Recent Articles – Page 65 – Old Magazine Articles

Putting An End To Child Labor
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1937)

A column that recalls the failed efforts to banish child labor by adding a prohibitive amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The effort had the backing of the the American Federation of Labor and the National Child Labor Committee and was opposed by forces on Capitol Hill who felt that the issue was best addressed by each individual state. The opposition was composed of the American Bar Association, The Farm Bureau Federation, the Daughters of the American Revolution and Cardinal William Henry O’Connell of the Boston Archdiocese.

The Dress-Reform Movement and Male Attire
(Literary Digest, 1929)

A few short paragraphs from a late-Twenties issue of Literary Digest recalled the terribly unproductive plans of the short-lived dress-reform movement and the frustrating nature of the human male in most matters sartorial:

The male is a shy creature, and has always been particularly fearful of appearing conspicuous…

Click here to read an editorial about the need for reform in men’s attire.

Under-Nourished German Children
(Magazine Advertisement, 1922-3)

Attached is a sad advertisement that ran on the pages of THE NATION for a number of years following the end of the war. Posted by a German charity, the ad pictures -what we can assume to be- a starving German child from one of the more impoverished regions of Saxony or Thuringia. All told, the photo and the accompanying text clearly illustrate the economic hardships that plagued post-World War I Germany.

Click here to read an article about the German veterans of W.W. I.

Life in W.W. II Germany
(Collier’s, 1943)

This Collier’s article clearly illustrated the gloom that hung over the German home front of 1943:

Nobody escapes war service in Germany. Children serve in air-raid squads; women work very hard…The black market flourishes everywhere. More fats are required, as are fruits and vegetables, for the people’s strength is declining. A report I have seen of Health Minister Conti shows that the mortality rate for some diseases rose 49 percent in 1941 – 1942.

Click here to read about the dating history of Adolf Hitler.

The Difficulties of This War
(United States News, 1963)

A highly quotable article from 1963 that articulates precisely how highly organized the Communist guerrillas were in the Vietnam War.

The Reds fight a fluid war that may last for years. They do not make the mistake of saying the war will be won in three, five or ten years.

Deported From Ellis Island
(Literary Digest, 1937)

Here is a 1937 article concerning those stout souls who thought they’d make their way into the United States illegally – but made it no further than Ellis Island:

Aliens who have sneaked into the country are, by the fact of their entry, lawbreakers… Out of gratitude to a country which has welcomed them, is it too much to ask the properly qualified alien to register, in order that his fraudulent countrymen me be detected and sent home?

The New Glamour of Velvet
(Literary Digest, 1936)

A 1930s fashion article which perfectly encapsulated some of the heady excitement that filled the air when a new crush-resistant, non-wrinkling, packable, ultra-fashionable velvet hit the market. The material was immediately swooped-up by the glam squad in far-off Hollywood; RKO chief costume designer Walter Plunkett pontificated:

Velvet is the epitome and symbol of elegance.

Not one to be upstaged, Travis Banton (1894 – 1958) Plunckett’s counterpart at Paramount Studios, chimed in declaring:

The flattery and refinement of velvet is supplied by no other material.

Anticipating the Springtime coronation of Edward VIII, thousands of yards of velvet had been manufactured for the occasion.

Click here to read about the woman who dictated many of the fabric restriction rules on the American home front.

The Plot to Kill Hitler
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

During the summer of 1945, Yank reporter Corporal Howard Katzander, spent some time among the Third Army’s prisoners of war where he happened upon a German senior officer who was in a very talkative mood:

The story he was telling was the story of why the war did not end last July. It was the story of the attempt to assassinate Hitler and he knew all about it. Because this was Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Kuebart, a member of the Wermacht General Staff, and one of the original plotters.

Published in June of 1945, this must have been the first English language article about the Valkyrie plot.

The Woman Who Created Marilyn Monroe
(People Today Magazine, 1954)

You can bet that throughout the short career of Marilyn Monroe there were voluminous amounts stylistes, cosmetologists, coiffeurs and doyennes of glamour who came in contact with the headliner at one time or another. Some offered genuine nuggets of beauty wisdom while others could only offer bum steers. Although the name Emmeline Snively may sound like a character from a Charles Dickens novel, she was in actuality the very first woman to offer sound fashion advice to the ingenue – advice that would start her on her path to an unparalleled celebrity status as the preeminent Blonde Bombshell in all of Hollywood. You see, Emmeline Snively was the one who recommended that La Monroe dye her hair that color in the first place.

An Alien Anti-Dumping Bill
(Literary Digest, 1921)

A 3 percent remedy’ for our immigration ills, real or fancied, will restrict the admission of aliens from May of this year to June, 1922, to 3 percent of the total of each nationality in this country when the Federal census was taken in 1910. As passed by the house, and expected to pass the Senate, the new measure, except for the time limit, is identical with the Johnson Bill passed in the last session of Congress and killed by pocket-veto of President Wilson.

But the Johnson Bill does not set up a permanent restrictive policy; it is intended merely to protect this country for the next fourteen months from a horde of Europe’s most objectionable classes.

The Anti-Mussolini Resistance
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1937)

It is terribly chic these days to insist that the presidency of Donald Trump was Fascist – no one would have found this statement more hilarious than the fellows who are profiled in the attached article. These are the men who were assaulted on the streets and in their offices by Mussolini’s supporters, these are the writers who were censored and blacklisted – these hardy souls were the original Anti-Fa.

‘Cash and Carry”
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1939)

Cash and carry was a diplomatic trade policy set in place by the FDR administration; it was crafted during a special session of the U.S. Congress on September 21, 1939, as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe. It replaced the Neutrality Act of 1937, by which belligerent parties would purchase only non-military goods from the United States so long as the client states in question paid in cash at the time of purchase and assumed full responsibility for transportation. The 1939 Cash and carry revision allowed for the purchasing of military arms to belligerents on the same cash-and-carry basis. The purpose of the policy was to maintain neutrality between the United States and European nations while giving aid to Britain by allowing them to buy non war materials.

Shortly after the 1940 election, British Prime Minister Churchill told FDR that Britain could no longer afford to buy military supplies under the code of cash and carry and a new agreement needed to be agreed upon. The President then persuaded Congress to swap cash-and-carry with Lend-Lease – a new piece of legislation that granted the president authority to sell, exchange, lend, or lease war materiel to any nation whose defense was vital to U.S. security.

Stage Productions Must Compete With Movies
(Harper’s Weekly, 1915)

A thoughtful look at all that stage productions have had to learn while competing for audiences with the early (and exciting) Hollywood film industry:

There is no doubt that the moving picture was responsible for the disappearance of the second-class theatre devoted to traveling companies, giving lurid melodramas and plays of obvious sentiment [but] instead of taking a lesson from the history of this form of amusement, which it helped to kill, the moving picture theatre imitated one of it’s very worst features.

Consumers Tell it to Detroit
(Popular Mechanics, 1954)

Attached are the results of a nationwide survey from 1954 indicating what the American automobile consumers were shopping for in cars:

• 54% preferred whitewall tires over any other kind

• 68% preferred push-button door handles

• 59% wanted jet-age hood ornaments

• 44% wished that dashboards were loaded with dials and gauges

Errol Flynn on Trial
(Yank Magazine, 1943)

During the war years, the boys on the front loved reading about a juicy Hollywood scandal just as much as we do today, and Errol Flynn could always be relied upon to provide at least one at any given time. The closest thing to a Hollywood tabloid that the far-flung khaki-clad Joes could ever get their hands on was Yank Magazine, the U.S. army weekly that also provided them with the news from all battlefronts.

Movie star Flynn was tried by the California courts for having gained a fair measure of carnal knowledge from two feminine California movie fans who were both under the age of 18; said knowledge was gained while on board the defendant’s yacht, The Sirocco.

More about this trial and Flynn’s other scandals can be read here…

Reporting D-Day
(Newsweek Magazine, 1944)

Never had so many correspondents (450) poured so much copy (millions of words) into so many press associations, photo services, newspapers, magazine and radio stations (115 organizations in all). Representing the combined Allied press, some 100 reporters covered every phase of the actual battle operations. Their pooled copy started reaching the United States within four hours of General Eisenhower’s communiqué.

The first newspaper to get the scoop was The New York Daily News (circulation 2,000,999). The First radio station to announce the news was WNEW (NYC).

Click here to read about the extensive press coverage that was devoted to the death of FDR…

The Training of Tank Crews
(Collier’s Magazine, 1942)

For the Americans, World War II was just four months old when these three color pictures appeared depicting the most up to date (and economical) methods used in the training of Stuart Tank gunners.

Anticipating Cell Phones in 1945
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

I recommend this article primarily for it’s three funny illustrations; the copy is not likely to hold your attention for too long. It concerns civilian applications for military technology, such as that era’s hand-held radios that were the wonder of the period. As you will see from the illustrations, the cartoonist recognized so well that such inventions could serve as the grandfather of the cell phone and he drew people on the street and driving cars -all chatting away on their walkie-talkies. Good fun.