Coronet Magazine – Page 11 – Old Magazine Articles

The Early CIA
(Coronet Magazine, 1951)

The CIA is a young and relatively untested child in the strange world of intelligence. The enemy dourly accuses it of ‘Black Warfare.’ But there is definite proof of its success. Radio Moscow never misses a chance to scream shrilly of ‘the extended spy network of the Wall Street mercenaries.’

The CIA formula avoids the fog of rumor that fills any world capital, and goes straight to the hard facts of the enemy’s economy, production, transportation, raw materials and manpower. A modern war must be organized, much of it in the open, long in advance. Guns must be manufactured; munitions, food, and raw materials stockpiled; railways and roads expanded and soldiers trained. The allocation of scarce Soviet-controlled steel is far more important than the minutes of the Politburo.

In 1958, Fidel Castro wrote an article for an American magazine in which he thoroughly lied about his intentions; click here to read it.

The Cold War Began with Igor Gouzenko
(Coronet Magazine, 1953)

On September 5, 1945, N.K.V.D. cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko (1919 – 1982) severed ties with his masters at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa and high-tailed it over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with tales of extensive Soviet espionage throughout all of North America. The news of this defection and the intelligence he delivered sent shock waves throughout Washington, London, Moscow, and Ottawa – historians insist that this was the event that sparked the Cold War and altered the course of the Twentieth Century.

The Fabulous Brazil Nuts
(Coronet Magazine, 1956)

In 1956 the editors of CORONET Magazine saw fit to print this three page history of the Brazil nut; a fruit that has been popular in much of Europe for centuries but seldom known by the Brazilians or their neighbors:

The Brazil nut is the world’s most fabulous nut, fabulous in the manner of its growth, its gathering, its distribution and the perils associated with bringing it out of the Amazon jungle where it thrives.

The nut has been consistently exported to Great Britain, Germany and other European countries since 1633. After W.W. II, a large share of the annual crop was shipped to the United States, as well, where the raw nuts were shelled and reshipped throughout the world.

Licorice
(Coronet Magazine, 1954)

Licorice – it ain’t just for watching movies any more because in the mid-to-late Forties scientists [had] found that there is a black magic in licorice, a versatile chemical which is already playing a considerable part in your life. Licorice has been harnessed as a fire retardant, weather insulation, medicine and a moisturizer for a few agriculture products. The ancient Egyptians were the first to discover it and they recognized its benefits from the start.

A Brief History of Pepper in America
(Coronet Magazine, 1956)

Told in this three page article is the story concerning the rise of the global pepper trade and the subsequent spread of that spice throughout the kitchens of the world:

Although Americans use more than one third of the world’s annual supply of nearly 90,000,000 pounds, it has been estimated that the average American family shakes only 7.1 ounces into their food a year. The balance is used by the makers of baked and canned goods, and meat-packing houses.

‘Tolerance is an Ugly Word”
(Coronet Magazine, 1945)

In 1947 former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt penned this nifty essay about her least favorite word:

I do not like the word tolerance.

If you tolerate something, you do not like it very much.

Football’s First Half-Century
(Coronet Magazine, 1953)

No one is certain how football came to America. There are those who say it has always been here in the guise of an Indian game like lacrosse; its resemblance to English Rugby is apparent. But the game we know today is uniquely American, its place on the American scene secures. From September until long after the snow falls, Saturday afternoon means the Big Game to millions; and to millions the names of Heffelfinger, Grange, Harmon, Kazmaier and other gridiron greats will never lose their luster. This year [1953], more than 15,000,000 Americans – old grads, subway alumni and just plain football fans – will turn out to see their favorites do battle in a game that bears little resemblance to the scrambling, uncoordinated melees of 50 years ago. This is the story of how football grew up, of its heroes, and of the great games of yesteryear.

Milton Berle
(Coronet Magazine, 1951)

He was the biggest television star of the 1950s – Milton Berle (1908 – 2002):

An incurable extrovert of 43, Uncle Miltie is already a 36-year show business veteran and will probably go on forever. At the very least, his new 30-year contract with NBC will keep him in front of of the TV cameras until he is 72…

Rudolf Kasztner: Eichman’s Last Victim
(Coronet Magazine, 1961)

After reading this article I thought about how deeply Rudolf Israel Kasztner (1906 – 1957) probably longed for a quiet life as an anonymous journalist in his native Bucharest, but the Nazi invasion of Hungary put an end to any possibility of enjoying such a life. Recognizing what the occupying Nazis had in store for the Jews of Bucharest, Kasztner saw that there was no one about who was making any attempt to save them. Rather than close his eyes and hope for the best, Kasztner bravely made the decision to save as many Jews as he could by making deals with the horrible Adolf Eichman. Locating allies at home and abroad, Kasztner managed to save thousands while others died. Today, the descendants of the Jews he had saved number in the hundreds of thousands, but this meant little to the 15 year-old Israeli fanatic who labeled him a collaborator and shot him in 1957.

Princess Margaret and Captain Townsend
(Coronet Magazine, 1958)

This snippet is about a major crisis (and a colossal media event) that took place in the life of Queen Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret Rose (1930 – 2002) – when she was told in 1955 that the man she loved, Captain Peter Townsend, was not suitable for marriage.

Fashion Piracy
(Coronet Magazine, 1960)

Contrary to popular thought, the Fashion Police, so called, are not concerned with seemingly vulgar acts of dressing – mismatched colors, cheap accessories, gross fabrics, etc – but they do consider knocking-off the work of other designers as a serious violation – and when it comes to ripping-off the designs of Christian Dior or Pierre Balmain, that is when the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Coutre and police inspector Jacques Besson step in.

‘The Biggest Laugh in the History of Silent Film”
(Coronet Magazine, 1959)

The longest, loudest laugh in movie history exploded in theaters all over the world in 1920. That colossal, eruptive, cumulative bellow of laughter closed a two reel silent comedy called HARD LUCK, starring that master of slapstick and deadpan pantomime, Buster Keaton.

National Geographic Magazine
(Coronet Magazine, 1943)

Here is a tidy little essay that explains the origins of the National Geographic Society and their well-loved magazine. The article begins with an interesting story about what this organization did to help the Pentagon during the Second World War.

A Brief History of Women Combatants
(Coronet Magazine, 1957)

This article concerns those rare women of the Nineteenth Century who defied the dictates of the patriarchy, scoffed at the feminine traditions of their mothers and donned male attire in order to bare the hardships as soldiers and sailors.

The journalist saw fit to devote greater column space to the story of Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, who fought with distinction for the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

Click here to read about Russian combat battalion of women that fought the Germans in the First World War.

General Hap Arnold, U.S. Air Corps
(Coronet Magazine, 1946)

The famous smile which has won General Arnold the nickname of Happy is a pleasant front for a shrewd and grimly purposeful character. His real nature shows in his determined stride, his set jaw. He’s a fighter. He’s been fighting for our safety for almost forty years.

In his direction of the Air Force’s gigantic growth, General Arnold’s first thought was always for his men. The Training Command he planned and organized turned out, swiftly and safely, the thousands of air crews needed. He demanded, and got, the planes his men needed where and when they needed them. He directed our best doctors and scientists in medical and technological research that kept his men and equipment in the peak of fighting condition.

Funny Wills…
(Coronet Magazine, 1952)

There just aren’t that many funny wills around that are devised with the intention of rendering the last word in a bad marriage or to dispense petty revenge on those who remained above-ground – that is why we found these two columns so amusing.

Model Children
(Coronet Magazine, 1941)

The children whose pictures you see on the advertising pages of national magazines often launch their careers when they are scarcely larger than their social security numbers. Blonde or brunette, freckled or glamorous, these famous boys and girls help sell you everything from automobiles to safety pins. As accustomed to to a camera as a top-flight movie star, they enjoy their work partly because it satisfies their fondness for ‘make-believe’.

Nice work if you can get it. But the maestros of the modeling agencies, John Robert Powers and Harry Conover, emphasize the fact that finding juvenile models is a difficult assignment.

Fred Kaltenbach of Iowa
(Coronet Magazine, 1943)

Pencil-necked geek Frederick Kaltenbach was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1895. A former school teacher, he left the U.S. to earn a Ph.D in Germany but somehow ended up translating German texts into English for the Nazi aviation magazine, ADLER. By-and-by this eventually lead to his own radio program, just like all translation jobs always do.