On this block in 1930

On this block in 1930. . , The Western Union Telegraph Building at 1111 Locust Street was designed in the Egyptian Revival style in 1922 by architect William Welles Bosworth, known for designing the main campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The entrance is adorned with an Art Deco bas relief map of the world with representations of electrical telegraph pulses flowing out of the earth., In 2004, Cecil Baker + Partners designed a contemporary addition that more than doubled the building's size, adding eight stories and converting it to a mixed-use development., In 1930 , President: Herbert Hoover , Mayor: Harry Arista Mackey (R) , Philadelphia population: 1,950,961, 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., 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¢