1938

Articles from 1938

Government Subsidized Art (Direction Magazine, 1938)

This 1938 editorial by the artist Philip Evergood (1901 – 1973) stated that the Federal Arts Project of the Thirties had not simply made the lives of artists a little better, but had also created a far better society:

The Federal Arts Project has pointed the way to an American Culture. It has set a weight in motion, it has let loose a force that has affected hundreds of thousands of lives. It has made murals depicting the history of our country and the lives of our people have been placed on the walls of our schools, hospitals, libraries and public buildings making them of greater beauty and of greater community interest – monuments and small sculpture have been added in equal numbers, easel paintings and prints now hang in thousands on the walls of public buildings…

Evergood likened this government funding to the Renaissance, when the church served as the artist’s patron and culture flourished.

Government Subsidized Art (Direction Magazine, 1938) Read More »

Benny Goodman, The King of Swing, on Park Avenue (Stage Magazine, 1938)

To mark the momentous occasion of Benny Goodman and his Band performing for the ‘corsage clique’ on Park Avenue in 1938, ‘the King of Swing’ wrote this short essay concerning all his good work and the enjoyment that it brought to the Jitterbuggers of the world:

Swing is violent, at least so they tell me. But I’m willing to bet that Society is going to toss aside its toppers and tippers and really cut loose. They’ll all come slumming and stay for dancing.

Benny Goodman, The King of Swing, on Park Avenue (Stage Magazine, 1938) Read More »

The Invention of Nylon (Pathfinder Magazine, 1938)

Last week, two of the nation’s leading manufacturers of synthetic textiles were taking important steps to woo the feminine heart from silk to synthetic hosiery. The E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Company announced that it had laid plans for construction of a new $7,000,000 plant near Seaford, Delaware, for manufacture of a new synthetic yarn called ‘Nylon,’ which, used in hosiery, was expected to compete successfully with all types of silk stockings.

The Invention of Nylon (Pathfinder Magazine, 1938) Read More »

The Making of SNOW WHITE and the SEVEN DWARFS (Photoplay Magazine, 1938)

The attached article is essentially a behind the scenes look at the making of Walt Disney’s 1938 triumph Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:


• He employed 569 people who worked all day and frequently all night to finish it.


•The film took three and half years to make and cost $1,500,000.00.


•He concocted 1500 different paints to give it unmatched color.


•He spent $70,000.00 developing a brand new camera to give it depth.


•He threw away four times the drawings he made and the film he shot.


•He made over 2,000,000 separate drawings…


Although Disney’s wife, Lilian, was said to have remarked, No one’s ever gonna pay a dime to see a dwarf picture, the movie generated more box office receipts than any other film in 1938.

The Making of SNOW WHITE and the SEVEN DWARFS (Photoplay Magazine, 1938) Read More »

The Making of SNOW WHITE and the SEVEN DWARFS (Photoplay Magazine, 1938)

The attached article is essentially a behind the scenes look at the making of Walt Disney’s 1938 triumph Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:


• He employed 569 people who worked all day and frequently all night to finish it.


•The film took three and half years to make and cost $1,500,000.00.


•He concocted 1500 different paints to give it unmatched color.


•He spent $70,000.00 developing a brand new camera to give it depth.


•He threw away four times the drawings he made and the film he shot.


•He made over 2,000,000 separate drawings…


Although Disney’s wife, Lilian, was said to have remarked, No one’s ever gonna pay a dime to see a dwarf picture, the movie generated more box office receipts than any other film in 1938.

The Making of SNOW WHITE and the SEVEN DWARFS (Photoplay Magazine, 1938) Read More »

KRISTALLNACHT (Pathfinder Magazine, 1938)

Herschel Grynszpan (1921 – ?) was a Polish-Jewish refugee born in Germany who, on his own volition, shot and killed a German diplomat in Paris in 1938. This murder prompted the Nazis to terrorize the Jewish population throughout Germany and Austria the very next day (November 8) in an event that was called Kristallnacht. This article covers the murder and the senseless horror that followed; attention was also paid to the reactions from various capital cities.

In Vienna, Storm Troopers fired 18 synagogues, shot a Polish Jew in his bed, invaded homes and threw the furniture out the windows. Ten thousand Jews were arrested, at least 60 attempted suicide. Restaurants and grocery stores refused to sell to Jewas.

KRISTALLNACHT (Pathfinder Magazine, 1938) Read More »

The Japanese Homefront (Ken Magazine, 1938)

This 1938 article concerned the gas rationing and and other assorted inconveniences that the Japanese population had to suffer during the Sino-Japanese conflict. The reporter was surprised to discover that the general citizenry was kept in a reasonable state of ignorance as to their military’s intentions in China:



Some attention is paid to the sacrifices made by the Japanese industrial classes, such as the Yasuda, Iwasaki, and Mitsui families.

The Japanese Homefront (Ken Magazine, 1938) Read More »

Fashion Designers Colide wth Hollywood Designers… (Click Magazine, 1938)

This is an historic article that introduced the fashion era that we still reside in today.


The attached article from 1938 heralded a new day in the fashion industry where fashion magazines would no longer be relied upon to set the trends in clothing; henceforth, that roll would largely be played by movie actresses in far-off Hollywood:

The greatest fashion influence in America, stylists sadly lament, is the much-photographed, much-glamorized and much-imitated Movie Queen. What she wears is news, eagerly copied, by girls all over the country who want to look like Joan Crawford and Myrna Loy.

The primary bone of contention that the East Coast fashionistas found most objectionable was the fact that movie stars are Californians, and Californians will always prefer comfort over glamor.

Fashion Designers Colide wth Hollywood Designers… (Click Magazine, 1938) Read More »