1922 – Page 9 – Old Magazine Articles

Dr. Fosdick’s Brand of Liberation Theology
(The Literary Digest, 1922)

Reverend Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878 – 1969) got some attention in the press when he preached that the work of saving of souls had much to do with man’s maintenance of a sound and just economic system here on the earth. Dr. Fosdick gained much of this understanding in the slums of New York City, in 1903, where he worked as a Baptist Minister.

In the twentieth century the greatest conflict in the world’s life is centered in economics. The most vital questions with which we deal are entangled with economic motives and institutions.

Click here to read further about Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick..

The Flapper Exageration
(The Flapper Magazine, 1922)

The attached column first appeared in Flapper Magazine and begins with three paragraphs outlining the ceaseless march of flappers throughout the centuries (Eve, Cleopatra, Madame Du Barry, etc…) and then dedicates the remaining three paragraphs to the various legal dust-ups flappers were causing throughout the fruited plane:

In Vinland, Kansas, a town of 400 inhabitants, [the rustics are up-in-arms because] Alice Hansen and Maude Buchanan, 16-year-old flappers, and daughters of farmers, are wearing skirts shorter than those that are in vogue among the high school pupils….it is now up to the highbrows of the Supreme Court of Kansas to decide the case and bring a satisfying verdict…All this criticism of flappers is bunk and should be treated lightly.

The Winter Look for Flappers
(NY Times, 1922)

Stockings Scare Dogs

-so ran the sub head-line for this news article from the early Twenties which attempted to explain to one and all what the new look for the winter of 1921 – 1922 was all about.

The Case Against Flappers
(Literary Digest, 1922)

A collection of low opinions concerning the Flapper and her confederates, gathered from numerous clerical magazines throughout the fruited plane:

There is a great deal of frank talk among them that in many cases smacks of boldness. One hears it said that the girls are actually tempting the boys more than the boys do the girls, by their dress and conversation…

Flappers Were Nothing New
(NY Times, 1922)

Since the preceding article was jam-packed with intolerant remarks from the lip-service corner of the Holier-Than-Thou clerical crowd, it seemed only fitting that we post this article which dwelt upon the far more accepting and just a wee-bit more Christian feelings of yet another clergyman who tended to think that the flappers were not really as queer as everyone liked to think they were.

Painting faces is no new thing except on occasion. Belles and famous beauties of the past painted for State occasions. But then it was not good form to wear paint in daylight. Now it is, apparently. That many young women now carry this to extreme is not unusual…

Click here to read an article about the demise of a popular 1940s hairstyle.

Flapper Beauty Contest
(Flapper Magazine, 1922)

This funny announcement from the yellowing pages of FLAPPER MAGAZINE made it clear to one and all that all flappers were eligible to enter their Flapper Beauty Contest:

You don’t have to be beautiful to be a flapper, and if you’re not a flapper you wouldn’t be considered beautiful. So there!

(But we’re sure it helped)

The Flappers and Their Fashion Rebellion
(Flapper Magazine, 1922)

In the attached column, a high-spirited editorial writer hails the Flapper Revolution and singles out Paris fashion designer Paul Poiret (1879 – 1944) for being so out of step with the women of his day for continuing to design long dresses:

When flappers rise en masse and say that they can see no reason for giving up a style that means comfort, freedom and health, then indeed, out of this welter of strikes, injunctions and warfare may be seen a glimmer of hope for mankind.

M. Poiret, designer of Paris, has seen fit to take up the cudgels on behalf of the long skirt, and therefore he cannot object if the shafts of ridicule are hurled at him in return…

Flappers Defy the Paris Dictators
(Flapper Magazine, 1922)

Will Paris succeed in imposing long skirts on the flappers of America?

Not if most of them have their way! When Paris started the short skirt fad and America eagerly aped it, the dressmakers figured that it would probably run its course and then die a sudden death. But no! For American flappers may be fickle but they know a good thing when they see it. And they intend to hang on to it.

Click here to read about another icon of the Twenties: Rudolph Valentino.

The Extraordinary Story of Eugene O’Neill
(The American Magazine, 1922)

A marvelous interview with the thirty-four year old playwright, Eugene O’Neill (1888 – 1953) -coincidentally published just as it seemed his stock was on the rise.

Click here to read a 1930s article about Eugene O’Neill.

President Wilson’s War Cabinet Convenes
(Review of Reviews, 1922)

Franklin Knight Lane (1864 – 1921) recalled his service as President Wilson’s Secretary of the Interior and the eventful year of 1917 when Wilson lead the U.S. into it’s first European war. Some may be amused as he reminiscences about the time Army Chief of Staff General Tasker H. Bliss (1853 – 1930) fell asleep during one of the cabinet meetings.