1920

Articles from 1920

Siegfried Sassoon Reviewed
(Touchstone Magazine, 1920)

American poet Marguerite Wilkinson(1883 — 1928) was very impressed with the World War I poetry of Sigfried Sassoon, MC (1886 – 1967); in this three page review she lucidly explained why Sassoon’s voice was different from all the other wartime versifiers and illustrated her point by quoting liberally from his two earlier volumes, The Old Huntsman (1917) and Counter Attack (1918):

Such wisdom is the shining power of Sigfried Sassoon. To read it is to come face to face with indelible memories of unspeakable anguish. No palliatives are offered. The truth about warfare is told, as Mr. Sassoon understands it, with vigor and in sight…It is told by a man, a soldier, who will never forget this Calvary of the youth of our generation.

A Civil Libertarian Rants About Prohibition
(Judge Magazine, 1920)

An outraged editorial writer opines that the prohibition of alcohol will serve to corrupt the morality of more Americans than it could possibly save. Additionally, the writer alludes to the fact that, at the time, the U.S. Congress was discussing the prohibition of tobacco, as well:

It is coming time to write the obituary of Joy. Less than a year ago
the Cheering Cup was removed from American life. Now we are told that just as soon as enough Congressmen can be intimidated, not a difficult job, the Soothing Weed is also to be extinguished.


The writer places blame more upon the apathetic American voter rather than the grafters in Congress.

American Negros in the Great War
(Leslie’s Weekly, 1920)

This is a World War I article listing many of the patriotic commitments that the African-American community devoted to the 1917 – 1918 war efforts:

The war has transformed the American Negro into the Negro American. Because he has been doing big things for his country his sense of national unity grown; his citizenship became a living reality.

They have contributed 300,000 of their young men to the American Army. Of these 1,000 are commissioned officers of the line…One entire regiment was decorated for bravery and several individual soldiers have been cited for deeds of great valor.

A Salute to Susan B. Anthony
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1920)

Five and a half months before the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting all female citizens over the age of 21 the right to vote, the editors of THE PATHFINDER MAGAZINE saw fit to pay tribute to Susan B. Anthony (1820 – 1906) – the woman who got the ball rolling so long ago:

She drafted the pending amendment to the constitution in 1875.

British Snipers on the Western Front
(The English Review, 1920)

Written by Major E. Penberthy, former Commandant of the British Third Army Sniping School, this is an account of the training and organization of snipers as they functioned within the British Army at the time of the Great War.

In the early days of the war, when reports of German ‘sniping’ began to be published, it was commonly considered a ‘dirty’ method of fighting and as not ‘playing the game’.

A Few Days With Lenin and Trotsky
(Liberty, 1920)

Often published by the editors of Liberty, Life and Judge, was the American cartoonist Ellison Hoover (d. 1966) who poked some fun at the instability and blood-lusting thirst of the still-born Soviet Union in 1920.


Click here to read an article about the NKVD agent who murdered Trotsky.

The Advantages of Silent Movies Over Theater
(Photoplay Magazine, 1920)

Strong arguments were put to verse by the popular song writer Howard Dietz (1896 – 1983) as to why the up-town theater crowd had it all wrong.

The picture theater is always dark
So things you throw won’t hit the mark.


The actor in the movie play
Can’t hear the things you often say.


The spoken drama’s always longer;
The movie hero’s always stronger.


Click here to read more comparisons between film and stage.

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