Rage in the cinemas
"If by Tuesday, December 30, 1952, the government does not respond to our demands - the gates of 130 movie theaters containing 80,000 seats in 38 locations in Israel will be closed."
This was reported in a news release sent to the press in mid-December 1952 on behalf of the Association of Cinema Owners in Israel.
The threat of shutdown was the culmination of a struggle that had been going on for months, during which the association demanded that the Ministry of Finance reduce by 20% the tax rate on movie tickets, which was 100%.
In early December 1952, the heads of the association met with the incoming Director General of the Ministry of Finance, Ehud Avriel, and detailed the reasons for their demand to lower the tax: "The change in the exchange rate of the pound increased the cost of purchasing equipment and spare parts abroad, the Hollywood film companies increased their remuneration to 45%, And wages have increased since the beginning of the year. To all of this was added a 23% decrease in our income due to the difficult economic situation in Israel."
Director Avriel announced that "lowering taxes in Israel's current economic situation is out of the question."
In response, the secretary of the association of cinema owners, Moshe Yelin, immediately announced that "if this is the case, at the end of the month 1,200 cinema workers across the country will be fired, compensation will be paid to them according to the law - and the cinema industry will go bankrupt".
The state's revenue from the sale of movie tickets that year was 10 million pounds.
The threat eventually worked: on the last day before the cinemas' ultimatum expired, the Ministry of Finance agreed to reduce the tax by 15%, and the industry continued to function.
The second chief of staff resigned
Colonel Yigal Yedin (right) with David Ben-Gurion and Eliezer Kaplan (Minister of Finance) during a visit to Eilat, 1950, photo: Courtesy of the Airport Authority Archives
On December 7, 1952, the second Chief of Staff, Major General Yigal Yadin, informed Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion of his intention to resign from his position. This brought to an end Yadin's brilliant military career, which lasted 19 years.
In 1939, when he was only 22 years old, Yadin was appointed as a third of Hagana commander Yaakov Dori (who himself would become the IDF's first Chief of Staff), and in 1943 he was appointed head of the Operations Division (AGAM) at the organization's General Headquarters.
In 1947, before the vote in the United Nations Assembly on the partition of the Land of Israel, Ben-Gurion predicted that if the partition proposal was accepted (which would mean the establishment of a state for the Jews) Arab armies would immediately invade Israel with the aim of exterminating it. Yadin established the IDF's Operations Division (more before the Israel Defense Forces was officially established) and served as its head - and from May 1948 he filled the place of Chief of Staff Dori, Shehla.
With Dori's retirement, in November 1949, Yedin was appointed Chief of Staff at the age of 32 and seven months, thus becoming the youngest Chief of Staff at the time of his appointment, among all the 22 holders of the position since then.
As Chief of Staff, Yedin built the IDF as a military organization with a limited regular force and a large reserve force.
He resigned from his position after three years and a month, following endless arguments between him and Ben-Gurion, regarding various issues in the army's activities.
Yedin's replacement as Chief of Staff was Mordechai Maklef.
After his retirement, Yedin devoted his life to the study of archeology in the Land of Israel.
In some years he focused on the buried scrolls from the Judean Desert, and in other years he conducted archaeological excavations throughout the country.
He also published dozens of books and studies.
In 1977, Yedin joined politics, and was initially successful when the DS party, which he founded and led, won 15 seats. However, the movement completely disappeared from the map in the next elections in 1981. Three years later, in 1984, Yedin passed away at the age of 67.
"Kind driver" operation on buses
"Dan" cooperative symbol, photo: Nostalgia Online website archive
At the beginning of December 1952, a new management was elected in the "Dan" travel cooperative, and its first decision was to go on "Operation Adivatus".
Dan was established in 1945, and in December 1952 operated about 400 buses.
The "Operation of Kindness" was meticulously planned by the management of the cooperative: first, a poster was designed that was pasted on notice boards in and around Tel Aviv, next to an illustration of a smiling driver was written in bold letters: "The driver is also only human".
A booklet called "Mitzvot Hadivot" was distributed to the drivers, and it contains various instructions, such as "Know how to conquer the urge even on Yom Hamsin", "The passenger is the customer who puts bread on your family's table", etc.
50 judges were chosen from among the public, and their job was to drive the various routes and rate the level of courtesy of the driver, while the 20 outstanding drivers were promised valuable prizes.
The operation lasted for a month, during which Dan invited journalists to travel on the company's lines and report the conclusions to their readers.
The writer of the "Davar" newspaper, Michael Shouri, reported on "A sensation! I traveled half a day on the 'Dan' lines, in the crowd and at peak traffic hours, without witnessing the eruption of a nosebleed and the nerves becoming inflamed."
Other journalists also showed sympathy, and the judges' scores were reasonable to high.
In conclusion, Avraham Goldfarb from Shikhon Dan was chosen as the "Outstanding Driver", and won the prize - a couple's cruise to Cyprus.
19 other outstanding drivers each won shopping vouchers worth 20 pounds, equivalent to a quarter of the monthly salary of a government official.
Coming soon: milk in a bottle
Device for filling milk in glass bottles, photo: courtesy of the National Library
In an agreement signed in mid-December 1952 between the government of Israel and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), it was determined that UNICEF would finance the purchase of equipment for filling milk in glass bottles worth $300,000. UNICEF announced that it would also supply Israel with the machines necessary for hermetically covering of the opening of the bottle with aluminum caps, to prevent contamination of the rim of the bottle, and also automatic mechanization for washing the bottles.
It was decided that in the first phase milk in bottles will be provided to children, to the sick in the three major cities and to the residents of the crossings.
On the other hand, the Israeli government has committed to changing the "Milk Law", so that within a few years all milk marketed in Israel will be pasteurized.
In preparation for the transition of the dairy industry in Israel to bottled milk, scheduled for 1953, the government signed a contract with the "Finicia" factory to produce 2 million milk bottles, 10% of which would need to be renewed each year.
At the same time, the government signed an agreement on the bottles with "Tnuva".
Hostels for volunteers
A member of the board of the Jewish Agency, Eliyahu Dobkin, announced in December 1952 that "the agency began to build three residential buildings intended for the well-being of the experts in the profession, who are supposed to come to Israel for a year of volunteering in their profession."
It was also reported that the first hostels are being established in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, and they are intended for the professional volunteers who will come from Anglo-Saxon countries.
"Each hostel will have 150-200 beds, the living wage will be 25-15 lira per month, and it has not yet been determined who will bear its cost, but it is clear that the cost will not be borne by the volunteer from abroad," declared Dobkin.
Innovation: real coffee
In the main streets of Tel Aviv, several cafes began to serve real coffee, instead of coffee substitute from the chicory plant that they used since the beginning of the period of austerity and food control.
However, even though the real coffee was delicious and reminded many of the forgotten, its price compared to the substitute was double: 180 cents compared to 90. In their defense, the owners of the coffee shops claimed: "We are forced to get the coffee from unofficial sources, and the cost accordingly."
Protests in the village of the blind
Workers in employment at a factory in the village of the blind, photo: David Eldan, CEO
On December 21, 1952, dozens of residents of the village of the blind in Gedera arrived at the council building, led by the head of the village committee, Nissim Moskona, who was visually impaired himself, and caused a riot.
The reason: lack of water.
The head of the council, who fled the building when the blind arrived, announced the next day that he would "personally ensure a proper flow of water to the village", and in response Moscona announced: "We are indeed blind, but we see very well that in Israel things can only be settled by force".
The Village of the Blind was established in 1950 by the American Joint organization with the aim of settling blind immigrants and their families and integrating them into employment.
The place operated until it closed in 1967.
The disappearing / professions that were
librarian
In those times, when libraries operated in almost every school, institution and organization - the librarian was of enormous importance, who always knew how to direct us to the right book where the information we requested was found, and to recommend to everyone who came in books "that are just right for you".
Over the years, the libraries have succumbed to the technological and Internet era, and the books have been thrown away.
The librarian profession has become redundant in times when almost everything is on a computer at home or on a mobile phone.
For evidence: in 2021 the organization of librarians in Israel will be closed.
The consumer / sweets that were
Chocolate cigarettes / chewing gum
It was a thin tube of chocolate or chewing gum, not very good quality, which was wrapped in paper that resembled a cigarette.
As children we would walk around with this "cigarette" stuck in our mouth, enjoying the sight of the people who were dumbfounded (really or pretending to be) "how is it that a small child smokes".
And when we got the better of us - we would peel off the wrapping paper and eat the chocolate in a few small bites, or chew the gum, which was terribly sweet.
were we wrong
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