march symbolized his defiance of British rule over India., March 17, Chicago gangster Al Capone was released from jail after spending eight months at Eastern State Penitentiary here in Philadelphia., May 26, U.S. Supreme Court ruled that buying liquor did not violate the Constitution., June 6, Frozen foods (processed by Clarence Birdseye) were sold commercially for the first time., July 13, David Sarnoff reported in NY Times that "TV would be a theater in every home.", July 30, Uruguay beat Argentine 4-2 in the first soccer World Cup Final., October 14, Singer Ethel Merman stunned the audience when she held a high C for sixteen bars while singing "I Got Rhythm" during her Broadway debut in Gershwin's Girl Crazy., The Nazis won six million votes in national elections and began taking power in Germany., Russell Aubrey "Lena" Blackburne, a coach for the Philadelphia Athletics, discovered that ebb-tide mud from a tributary of the Delaware River near Palmyra, New Jersey provided a good coating for new baseballs, making them easier to grip., Scotch Tape invented., Unemployment rose to 25% and over 1,300 banks failed in the US., President Hoover said the worst effects of the Depression would be over within 90 days: "Prosperity is just around the corner.", The Philadelphia Athletics won the World Series.