That Was the Year 37-03-01 (05) Spotlighting the Year - 1913

Summary

Podcast Summary:

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode: That Was the Year 37-03-01 (05) Spotlighting the Year - 1913
Date: September 14, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio

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Overview

This episode of Harold's Old Time Radio is a dramatized, documentary-style review of significant historical and cultural events from the year 1913. With a mixture of reenacted dialogues, narration, music, and period-appropriate storytelling, the show provides listeners with a vivid snapshot of global events and pop culture, from Mexico’s political turmoil to the rise of ragtime, women’s suffrage, and the opening of the Panama Canal.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Political Upheaval in Mexico

• Events:
  • The fall of President Francisco I. Madero amid revolutionary turmoil, orchestrated by Felix Diaz and Victoriano Huerta.
  • Madero’s resistance and eventual forced resignation, followed by his assassination.
• Insight:
  • The dramatization highlights the fragility of democratically elected governments in revolutionary Latin America.
• Key Quotes:
  • “I will fight them to the last. They want me to resign. I will not resign. I was elected by the people. I am the constituted president. I will die before I will resign.” – President Francisco Madero ([03:07])
  • “I have done it. I have resigned. Now, General Huerta, what next?” – President Madero ([03:38])
  • “But peace and prosperity proved elusive. Five days later, ex President Madero and his ex Vice President were shot to death.” – Narrator ([04:27])
• Timestamps:
  • Start: [02:16]
  • Madero’s resistance: [03:07]
  • Resignation: [03:38]
  • Aftermath: [04:27]

2. British Women’s Suffrage Movement

• Events:
  • Arrest, trial, and hunger strike of Emmeline Pankhurst, a leading suffragette.
  • Pankhurst’s defiance in courtroom and subsequent travel to the United States.
  • Granting of women’s suffrage in England (1918) as a coda to her struggle.
• Insight:
  • The segment spotlights the courage and militancy of the suffragists, the gendered injustices in the legal system, and Pankhurst’s enduring legacy.
• Key Quotes:
  • “Certainly not.” (on promising not to resume activism if granted bail) – Emmeline Pankhurst ([05:06])
  • “This movement will go on whether I live or die. These women will go on until women have obtained the common right of citizenship throughout a civilized world.” – Emmeline Pankhurst ([06:29])
  • “I am sorry to inform you … your right to enter the United States will be decided.” – US Official ([07:45])
  • “I would not allow unjust detention in England and I'll not suffer it in the United States. … It is their business to get the vote for themselves.” – Emmeline Pankhurst ([07:56])
• Timestamps:
  • Arrest: [04:50]
  • Courtroom speech: [06:29]
  • Arrival in the US: [07:33]
  • Suffrage milestone: [08:16]

3. Cultural Shifts: The Ragtime Craze

• Events:
  • Transformation of American social dancing—introduction of animal-inspired dance crazes and the rise of ragtime music.
  • Mention of Irving Berlin’s (Israel Balin) early work portending the era of jazz and swing.
• Insight:
  • Ragtime not only changed music but also expressed the boisterous, dynamic mood of early 20th-century America.
• Key Quotes:
  • “Lyrics were bereft of reason, if not rhyme. But 1913 ragtime was more than mere music, far greater than just a series of new dance steps. … For ragtime was an index of a national mood, a criterion of American frame of mind, a forerunner of jazz and swing.” – Narrator ([09:21])
• Timestamps:
  • Ragtime section: [09:21]

4. Milestones in Technology and Society

• Events:
  • President Woodrow Wilson triggers the opening blast clearing the Panama Canal ([11:01]).
  • For the first time, a US President rides in an automobile to his inauguration.
  • Tributes to early film stars, especially Mary Pickford.
  • Ongoing natural disasters shaping the nation, such as the 1913 flood in Ohio and Indiana.
• Key Quotes:
  • “President Woodrow Wilson touched a button which set off 8 tons of dynamite, destroying the Gamboa Dyke, the last obstruction to navigation from Atlantic to Pacific through the Panama Canal.” – Narrator ([11:01])
  • “That was the year that for the first time in history, a US President rode to his inauguration in an automobile instead of a horse drawn carriage.” – Narrator ([11:14])
• Timestamps:
  • Panama Canal: [11:01]
  • Presidential automobile: [11:14]

5. Loss and Memory

• Events:
  • Death of poet Joaquin Miller (Cincinnatus Heine), “the poet of the Sierras.”
• Key Quotes:
  • “The world mourned as his ashes were cast to the winds from the crest of one of the peaks in the Sierra mountains he so loved.” – Narrator ([09:20])

6. The Sounds of 1913

• Events:
  • Excerpts from contemporary songs, providing a musical backdrop (“Johnny O’Connor Bought an Automobile”).
• Timestamps:
  • Song segment (with period lyrics): [11:45]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “What we women intend to do will be the coming reign of terror.” – Emmeline Pankhurst, courtroom speech ([06:01])
• “Senor Presidente… here is a copy of the telegram General Diaz sent yesterday to President Taft.” – Official ([02:45])
• “Order. Order. I must have order. There will be order in this court.” – Judge during Pankhurst trial ([05:56])
• “That was the year that America experienced the Terpsichorean metamorphosis. … a new and raucous genus of American dancers.” – Narrator ([09:21])
• “The right of suffrage was granted to English women over the age of 30.” – Narrator ([08:16])

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Timeline of Important Segments

• [02:16] – Mexico’s Revolutionary Turmoil
• [04:50] – Emmeline Pankhurst Arrest and Trial
• [06:29] – Pankhurst’s Courtroom Speech
• [07:33] – Pankhurst’s Arrival in the US
• [09:21] – Ragtime’s Cultural Ascendance
• [09:20] – Death of Joaquin Miller
• [10:23] – 1913 Floods, Natural Disasters
• [11:01] – Opening of the Panama Canal
• [11:14] – Presidential Modernization: The Automobile
• [11:45] – Musical Moment: “Johnny O’Connor Bought an Automobile”

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Tone and Style

True to old-time radio drama, the episode blends factual historical narration, period music, and dramatized, sometimes poetic, dialogue. The tone is reverent towards history but lively, almost cinematic, making bygone events feel urgent and personal.

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For Listeners

If you’ve never heard this episode, expect a compact, engaging immersion into the year 1913—its politics, social transformations, music, and inventions—brought to life through the unique storytelling flair and period flavor that only classic radio can provide.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

That was the year. Recreating notable events of passing time. Reviving memories of men and women who have contributed to the history of a modern world.

[Chorus/Singer]

Ram Sam.

[Narrator]

1913. That was the year. February 11th.

[President Francisco Madero]

Kara Katsura, Premier of Japan, and the.

[Narrator]

Members of his cabinet place their signatures to their final resignations, leaving the vacancies to be filled immediately by Count Tatsuo Yamamoto and his colleagues far across the Pacific Ocean. President Francisco Aymadero of the Republic of Mexico sits in his office within the ornate national palace on the very site of the residence of Montezuma.

[Official/Interrogator]

Senor Presidente. Senor Madeo.

[President Francisco Madero]

Well, well, what is it?

[Official/Interrogator]

Look, here is a copy of the telegram and General Diaz sent yesterday to President Taft of the United States. Hmm.

[President Francisco Madero]

You can give assurance to your citizens that my future policy will be to protect American property and citizens in Mexico. Like I did when I was in control of the port of Veracruz. Signed, Felix Dial.

[Official/Interrogator]

You know what this means, Senor?

[President Francisco Madero]

Yes, yes, I know. Diaz and Huerta are assuming that their revolution against my government is successful. Well, it shall not be. I will fight them to the last. They want me to resign. I will not resign. I was elected by the people. I am the constituted president. I will die before I will resign.

[Narrator]

But on February 18, after a bloody engagement in the streets of the capital.

[Announcer/Poet]

You will place your signature there, Senor Madero.

[Official/Interrogator]

There.

[President Francisco Madero]

I have done it. I have resigned. Now, General Huerta, what next?

[Announcer/Poet]

Next, Commandante, you will escort the prisoner to the penitentiary. Prisoner, you are under arrest. Senor. You, your Vice president, Senor Suarez, and all your cabinet. Commandante, take charge. President William H. Staff Washington, D.C. uSA I have the honor to inform you that I have overthrown this government. The forces are with me. And from now on, peace and prosperity will reign. VICTORIANO Huerta Provisional President the REPUBLIC of.

[Narrator]

MEXICO but peace and prosperity proved elusive. Five days later, ex President Montero and his ex Vice President were shot to death. Their assassination explained they have been killed while trying to escape. Thus, the Republic of Mexico contributed her share to the growing turbulence of World affairs in 1913.

[Announcer/Poet]

1913.

[Narrator]

That was the year. London February 26 Mrs. Pankhurst in the.

[Official/Interrogator]

Name of the Crown, I arrest you for inciting persons to do malicious damage to property. If you are granted bail, will you refrain from political activities pending your trial?

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

Certainly not.

[Official/Interrogator]

Then you shall be held without bail.

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

I repudiate the right of the local authorities to try me because I am a woman. I have no control over their appointment. I refuse to conform to the prison discipline while on remand, I shall take no food. From the moment I enter prison, if I am alive when the time for the so called trial arrives, the judge, counsel and jury of men will have the shameful task of pretending to give a fair trial to a sick and undefended woman.

[Narrator]

Militant English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was brought to trial, the usual decorum of British justice continually disrupted throughout the proceedings by demonstrations by her colleagues. On the final day, April 3rd.

[Official/Interrogator]

Order. Order. I must have order. There will be order in this court.

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

Human life is in peril. We have resolved no longer to respect it. Trouble of all sorts must be faced. What we women intend to do will be the coming reign of terror.

[Announcer/Poet]

Order.

[Official/Interrogator]

Order. As justice here, I positively insist there be no more outbursts. The defendant will face the court. Have you anything to say before sentence is passed upon you?

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

I most certainly have. This movement will go on whether I live or die. These women will go on until women have obtained the common right of citizenship throughout a civilized world.

[Official/Interrogator]

Is that all?

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

Yes.

[Official/Interrogator]

For the time being, I must pass a severe sentence on you. If you would only realize the wrong you are doing and use your influence in the right direction, I should be the first to use my best endeavours to secure a mitigation of your sentence. I cannot and will not regard your crime as trivial. It is a most serious one. I therefore sentence you to serve three years in penal servitude for inciting.

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

Almighty.

[Chorus/Singer]

Almighty. Almighty.

[Narrator]

After serving only five months of her sentence, during which she pursued her usual course of a hunger strike, Mrs. Pankhurst sailed for the US as she landed at New York City.

[President Francisco Madero]

Mrs. Pankhurst, have you ever been convicted of arson?

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

I have not. My last conviction was for conspiracy. There is a long list of crimes in England for which they convict women, now just relics of the time when men were fighting for suffrage.

[President Francisco Madero]

Mrs. Pankhurst, I am sorry to inform you that it is my duty to detain you and escort you to Ellis island, where you will appear before the Board of Special Inquiry. At that time, your right to enter the United States will be decided.

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

Well, I'm very much surprised to hear that. I'M not to be permitted to land in what has always been described to me as a free country. I would not allow unjust detention in England and I'll not suffer it in the United States. I didn't come to interfere with the business of the American women. It is their business to get the vote for themselves.

[Narrator]

But the Goddess of Liberty smiled, and after a detention of but three days, Mrs. Pankhurst was admitted to the U.S. three years later, in 1918, Mrs. Pankhurst smiled. The right of suffrage was granted to English women over the age of 30.

[Announcer/Poet]

1913.

[Narrator]

That was the year.

[Announcer/Poet]

O thou tomorrow Mystery, O day that ever runs before. What hast thine hidden hand in store for mine tomorrow and for me? O thou tomorrow, what hast thou in store to make me bear the now.

[Narrator]

Cincinnatus Heine, age 71, passed away in Oakland, California on February 17th. The world knew him as Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras. And the world mourned as his ashes were cast to the winds from the crest of one of the peaks in the Sierra mountains he so loved.

[Announcer/Poet]

1913.

[Narrator]

That was the year that America experienced the Terpsichorean metamorphosis. From the quadrille, the lances, the waltz to ragtime. From the dank dismal dives of southern side streets and alleys, there arose a new and raucous genus of American dancers. New York's Tin Pan Alley took the shoulder shaking infant to its bosom with gladsome cries of praise. Israel Balin began writing syncopated tunes under the name of Irving Berlin. And the nation shuffled, shoved, shambled and shook to a series of animal dances. The bunny Hugged, the horse trot, the Crab Step, the kangaroo Dip, the camel walk, the fish Walk, the chicken Scratch, the lame Duck, the Snake, the grizzly Bear, the turkey trot and the foxtrot. Lyrics were bereft of reason, if not rhyme. But 1913 ragtime was more than mere music, far greater than just a series of new dance steps. Even Vernon and Irene Castle, attempting to inject grace and charm into ball romantics, couldn't stem the tide. For ragtime was an index of a national mood, a criterion of American frame of mind, a forerunner of jazz and swing.

[Announcer/Poet]

1913.

[Narrator]

That was the year that torrential March rain swept down into the valleys of Ohio and Indiana, costing a loss of 3,500 lives, property damage of more than $50 million. That was the year. The White House Washington, D.C. october 10th. A few moments before 2:00pm I have.

[Official/Interrogator]

Galveston on the wire. Mr. President.

[Narrator]

Are they ready? Mr. Smithers.

[Official/Interrogator]

Hello, Galveston. Is the cable ready? Yes, sir. Everything is set. I'll give the warning. All right, Mr. Wilson. It's 2 o'.

[Chorus/Singer]

Clock.

[Narrator]

4,000 miles from the scene, President Woodrow Wilson touched a button which set off 8 tons of dynamite, destroying the Gamboa Dyke, the last obstruction to navigation from Atlantic to Pacific through the Panama Canal.

[Announcer/Poet]

1913.

[Narrator]

That was the year that the silver screen shone with a smiling countenance of America's sweetheart, Little Mary, Mary Pickford. That other famous movie names were J. Warren Kerrigan, Alice Joyce Carlisle Blackwell, Bronco Billy. And that was the year that for the first time in history, a US President rode to his inauguration in an automobile instead of a horse drawn carriage. Amazed citizens gazed in wonder, realized that after all the horseless carriage was probably here to stay and sang.

[Chorus/Singer]

Johnny o' Connor bought an automobile he took his sweetheart for a ride One Sunday Johnny was togged up in his best Sunday clothes She nestled close to his side Things were just dandy till he got down the road Then something happened to the old machinery that engine got his goat off went his hat and caught everything needed repairs he'd have to get under, get up and get under to fix his little machine he was just dying to cuddle his queen but every minute when he'd begin it he'd have to get under get up and get under Then he'd get back at the wheel a dozen times and start to hug and kiss and then the dawn omen jerk it would miss and then he'd have to get under get up and get under and fix up his automobile Dear millionaire Wilson said to Johnny one day your little sweet I don't appreciate you I have a daughter who is hungry for long she likes to ride, by the way Johnny had visions of a million in gold he took her riding in his little auto but every time that he went to say Marry me what's the old story again? He'd have to get under get up and get under to fix his little machine he was just starting to cuddle his queen but every minute when he'd begin it he'd have to get under get out and get under Then he'd get back out of the field a dozen times they start to hug and kiss and then the dark old engine it would miss and then he'd have to get under get out and get under and fix up his automobile.

[Emmeline Pankhurst]

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