1922 – Page 5 – Old Magazine Articles

How Many Americans Had Cars in the 1920s?
(Current Opinion, 1922)

The post-World War I American economy was humming along quite nicely when an inquisitive journalist took notice as to how many more cars there were on the streets (all told, there were 7.5 million). Perhaps there were no written studies documenting what we now call ‘the order of durable goods’ – that dependable yardstick we use to measure American opulence, and so this investigative journalist came up with a different way of figuring out just how many cars Americans could purchase -and we’re mighty glad he did!

The Steel Tennis Racket Makes It’s Appearance
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1922)

Although the steel tennis racket would not know true glory until Jimmy Connors used his Wilson T2000 in the 1970s, a big splash was made by William A. Larned (1872 – 1926; seven times champion of the U.S. Open) when he designed the Dayton Steel Racket in 1922. It wasn’t the first steel racket, but it was an improvement on the existing ones.

General E.M. Law at Gettysburg
(Confederate Veteran, 1922)

Aside from baring an uncanny resemblance to an actor who wouldn’t be born until 1958 (Kevin Bacon), Confederate General E.M. Law (1836 – 1920) would be remembered for taking charge of Hood’s division after that commander was wounded at Gettysburg.

With the First Texas Regiment at Gettysburg
(Confederate Veteran, 1922)

Attached is a Gettysburg reminiscence by one W.T. White, veteran of the First Texas Regiment who had documented his experience on Little Round Top in his earlier writings, but preferred to dwell on some other glorious moments on this page.

As a result of their charge up Little Round Top, the boys of the Twentieth Maine sent the First Texas Infantry to the bottom of the hill leaving 25 dead, 20 missing and 48 wounded.

The KKK Influence on U.S. Politics
(The Literary Digest, 1922)

Attached is a 1922 report from THE LITERARY DIGEST regarding how remarkably close two KKK candidates for governor came to winning their respective state primaries. The two political contests in question, Oregon and Texas, caught national attention and became popular subjects for concern across the United States:

The closeness of the vote ought to be a warning…If the Ku Klux Klan insists on entering politics, good citizens must show it the way out.

The Common Sense of the Flappers
(Flapper Magazine, 1922)

Originally writing for the Forrest Park Review, Flapper advocate Myrtle Heilman (1895 – 1973) opined that the Flapper was the one and only topic of the day worth thinking about:

Analyze her dress. It’s the most sensible thing since Eve. She wears rolled socks and why shouldn’t she? They are extremely cool and comfortable. Her toddle pumps are fairly low-heeled and she doesn’t try to squeeze into a Cinderella. Her skirts are short because it’s the fashion. Her bobbed hair is cool, sensible and sanitary. There is a twinkle in her eye and she has a saucy cock-sureness. And why shouldn’t she?

She does respect her parents and she obeys them, just as well as her grandmother did hers, but she has common sense and she knows when it’s time to use her own judgment and exercise her own authority.

Harvard University Charged with Antisemitism
(Life Magazine, 1922)

Although Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856 – 1943) enjoyed a lengthy tenure as the president of Harvard University (1909 – 1933), his reign there was not entirely free from controversy. One of the more unpleasant policies associated with his term was one in which he stated that Jewish enrollment to the university should be confined to an admissions quota that should not exceed the 15-percent mark.

‘Harvard Talks About Jews”
(Literary Digest, 1922)

This is an article about Harvard President Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856 – 1943) who attempted to avoid the topic concerning his deep desire to admit Jews by quota and keep their numbers limited to a particularly low proportion.

In 1923 President Lowell came up with a politically palatable solution: he limited the size of the incoming class to one thousand, which meant incorporating an evaluation of each candidate’s non-academic qualities into the admissions decision. How manly was the candidate, for instance? How congenial and clubbable? What promise, what potential for future leadership?

Over time meritocracy won out – until Asians began applying in large numbers…

Krazy Kat: Low Art Meets High Art
(Vanity Fair, 1922)

At the very peak of bourgeois respectability, one of the high priests of art and culture, Gilbert Seldes (1893 – 1970), sat comfortably on his woolsack atop Mount Parnasus and piled the praises high and deep for one of the lowest of the commercial arts. The beneficiary was the cartoonist George Herriman (1880 – 1944), creator of Ignatz Mouse and all other absurd creations that appeared in his syndicated comic strip, Krazy Kat (1913-1944):

His strange unnerving distorted trees, his totally unlivable houses, his magic carpets, his faery foam, are items in a composition which is incredibly with unreality. Through them wanders Krazy, the most tender and the most foolish of creatures, a gentle monster of our new mythology.

One Thousand Nasty Remarks About Silent Films
(The English Review, 1922)

A much admired theatrical set designer was the author of this column – he was devoted to his craft and believed deeply that movies could only lead society to the lowest place:

The Drama in the Cinema is held to be made ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’ It is really made by the new school of the same old tyrants, to enslave the mind of the people.