Recent Articles – Page 208 – Old Magazine Articles

An Early Gas Mask
(Magazine Ad, 1915)

At the time when the Entente powers were first exposed to poisonous gas in the spring of 1915, their respective quartermasters scrambled to secure suitable antidotes and precautionary measures that would save the men in the front line trenches. One of the earliest improvisations was a gauze face mask that covered both mouth and nose, drenched in urine. The attached commercial illustration is from the margins of the French news magazine, L’ILLUSTRATION which depicts one of these earlier attempts.

Click here to see an illustration of the German gas shells.

Clicke here to read more articles about W.W. I gas warfare.

A Drawing of a German Trench Latrine
(Royal Engineers, 1915)

Attached, you will find a mechanical drawing made by the industrious souls assigned to the Royal Engineers in order to placate those busy-body brass-hats situated so far in the rear and having little better to do than wonder aloud as to how the Hun tended to deal with his bowel movements.

The author of
The Western Front Companion is very informative on the topic of trench latrines and tells us that as the war progressed, latrines evolved into loitering centers for those wishing to read or enjoy some solitude. In order to remedy the situation officers decided to position their front-line trench latrines at the end of short saps, closer to the enemy; the reason being that a man was less likely to tarry and would return to duty that much quicker.

Carl Sandburg at 70
(’48 Magazine)

Here is a salute to the poet Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967) written by Louis Untermeyer (1885 – 1977) marking the occasion of Sandburg’s biography of Abraham Lincoln:

At 70 Sandburg is the voice of the common man, and it is only natural that his biography of Abraham Lincoln should express for all time the spirit of that uncommon man who was the common denominator of humanity.

President Roosevelt and the Panay Incident
(Literary Digest, 1937)

Attached, you will find a survey of opinions drawn from diverse corners of the fruited plain regarding the restraint exercised by President Franklin Roosevelt in the wake of Imperial Japan’s sinking of the U.S. gunboat Panay:

[President Franklin Roosevelt] should be sustained in his effort to make Japan realize that she cannot continue a policy of aggression with disregard of treaties and international law. A firm policy now for law and order will save many lives.

-Russell J. Clinchy,Washington Council for International Relations

The Shelley Winters ‘Get Thin Quick’ Diet

We all know that successful film actresses all seem able to drop weight quickly when the rolls call for it. Attached herein is the 1958 diet plan put to use by the Hollywood actress Shelley Winters.

Dashiel Hammett Fights the Fascists
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

Dashiel Hammett (1894 – 1961) had a pretty swell resume by the time World War Two came along. He had a number of celebrated novels and short stories published as well as a few well-paying gigs writing in Hollywood. It was during this period, in the Thirties, that he had created some of the wonderful characters that are still remembered to this day, such as Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon) and Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man). During the war, it was rare but not unheard of, for an older man with such accomplishments to enlist in the army -and that is just what he did. This one page article clearly spells out Hammett’s period serving on an Alaskan army base; his slow climb from Buck Private to Sergeant; his difficulty with officers and the enjoyment of being anonymous.

Accompanying the article is a black and white image of the writer wearing Uncle Sam’s olive drab, herringbone twill -rather than the tell-tale tweed he was so often photographed wearing.

Big Bandleader Cab Calloway
(Coronet Magazine, 1941)

The attached six page article about Cab Calloway (1907 – 1994) makes no mention whatever of the three movies he had appeared in prior to 1941, but it answers many other questions you might have had about the musician’s first thirty-one years.

Mary Pickford: An Appreciation
(Motion Picture Magazine, 1916)

I haven’t a clue as to whether California lawyers had the Restraining Order as one of the tools in their arsenal back in 1916; but if they had, Mary Pickford might have chosen to deploy just such a legal measure in order to defend herself from this obsessed fan who wrote the following essay for the editors of MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE:

She is adorably feminine, from her curls to her toes. In Tess, Caprice, the forlorn waif of the desert island in Hearts Adrift, she is feminine in everything she does. She can storm, but she storms like a warm-hearted, human woman, not a virago; she can coquette, but it is never the cold blooded type of flirting; Mary Pickford couldn’t be cold blooded if she tried. Men of all ages, women of all types, children of both sexes respond to this wonderful little girl in a manner no other star is able to arouse. They are all good and have done some wonderful work, but Mary is child, sweetheart and friend of the whole world, and no one can ever take her place in our hearts.

Click here to read a 1923 comparison between Norma Talmadge and Mary Pickford.

The Battle of Chateau-Thierry
(Stars and Stripes, 1918)

The American performance at the battle of Chateau-Thierry proved to General Foche that the Americans had the necessary stuff, and it was widely recognized that the Doughboys played the key roll in keeping the Germans out of Paris.

The attached STARS AND STRIPES article is extremely detailed as to the individual units (both French and American) that participated in rolling back the Germans along the Marne.

German Weapons in Winter
(Yank Magazine, 1943)

The following notes, based on directions issued in 1943 by the German Army High Command, regarding the use and proper care of German infantry weapons during winter campaigns. The instructions in question concern:

• German Luger & Walther P38 pistols,

• the Gewehr 41 rifle, Gewehr 98,

• M.G. 34 light machine gun and the,

• M.G. 42 heavy machine guns.

The article is accompanied by illustrations of the snow sleds used to transport the German machine guns.

Click here to read about the mobile pill boxes of the Nazi army.