The Anti-Barbed Wire Gun (Literary Digest, 1919)
A black and white photograph of the seldom remembered French anti-barbed wire gun.
Another anti-barbed wire invention can be read here…
World War One
Find old World War 1 articles here. Find information on uniforms, women, gas warfare, prisoners of war and more.
November 11th With the First Division (American Legion Weekly, 1919)
An American artillery officer from that famous division recalled the last minute of the war to end all wars…
Looking Back at the War with Regret (The Nation, 1927)
Ten years ago the American people reversed its national tradition against entangling alliances and participation in the political struggles of Europe in order, as it is fondly believed, to make the world safe for democracy, safeguard the rights of small nations and the principle of self-determination… If the causes and justifications for our intervention were based on facts, some evidence of their truth ought now, after ten years, to be apparent.
The ‘Christy Girl’ at War (Sea Power Magazine, 1918)
When the songwriter Irving Berlin sat down in 1915 to write his well-loved ditty I love the Girl on the Magazine Cover, we have no doubt that it was the Christy Girl who inspired him. The Christy-Girl, so-called, was the creation of the American commercial illustrator Howard Chandler Christy (1873 – 1952) who placed her famous mug on thousands of magazine covers, newspaper ads and billboards.
The attached file consists of two articles, both pertaining to recruiting posters; one for the U.S. Navy and the other for the Marines. In the interest of national security, the Christy-Girl is depicted as a cross-dressing patriot in both of them, and the sailors loved it; they preferred to call her Honey Girl, and as far as they were concerned, that name fit her just fine.
The Navy Call to Arms (Sea Power Magazine, 1918)
Attached are a few words on the W.W. I naval recruiting poster To Arms by illustrator Milton Bancroft.
The article primarily describes what the duties of a ship’s bugler are, what this position represents and why this was such an suitable graphic image for recruiting sailors for the war.
Dr. W.E.B. Dubois Will Attend The Peace Conference (The Crises, 1919)
Serving as the representative for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a special correspondent for THE CRISES MAGAZINE – and gathering information for his forthcoming tome on the African-Americans who served in the First World War, Dr. Dubois sailed for France in order to attend the Versailles Conference in Paris.
A Colour Photograph of German General Von Heeringen (The Nations at War, 1914)
An early war (hand tinted) color image of Imperial Germany’s General Josais Von Heeringen (1850 – 1926) celebrating the Kaiser’s Birthday by distributing medals among deserving soldiers.
A Colour Photograph of German General Von Heeringen (The Nations at War, 1914)
An early war (hand tinted) color image of Imperial Germany’s General Josais Von Heeringen (1850 – 1926) celebrating the Kaiser’s Birthday by distributing medals among deserving soldiers.
A Color Photograph of General Von Kluck and General Von Kuhl (Nations at War, 1914)
An early war (hand tinted) color image of German General Alexander Von Kluck (1846-1934), General Von Kuhl and General Walter Von Bergmann posing among various assembeled German staff officers.
A Color Photograph of German Prisoners (1915)
A color photograph from the earlier part of the war, remarkable for it’s clarity and mood. It depicts ten German prisoners wearing their 1910 tunics, staring in a dazed stupor at eight truly bored Poilus struggling through their potato pealing detail.