Diversity is a wonderful thing. The things that make each person and culture unique and different are special, important, and worth celebrating. By celebrating diversity, we acknowledge that no single group is any better or worse than another, that everyone is special in their own way.
As important as diversity is, it should be just as important to celebrate the things we all have in common. Things like Birthdays! Your Birthday is the anniversary of your birth, which leads to the distinction between birthdays and birthdates: hopefully, you will be able to celebrate many, many birthdays, but everyone just gets one birthdate. Recording birthdates is a relatively recent innovation. When Ancient China developed bureaucracy, one of the important records that were kept was the registration of births, even among the peasants.
In medieval Europe, birth records in the form of baptismal records became the purview of the Church. In time, the keeping of birth records became a duty of the State, which then was empowered to issue Birth Certificates. A birth certificate is considered a basic proof of citizenship and will be necessary for future documentation such as driver's licenses, voter registration in some places, and passports.
Birthday celebrations are not just for the celebrant himself. A baby's journey from the womb to the world is fraught with peril for both mother and child. Although every mother and every birth are different, there is generally a good deal of pain involved in childbirth. To describe the pain to men, childbirth has been compared to grasping your lower lip and pulling it over the back of your head. As unlikely as it seems, generations of women and their babies have survived the ordeal.
A birthday is a day for celebration, but who the celebration is for changes over the years. When a baby reaches her first and second birthdays, they are really too young to appreciate that they are the one's being celebrated, the party is an excuse for the young parents to tell their friends, "Look what we did!" From the time a kid's third or fourth birthday rolls around, they begin to realize that the party is for them, with all the presents, balloons, and cake. Usually, during the mid- to late-Twenties, birthdays take on less importance to the person having one, but more important for the other people in their life to show how special they are.
The tradition of the Birthday Cake may have begun in ancient Rome when special occasions among the elites were marked with yeast-leavened flour cakes sweetened with honey and nuts. The tradition of a cake for every child developed in 15th century Germany when bakers began making cakes for "kinderfest", or the celebration of a child's birthday. The gaudy cakes with icing flourishes and multiple layers were developed in the 17th century, and as literacy spread, so did the tradition of writing the celebrant's name on the cake. Here are a few of our favorite birthday episodes in old time radio:
- Blondie, April 1, 1940, "Blondie and the April Fools Birthday". Dagwood's real birthday is February 29, so he only gets to celebrate during Leap Year. A solution is to celebrate on April Fools' Day, which should not ruin Dagwood's celebration. However, Mr. Dithers takes advantage of the Holiday to do some real celebrating.
- The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope, January 30, 1945. Bob and his guest, Edward G. Robinson Third Air force at Drew Field, Tampa, Florida. Hope and Robinson do a tough guy routine that turns into a pitch for the March of Dimes. At the show's close, Bob calls for a Birthday Cheer for FDR.
- Fibber McGee and Molly, May 20, 1941. It's Molly's birthday and the Master of 79 Wistful Vista is determined to bake a cake for his lovely bride. Why won't the folded egg whites hold a crease? The biggest problem (as though there would be any problems with Fibber in the kitchen) is that the candles are in the hall closet.
- The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny, February 15, 1948. The Beverly Hills Beavers vote to spend their treasury funds on a surprise 39th birthday party for Mr. Benny. Mary is also planning a party, too. So is Phil, so is Dennis, and so is Don! From a radio history perspective, this is the first time the Beavers appear on the program. It is also the first time he turns 39 (he was 42 in 1936, "in the neighborhood of 35" in '37, turned 37 several times, so 39 can't be that much of a stretch.)
- Lux Radio Theatre, May 26, 1946, "Music for Millions". Adapted from the 1944 MGM Musical, Margaret O'Brien, Jimmy Durante, and Jose Iturbi. Little "Mike" is sent to live with her pregnant older sister, Barbara who plays with a group of women in a symphony that is scheduled to play a tour of Army Camp Shows. Before the tour, a telegram arrives that Barbara's husband was killed in the Pacific, but the girls agree to hide the news until the baby is born. Just before the blessed event, a letter arrives which will ensure there is not a dry eye in the house.
- The March of Time, May 15, 1936. Dr. Rudolph Holmes of Chicago discusses his introduction of the use of Scopolamine (twilight sleep) for laboring mothers. Although the doctor admits that it seemed like a good idea twenty years ago, he has reconsidered the drug's use. Other voices are heard advocating drug-free laboring, although it should be noted that the physicians heard are all male and will never personally experience childbirth.
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