The ink-stained editors at QUICK MAGAZINE rarely ever concerned themselves with the Bohemian-happenings of the New York art world, but when the abstract expressionist painter Robert Motherwell (1915 – 1991) strayed from the standard-issue art supply tools and used a reflective fabric called Scotchlite in the creation of a 12 foot, three-paneled mural – the editors thought it was news.
The U.S. had only been actively engaged in World War II for five months when the American artist Rockwell Kent (1882 – 1971) felt the impulse to write about the unique roll an artist must play when a democracy goes to war:
The art of a democracy must be, like democracy itself, of and by and for the people. It must and will reflect the public mood and public interest…Awareness of America, of its infinitely varied beauties and of its sometimes sordid ugliness; awareness of the life of America, of its fulfillments and its failures; awareness, if you like, of God, the landscape architect supreme – and political failure: of the promise of America and of its problems, art has been, or has aimed to be, a revelation. It is for the right to solve these problems our way that we are now at war.
Attached is a page from VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE depicting the ten European princesses from 1914, having benefited from full hair and make-up, posing bemedaled and amused in full military dress before the society magazine cameras.
The Royals pictured on this page were all granted the ceremonial rank of ‘Colonel’ in the household cavalry units within their respective principalities, as well as a few of the cavalry regiments outside their domains.
Several of the Royal and Imperial women in Europe, who are possessed of military rank, have lost their colonelcies in foreign regiments by the World War. Thus, the Czarina and the Russian Grand Duchess, as well as Queen Mary of England, have been deprived of their commands in the Kaiser’s army.
Esther McCoy (1904 – 1989) was one of the few voices in Forties journalism to champion modern architecture in the city Los Angeles. Sadly, the common thinking among too many critics and editors at the time held that Gomorrah-Sur-la-Mer could only to be relied upon for innovations like Cobb Salad and valet parking – but McCoy recognized that the city’s dramatic quality of light and odd lunar landscape combined to create fertile ground for modern architecture. Unlike other like-minded critics and historians who discovered the city in later decades, such as Reyner Banham, McCoy came to know the Viena-trained architect Rudolph Schindler, who is the subject of this 1945 article.
The art of living in the wrong century – this is Saul Steinberg’s (1914 – 1999) own designation for the predicament he has been illustrating for over a decade. In his latest collection, The Passport
The art of living in the wrong century – this is Saul Steinberg’s (1914 – 1999) own designation for the predicament he has been illustrating for over a decade. In his latest collection, The Passport
The oddballs who read old Hollywood magazines from the year 1929 seem to all be in agreement that these magazines all shared the same frenzied, enthusiastic energy; something new and wonderful and unpredictable had been introduced and it was going to cause an enormous shake up in every movie capitol under the sun: sound.
But it was in the past year that the newest art, that of the silent drama, like prehistoric Man, stood up on it’s hind legs and began to talk. Like prehistoric man, it talked badly at first. But soon it’s words came a shade more fluently, and gradually they began, when arranged, to make a small degree of sense.
Many dented fenders later, the first signal indicators show up. This article makes clear that both the Brake light and the turning signal indicator are both the same color (red) but they are an improvement on what was sporadically used in a few circles: the Illuminated Glove (a fingerless mit intended for the left-hand that was supposedly easier to see when making stop or turning gestures).
This illustrated article from an obscure U.S. Army weekly states quite clearly that in light of the successful use of cavalry on the Eastern Front, the U.S. Army was once again training men to fight on horse-back. Referring to the writings of a Soviet General named O.T. Gorodoviko (a probable reference to General O.T. Gorodovikov: 1879 -1960) who had stated in an article written in an undated issue of The Cavalry Journal, that cavalry proved effective in fighting the Nazis when deployed as mounted infantry in limited engagements. The journalist conveyed his enthusiasm that the era of the mounted man was back.
Please give us your thoughts about this article, something seems terribly fishy; did over-extended Soviet Generals have time to write for American journals? Furthermore, you might find that the accompanying photos seem deliberately out of date. The hard-charging post-debutants at OldMagazineArticles.com tend to feel that this article was a hoax intended to throw someone off the trail…
An illustrated magazine advertisement from 1915 which displays the variety of private purchase footwear available to British and Commonwealth officers during World War I.
Boston’s peace celebration exploded suddenly after the official news of Japanese surrender poured out of the countless radios. All morning and afternoon while many other cities were already wildly celebrating, the Hub, with true New England caution, waited soberly for confirmation.
But the staid attitude was swept away…The most general impulse seemed to be to shout, sing and hug passers-by. For men in uniform the celebration seemed to be more of a kissing fest than anything else…
This 1917 article listed the known body count of dead poets who were rotting away in no-man’s land. A number of the scribes are unknown in our era; among the prominent names are Alan Seeger, Julian Grenfel and Rupert Brooke.
Printed in a popular U.S. magazine, it appeared on the newsstands the same week that Wilfred Owen, the most well known of World War I poets, was discharged from Craiglockhart Hospital, where he first resolved to write poetry about his experiences in the war.
This article written by Edwin A. Goewey and illustrated by C. Leroy Baldridge (1889 – 1977) reported on how America’s granite youth was chiseled into fighting trim at the Long Island training camps at Upton and Mineola. Reference is made to the contributions made by Father Francis Duffy and Major-General J. Franklin Bell.
Click here to read about the AEF officer training at Plattsburg, New York.
Click here to read some statistical data about the American Doughboys of the First World War.
The attached cartoon depicted one of the unintended consequences of German aggression during the First World War: the creation of what was known as the servant problem. It should be understood that the difficulty in question caused no particular hardship for those who were supposed to be the servants; they were simply delighted to vacate the collective domiciles of Mr. & Mrs. Got-Rocks in order to pull down a living wage in a nice, cozy smoke-spewing armament factory some place – leaving their former employers to fix their own meals and diaper junior.
Click here to read about the New York fashions of 1916.
As a response to the drastic increase in French and British tank production, German industry manufactured a powerful (if cumbersome) anti-tank rifle in early 1918. The weapon fired a 13mm armor-piercing bullet but it’s heavy recoil made the weapon difficult to operate. The Abris Museum in Albert, France has one of these currently on display.
This article listed the skills required to survive as a sniper in W.W. I France:
One extremely important rule was that he should swab the muzzle of his rifle after every shot, to make sure that no moisture had collected there. One tiny drop of water would, upon the rifle’s discharge, send up a puff of steam that would reveal him to his carefully watching enemies.
To see a diagram of the American W.W. I sniper rifle, click here.
Eight assorted drawings pulled from various magazines and equipment catalogs dating between the years 1915 through 1919.
Four drawings of American Doughboys that originally appeared in a 1918 Leslie’s Weekly.The drawings were made by Cyrus Leroy Baldridge (1889 – 1977).
Click here to read some statistical data about the American Doughboys of the First World War.
