1919 – Page 9 – Old Magazine Articles

A Diagram of the French Renault Tank
(Freedom’s Triumph, 1919)

The French made light Renault tank was first seen on the Western Front in 1918, it had a crew of two, measured 13 feet (4 meters) in length and weighed 6.5 tons. The tank’s 35 hp. engine moved it along at a top speed of 6 mph. The factory options were few: one turret was fashioned to accommodate a 37mm gun while the other was made for a machine gun. The American Army placed 227 of these tanks in the field; these Renaults were distinctly different from those commanded by their French allies: the American version sported an octagonal turret (the French used a circular one) and steel wheels (the French Army preferred wood).

If you wish to read about the only German tank of World War I, click here.

Read about the Patton tank in Korea…

Varieties of German Grenades
(Freedom’s Triumph, 1919)

Dramatic diagrams of the three varieties of German grenades that were found along the World War One battlefields: the German stick grenade (ie. potato masher), the disc grenade and the rifle grenade.

Prohibition: Triumph of the Prissy
(Life Magazine, 1919)

In this 1919 cartoon from the old LIFE MAGAZINE, the cartoonist Paul Beny depicted personal liberty taking it on the chin.

The Summer of 1918, pt. II
(American Legion Weekly, 1919)

Evidently, the Twenty-Sixth meant that the hand was off the collar of the dog of war, but he could only go to the end of the leash. The Twenty Sixth was to be given the leash and the full field later…When the Twenty-Sixth started to attack on the early morning of the 21st there was nothing to attack. The German was going and the Twenty-Sixth was to give chase…

Sergie Rachmaninoff
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1919)

An uncredited interview with the celebrated Russian composer, Sergie Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943); his education, family and his work at the Moscow Conservatory as well as the Moscow Grand Theater. Attention is paid to his activities in the United States following his flight from the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Kosaku Yamada: The First Japanese Composer of Operas
(Vanity Fair, 1919)

Attached, you will find a small profile of Kosaku Yamada (1886 – 1965) published shortly after his New York debut in 1919. Classicly trained in Europe, Yamada organized the first symphonic orchestra of native players to perform the music of Occidental composers under a Japanese conductor, which later became the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. This article outlines some of his various accomplisments up to 1919, while deleting others. Prior to his two year sojurn in the United States, he had composed three Japanese operas: Reisho (1909), Ochitaru Tennyo (1913) and Shichinin No Oujo (1916).

A.E.F. Uniform Insignia: Division Markings Barred From States
(Stars and Stripes, 1919)

This uniform regulation was printed for all home bound Doughboys to see early in 1919; the order was later rescinded, however, it seemed that the General who was placed in charge of all state-side Army units during World War One disliked the European style military fashions that the A.E.F. was affecting. He also wished to ban the trench coat, over-seas cap, puttees and the Sam Brown Belt.

Chateau-Thierry: Setting the Record Straight
(Literary Digest, 1919)

It has been said that when the U.S. Army’s senior staff officers had learned of the great victory that the U.S. Marines had achieved at the Bois de Belleau in the summer of 1918, one of them had remarked, Those head-line hunting bastards! When reading this next piece you will immediately get a sense that the army was fed-up with the folks at home believing that the same Marines were responsible for the Army’s success at Chateau-Thierry. The war was already over by the time this piece appeared, making it clear to all that Chateau-Thierry was a feather in the cap for the Army.

Click here to read an article about the American snipers in W.W. I France.
Click here to read about W.W. I art.

Chateau-Thierry: Setting the Record Straight
(Literary Digest, 1919)

Click here to read an article about the American snipers in W.W. I France.
Click here to read about W.W. I art.

Farewell, Champagne!
(Vanity Fair, 1919)

A chic (if anonymous) poet printed in a fashionable society magazine sings farewellto champagne and pities the poor man-about-town who must now stroll the boulevards with only lemonade on his breath.

French Fashion During the War
(Almanach Hachette, 1919)

Printed in 1919, the editors of ALMANACH HACHETTE published this single page overview of the feminine fashions that appeared on the streets of Paris during the war years.

The Summer of 1918, pt. I
(American Legion Weekly, 1919)

An article by Frederic Palmer concerning the progress made by the First and Second Divisions in the Marne Salient.

A History of Dogs in the First World War
(American Legion Weekly, 1919)

The training of dogs for war purposes began in a limited way a number of years prior to the outbreak of the European war, the Germans being particularly interested in it. There were some trained war dogs in both the French and Belgian armies, but the British had none to speak of, nor did the United States. The dog began his general usefulness in the late war as a beast of burden.

Arguments For and Against a Jewish State
(Current Opinion, 1919)

This article discusses the various opinions between several Jewish organizations and prominent Rabbis in the United States as to what an independent Israel would mean for American Jews.

A Case Against the Zionists
(Literary Digest, 1919)

This piece concerns the Grand-Mufti of Palestine, as well as various Christian clergymen in the United States, who all weighed-in on the topic of Palestine as the Jewish homeland.

Twenty years later, the Mufti would collaborate with Hitler.

The Dwindling A.E.F.
(American Legion Weekly, 1919)

The intended readers for the attached article were the newly initiated members of the American Legion (ie. recently demobilized U.S. veterans), who might have had a tough time picturing a Paris that was largely free of swaggering, gum-chewing Doughboys gallivanting down those broad-belted boulevards, but that is what this journalist, Marquis James (1891 – 1955) intended. At the time of this printing, the A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Force) had been shaved down from 4,000,000 to half that number and re-christened the A.F.F. (American Forces in France) and the A.F.G. (American Forces in Germany). With a good bit of humor, the article concentrates on the antics of the American Third Army in Germany as they performed their Bolshevist busting duties in the Coblenz region.

Paris, 1919 : To Make the World Safe for Top Hats
(Literary Digest, 1919)

The least important aspect of the Versailles Treaty is discussed in this article. Many scholars have looked far and wide to find such a trivial concern, but the crack team of post-debutante archivists at OldMagazineArticles.com have succeeded where the learned have failed.

‘The Attack of the Super Novelists”
(Vanity Fair, 1919)

In this article, P.G. Wodehouse (1904 – 1975) sounded-off on a new type of novelist that had surfaced in 1919 – and has yet to decamp. He breaks the novelizing classes into two groups:

…the ordinary novelist, the straightforward, horny-handed dealer in narrative, who is perfectly contented to turn out two books a year, on the understanding – a gentleman’s agreement between himself and his public – that he reserves movie rights and is allowed an occasional photograph in the papers..