TEST CATEGORY INDEX

Miscellaneous

What Makes Songs Popular (’48 Magazine, 1948)

Knowing, as they did, that the Broadway composer Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) was no slouch when it came to writing hummable tunes with snappy lyrics, hundreds of people would write to him daily seeking advice as to how they might be able to do the same (indeed, the search logs at Google indicate that this question is asked 369,000 times each month). No doubt fed-up with these never ending solicitations – Hammerstein penned this article, What Makes Songs Popular: in four pages he spewed-forth all that he knew about writing music and lyrics:

It seems to me that the most important element in a lyric is subject matter. A song had better be about something fundamental – which is why so many songs are about love.

must have been fed up with answering the hundreds of letters that he received daily begging him for tips as to how best to write songs and lyrics – he turned to the editors of ’48 MAGAZINE who were happy to print his article in which answered those questions

SECOND TEST MISC.

Why Englishmen Resist Socialism (Literary Digest, 1897)

Attached are the thoughts of German socialist Karl Liebknecht (1871 – 1919) concerning the matter as to why he believed the British working classes seemed so thoroughly unenthusiastic about launching a socialist rebellion in their country.

How the United Nations Works (Yank Magazine, 1945)

Here is an instructional cartoon for students illustrating how the United Nations was intended to function during a crises.

The cartoonist clearly indicated the step-by-step protocol that was designed to eradicate world wars with a diplomatic process beginning jointly in both the U.N. General Assembly as well as the U.N. Security Council, proceeding on to three other possible U.N. committees (such as the Trusteeship Council, the Military Staff Committee or the International Courts) before the general body would be able to deploy any international force on it’s behalf.

SECOND TEST MISC.

The Elsie Janis Cocktail (Vanity Fair, 1917)

Anticipating the onslaught of prohibition, the actress Elsie Janis (1889 – 1956; also known as, The Sweetheart of the A.E.F) understood that, even with the absence of alcohol in the United States, boys and girls, men and women would continue their pursuit of love, marriage and divorce.

SECOND TEST MISC.

Charles Baudelaire (Vanity Fair Magazine, 1915)

British poet and literary critic Arthur Symons (1865 – 1945) wrote about the Nineteenth Century French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821 – 1867) more as a subject of art rather than an influential wordsmith:

Few modern poets have been more frequently drawn, and few have better repaid drawing, than Charles Baudelaire.

Among the list of artists who created likenesses of the poet were his fellow dandy Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883), the photographer Etienne Carjat (1828 – 1906) and an obscure sculptor named Zachari Astrue, who created the poet’s death mask.

Irwin Shaw Recalled Combat PhotographerRobert Capa (’47 Magazine, 1947)

American novelist Irwin Shaw (1913 – 1984) was quick to reminisce about the bad old days of World War II and Robert Capa (1913 – 1954), who fit it like a round peg fits a round hole:

Capa is a dangerous influence because he has perfected the trick of making life among the bombed cities and the stinking battlefields of our time seem gay and dashing and glamorous…


Click here to read an anecdote about Robert Capa during the Spanish Civil War.

Irwin Shaw Recalled Combat PhotographerRobert Capa (’47 Magazine, 1947)

American novelist Irwin Shaw (1913 – 1984) was quick to reminisce about the bad old days of World War II and Robert Capa (1913 – 1954), who fit it like a round peg fits a round hole:

Capa is a dangerous influence because he has perfected the trick of making life among the bombed cities and the stinking battlefields of our time seem gay and dashing and glamorous…


Click here to read an anecdote about Robert Capa during the Spanish Civil War.

Scroll to Top