The War Years

The 1940's began with the organization growing in membership and participation and membership dues were raised to $5 in 1940 to cover the cost of prizes.  

The "A" and "B" Championships and the Lehman Cup were popular and had substantial participation.  Team Competition was a significant part of the season with widespread news coverage.  The Wanango team held the Championship title for two years at the beginning of the decade (1941 and 1942) and Oakmont dominated at the end of the decade with Team titles in 1946, 1948, and 1949.

Even though the US entered WWII in late 1941, 1942 remained a full season of golf competitions for the WGAWP. In 1942 the organization began purchasing war bonds and collected interest through the 1940's. It encouraged members to establish Red Cross chapters at their home clubs.

In 1943 the WGAWP suspended most tournament activities based partially on restrictions imposed on "pleasure" driving.  Dues for county clubs in Allegheny county were reduced to $5 and other clubs $1.  Individual dues were $1.  Through 1945 activities were limited to tournaments associated with fund raising for war efforts (Red Cross or War Bonds) and Open days for clubs that allowed them.  During the war period the association membership fell to a low point of 209 in 1943 and rebounded to 327 by 1945.

Organization activities returned to normal in 1946 with both "A" and "B" tournaments conducted. 

Several major events were begun in the decade. 

The Curley Cup was inaugurated in 1941 as a Mixed Partner Championship with the woman partner limited to a 12 handicap and the male partner from the same club limited to an 8 handicap.  The winning club displayed the trophy for the year.  With the exception of the war years the Curley Cup was played until 1995.

The Murphy Bowl was inaugurated in 1948 to honor the best "B" member in the organization.  This evolved into a one-day low net tournament for higher handicapped players and was played through 1994. 

By the end of the decade, the organization was once again healthy with 39 member clubs and 344 members.

To Read more about the WGAWP in the 1940's click the link below:

Clubs joining in the 1940's:

• Pleasant Valley

The WGAWP Player of the 1940's was a more challenging choice as two members had very accomplished records in the decade, one in the early 40's and the other in the late 40's. 

Mrs. Thomas Nolan from New Castle Country Club was the WGAWP Champion three times (in 1939, 1940, and 1942).  She was a very accomplished player who participated in national tournaments and was not able to defend her WGAWP title in 1941 due to injury. 

Jane Martin from Shannopin (then Oakmont) was the dominant player in the post-war era.  She was the WGAWP Champion in 1947, 1949, and 1951.  In addition she won the Lehman tournament, then a handicapped match play event, in 1947, 1949, and 1950.  She also won the Curley Cup, then considered the Mixed Championship, with her partner Knox Young Jr. in 1946 and 1947,  and with Jim Marks Jr. in 1948.   (She and Knox Young Jr. won 4 more times in the 1950's).  Given these successes in the latter half of the 1940's, Jane Martin edges out Mrs. Thomas Nolan as the Player of the Decade.

• January, 1940 the population in the city of Pittsburgh 671,659.
• On January 25, 1940, "Musical Americana" the national radio program of Westinghouse, was instituted by KDKA.
• June 4, 1940, the Pirates played their first night game in Forbes Field.
• On October 1, 1940, the nation’s longest toll expressway, the 160-mile, $70,000,000 Pittsburgh-to-Harrisburg "dream highway," was opened, and 1560 motorists paid tolls to use it the first day. Governor James ordered the speed limit fixed at 50 miles per hour.
• In February 1941, Mrs. Alan M. Scaife presented a cyclotron to the University of Pittsburgh.
• On February 5, 1941, Dr. I. Hope Alexander, city health director, stepped up his efforts for a smoke-abatement campaign as a black smoke pall blotted out the sun and hung over the city. The Allegheny County Medical Society endorsed efforts to obtain an anti-smoke law.
• Summer 1941, Arnold Palmer becomes a caddie at the age of 11 at Latrobe Country Club.
• On December 7, 1941, Pittsburgh was shocked over the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
• December 8, 1941, more than 1200 Pittsburgh young men volunteered for enlistment in the armed services in one day.
• On February 9, 1942, archaeologists excavating near the intersection of the Boulevard of the Allies and Liberty Avenue found what was believed to be part of the curtain of Fort Pitt.
• Summer 1942, Arnold Palmer plays in his first official tournament at Shannopin Country Club.
• July 3, 1942, the Army War Show was given at Pitt Stadium.
• On September 16, 1942, Western State Psychiatric Hospital, a 17-story building started in 1938 and built at a cost of $2,500,000, was dedicated by Governor Arthur H. James.
• January 2, 1943, the Pittsburgh district was recognized as the nation’s No. 1 steel center after its 1942 record of having produced 20,000,000 tons of steel, chiefly for war purposes; employment was up 10 per cent.
• February 1, 1943, Judge Sara M. Soffel, of Common Pleas Court, became the first woman ever to preside over an Allegheny County criminal court.
• On September 12, 1943, a "Hollywood Cavalcade" at Forbes Field sold $87,000,000 in United States war bonds; among those featured were Greer Garson, Fred Astaire, and Harpo Marx.
• On January 2, 1944, Harry S. Truman, Democratic nominee for vice-president, called for the re-election of President Roosevelt at Syria Mosque.
• May 10, 1944, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt made her second visit to Pittsburgh in three months, spent the day touring the city.
• On November 14, 1945, At meeting of civic leaders in the Duquesne Club, Richard K. Mellon, president of Regional Planning Association, urged concerted action on plans for a proposed 36-acre $6,000,000 state park at the Point.
• June 19, 1946, Pittsburgh’s Billy Conn was knocked out at Yankee Stadium, New York, in the eighth round of his second attempt to win the heavyweight boxing championship from Joe Louis. 
• On August 8, 1946, After 47 years under ownership of the Dreyfuss family, the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club was purchased, at a price reported to be about $2,250,000, by a combine headed by Frank E. McKinney, Indianapolis banker, and including singer Bing Crosby, attorney Thomas P. Johnson, of Pittsburgh, and realtor John W. Calbraith, of Columbus, Ohio.
• February 11, 1947, The Veterans Administration approved plans for a 1248-bed hospital above Pitt Stadium at a cost of $11,000,000.
• In March, 1947, Pittsburgh’s new "Ladycops," 100 strong, appeared for the first time at school crossings to protect children from traffic.
• April 23, 1947, Pitt announced plans to build a $2,000,000 field house and gymnasium.
• August 1947, Arnold Palmer enters Wake Forest University as a freshman on a golf scholarship.
• June 3, 1948, The University of Pittsburgh announced the greatest single expansion move in its 161-year history, a $19,500,000 program to build eight new structures, including a new medical school, nurses’ home, and library.
• Summer 1948, Arnold Palmer makes his first PGA TOUR start—as an amateur. Misses the cut at the Greater Greensboro Open after shooting rounds of 78-76.
• October 3, 1948, Mrs. William Thaw, Jr., once the "grand matron" of Pittsburgh society, died at the age of 94 at her home, 5427 Forbes Street.
• On January 11, 1949, Pittsburgh’s first television station -- DuMont’s WDTV, Channel 3 -- went on the air with a program originating on the stage of Syria Mosque.
• Summer 1949, Arnold Palmer makes his first PGA TOUR cut, finishing 54th at the Dapper Dan Open in Pittsburgh while still an amateur.
• November 20, 1949, after an eight-month trial, the Post-Gazette printed the final edition of its Sunday paper and returned to a six-day operation; copyrights and features were sold to the Sunday Sun-Telegraph.

• In 1940 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected US President for an unprecedented third term
• In 1940 Nylon stocking go on sale
• In 1940 Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African-American actor to win an Academy award.
• In 1941 Mount Rushmore is completed. 
• In 1942 the Battle of Midway begins between Japan and the United States.
• In 1942 the movie “Casablanca” premieres.
• In 1943 Mussolini resigns from his position of power and Italy surrenders during World War II.
• In 1943 Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnon invent the “Aqualung”.
• In 1944 D-Day sees 150,000 Allied troops storm the beaches of Normandy, France.
• In 1945 The United Nations is created.
• In 1946 the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator & Computer), the first programmable electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania.
• In 1946 department stores begin selling Tupperware food containers.
• In 1947 Jackie Robinson joins the Dodgers as the first African-American to play baseball for the Major League
• In 1948 Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated. 
• In 1948 Israel is created as an independent Jewish state.
• In 1948 the first NASCAR race for modified stock cars is held in Daytona Beach
• In 1949 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is established.
• In 1949 George Orwell’s book “Nineteen Eighty-Four” is published.