1930 – Old Magazine Articles

T.E. Lawrence of Arabia
(Saturday Review of Literature, 1930)

This is a 1930 review of of Gurney Slade’s fictionalized account of the World War One Arab revolt, In Lawrence’s Bodyguard. The book was intended as a novel for boys and is here reviewed anonymously by one who was simply credited as, A Friend of T.E. Lawrence. Gurney Slade (pen name for Stephen Bartlett) was libeled as a man of taste and sensibility and the novel was generally well liked.

‘The Arab business was a freak in my living; in ordinary times I’m plumb normal.’ Normal, yes; but only the normally strong arise to be normal after trial and error.

You might also like to read this 1933 article about T.E. Lawrence.

Click here to read about Lawrence’s posthumous memoir and the literary coup of 1935.

Baron Fritz & No Hard Feelings
(Saturday Review of Literature, 1930)

Saturday Review’s Emerson G. Taylor reviewed two World War I books: Baron Fritz by Dante scholar Karl Federn, which he liked, and No Hard Feelings, by Medal of Honor recipient John Lewis Barkley, which he did not:

In this week’s other narrative of soldier’s life, John Lewis Barkley, late Corporal, K Company, 4th United States Infantry, tells the world that he and his gang were exceedingly tough ‘hombres’, that, in the Second Battle of the Marne and in the Meuse Argonne operations, he killed a vast number of bloodthirsty Germans with his trusty rifle, by serving a machine-gun, or with a pistol and a knife, that he was profusely decorated, was always in the fore-front of duty and danger, and spent a furlough in Paris with Marie…Ho-hum.

‘A Brass Hat in No Man’s Land” – Reviewed by Robert Graves
(Now & Then, 1930)

War poet Robert Graves was assigned the task of reviewing the W.W. I memoir A Brass Hat in No Man’s Land
by the English General F.P. Crozier and came away liking it very much: It is the only account of fighting on the Western Front that I have been able to read with sustained interest and respect. Crozier’s memoir did not spare the reader any details involving the nastier side of the war; he reported on trench suicides, self-inflicted wounds and mutinies:

My experience of war, which is a prolonged one, is that anything may happen in it from the highest kinds of chivalry and sacrifice to the very lowest forms of barbaric debasement.

Click here to read the 1918 interview with General Hindenburg in which he declared that the Germans lost the war as a result of the American Army.

The First Atheist Government
(The Commonweal, 1930)

Throughout much of the Twenties and Thirties the religious communities of the Western world looked at the nascent Soviet Union with some fascination: not only was it the first atheist government to be established, but it was the first government to be openly hostile to all religions alike.

An article about Chinese persecution of the Christian Church can be read here…

Click here to read about the Nazi assault on the German Protestant churches in 1935.

Greta Garbo’s First Impressions of Hollywood
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)

Greta Garbo (1905 – 1990) was well known for keeping to herself and preferring to act on movie sets free of executives, pals and all sorts of other hangers-on and she was very famous for refusing to grant members of the press corps interviews. With that in mind, it is a wonder that Katherine Albert of PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE was able to piece enough together for this 1930 article:

She has no place in the life of Hollywood. She has never adapted herself to it.

Garbo will continue to remain an enigma…

Click here to read about early cosmetic surgery in Hollywood.

What the Stenographer Saw…
(Atlantic Monthly, 1930)

The attached recollection was written by a British woman who worked as a stenographer at the American embassy in London. She recalled much of what she saw from the typing pool on that dreadful August day in 1914 when the Great War began.

‘I Remember William Powell”
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)

A magazine article by Leonora Ross in which she recalled her high school days with one of Kansas City’s most famous sons, actor William Powell (1892 – 1984). At the time this article appeared, Powell had some forty-two films to his credit (37 of them silent) with his best work yet to come.

If you would like to read more articles from Photoplay Magazine, click here.

CLICK HERE to read about Powell’s most famous film: The Thin Man…

The North Carolina Presence at Gettysburg
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1930)

This article, from Confederate Veteran Magazine, presented the drama of events as they unfolded on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg with an eye to specifically telling the tale of the North Carolina regiments and the part they played as the battle was taking shape. The author, Captain S.A. Ashe (author of the 1902 book, The charge at Gettysburg) explained thoroughly which Confederate and Federal units arrived first at Gettysburg and at what hour, while indulging in just a little Monday morning quarterbacking:

If General Longstreet, with his very fine corps, had struck the Federals early the next morning, there probably never would have been a third day at Gettysburg.

Actor Ronald Colman
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)

A Photoplay Magazine interview featuring British actor Ronald Colman (1891 – 1958) in which the journalist attempted to dispel all preconceived notions that the actor was some sort of male Garbo and was, in fact, a regular guy.

Prohibition Polled
(Literary Digest, 1930)

One decade into Prohibition, the editors of THE LITERARY DIGEST polled numerous states in an effort to understand the law’s standing within the nation.

Greta Garbo in the Dream Factory
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)

A juicy nine page article about the meteoric rise of Greta Garbo (B. Greta Lovisa Gustafsson: 1905 – 1990) in European films, her arrival in California, the contracts signed, and an account of her earliest Hollywood films.

Rebel Victory at Secessionville
(Confederate Veteran, 1930)

Nathan George Shanks Evans (1824 – 1868) was the Confederate general in charge of the rebel forces at the Battle of Secessionville, South Carolina. Attached you will find his two page report written upon the conclusion of that battle on June 19, 1862.

This battle marked the first major attempt by the Union Army to take the Rebel city Charleston, South Carolina.

Click here to read about the heavy influence religion had in the Rebel states during the American Civil War.

Robert E. Lee’s Favorite General
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1930)

Attached is an excerpt from Confederate Veteran Magazine in which one of the readers recalled the time when a touring English officer paid a visit to General Robert E. Lee (1807 – 1870) during the post-war period and asked him who was the greatest military genius of either side during the War between the states? Lee gave his answer without hesitation – some may be surprised to know his answer while others among you might not.

Click here to read about the Confederate conscription laws.

From Amazon: Confederate Veteran Magazine…

Johnny Reb Relaxes in Camp
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1930)

Despite the stories by politicians of how we suffered the pangs of hunger, etc., etc., every veteran who actually soldiered can recall many blue spots on the sky of his memory; many days and nights when pleasure led the march and love burnished life with gold…One fortunate thing for us was that we had our games. Marbles, played with all the zest and and avidity of school boy days; cards, running the gamut through smut, loo, euchre, three-card monte, poker, cribbage and whist; checks, and the royal game of chess.

The author of this short reminiscence also remarked upon the importance that music played in camp.

Click here to read about the heavy influence religion had in the Rebel states during the American Civil War.

Howard Hughs and HELL’S ANGELS
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)

The Thrilling, romantic story of how Howard Hughes, the millionaire kid, who tossed fortunes into the making of Hell’s Angels

The editors of Photoplay, like many in the Hollywood community between the years 1927 through 1930, were extremely curious about wunderkind Howard Hughes (1905 – 1976) and the wildly expensive film he was directing that never seemed able to reach a state of completion, Hell’s Angels. This article, by Bogart Rogers, makes clear that by the time the film was released, production costs had soared beyond the four million dollar range (although some contemporary sources believe it was a few hundred thousand south of that number)- and most infamously, four aviators had been killed during the filming. This article sums-up the Hollywood career of Howard Hughes up to 1930 and seeks to separate some of the falsehoods that circulated about the boy-director.

The Woman with the First Division
(American Legion Monthly, 1930)

Twelve years after the end of the war, former Y.M.C.A. volunteer Francis Grulick wrote this moving account of her days as a canteen worker in France. She had vivid and colorful memories of her days in the forward positions bringing some measure of comfort to the men of the U.S. Army First Division, to whom she was devoted. She was with them at Gondrecourt, Bonnvillers, Boucq, Cantigny and Soissons. She filled their canteens, served them lemonade, poured their coffee, cooked their meals and also saw to it that cigarettes were plentiful. By the time the First Division arrived in Coblenz for occupation duty, she recognized that the unit was composed almost entirely of replacements and that she was the only witness to the First Divisions earliest days in France.

Is your name Anderson?

Allied Occupation of Germany Ends
(The Pathfinder, 1930)

The foreign correspondent for Pathfinder Magazine filed this brief report about the goings-on in Germany on June 30, 1930, when the last Allied regiments had completed their occupation duties mandated under the Treaty of Versailles and withdrew to their own borders:

For the most part the German population waited patiently until the last uniformed Frenchman had entrained and then they raised the German flags, [and] began to sing ‘Deutschland Ueber Alles’…

President Hindenburg issued a proclamation saying in part:

‘After long years of hardships and waiting, the demand of all Germans was today fulfilled. Loyalty to her fatherland, patient perseverance and common sacrifices have restored to the occupied territory the highest possession of every people – freedom.’

Reds Among Us
(Scribner’s Magazine, 1930)

When the market crashed in the Fall of 1929, the Communist Party of America really thought their hour had arrived. They took to the streets with their red banners and set to work fomenting unrest in whatever factories were still afloat. Most Americans recognized their blarney as mere pie in the sky and would have none of it; still their membership lists were growing and many Americans were wondering how they should be dealt with. This article examined how the communists were organized, what they were up to and recommended that Americans should keep in mind that the Reds will go when prosperity returns – and not before.

We also have an article on The Daily Worker.