One Summer: America, 1927

George Herman Ruth, nicknamed “Babe,” is arguably the most famous and greatest American baseball player in history. He played Major League Baseball for 22 seasons on three teams, but his greatest triumphs came while he played for the New York Yankees. He set multiple records in most home runs per season, including his 1927 record of 60 that stood until Roger Maris (also of the Yankees) broke the record by hitting 61 in 1961 (though the season was longer then, meaning Maris had more at-bats in more games than Ruth had to rack up home runs). Ruth wanted to remain in baseball as a manager after his retirement from playing, but Yankees management would not welcome him aboard; his propensity for partying and promiscuity put his managing abilities in doubt. Ruth was one of the first players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As a focus of One Summer, Ruth epitomizes many of the major themes Bryson intentionally highlights that dominated the summer of 1927, including the celebrity of record-breaking sports stars, the popularity of a rags-to-riches narrative, and the unchaste underbelly of American conservatism. Baseball is also an icon of Americana, especially, as Bryson notes, in the first half of the 20th century. Telling the story of America in 1927 demands telling the story of baseball, and telling the story of baseball demands telling the story of native son Babe Ruth.

Like many of the figures One Summer follows, Babe Ruth remains a recognizable name long into the 21st century. Bryson intentionally incorporates these well-known individuals into the narrative so readers enter the story armed with a cultural context from which Bryson launches his own story—often shattering those established perspectives in the process. In this way, Bryson subverts our beliefs about this era in American culture and replaces them with truths.

Charles Lindbergh, from rural Minnesota, became an American hero of unprecedented magnitude in 1927 after he flew solo from New York to Paris to claim the Orteig Prize. Some of the fame defies logic, though his wholesomeness and quiet charm were captivating for the general public. His accomplishment also fueled people’s imagination because it meant people could quickly cross the ocean in aircraft. Furthermore, Americans took pride in Lindbergh because he won an international competition. Americans were not yet accustomed to dominance, but Europe’s devastation in World War I enabled the US to forge ahead in prosperity and technological innovation.

Lindbergh’s fame persisted for several years before the public started to doubt his goodness. His life became dramatic and strange in the 1930s after his infant son was kidnapped and murdered and he and his wife defected to Europe, where he considered moving to Germany, which aligned with his antisemitic views. It also surfaced in later decades that he had several other children with several other women.

Bryson utilizes the figure of Lindbergh to analyze the nature of celebrity in the early 20th century. As mentioned above, Bryson admits that Lindbergh was an unlikely celebrity, but one in which the American public placed immeasurable trust and enthusiasm—both of which turned out to be misplaced. This underscores the predominant sense of innocence and naivety that gripped the public in 1927, a time when conservative social cues dominated polite society, while a dark—and popular—underside went largely ignored. Prohibition was policy, for example, but speakeasies reigned. Lindbergh symbolizes the wholesomeness Americans projected and the more salacious stories that often lay beneath.

Lindbergh continued to grip the attention of Americans even after the public’s awakening to his flaws and his ensuant fall from grace. In this way, Lindbergh was the first in a long line of celebrity news stories made popular by their sense of catastrophe. As Bryson points out throughout the narrative, 1927 represented a sea change in the consciousness of America.

Finally, Lindbergh is one of several storylines Bryson introduces to dismantle our previous perceptions of it. Today, Lindbergh is largely known for his flight and the loss of his child, but the details, including his antisemitic leanings, are largely lost to history. His inclusion here is a reminder of the complexity of history often lost to time.

Calvin Coolidge, also known as “Silent Cal,” was the 30th president of the United States. He took office after Warren G. Harding died in office in 1923 and then won reelection the following year. He did not run for a second term in office.

Coolidge was originally from rural Vermont but served as governor of Massachusetts early in his political career. Though reluctant to embrace him at first, Americans came to adore Coolidge and credited him with the general prosperity of the 1920s. He took a hands-off approach to governing. Coolidge spent the summer of 1927 in South Dakota, which was very peculiar for a president to do. He enjoyed the outdoor activities the state offered and frequently donned cowboy attire.

Unlike the inclusion of other primary characters in One Summer, Bryson’s coverage of Coolidge is superficial and comparatively brief. In the larger context of American politics, Coolidge represented the calm before—and after—political and societal storms. Sandwiched between calamities like WWI and the Depression, and between more notable leaders like Harding and Hoover, Coolidge’s presidency offered an era of relative tranquility, as did the summer of 1927.