20th & Walnut

20th and Walnut. On this block in 1939. , The Evening Bulletin published the photo (large image) in 1939 of the "old Henry Charles Lea Mansion, which is being torn down to make way for a modern funeral home." The Bringhurst Funeral home (bottom left) at the southwest corner of 20th and Walnut Streets was later replaced, in turn, by the structure now situated there., In 1939 , President: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) , Mayor: Samuel Davis Wilson (R), George Connell (R) , Philadelphia population: 1,950,961 , Money matters , Average U.S. salary: $1,368 , Minimum wage: 30¢/hour , Trolley 5¢, bus 8¢, 2 Tokens 15¢ , Postage stamp: 3¢ , Baby Ruth candy bar: 5¢ , Bread: 9¢/loaf , Coca Cola, one bottle: 5¢ , Milk: 4¢/quart , Elgin bicycle, top of the line: $28.95, Events , January 20, Hitler proclaimed to German parliament his intention to exterminate all European Jews., March 28, Philip Barry's "Philadelphia Story," premiered in New York City., April 9, On Easter Sunday Marian Anderson sang a triumphant outdoor concert at the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000 and a radio audience of millions. In early 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied the internationally famed contralto from Philadelphia the opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. because of her race. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was so dismayed by the injustice that she resigned her own D.A.R. membership in protest., September 3, France, Britain, followed by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada declare war on German two days after Nazi invasion of Poland., September 5, U.S. declares itself neutral in the war., October 11, Albert Einstein wrote his famous letter to FDR about the potential of the atomic bomb. Einstein, a long time pacifist, was concerned that the Nazis would get the bomb first. Einstein explained the scientific feasibility of atomic weapons, which led to the development of a U.S. atomic program., October 24, Nylon stockings were sold publicly for the first time, in Wilmington, DE., Gone with the Wind wins Oscar for Best Picture.