Articles from Vanity Fair Magazine
The following five page article was written by the World War One poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886 – 1967), in an attempt to give a rough outline of what the British poets did in the Great War, making every allowance for the fact that they were writing under great difficulty….
One of Conde Nast’s most popular magazines reviewed D.W. Griffith’s film, The Birth of a Nation and gave a somewhat balanced account of the production. The journalist clearly recognized that the movie was unfair to the Negro yet remarkable for it’s photography.
In the early Twenties there were a good many social changes which men had to struggle to understand; among them was the Modern Woman. The Italian novelist and lexicographer Alfredo Panzini (1863 – 1939) attempted to do just that for the editors of Vanity Fair.
‘Don’t expect us’, she says to you, disconsolate male, ‘don’t expect us to be like the old-fashioned girls who went to church, and did the laundry, and looked up to their husbands as to their God.’
The following is an excerpt from the review of the New York production of the 1921 play, A Bill of Divorcement by Clemence Dane (born Winifred Ashton 1888 – 1965). With much enthusiasm, the reviewer wrote:
We know of no better expression of the creed of the new generation than that which Clemence Dane has drawn up….
What followed was a very short soliloquy which beautifully summed up not only the philosophy of the modern woman, but the philosophy of much the Twentieth Century.
Celebrated columnist Walter Lippmann (1889 – 1974) wrote this piece to mark the end of the Wilson administration (1912 – 1920) and usher-in that of Warren G. Harding (1865 – 1923).
Unlike the ink-slingers in ages to come, Lippmann had pleasant remarks to make regarding his presidency:
And I firmly believe that the historian who examines the state papers of Wilson up to November, 1918, will say, not only that they are in an unbroken line from Washington’s Farewell Address, but that it required something very like genius under the pressure and in the fog of a world war, to keep that line intact.
Click here to read about a dream that President Lincoln had, a dream that anticipated his violent death.
Read a 1951 profile of a future First Lady: the young Nancy Reagan.
With the publishing of the first part of his autobiography, Reveries Over Childhood and Youth, W.B. Yeats (1865 – 1939) got some attention in the American press. This small column first appeared in VANITY FAIR magazine praising his ability as a genuine artist.
One writer’s reminiscence of attending a London party and being introduced to Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) and the object of his affection, John Gray. The author insists, as has been documented in other places, that Gray was the model for Wilde’s character Dorian Gray:
Once at a Private View in the New Gallery, as I came downstairs, I came on Wilde, in the midst of his admirers, showing more than ever his gift of versatility. Seeing me he made a gesture, and as I went up he introduced me to John Gray, then in what is called ‘the zenith’ of his youth. The adventure was certainly amusing…
An additional article about Wilde can be seen here.
Click here to read a 1940s article about American sodomy legislation.
The attached men’s fashion article concerns the a brief autumn visit to the country; recalled by an anonymous fashion scribe whose charming prose allowed us to envision a leisured life in the late Gilded Age.
The attached men’s fashion article concerns the a brief autumn visit to the country; recalled by an anonymous fashion scribe whose charming prose allowed us to envision a leisured life in the late Gilded Age.
This article is very broad in it’s appeal; the fashion journalist did not simply cover the summer suit options available to the Well-Dressed Man of 1921 but also the tennis apparel, equestrian attire and the apropriate togs for slacking off at your favorite homo-phobic, sexist, anti-semetic and racist club.
A look back at men’s jackets, both for the garden party as well as other antiquated leisure activities.
A smartly illustrated review of the the equestrian fashions for the year 1918. Various illustrated equestrian profiles are provided and brief attention is paid to the newest boots available at that time.
If you would like to read another article about men’s equestrian attire, please click here.
1916 was a poor year if you happened to be a German sailor off the coast of Denmark; it was a terrible year if you were in the infantry on the Somme or near Verdun but if you were an American man fond of horseback riding and you happened to have been shopping for the perfect riding suit on Madison Avenue, then OldMagazineArticles.com is quite certain that 1916 was a great year for you!
If you would like to read another article about men’s equestrian attire, please click here.
Five sketches of motor car designs which won cash prizes or honorable mention at the recent [1922] first annual ‘Body Builders’ Show in New York. In this competition were entered many leading custom body builders.
Attached herein is a photographic study of the British golf champion Cecil Leitch (1891 – 1977) snapped with a high-speed, stop-motion camera. In nine black and white images depicting her drive from start to finish, we are able to gain an understand as to how she was able to win three British driving championships up until that time. She left the game after having won a total of twelve national titles; at the time of this printing, she was writing her first book: Golf (1922).
The Vanity Fair sports writer Fred Hawthorne was filled with high praise for tennis star Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (1884 – 1959):
To-day Mrs. Mallory’s backhand shots are on par with her famous forehand drive, and her all-around play has improved tremendously. She is a splendid volleryer, too, though not in our typical American style. Mrs. Mallory has won the national singles title five times and last August defeated Mlli. Suzanne Lenglen, of France, probably the most finished woman tennis player in the world.
Stephen Leacock (1869 – 1944) had some amusing opinions concerning social introductions according to the recognized formulas.
With the approach of the winter season, conversation as an art is again in order. It is a thing that we all need to consider. Some of us are asked out to dinner merely because we talk. Others, chiefly because we do not. It is a matter in which we can help one another. Let us discuss it…
Click here to read about feminine conversations overheard in the best New York bathrooms.
Photographs of the Christmas Bullet, the flexible-winged strutless bi-plane, and the designer of the craft, Dr. William Christmas (1865 – 1960). Also pictured are the Curtiss two seater, the Dayton-Wright Air Limousine and the Dayton Wright bi-plane.
Click here to read the 1912 obituary of Wilbur Wright.
