Only Yesterday

by Ted White

Release: July 1969
Format: Short Story
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

Near the start of the Great Depression, a man waits for college student Donna Smith—someday to be Donna Albright—at the trolley stop near her rural Virgina home.

— Michael Main

Nervously fingering his narrow lapel, he broke the silence, saying, “I’d like to tell you some things . . . Totally outrageous things. You have to promise me just one thing first.”

DEBUT

“Only Yesterday,” Amazing Stories, July 1969.

VARIANTS

1 English variant

TRANSLATIONS

Translations to Italian

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Circa AD 1930 to 1939: Because of the mention of Hoovervilles and “Maybe we’re in a Great Depression, like they say.”
Circa AD 1960 to 1969: Based on the publication date and Bob’s age, we place his origin in the 1960s.

Time Travel Methods

Unexplained Time Travel Methods

Themes

Meeting or Viewing Ancestors or Descendants

Groupings

Amazing Stories (periodical)

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From unspecified place, probably the 1960s ⋙ to in or near Washington, D.C., circa 1930. Round trip. Note: Bob’s trip feels like a round trip. Based on several clues, he travels to about 1930; and based on his age and the publication date, he comes from the 1960s.