Articles from The Literary Digest
In this article, The Mob as Art Critic, an anonymous reviewer gathered excerpts from assorted negative reviews concerning the New York Armory Show of 1913 in an attempt to show the often violent reaction the exhibit inspired.
The Armory Show of 1913 (Literary Digest, 1913) Read More »
Following World War One there existed a poor taste in the collective mouths of all the participating combatant nations; as a result, 1927 saw a small rebellion against much of the military training taking place on some U.S. campuses. This article lists a number restrictions that various academic institutions had placed on those military organizations active on college and high school grounds.
‘Learn War No More” (Literary Digest, 1927) Read More »
They enter college as Christians and graduate as atheists or agnostics’, say some whose sons and daughters come home with a sheepskin showing proficiency in the arts and sciences and little, or none at all, in religion. The college is repeatedly blamed for this vital lack, and is not infrequently defended of the charge of failing to establish a religious background for the student.
Out of the Mouths of Babes: Girl Evangelists in the Flapper Era
The Lure of College Atheism…(The Literary Digest, 1923) Read More »
A look at the observations made by a correspondent for The London Observer who compared the two dominate tribes found in 1933 Berlin and Moscow. The writer was far more distracted by the similarities in their street hustle and their sloganeering rather than their shared visions in governance and culture; for example, both Nazis and Communists were attracted to restrictions involving speech, assembly and gun ownership while sharing an equal enthusiasm for May Day parades and the color red. Additionally, both totalitarians had their preferred dupes:
Absolute ideas invariably demand victims; and the ruthless treatment which is deliberately meted out to Jews in Germany is closely paralleled by the creation in the Soviet Union of a sort of pariah caste of Lishentsi or disenfranchised persons.
Germany never celebrated May Day with public parades until Hitler came to power; May Day was made a national holiday and all employers were given the day off with pay.
Click here to read an article that explains in great detail how the Nazi economic system (with it’s wage and price controls) was Marxist in origin.
Nazism and Bolshevism: the Similarities (Literary Digest, 1933) Read More »
This article appeared in 1936 and reported that the populations of both England and France were being trained in the general use of gas masks in anticipation of a German invasion.
Even babies will be protected in covered perambulators, into which masked ‘Nannies’ can pump air, forcing it through filter cans. Researchers are working on an infant’s mask with a nipple attachment.
British Civilians Trained to Use Gas Masks (The Literary Digest, 1936) Read More »
Some ninety-eight years ago, as it is also true this day, many people living outside the borders of the United States had a laugh, from time-to-time, concerning America’s commonly held belief that they are an idealistic people whose motives are not always driven by self-interest; this is a broad topic and sound arguments can be made on both sides as to whether it is true or not. The British thinker Bertrand Russel (1872 – 1970; Nobel Prize for Literature, 1950) had some thoughts on the matter and in an address made to a number of assembled Americans he submitted that, in his view, Prohibition was not a ‘noble experiment’ which sought to inspire all Americans to lead a righteous life, but rather a gross perversion of Christian doctrine.
Prohibition: A Product of American Idealism (Literary Digest, 1922) Read More »
Published some time after the demise of the NRA, this article presents a thumbnail profile of Hugh S. Johnson (1882 – 1942), FDR’s fair-haired boy who ran that shop from start to finish. He was once again in the news after having compared the New Deal to a fascist dictatorship during the Fall of 1937.
Hugh S. Johnson of the NRA (Literary Digest, 1937) Read More »
With a clear understanding as to what was coming down the pike, Belgian Foreign Minister Paul Henri Spaak (1899 – 1972) prevailed upon Prime Minister Paul van Zeeland to push through the Chamber of Deputies a bill increasing the military service from twelve to eighteen months for Belgium’s 44,000 conscripts while at the same time, reinforcing the fortifications along the French border.
Over half the article pertains to the fascist party of Belgium, REX, a group that hardheartedly resisted any such defensive posturing. A few weeks following this printing, Léon Degrelle (1906 – 1994), the leader of REX, the Belgian fascist party, marched on Brussels and brought down the van Zeeland government.
Military Buildup in Belgium (Literary Digest, 1936) Read More »
Attached is an interesting article that announced the Nazi march into the Rhineland as well as the island of Hegoland. The journalist also listed various other Versailles Treaty violations:
• The treaty said that Germany should have no troops in the Rhineland. On March 7 of this year, they marched in.
• The treaty said that Germany should never have a conscript army. On March 16 of this year, conscription was announced by Chancellor Hitler.
• It said that Germany should have no military aviation. She has it.
• It said that the Great German General Staff should be abolished. It was never disbanded.
*Violations of the Versailles Treaty began, in fact, a week before it was signed.
Click here to read an additional article concerning the Versailles Treaty violations.
Versailles Treaty Violations (Literary Digest, 1936) Read More »
The war clouds may have been gathering over Europe in 1933, but in British Palestine the skies were blue and life was good. Just as this 1922 magazine article intimated eleven years earlier, British Palestine was continuing to flourish in ways that neither the resident Zionists or the overseers from the British Colonial Office ever anticipated:
Two years ago, [British] Palestine’s orange crop – its main source of income – filled 2,000,000 cases at most. The forecast for the coming year is 6,000,000. Tel Aviv, a Jewish settlement near Jaffa, had 2,000 inhabitants in 1919. Now it claims 60,000 with 100,000 close ahead…
The Bounteous Land (Literary Digest, 1933) Read More »
