Pageant Magazine – Page 3 – Old Magazine Articles

Tony Randall: Movie Star
(Pageant Magazine,1964)

In this early Sixties article, celebrity epistolarianne Cyndi Adams recalled her first two encounters with the man who would be Felix Unger:

‘I am definitely neurotic and psychotic,’ cheerily announced Tony Randall (1920 – 2004) the first time we met – ‘he’s an actor-comedian of remarkable skills…he unconsciously reflects, in the way he plays his rolls, so much of the neurotic age we live in…’.

The New York Times would pursue this point to a further degree in their 2004 obituary of the actor:

That’s the force Tony Randall embodied: he represented, in his neurotic grandeur, our national will to unhappiness. Or if not our will, at least our right, which in the 50’s we were only beginning to realize we could exercise.

W.W. I and American Women
(Pageant Magazine, 1951)

Here is a segment from a longer article published in 1951 by an anonymous American woman who wished to be known to her readers only as a women who had grown up with the Century (born in 1900). In this column she insisted that it was the First World War that served as the proving ground where American women showed that they were just as capable as their brothers – and thus deserving of a voice in government.

‘The Runner-Up to the Bible”
(Pageant Magazine, 1947)

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.

Warm Recollections of Marilyn
(Pageant Magazine, 1971)

Nine years after Marilyn Monroe’s death, Hollywood reporter James Henaghan remembered his friendship with the star and their warm, unguarded moments together:

I guess I had known it all the time. I knew that I belonged to the public and to the world. The public was the only family, the only Prince Charming, and the only home I ever had dreamed about.

A Chronological List of the Earliest Hitler Sightings
(Pageant, 1960)

The smoldering embers of what had once been Adolf Hitler’s carcass barely cooled by the time reports of his whereabouts began appearing on the pages of assorted newspapers and magazines throughout the world; here are a list of some of them.

The attached page is but a segment of a longer article that pertains to Hitler’s dying days and can be read here

Castro Shows His Hand…
(Pageant Magazine, 1960)

Andrew St. George, a reporter who lived in the hills with Fidel Castro tells the story of how an idealistic revolution turned into one of the greatest tragedies of our time.

American Graphics Seen in Soviet Russia
(Pageant Magazine, 1964)

An exhibition of graphic art from the United States has become a tremendously popular attraction [as it toured throughout four cities within the Soviet Union]… In the first two days more than 17,000 Soviet citizens, most of them in their teens or early twenties, came to see a gay collection of funny American posters, preposterous ads, colorful book covers and abstract prints.

‘You mean you’re really allowed to paint like this, and nobody says anything?’ one of the visitors asked.

The Search for an Honorable Exit
(Pageant Magazine, 1970)

Using a public forum, retired U.S. Air Force General Edward Lansdale (1908 – 1987) proposed a plan for the withdrawal of American and Allied Forces from Vietnam – a plan that came to be known as Vietnamization.

‘I Was On Board Titanic”
(Pageant Magazine, 1953)

The 1953 Titanic reunion took place in New York City. Numbered among the nine survivors was Edith Russell, who had been nineteen at the time of the ship’s sinking. Also in attendance that day was the writer Seymour Ettman, who collaborated with Russell in crafting the attached five page article about her experiences the night Titanic slipped below the surface of the North Atlantic:

If the Titanic sinks, will they transfer the luggage?

Miss, if I were you, I’d go back to your room and kiss your lovely things goodbye.

The Slang of the Beatnik Generation
(Pageant Magazine, 1960)

To fulfill her publicity obligations for her roll as Roxanne in her forthcoming film The Subterranean (MGM, 1960: from the Jack Kerouac novella
of the same title), actress Janice Rule (1931 – 2003) struck a number of Beat poses and provided a glossary of Beatnik slang for the readers of Coronet magazine.

Click here to read an article about 1940s teen slang.

If you would like to read about 1920s slang, click here.

Understanding the Veterans
(Pageant Magazine, 1945)

Appearing in various magazines and newspapers on the 1945 home front were articles and interviews with assorted experts who predicted that the demobilized military men would be a burden on society. They cautioned families to be ready for these crushed and broken men, who had seen so much violence and had inflicted the same upon others, would be maladjusted and likely to drift into crime. In response to this blarney stepped Frances Langford (1913 – 2005), the American singer. She wrote in the attached article that she had come to know thousands of soldiers, sailors airmen and Marines during the course of her tours with the USO and that the nation could only benefit from their return.

Understanding the Veterans
(Pageant Magazine, 1945)

‘Why I Live In Los Angeles”
(Pageant Magazine, 1950)

An article written at a time when L.A. was a very different city – with a population of merely ten million, the city’s detractors often called it Iowa by the sea; today they compare it to the Balkans:

The point is that in [1950] Los Angeles the individual leads his own life and plays his own games rather than lose himself vicariously in the capers of professionals.

Click here to read about the San Fernando Valley.

A White Woman Looks at the Negro and the Scourge of Racism
(Pageant Magazine, 1947)

Writer Margaret Halsey (1910 – 1997) was a patriotic lass who did her bit for Uncle Sam by managing a soldier’s canteen in New York City during the Second World War – you should know that throughout the course of that war there were thousands of canteens throughout America where Allied soldiers, sailors airmen and Marines could enjoy a free meal and have a dance or two with the local girls. Similar to most other canteens in the country, her doors were open to all servicemen regardless of color and as a result, the same policy had to be followed by the local girls who came to dance: they, too, could not discriminate.

Her observations in this integrated environment led to believe that a national policy of racial assimilation will not be as difficult as many people at the time tended to believe.

They Called it ”Clouting”
(Pageant Magazine, 1959)

It was said to be the lowest form of advertising – when ad copy on TV or radio productions was disguised as theatrical content. It was widespread and it was called clouting.

‘A Path Toward Personal Peace”
(Pageant Magazine, 1957)

During the last decade of the Nineteenth Century a new Protestant faith was conceived in Kansas City, Missouri, that sought to reveal Christ’s love and it was called Unity:

Unity would be the last group in the world to seek or expect recognition for its trailblazing, pioneering religious techniques. Yet, many, many decades before the phrases ‘the power of positive thinking’ and ‘abundant living’ were heard in the land, Unity taught that God never meant this life to be a trial and a vale of tears, but, on the contrary,that it ‘is God’s will for man to be strong and vigorous and rich and successful and happy.

The 1964 Harlem Race Riot
(Pageant Magazine, 1964)

James Baldwin remembered other Harlem riots he had witnessed… KEY WORDS: 1964 Harlem Race Riot newspaper article,1964 Harlem Race Riot

Tolerance at the Polls
(Pageant Magazine, 1953)

Speaking of thawing ice:

In 1942 Roper Poll found only 42 per cent of Americans saying ‘yes‘ to the question ‘Are Negroes as intelligent as Whites and can they learn just as quickly if given education and training?‘ After W.W. II the number rose to 57 per cent.