Today in World War II History—November 1, 1942: US War Department designates Japanese aircraft with human names, initially with male names for fighters and female for all others.
This came about later than I'd realized. She has a set of playing cards depicting Japanese aircraft up on her blog as well.
She also notes:
US ceases production of liquor—warehouses contain a four-year stock.
I was completely unaware of that. Note that this pertains to hard alcohol, not beer.
Films produced in this era routinely show casual drinking, which would at least suggest it was relatively common, and at least personal recollections I've heard suggest that very much was at the time. The cessation of production should have had no immediate effect on prices for anything aged, which would have been most hard alcohols.
Alcohol had only become legal, once again, in 1932, and even then it was readily available, as some later depictions suggest. Prohibition had a devastating impact on the production of Rye, which had predominated the quality American production prior to 1919 and which has never really fully recovered.
The Marines launched the Matanikau Offensive on Guadalcanal. It would run for four days and secure Koli Point.
The Germans took Alagir in North Ossetia, in the USSR.
Four German sailors broke out of Fort Stanton, New Mexico. They'd soon be captured by a mounted posse, during which one of them was wounded.
Portugal held elections, but as it was a one party state, the victory of the National Union Party was somewhat foreordained.
Pornographer Larry Flynt, who was responsible for Hustler magazine, was born on this day. Huslter followed in the wake of Playboy and Penthouse, and was cruder than either two, that avenue having been opened up for glossy smut due to Playboy.
It was the Solemnity of All Saints, as it is now, which is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation. Given as this one fell on a Sunday, there would have been no requirement for attendance at an extra Mass for Catholics on this week in 1942.
