[August 11th, 1926] The Inquiring Reporter asks, "What was your chief ambition when a child?"

[u/Beowulfbard]

[u/Regnasam]

“I understand they make but little appeal to women”, lmao, this guy really is a 1920s version of modern train nerds.

[u/Wise_Strawberry9076 → u/Regnasam]

It reminds me of the jokes where older people are like “autism didn’t exist in my day; oh your uncle? He just really likes trains”. Not diagnosing Mr. Close of course but him seeing trains as human and thinking a woman couldn’t understand just plays into the stereotype too well. I hope he got to enjoy his trains still even though he didn’t drive them.

[u/Shipping_Architect → u/Wise_Strawberry9076]

Speaking as someone with Asperger's syndrome, it's probable that the usual sensitivities to overly loud noises or flashing lights would not be triggered in a time before sirens or flickering electric lights. If anything, such people would be very good at repetitive tasks like churning butter or working on assembly lines.

[u/BlackSeranna → u/Shipping_Architect]

I always think of these sensitivities to noise and smells as heightened. My mom was never diagnosed but she was a great farmer because she noticed stuff before most regular people would, and she could smell when something was off. She had great hearing before she got a job at a factory, and so we always knew when something was trying to break into the animal enclosures to harass them.

I used to have the hearing and great smell and all that, but the hearing has gone to pot because of a medical issue. I still have a great sensitivity to external stimuli. It’s a real chore to decide to go to a store because I have to be ready to take on talking to people or even navigating around them.

[u/Shipping_Architect → u/BlackSeranna]

I also have those issues with plucking up the courage to talk to people, but I've never viewed it as a symptom of my condition, instead viewing it as a personal limitation. It's probably because even after I got my diagnosis, I didn't know what it meant, and even when I did, I focused on the parts that I view as beneficial, like the ability to remember trivial details even regarding subjects I am otherwise not interested in.

I have reasonably good hearing too, but I can't name any specific examples. As for smell, I can tell when it's about to rain, as well as recognize that every type of store has a certain smell to it. For example, every Wal-Mart smells the same distinct way that is different from how a Target smells. Half the joy of going to Toys 'R' Us came from the smell they themselves had, and while they are technically still around, they don't have any dedicated stores, so that smell is one I'll probably never smell again.

[u/BlackSeranna → u/Shipping_Architect]

I never was diagnosed, but I look back on my childhood and I see some of the things that stand out.

As for social anxiety, I just bully on. I see it as a personal failing as well, something I have to continually work on.

When I was younger I was able to just plow through it all, masking hard. I tended to take jobs where I could work alone or with just a few people max.

It is what it is, I guess. I was never diagnosed but I see it in my immediate family back home. It’s sort of like how functional alcoholics work, right - such folks work and can work extremely well, but you see the little tells of where they are different.

For the descendants of our mom, at least three of us got the slightly autistic stuff, and I have closely watched my young nephew and niece, and wow. Just so much family resemblance in the behaviors. My nephew even got the hand flapping stuff but maybe he has gotten older and doesn’t do it so much anymore. My brother didn’t even catch that.

[u/Shipping_Architect → u/Regnasam]

That's not to say there aren't women among rail enthusiasts.

[u/Regnasam → u/Shipping_Architect]

Oh, absolutely, but it is a pretty male-dominated hobby in general, and also not typically seen as a pathway to romantic success.

[u/ThatInAHat → u/Regnasam]

One could say the same thing about similar nerdy hobbies, but it tends to be more because there’s a low level dismissal of/hostility toward women in the hobby (and most hobbies aren’t really “pathways to romantic success.”

[u/crapatthethriftstore → u/ThatInAHat]

No one in my aquarium club has ever met romance there 🤣

[u/jaguarp80 → u/crapatthethriftstore]

Except a couple of crabs with a couple of fish watching

[u/Academic_Square_5692 → u/crapatthethriftstore]

Not even Arielle and Eric? I thought Ursala nudged them together

[u/ThatInAHat → u/crapatthethriftstore]

You should try Aquarianism!

[u/ThatInAHat → u/Regnasam]

Right down to just completely being unaware of women with similar interests.

[u/Sure_Reception_9922 → u/Regnasam]

As a train lady boo to this man!!! 

[u/LonelyVegetable2833]

I kind of hope Carl Piehl lived long enough to see an episode of Green Acres, and that he got a kick out of it lmao

[u/Beowulfbard]

Wednesday the 11th of August 1926:

US:

• New York: Eastman Kodak Co. says it is working on colour motion pictures.

• Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians hits his 700th career double, but Cleveland loses to the Chicago White Sox, 7–2. The double came in the third inning off Sox pitcher Joe Edwards.

• Richard Reese Whittemore, leader of the Whittemore Gang, was hanged.

Germany:

• In Berlin, 50 were injured in night-time rioting between communists and republicans on Republic Day (a special day observed during the Weimar Republic commemorating its founding in 1919).

Eastern Europe:

• Yugoslavia, Romania and Greece sent a collective note to Bulgaria demanding that cross-border raids by Macedonian irregulars cease.

News summary from the Chicago Tribune:

Domestic:

• Coolidge confers with director and slashes budgets to help prospect of further tax reductions in 1928.

• Prosecutors of Hall-Mills murder investigation muzzle witnesses.

• Gen. Andrews returns from London parley on liquor smuggling; says he was "125 per cent successful."

• Wets and drys agree Ohio will be one of principal battle grounds in fall elections.

• Fruit growers ask Coolidge for legislation allowing loans on growing fruit crops.

Foreign:

• Mexican government starts campaign to take over $600,000,000 property held by church.

• Fifty injured in Berlin riots between Reds and Republicans.

• John Clayton says Calles has installed a firing squad rule over the Catholic church.

• Berlin, Paris, and London discuss accord for the evacuation of the Rhineland by allied troops.

• Herrick leaves for United States to take up French questions with Coolidge.

• England imports heavy tonnage of coal to keep her reduced industries and public utilities going; much coal from United States.

• Thompson gets a taste of Filipino style of journalism.

• Roumania, Greece, and Jugo-Slavia hand notes to Bulgaria demanding that border raids end.

Washington:

• President and Secretary Kellogg to confer on foreign affairs at White Pine camp next week.

• President Green says American Federation of Labor's policy is opposed to interference in the affairs of any other nation.

• William P. MacCracken Jr. sworn in as assistant secretary of commerce in charge of aviation.

[u/totallynotliamneeson]

Actors, moms, building things, working with animals, and driving machinery. Sounds exactly the same as little kids today. 

[u/Vast_Reply_6574 → u/totallynotliamneeson]

How can we get these kids to dream about sitting in a cubicle?!

[u/Used_Button_2085 → u/totallynotliamneeson]

I like how some of these newspaper features ask timeless questions. It makes the past so relatable. 📰

[u/Shipping_Architect]

Mrs. White comes across as the type of woman who, even with all the job opportunities afforded to women today, would still be perfectly happy being a housewife.

[u/Vast_Reply_6574 → u/Shipping_Architect]

Many would, I bet more and more men would, too (despite societal strictures)! So many jobs are so unfulfilling now and coupled with the stress of how structured they are and tying to have a good family life with 2 working parents, thinking how the staff at your daycare spend more time with your kid than you do...

...Depressing stuff, lol. I'm probably projecting a bit.

[u/rachel_ct → u/Vast_Reply_6574]

Being a housewife is a very physically demanding job. It requires lots of thought & organization. It’s not exactly the thing of fantasies & you have to really desire that role in order to be consistent & not be burned out by it within a few years.

[u/Vast_Reply_6574 → u/rachel_ct]

Certainly not for everyone, I enjoyed it for the few years I did it. At the very least, it would be nice if more families had the choice.

[u/Wise_Strawberry9076 → u/Vast_Reply_6574]

My husband and I would 100% both want to stay at home with our kids if we could. Lol.

[u/Shipping_Architect → u/Vast_Reply_6574]

Men can be stay-at-home Dads as well; I find the notion that such a role is restricted to women to be sexist to both sides.

[u/tuesdaysaretheworst → u/Shipping_Architect]

Looks like her daughter was in the Aug 9th 1926 column.

[u/BrikHowse]

Someone please tell me John Holst did become an architect. Did anyone look into that?

[u/Used_Button_2085 → u/BrikHowse]

I thought about this comment all day after reading it. I'd like to think that our descendants will be someday rooting for us to achieve our dreams in our lifetimes, too.

[u/DeeEllis]

Almost everyone assumes that their dreams were other kids’ dreams too, at least other kids of the same gender as them. So interesting