From the day
Perspective: The Future Historian · Sound
The rhythmic Clatter of iron-rimmed wheels over frozen mud is punctuated by the shrill, brassy whistling of every newsboy on the corner, all relentlessly chirping the refrain of *Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis* until the tune lodges in my skull like a persistent ache. Beneath the cheerful melody, the morning air hums with the frantic gossip of the Kaiser’s supposed peace, though the heavy thrum of the new offset printing presses suggests a world readying for a much noisier transition. I watch an impatient gentleman collide with a street porter; he mutters "Watch it, you blockhead!" over the hiss of coal smoke that muffles the city’s sharp, industrial pulse. It is the sound of a century beginning to roar, hidden behind the simple clink of a five-cent coin for a loaf of bread.