1952

Articles from 1952

The Last Photographs of Hitler (Pageant Magazine, 1952)

In July of 1945 LIFE MAGAZINE photographer William Vandivert (1912 – 1989) was on assignment in Berlin documenting the earliest days of the Allied occupation of that city. He snapped pictures of Hitler’s bunker, starving Berliners and jubilant Cossacks; his images of the vanquished capital will live forever more – but in this article that he penned for the editors of PAGEANT, he remembered how he came upon a trove of some of the most famous pictures of W.W. II.

The Third Christmas in Korea (Quick Magazine, 1952)

As 1952 was coming to an end President Truman must have seemed delighted to pass along to the next guy all the various assorted trouble spots that existed throughout the world. President-Elect Eisenhower had promised peace during his presidential campaign – but many of the issues at hand were interrelated: French Indochina, South Africa, the Middle-east, the Iron Curtain and, of course, Korea.

The Cuban and the Redhead (The American Magazine, 1952)

We didn’t become addicts of I Love Lucy deliberately; it was a habit that engulfed our whole family gradually. the captivating thing about Lucy and Ricky is, we think, the fact that they hold a mirror up to every married couple in America. Not a regulation mirror that reflects truth, nor a magic mirror that portrays fantasy. But a Coney Island mirror that distorts, exaggerates and makes vastly amusing every little incident, foible and idiosyncrasy of married life.

Stalin’s ‘Hate-America’ Campaign (Pathfinder Magazine, 1952)

In 1952 the Soviet hierarchy began publishing an enormous amount of anti-American cartoons in magazines and newspapers throughout the worker’s paradise. As you will see, the Red cartoonists of yore were really big on comparing Americans to bugs and Nazis; they also delighted in making all American senior officers resemble the obese General Walker, who was the American corps commander leading the U.N. Forces in Korea.


The Soviets were very clever in the way in which they used radio to manipulate their people, click here to read about that…

Daddy’s Boy (People Today, 1952)

Attached is a brief notice concerning Joseph P. Kennedy (1888 – 1969), Hollywood producer, politician, adulterer and FDR’s one-time ambassador to Britain – and his thwarted attempt to merge the Boston Post with the Boston Globe in order to best influence voters in the 1952 Massachusetts congressional elections.


From Amazon: Assassination of John F. Kennedy Encyclopediastyle=border:none

Why Only Half Our Soldiers Fire Their Rifles (Collier’s Magazine, 1952)

In every engagement with the enemy during the Second World War, only 12 to 25 percent of American riflemen ever fired their weapons. This was an enormous concern for the brass hats in the Pentagon and they got right to work in order to remedy the problem. Five years later, when the Korean War rolled around, they found that the situation was somewhat improved: 50% of the soldiers were now able to return fire. This article tells the story of U.S. Army General S.L.A. Marshall (1900 – 1977) and his research in addressing this issue. A good read.

The Lot of Chinese Christians (Pathfinder Magazine, 1952)

For those who keep records of the harsh treatment dolled out to religious sects by the various assorted tyrannical governments of the world, China is the all-time champion. Since it’s inception, the People’s Republic of China has attempted to coerce or eradicate every religious faith within its borders. Here is an account by an eyewitness to the many assorted atrocities dished out to the Christians in China by the followers of Mao Zedong (1893 – 1976.


An article about Soviet persecution of religious adherents can be read here…

‘Thank You, Mr. President” (Quick, 1952)

Although African-American leaders anticipated a rough time when a Missouri politician named Harry Truman assumed the mightiest office in the land – in the end, he proved to be their champion.

[The NAACP] still regard President Truman as their real hero for pressing anti-poll tax, anti-lynching, FEPC and anti-segregation programs in the face of heavy Southern Democratic Opposition.


Those councilors who advised FDR on all matters African-American were popularly known as the Black Brain Trust…

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