On April 1, 1946 the United Mine Workers joined the growing wave of nationwide strikes as 400,000 coal miners went on strike for safer working conditions, as well as for increased health benefits and higher pay.
It was a part of a larger wave of labor disputes, known as the U.S. strike wave of 1945-1946. Seven-hundred-thousand steel workers went out on strike at the same time.
During the strike, the federal government mandated a nationwide rationing of coal and other fuels. For a while the Urbanna Rappanna movie theater closed down, since it was heated with a coal fired furnace. On the front of the theater, there was a sign encouraging people to come back once the strike was over.
Captain Eddie will be here after the strike
The sign read that the film “Captain Eddie will be here after the strike.” The 1945 released film “Captain Eddie” was the life story of World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was the highest flying ace in World War I with 26 German aviation kills. After the war, Rickenbacker went on to fame and fortune in the race car business and was the founder, along with Sid Shannon Sr., of Eastern Airlines.
Rickenbacker had also been charged during World War II with the task of observing U.S. Army bases in the Pacific sector and to report the status back to high ranking military officials in Washington, D.C. On one trip, his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and it took weeks to find him and others. The movie touched on that event and others in his life. Actor Fred MacMurray played the role of Eddie Rickenbacker.
Sid Shannon Sr.
Then-vice president of Eastern Airlines, Sid Shannon Sr. owned Rosegill Farm just across the creek from Urbanna. Shannon and his wife purchased the farm and the ancient colonial home in 1944. Rickenbacker, president of Eastern Airlines, visited the farm from time to time. Whenever he came to town word spread, especially around the counter at Marshall’s Drug Store.
When Shannon and Rickenbacker would drive into town heads turned to get a look at the famous aviator. When the strike finally ended, the theater was packed that first night to see “Captain Eddie” as movie goers wanted to view the story of the famous Eddie Rickenbacker, who on occasion had walked the town’s sidewalks.
Thank you to L.M. Carlton who was there in 1946 and who recalled the movie theater shutting down and to Phil Friday who found inside of an old steamer trunk a 1963 shipping tag from S.L. Shannon of South Miami, Fla., to S.L. Shannon of Rosegill Farm — a reminder that the Eastern Airlines giant owned Rosegill from 1944 to 1974. His discovery led to this story.
It Happened Here in Rivah Country!
