1920 – Page 3 – Old Magazine Articles

Lord, Deliver Us from Prohibition
(The Smart Set, 1920)

For some unexplained reason, H.L. Mencken (1880 – 1956) wrote this essay under the pseudonym Major Owen Hatteras. The one page article is written in typical Menkenese and catalogs example after example of how prohibition is creating a worse society, not a better one; citizens of all stripes who would otherwise be judged as honest souls, are instead committing illegal acts and there seemed to be no end in sight to such behavior.

U.S. Cemeteries: A Flag for Every Grave
(American Legion Weekly, 1920)

An article that appeared in an American veterans magazine concerning the pageantry that would mark the Memorial Day of 1920 at each of the primary A.E.F. cemeteries in France.

More than 127,000 American soldiers, sailors and Marines gave up their lives during the war…Total battle deaths in the A.E.F. killed in action and died of wounds were 50,329 including casualties in the Siberian force. Deaths from disease including the A.E.F. and men in the home cantonments, were 58,837…No American field of honor will be without it’s Memorial Day ceremony, no American grave without its flag and its flowers…

An interesting article that was written at a time it was believed that the A.E.F. cemeteries were going to be closed and the interred repatriated. There is a photograph of an early prototype headstone that was later rejected in favor of a stone cross; references are made to Suresnes Cemetery in Paris.

The Women Lincoln Loved
(McCall’s Magazine, 1920)

This brief article, The Women Lincoln Loved, illustrates the strong influences that four remarkable women made in the important process of molding the character of young Abraham Lincoln.

All four of these women share in and are a part of Lincoln’s greatness. They were the most powerful influences in the molding and shaping of the man and his career. Their valuation of life and their aspirations were the secret and noble forces that guided his heart and mind… Out of them was born a great and tender spirit with ‘malice toward none, charity for all.’

The American Marine in France
(Leslie’s Weekly, 1920)

Attached are a smattering of photos of the U.S. Marines as they appeared shortly after their arrival in France.

George Creel and His Posters
(How We Advertised America, 1920)

This essay was written by President Wilson’s Director of the Committee on Public Information, George Creel (1876-1953). It first appeared in Creel’s post-war memoir, How we advertised America
and gives a thorough rundown of the planning and the creativity that went into the mass-production of what is today a highly-prized collectible; the American World War I poster.

Twenty years later Creel wrote an article in which he explained his belief that America cannot be censored. Click here to read it.

Click here to read about how the mass-marketing techniques of the W.W. I era was used to promote KKK membership…

November 11, 1918: Paris, France
(The American Legion Weekly, 1920)

Much has been written on the unique relationship that has existed between African-Americans and the city of Paris. The following is one of those anecdotes that illustrates that cultural fellowship, a fellowship that began with the First World War. Quite predictability, it is written in the disrespectful manner that was all-too common of that era.

The Vote Obtained
(The Independent, 1920)

KEY WORDS: secretary of agriculture edwin t meredith on suffrage 1920,francis c axtell suffrage 1920,

‘Some Aspects of War Poetry by Siegfried Sassoon
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1920)

The following five page article was written by the World War One poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886 – 1967), in an attempt to give a rough outline of what the British poets did in the Great War, making every allowance for the fact that they were writing under great difficulty….

The Bad War Poets
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1920)

On came the foe, rushing foe,

As down they fell by hundreds.

‘Twas bravery held our men;

They knew they were outnumbered.

‘Hundreds’ and ‘outnumbered’; Tennyson could hardly have done better than that. But even Tennyson would not have tried to rhyme ‘steam and ‘submarine’, as the author of the following succeded in doing:

Brave boys, put on steam;

Be ready at the guns, boys;

‘Tis a German submarine.

etc., etc.

A W.W. I Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Poem
(The English Review, 1920)

There can be no doubt that as a term Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is clearly lacking the needed musical quality that would add to the pleasing rhythm of a poem, however the melancholy that is generated by the malady has launched a million poems throughout the course of the last century, which was to date, the bloodiest yet. Most often remembered for her anti-war verses, Lady Margaret Sackville (1881 – 1963) penned this diddly about that legion of crushed and broken men returned to their wives after World War One and how entirely unrecognizable they seemed:

You cannot speak to us nor we reply:

You learnt a different language where men die…