Recent Articles – Page 220 – Old Magazine Articles

The British Rage Against Pacifism
(The Literary Digest, 1915)

While Western Europe was all ablaze during the Spring of 1915, many Americans were tapping their toes to a catchy tune titled, I Didn’t Raise my Boy to be a Soldier (by Alfred Bryan and Al Piantadosi). This really irked the editors at THE SPECTATOR who let their fingers trip across the typewriter keyboard at a tremendous speed spewing-out all sorts of unflattering adjectives; they even went so far as to rewrite a few verses.

A Pacific War Chronology
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

Here is a printable list of chronological events and battles that took place in the Pacific Theater between December 7, 1941 through May 3, 1945. Please keep in mind that this is only a partial list, the YANK editors who compiled the chronology had no foreknowledge of the U.S. assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Click here to read an interview with a Kamikaze pilot.

Another German Advantage
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

General Marshall’s post-war report remarked on one clear advantage that the German Army was privileged to exploit again and again throughout the war:

The German ammunition was charged with smokeless, flashless powder which in both night and day fighting helped the enemy tremendously in concealing his fire positions.

General Marshall on the Atomic Bomb
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

The tremendous military advantage of this terrifying weapon fell to us through a combination of good luck, good management and prodigious effort. The harnessing of atomic power should give Americans confidence in their destiny…

Click here to read more magazine articles about the Atomic Bomb.

Click here to read one of the fist opinion pieces condemning the use of the Atomic Bomb.

NBC and CBS Open Shop on the West Coast
(Literary Digest, 1936)

In order to take advantage of the local talent abiding in the sleepy film colony of Hollywood, the far-seeing executives at NBC and CBS saw fit to open radio and television broadcasting facilities in that far, distant burg.

The trek to Hollywood of the Broadcasting companies began in earnest last winter when the National Broadcasting Company opened a large building – fire-proof, earthquake-proof, sound-proof and air-conditioned.

Wyndham Lewis Gets Panned
(The Spectator, 1921)

An unnamed art critic writing for the British magazine SPECTATOR gave his back-hand to Wyndham Lewis, the father of Vorticism. Prefering the artist’s drawings to his paintings, the ink-stained wretch opined:

The point might also be raised whether Mr. Wyndham Lewis should ever use oil paint. It is a medium which he seems to have little capacity and no sympathy…

Seussue Hayakawa
(Photoplay Magazine, 1916)

The attached article is about Sessue Hayakawa (1889 – 1973), the first Asian actor to achieve star status in Hollywood:

No, Sessue Hayakawa, the world’s most noted Japanese photoplay actor, does not dwell in a papier-mache house amid tea-cup scenery. He is working in pictures in Los Angeles, and he lives in a ‘regular’ bungalow, furnished in mission oak, and dresses very modishly according to American standards.

For the Promotion of Good Manners
(Literary Digest, 1900)

Americans of the mid-Nineteenth Century who entertained any social ambitions at all were totally at a loss as to how they might find their place in the business world, much less the swank and pomp of polite society, if they were without any understanding as to the manners required to open these doors. Unable to benefit from such T.V. shows as Dallas or Dynasty and finding that Emily Post was no where in view, they found a reliable ally in a collection of pamphlets briefly published by the firm of Beadle & Adams.

The 1908 New York – Paris Race: Bumpy Ride
(Literary Digest, 1908)

With the centennial re-running of the New York to Paris race beginning this May (2008), it is interesting to read about the authentic 1908 contest and the difficulties they faced in a world without proper roads.

Interest in the New York – to – Paris race, temporarily suspended by the failure to find a passable road in Alaska…

Shoe Illustrations
(1913 Advertisement)

Heartlessly ripped from the binding of an ancient issue of VANITY FAIR was this page of shoe illustrations in which a smart pair of womens leather boots are the centerpiece, accompanied by Russian dancing shoes, a splendid pair of gold brocade slippers, white buckskin tennis oxfords and a pair of walking boots.

Legendary fashion designer Christian Dior had a good deal of trouble with people who would illegally copy his designs; click here to read about that part of fashion history.

1920s Prohibition created a criminal climate
that appealed to more women than you ever might have suspected…