1944 – Page 2 – Old Magazine Articles

War Memorials Don’t Have to be Ugly
(Pageant Magazine, 1944)

Robert Moses (1888 – 1981) was an American urban planner who worked as the New York City Parks Commissioner between 1934 and 1960. During the Second World War his phone was ringing off the hook:

“All over the country plans are being hatched for war memorials. Demands upon public officials for space in parks and public places are daily becoming more insistent. [But] if truth be told, most gestures of patriotism are pathetic, third-rate, inadequate [and] ugly…”

The Bombed-Out Germans

A report by a Swiss journalist as to what becomes of the Germans who are left homeless after the bombings:

Stockings for Movie Stars

$2,500.00 stockings, anyone? (in today’s currency, that would be $41,519.00) This is the story of Hollywood’s go-to-guy for outrageously priced,

Stockings for Movie Stars
(Coronet Magazine, 1944)

$2,500.00 stockings, anyone? (in today’s currency, that would be $41,519.00) This is the story of Hollywood’s go-to-guy for outrageously priced, beautifully tailored silk hosiery. Unbelievable.

U.S. General Benjamin Oliver Davis
(Coronet Magazine, 1944)

Civil Rights leader Walter White (1893 – 1955) recognized an historic moment when he saw one: during the summer of 1944 he wrote about the first African-American general – Benjamin O. Davis (1912 – 2002; West Point ’36):

“He had endured snubs because of his color and seen less able men promoted over his head without complaint. Some soldiers of his own race charge that he is not as militant as they think he should be in redressing their grievances. Non of this disturbs him.”

The Growing Popularity of Abortions
(Collier’s Magazine, 1944)

The present war has fanned the abortion racket from a flame to a blaze. Now it’s a nation-wide problem… Apparently every type of woman and girl, from every occupational group and every social level, was represented among women arrested or question in New York [on the matter of abortion].

Martha Graham’s Art
(New Masses, 1944)

A review of Martha Graham’s sell-out Broadway performance from January, 1944:

Martha Graham’s art has always been characterized by constatnt experimentation with new forms and new contents.

An Army of Juan
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

Some have said that America’s first introduction to Latin culture came with Ricky Ricardo; others say Carmen Miranda, Xavier Cugat, Charo or Chico and the Man. The dilettantes at OldMagazineArticles.com are not qualified to answer such deep questions, but we do know that for a bunch of unfortunate Nazis and their far-flung Japanese allies, their first brush with la vida loco Latino came in the form of Private Anibal Irizarry, Colonel Pedro del Valle and Lieutenant Manuel Vicente: three stout-hearted Puerto Ricans who distinguished themselves in combat and lived to tell about it.

In 1917 the U.S. Congress granted American citizenship rights to the citizens of Puerto Rico – but they didn’t move to New York until the Fifties. Click here to read about that…

Click here to read an article about Latinas in the WAACs.

The Atlantic Convoys
(Collier’s Magazine, 1944)

The War Shipping Administration is never at a loss for an answer when asked what’s been authorized, what’s in the works, what’s been shipped and where everything is at the moment? Nevertheless, the Transportation Inventory Department is a tidy place, with no visible signs of agitation. The TID has never lost so much as a bolt. Once it took twenty-two weeks to find a couple of airplane engines which had got themselves lost.

Death of a Baby Flat-Top
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

The baby flat-top Liscome Bay was sunk by a torpedo from an enemy submarine on the day before Thanksgiving of 1943. The Liscome Bay was on her first battle assignment, covering the occupation of Makin in the Gilbert [islands]…The torpedo struck a half an hour before dawn and it was still dark when Liscome Bay sank.

The ship went under in less than twenty-four minutes; up to that time it was the U.S. Navy’s second largest loss since the sinking of the Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Only 260 men survived.

The Sinking of the Liscome Bay
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

A World War Two article from YANK MAGAZINE recalling the sinking of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier off the coast of the Gilbert Islands –

An Interview with U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

Yank correspondent H.N. Oliphant interviewed Admiral Chester William Nimitz (1885 – 1966) for the August 4, 1944 issue regarding the progress in the Pacific Theater of Operations. At that time, the battle of the Marianas was being waged and it was a subject of much concern as to it’s significance.

In the Central Pacific, we have in three swift leaps advanced our sea power thousands of miles to the west of Pearl Harbor. Now our western-most bastions face the Philippines and undoubtedly worry the man on the street in Tokyo concerning the immediate safety of his own skin.

Click here to read about Admiral Mischer…

Click here to read a unique story about the Battle of the Sula Straits…

She Lead The WAACs
(Newsweek Magazine, 1944)

Here is the skinny on Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby (1905 – 1995). This article begins at a crucial point in her life, when she took charge of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women’s Army Corps). With no prior military experience, Hobby entered the U.S. Army as a major and immediately began organizing the Women’s Army Auxiliary into an efficient clerical element within the army. Her abilities were evident and she was soon elevated to the rank of colonel; in a similar light, the skills and abilities of the WAACs were also recognized and they, too, were given more challenging jobs. After the war, Hobby went on to distinguish herself in a number of other government positions.

Click here to read about WAC accomplishments by the end of 1945.

Tarawa
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

The editors at Yank Magazine were always aware that the publication existed primarily to keep U.S. Army morale on the upward swing, but they never wished to patronize their readers by feeding them Army approved malarkey either. They knew fully that they had to give the straight dope as often as possible or they, too, would be eating k-rations at the front. There are examples of articles that seriously downplayed the disappointing outcomes of major engagements (such as Kasserine Pass and Operation Market Garden) but, by enlarge, the sugar-coating was lighter than you might think. That is why this 1944 article concerning the Battle of Tarawa is important. Yank correspondent John Bushemi (1917 – 1944) made it quite clear the U.S. Marine losses were heavy, and for that reason alone the battle was of historical significance.

Click to read about the U.S. fabric rationing during W.W. II.

Influenza Returns
(Newsweek Magazine, 1944)

During the final year of the First World War, the Influenza Pandemic absolutely ravaged the American home front – it made a return visit to the W.W. II home front during the winter of 1943 – 44, but not to the same degree.

Click here to read about the 1918 – 1920 outbreak of influenza in the United States.

Home Front Philadelphia
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

You can boil down nearly all the changes that have taken place in Philadelphia since Pearl Harbor to one word: prosperity.

In 1940 the average factory worker in Philadelphia was making $27 a week and the city’s total factory pay roll was 393 millions. In 1943 Philadelphia’s factory workers averaged $48 a week and the total factory payroll was one and a quarter billions…The Philadelphia social life, too, has taken a terrific shot in the arm…

Read about Wartime San Francisco.

Click here to read about wartime Washington, D.C..

Meat Rationing Lead To Alternatives
(Click Magazine, 1944)

As a result of the rationing of beef some people along the W.W. II home front turned to whale meat as a substitute for beef:

If you walk into a Seattle, Washington butcher shop and ask for a steak, you might be offered a whale steak. No ration points will be required, and the flavor will be somewhere between that of veal and beef. You can prepare your steak just as you would a sirloin, or you can have it ground into whaleburger.

When the U.S. was fighting the First World War, twenty years earlier, it was found that the oil extracted from whales proved useful in the production of explosives.

4-F Guy Mops the Floor with Three GIs
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

Classified as 4-F, Edwin Taylor of Belleville, Illinois, was enraged when four GIs kidded him by singing a song about 4-Fs… he sent two to the hospital and the other soldiers are still running today.