Articles from 1947
The Collier’s article attached herein, The Atom Bomb’s Invisible Offspring does not simply track the radioactive illnesses and contamination generated as a result of the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also discusses the nuclear testings at Bikini and Alamogordo, New Mexico. Attention is paid to how the devastated people as well as all the assorted flora and fauna in the targeted regions.
The only big fashion innovation popular enough to share the 1947 headlines with Dior’s New Look involved the evolution in women’s swimwear; most notably the Bikini. The attached single page article pertains to all the new fabrics being deployed in ladies beachwear and all their assorted coverups:
Sand-and-sun fashions for this summer are perter and briefer than ever before. Although the typical bathing suit covers just about 2.5 square feet of a swimmer’s anatomy, a costume-look for the beach is achieved with a companion cape, skirt of short coat… Favored fabrics are those made to ride the waves. Knitted wool shows up in both classic and unusual designs. Colors are softer and muted. Black and blue appear most often, with cider, gray and smudge the ‘high-style’ shades.
•Click here to learn about women’s fashions from the Summer of 1934•
With the exception of the broad-brimmed sun hat pictured in the attached fashion editorial, you will find that women’s hats were growing smaller throughout the course of the Forties and they tended to sit farther back on the cranium, requiring hairdos that would accommodate and complement these creations.
The Sally Victor hat composed of red cherries took its inspiration directly from the bizarre, comical costumes worn by the actress Carmen Miranda. This fruit theme was typical of many post-war milliners. The six other hats in the piece were by two American designers: Lilly Dache and John-Frederics.
Click here to see what men’s summer hats were like during this period.
This article was written by John Hersey (1914 – 1993); it was written as a review of Slightly Out of Focus, the memoir by the most famous of World War II combat photographers, Robert Capa (né Andre Friedmann: 1913 – 1954). A fun and informative read, you will learn how the man came to be a photographer, how he acquired his nom de guerre, his work during the Spanish Civil War and the credibility that quickly followed.
Click here to read what General James Gavin remembered about photographer Robert Capa.
A really quick, informative read that will let you know a whole bunch about the earliest days of Hollywood silent film production:
• Silent film production companies averaged three movies per week.
• A good salary for an early Hollywood silent film executive was $50.00 per week
• Silent film extras were paid 1.50 per day.
• There were no stunt doubles.
• The average silent film director was paid $150.00 per week.
• A big-budget production was one that cost $500.00.
• Silent film directors would talk continuously during shooting.
– and much more.
Click here to read articles about Marilyn Monroe.
In His Steps, the second most popular book in history, has sold [50,000,000] copies [and just as many downloads] and is still going strong.
An article in which Bataan Death March survivor Dean Sherry, tells the tale of his jailer, a kindly school teacher known only as Captain Uemumra, and remembers him with a tremendous sense of gratitude.
An unusual story during a horrible time.
Here is an article by one of the foot soldiers of legendary silent movie producer Adolf Zukor, in which she recalled a time in 1923 when the future president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, mailed an unsolicited photoplay (ie. script) to their offices in hopes of securing some measure of Hollywood immortality.
Knowing that FDR had tremendous power in both New York and Washington, Zukor instructed her to let him down gently; twenty years later Roosevelt would chuckle about his ambitions with her at a White House party.
The 1947 review of William Saroyan’s war novel, The Adventures of Wesley Jackson:
What makes the novel good is what makes Saroyan good. In this case his wonderful satires on army life, wangling , and the weird fauns of his private universe. What makes it bad is the overdose of soliloquies, hymns and plain mutterings on love, death life and the appeasement of divine wrath by means of scapegoat.
The 1947 review of William Saroyan’s war novel, The Adventures of Wesley Jackson:
What makes the novel good is what makes Saroyan good. In this case his wonderful satires on army life, wangling , and the weird fauns of his private universe. What makes it bad is the overdose of soliloquies, hymns and plain mutterings on love, death life and the appeasement of divine wrath by means of scapegoat.
