1913 – Page 2 – Old Magazine Articles

Willa Cather Gets a Bad Review
(Vanity Fair, 1913)

Writing his review of O Pioneers, DRESS and VANITY FAIR book critic Henry Brinsley wrote:

Miss Willa Cather in O Pioneers! (O title!!) is neither a skilled storyteller nor the least bit of an artist. And yet by the end of the book, something has happened in the readers mind that leaves him grateful…There isn’t a vestige of ‘style’ as such: for page after page one is dazed at the ineptness of the medium and the triviality of the incidents…And the secret of this is the persistence throughout of a single fine quality of the author – her extraordinary sincerity.

Dr. Anna Howard Shaw
(Literary Digest, 1913)

A 1913 profile of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw (1847 – 1919), president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and leader in their struggle to secure American women their right to vote. This article primarily deals with her meeting with President Woodrow Wilson and his inability to commit to the question of women’s suffrage.

Having helped to fight the good fight, Dr. Shaw died in 1919, weeks after the U.S. Congress voted to ratify the 19th Amendment.

French Insecurity in the Face of German Might
(Literary Digest, 1913)

Attached is a 1913 article from an American magazine in which the journalist reported on a strong sense of insecurity experienced by France as a result of Imperial German military hubris. The reporter illustrated the point with various quotes from French papers of the day and in a similar vein, sites a number of German papers that express an arrogant contempt for France.

The Armory Show of 1913
(Literary Digest, 1913)

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.

Shooting Tweeds, Riding Breeches and Evening Clothes
(Dress & Vanity Fair, 1913)

The attached men’s fashion article concerns the a brief autumn visit to the country; recalled by an anonymous fashion scribe whose charming prose allowed us to envision a leisured life in the late Gilded Age.

Shooting Tweeds, Riding Breeches and Evening Clothes
(Dress & Vanity Fair, 1913)

‘The Baseless Fear of War” by Andrew Carnegie
(The Independent, 1913)

Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919) tried his hand at clairvoyance and wrote this article in response to the constant plea for money from the U.S. Department of War, which he found completely unnecessary and excessive.

Our naval and military officials must dream of wars since most of them never even see one.

The Influence of the Natives on Rag Time Music
(The Literary Digest, 1913)

A foremost scholar in the field of Native American Music insisted that the American Indian had a guiding roll in the development of Rag Time:

Most people instinctively assign it to the Negro; but the Indian also, according to Natalie Curtis Burlin (1875-1921), is to be credited with a hand in it. The syncopation, which is a predominant feature of all Rag Time,as she observes in ‘The Craftsman’, is an absolutely essential element in the songs of our North American Indians of many tribes.

Also discussed are the efforts of Geoffrey O’Hara to make the earliest recordings of Native American Music on behalf of the U.S. Library of Congress.

The British Government’s Conclusion
(The Annual Register, 1913)

Here is a digest of the conclusion reached by the British government’s Special Commission on the Loss of the Titanic.

John Sloan Ridiculed Cubism
(The Masses, 1913)

Although realist painter John Sloan (1871 – 1951) was one of the fortunate American painters to also be included in the 1913 Armory Show (he was also on the organizing committee), it did not mean that he was above ridiculing the European modernists who were enjoying the same prestige that he was.

To read an anti-Picasso review from that same period, click here.

A Church on Wheels
(Literary Digest, 1913)

In our era we think nothing of bookmobiles and bloodmobiles or any number of other converted trucks and vans that are fashioned for various unique uses; this link will enable you to learn about a Catholic chapel-on-wheels (a.k.a. the Jesus-Jalopy, the Nun-Truck, the Pope Pick-Up, the Bishop-Bus) from 1913, that very well might have served as the inspiration for them all.

Reviewed: The Inside of the Cup by Winston Churchill
(Literary Digest,1913)

The 1913 book review of The Inside of the Cup by Winston Churchill (the other one) was so fraught with questions concerning the revolt of the Suffragettes and their disillusion with Christianity that the review was printed on the Religion Page of THE LITERARY DIGEST.

Reviewed: The Inside of the Cup by Winston Churchill
(Literary Digest,1913)

The Siege of Vicksburg
(Famous Events, 1913)

A summary of General Grant’s victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the summer of 1863. It is made clear to the reader how vital the city was to the Rebel’s defensive strategy in that Vicksburg was the last stronghold remaining which served to protect the Mississippi valley; President Jefferson Davis and his Confederates knew well that if the city fell, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas would be isolated.

A Study of the Gettysburg Address
(The Outlook, 1913)

Jesse W. Weik (1857 – 1930) was one of the earliest of Lincoln scholars.

In preparation for Herndon and Weik’s Life of Lincoln (1889), he visited every place in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky where Abraham Lincoln lived; examined the records of all the lawsuits in which Lincoln was engaged, and talked to everyone he could find who knew Lincoln. For thirty years and more he has made a special study of the sources, written and unwritten, of the personal history of President Lincoln.

Arranged Marriages to Seal the Peace in the Balkans
(Dress and Vanity Fair Magazine, 1913)

When the attached article first appeared in print the Balkan War (1912 – 1913) was over, however some of the swells of Europe put their crowned heads together and collectively came up with the best Medieval plan they could think of in order to insure the promise of peace in the region.

It was agreed that the Czar’s daughter, Grand Duchess Olga (1895 – 1918), would wed Serbia’s Crown Prince Alexander (1888 – 1934); while the Czar’s second daughter, Grand Duchess Tatiana (1897 – 1918) was promised to Romania’s Crown Prince Charles (1893 – 1959). All concerned felt that Romania’s Princess Elizabeth (1894-1956) and Crown Prince George of Greece (1890 – 1947) would make a simply splendid couple (they divorced in 1935).

Germany Defends It’s Military Build Up
(Literary Digest, 1913)

A defense was offered for the growth of German military expenditures based on the spread of Slavik pride and the rise of a great Pan-Slavonic movement due to victory of their kinsmen in the Balkans. German leaders, furthermore, felt a deep uneasiness about the fact that about one-third of the population of the Hapsburg Monarchy consisted of Slavs and therefore felt that military aid from the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not guaranteed in the event of a war with Russia and France.

A New Colony Club
(Vanity Fair, 1913)

This is small notice celebrated the efforts of the New York architectural firm of Delano and Aldrich for their design of a Park Avenue building intended as the new address of the Colony Club.

Click here to read about the 1913 Armory Show.