What the Stenographer Saw... (Atlantic Monthly, 1930)The attached recollection was written by a British woman who worked as a stenographer at the American embassy in London. She recalled much of what she saw from the typing pool on that dreadful August day in 1914 when the Great War began.
Greta Garbo's First Impressions of Hollywood (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Greta Garbo (1905 – 1990) was well known for keeping to herself and preferring to act on movie sets free of executives, pals and all sorts of other hangers-on and she was very famous for refusing to grant members of the press corps interviews. With that in mind, it is a wonder that Katherine Albert of PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE was able to piece enough together for this 1930 article:
"She has no place in the life of Hollywood. She has never adapted herself to it.
Garbo will continue to remain an enigma..."
Click here to read about early cosmetic surgery in Hollywood. The Four Horsemen and Knute Rockne in His Own Words (Collier's Magazine, 1930)An article written by one of the grand old men of football and one of the game's most legendary coaches: Knute Rockne (1888 – 1931). Before there was the NFL, there was only college football and it was football pioneers like Rockne who brought out the excitement of the game, generating such enthusiasm for the sport and creating a fan-base that grew steadily throughout the century. Just as Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs had "The Hogs" in the Eighties, Knute Rockne was famous for a group of players in the Twenties called the "Four Horsemen" (Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Elmer Layden, and Jim Crowley), and that is who the coach wrote about on the attached pages:
"Individually, at first, they were just four compact youths, no better than football's average...Within a season they became famous - the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame...They amazed even their own coach"
A Page from the Dartmouth Play Book Praised (Literary Digest, 1930)In one of his weekly columns for the year 1930, Sol Metzger (1880 - 1932) praised the well-coordinated teamwork of the Dartmouth boys for a surprising play they deployed in their contest against Harvard a year earlier (Crimson ate it 34 to 7).
The play is diagrammed and can easily be printed.
*Watch a Clip from the Harvard-Yale Game of 1929* The Death of Quentin Roosevelt (Pathfinder, 1930)The attached column pertains to a W.W. I image that was erroneously believed by some to show the earthly remains of American fighter pilot Quentin Roosevelt following his crash landing. Numerous veterans chime-in explaining why the gent pictured could not have been the late Lt. Roosevelt, among them was Captain Eddie Rickenbacker.
The picture is provided. Charlie Chaplin: the Man (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Attached is a three page article about Charlie Chaplin that first appeared in 1930 and contains far more information about the man than you might possibly care to know:
"He is a splendid boxer and a keen boxing fan...He plays bridge well...He loves traveling and dislikes flying...He likes to be alone...He likes to talk...He swears now and then...He did not go to school..." Reds Among Us (Scribner's Magazine, 1930)When the market crashed in the Fall of 1929, the Communist Party of America really thought their hour had arrived. They took to the streets with their red banners and set to work fomenting unrest in whatever factories were still afloat. Most Americans recognized their blarney as mere pie in the sky and would have none of it; still their membership lists were growing and many Americans were wondering how they should be dealt with. This article examined how the communists were organized, what they were up to and recommended that Americans should keep in mind that the Reds will go when prosperity returns - and not before.
We also have an article on The Daily Worker. The North Carolina Presence at Gettysburg (Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1930)This article, from Confederate Veteran Magazine, presented the drama of events as they unfolded on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg with an eye to specifically telling the tale of the North Carolina regiments and the part they played as the battle was taking shape. The author, Captain S.A. Ashe (author of the 1902 book, "The charge at Gettysburg") explained thoroughly which Confederate and Federal units arrived first at Gettysburg and at what hour, while indulging in just a little Monday morning quarterbacking:
"If General Longstreet, with his very fine corps, had struck the Federals early the next morning, there probably never would have been a third day at Gettysburg." ''I Remember William Powell'' (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)A magazine article by Leonora Ross in which she recalled her high school days with one of Kansas City's most famous sons, actor William Powell (1892 – 1984). At the time this article appeared, Powell had some forty-two films to his credit (37 of them silent) with his best work yet to come. If you would like to read more articles from Photoplay Magazine, click here.
CLICK HERE to read about Powell's most famous film: The Thin Man...
Johnny Reb Relaxes in Camp (Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1930)"Despite the stories by politicians of how we suffered the pangs of hunger, etc., etc., every veteran who actually soldiered can recall many blue spots on the sky of his memory; many days and nights when pleasure led the march and love burnished life with gold...One fortunate thing for us was that we had our games. Marbles, played with all the zest and and avidity of school boy days; cards, running the gamut through smut, loo, euchre, three-card monte, poker, cribbage and whist; checks, and the royal game of chess."
The author of this short reminiscence also remarked upon the importance that music played in camp.
Click here to read about the heavy influence religion had in the Rebel states during the American Civil War.
The Most Powerful American Men During the Depression (Pathfinder Magazine, 1930) In 1930 a seasoned diplomat and respected attorney by the name of James Watson Gerard (1867 - 1951) created quite a dust-up in Depression-era Washington when he took it upon himself to release his list of those Americans who he believed to have the most power on Capitol Hill. The reason his compilation turned as many heads as it did was because there wasn't the name of a single elected official to be found on the list - not even President Hoover was mentioned (although his treasury secretary was, the millionaire industrialist Andrew Mellon).
Click here if you wish to read more on this subject and see Gerard's list of the most powerful men in Cold War Washington.
Actor Ronald Colman (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)A Photoplay Magazine interview featuring British actor Ronald Colman (1891 – 1958) in which the journalist attempted to dispel all preconceived notions that the actor was some sort of "male Garbo" and was, in fact, a regular guy.
Howard Hughes Buys Multicolor (Film Spectator, 1930)When the deep-pocketed film director Howard Hughes (1905 – 1976) decided to tint a few sequences from his film HELL'S ANGELS (1930) he purchased the company that he believed capable of filling such an order: Multicolor in Hollywood, California (as it turned out, the work was actually done by Technicolor). Hughes was such a curiosity to the press and they followed his every whim; in this article, critic Donald Beaton refers to Hughes as a pioneer and salutes him for experimenting with color. Howard Hughs and HELL'S ANGELS (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)"The Thrilling, romantic story of how Howard Hughes, the millionaire kid, who tossed fortunes into the making of Hell's Angels The editors of Photoplay, like many in the Hollywood community between the years 1927 through 1930, were extremely curious about wunderkind Howard Hughes (1905 – 1976) and the wildly expensive film he was directing that never seemed able to reach a state of completion, "Hell's Angels". This article, by Bogart Rogers, makes clear that by the time the film was released, production costs had soared beyond the four million dollar range (although some contemporary sources believe it was a few hundred thousand south of that number)- and most infamously, four aviators had been killed during the filming. This article sums-up the Hollywood career of Howard Hughes up to 1930 and seeks to separate some of the falsehoods that circulated about the boy-director.
Cosmetic Surgery in 1930s Hollywood (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Published in a 1930 fan magazine, this article tells the story of the earliest days of cosmetic surgery in Hollywood: "Telling the actual names of all the stars who have been to the plastic surgeon is an impossible task. They won't admit it, except in a few isolated instances...It is only lately that a few of them are beginning, not only to to admit that they've had their faces bettered, but to even go so far as to publicly announce it."
Click here to read more articles from PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE.
Click here to read about feminine conversations overheard in the best New York nightclubs of 1937.
Prohibition Polled (Literary Digest, 1930)One decade into Prohibition, the editors of THE LITERARY DIGEST polled numerous states in an effort to understand the law's standing within the nation. Greta Garbo in the Dream Factory (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)A juicy nine page article about the meteoric rise of Greta Garbo (B. Greta Lovisa Gustafsson: 1905 – 1990) in European films, her arrival in California, the contracts signed, and an account of her earliest Hollywood films. The Inter-Sound System (Pathfinder Magazine, 1930) Various Remarks About the First Talkies (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Assorted quotes addressing some aspects of the 1930 Hollywood and the entertainment industry seated there. Some are prophets who rant-on about the impending failure of talking pictures, others go on about the obscene sums of money generated in the film colony; a few of the wits are well-known to us, like Thomas Edison, George M. Cohan and Walter Winchell but most are unknown - one anonymous sage, remarking about the invention of sound movies, prophesied: "In ten years, most of the good music of the world will be written for sound motion pictures."
 Rebel Victory at Secessionville (Confederate Veteran, 1930)Nathan George "Shanks" Evans (1824 – 1868) was the Confederate general in charge of the rebel forces at the Battle of Secessionville, South Carolina. Attached you will find his two page report written upon the conclusion of that battle on June 19, 1862. This battle marked the first major attempt by the Union Army to take the Rebel city Charleston, South Carolina.
Click here to read about the heavy influence religion had in the Rebel states during the American Civil War.
Baron Fritz & No Hard Feelings (Saturday Review of Literature, 1930)Saturday Review's Emerson G. Taylor reviewed two World War I books: Baron Fritz by Dante scholar Karl Federn, which he liked, and No Hard Feelings, by Medal of Honor recipient John Lewis Barkley, which he did not:
"In this week's other narrative of soldier's life, John Lewis Barkley, late Corporal, K Company, 4th United States Infantry, tells the world that he and his gang were exceedingly tough 'hombres', that, in the Second Battle of the Marne and in the Meuse Argonne operations, he killed a vast number of bloodthirsty Germans with his trusty rifle, by serving a machine-gun, or with a pistol and a knife, that he was profusely decorated, was always in the fore-front of duty and danger, and spent a furlough in Paris with Marie...Ho-hum."
''The Rising Tide of Prohibition Repeal (Scribner's Magazine, 1930)Having suffered the scourge of the noble experiment for over ten years, Dudley Cammet Lunt, an attorney, penned this essay about how the states could be done with that Federal edict:
"In discussing Article V in The Federalist Papers [Alexander Hamilton] said: 'We may safely rely on the disposition of the State legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachments of the national authority.'" Allied Occupation of Germany Ends (The Pathfinder, 1930)The foreign correspondent for Pathfinder Magazine filed this brief report about the goings-on in Germany on June 30, 1930, when the last Allied regiments had completed their occupation duties mandated under the Treaty of Versailles and withdrew to their own borders:
"For the most part the German population waited patiently until the last uniformed Frenchman had entrained and then they raised the German flags, [and] began to sing 'Deutschland Ueber Alles'..."
"President Hindenburg issued a proclamation saying in part:
'After long years of hardships and waiting, the demand of all Germans was today fulfilled. Loyalty to her fatherland, patient perseverance and common sacrifices have restored to the occupied territory the highest possession of every people - freedom.'" Afternoon at Terry-Toon Studios (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)PHOTOPLAY's Frances Kish spent some time with the animators at Terry-Toon studios and filed this report detailing all the efforts that go into the production of just one Terry-Toon film:
"The major animator begins begins the work. The thin white paper he uses for his drawings has holes punched at the top, like pages for a loose-leaf note book...The figures are about three inches high..." Laurel and Hardy (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)An interview with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy: "They are the comedy sensations of the season. And all because they have learned, by a lucky stroke, that the public likes to see itself caricatured on the screen; that the public can laugh at the maunderings of a fat man who shakes a warning pudgy forefinger at a sensitive simpleton who is prone to weep" Hollywood, California: American Legion Post 43 (American Legion Monthly, 1930)The attached article tells the story of American Legion Post 43, which is housed at 2035 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood, California. Designed by the Weston brothers in 1930 (both men were members) the building "represents not only the home of the a Legion post but also [serves as] a memorial to the fighting divisions of the American Army and every American who took part in the World War."
The Woman with the First Division (American Legion Monthly, 1930)Twelve years after the end of the war, former Y.M.C.A. volunteer Francis Grulick wrote this moving account of her days as a canteen worker in France. She had vivid and colorful memories of her days in the forward positions bringing some measure of comfort to the men of the U.S. Army First Division, to whom she was devoted. She was with them at Gondrecourt, Bonnvillers, Boucq, Cantigny and Soissons. She filled their canteens, served them lemonade, poured their coffee, cooked their meals and also saw to it that cigarettes were plentiful. By the time the First Division arrived in Coblenz for occupation duty, she recognized that the unit was composed almost entirely of replacements and that she was the only witness to the First Divisions earliest days in France.
Is your name Anderson?
On U.S. Imperialism (The Book League, 1930)Attached is a review of The Imperial Dollar
by Hiram Motherwell.
Motherwell wrote the book in 1929 not simply to impress his peers but also to provide them with an outline that illustrated America's progress in achieving "world domination". The author examined subjects such as "why America alone", of all the nations on earth, tended to believe itself to be a non-imperialistic one.
Rube Goldberg on Hollywood (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Hired to write dialogue for the king makers at Twentieth Century Fox, cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1890 - 1970) jotted down his impressions of 1930s Hollywood. "The chief mogul did all the ordering and I must say that he knew food. The lavish way in which he ordered bore out some of the glittering tales I had read about the grandeur of the movies. I think I ate six helpings of caviar and four tenderloin steaks. I wanted to make them believe I was no slouch myself." If you would like to read a Rube Goldberg interview from 1914, click here. Robert E. Lee's Favorite General (Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1930)Attached is an excerpt from Confederate Veteran Magazine in which one of the readers recalled the time when a touring English officer paid a visit to General Robert E. Lee (1807 – 1870) during the post-war period and asked him "who was the greatest military genius" of either side during the War between the states? Lee gave his answer without hesitation - some may be surprised to know his answer while others among you might not.
Click here to read about the Confederate conscription laws.
From Amazon: Confederate Veteran Magazine...
Gloria Swanson: Hollywood Diva (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)A segment from a slightly longer 1930 profile covering the high-life and Hollywood career of "La Belle Swanson". Written by actor and theater producer Harry Lang (1894 - 1953), the article concentrates on her triumphs during her lean years, her assorted marriages and her healthy fashion obsessions.
Click here to read about feminine conversations overheard in the best New York nightclubs of 1937.
Cosmetic Surgery in Hollywood (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Published in a 1930 Hollywood fan magazine, this is the story of the earliest plastic surgeons and the rise of cosmetic surgery in Hollywood:
"Telling the actual names of all the stars who have been to the plastic surgeons is an impossible task. They won't admit it, except in a few isolated instances...It is only lately that a few of them are beginning, not only to to admit that they've had their faces bettered, but to even go so far as to publicly announce it."
Woodrow Wilson's Errors (Collier's Magazine, 1930)Written twelve years after the end of the First World War, this Collier's Magazine article recalls a number of incidences that serve to illustrate how the ruling class in Washington bungled and mismanaged the war. Click here to read a short film review of one of Hollywood's first W.W. I movies: Wings, directed by William Wellman. ''A Brass Hat in No Man's Land'' - Reviewed by Robert Graves (Now & Then, 1930)War poet Robert Graves was assigned the task of reviewing the W.W. I memoir A Brass Hat in No Man's Land
by the English General F.P. Crozier and came away liking it very much: "It is the only account of fighting on the Western Front that I have been able to read with sustained interest and respect." Crozier's memoir did not spare the reader any details involving the nastier side of the war; he reported on "trench suicides", self-inflicted wounds and mutinies: "My experience of war, which is a prolonged one, is that anything may happen in it from the highest kinds of chivalry and sacrifice to the very lowest forms of barbaric debasement."
Click here to read the 1918 interview with General Hindenburg in which he declared that the Germans lost the war as a result of the American Army. The Audience Laughed at the First Talkies (Film Spectator, 1930)Upon viewing one of the earliest sound movies this film reviewer did not find it odd in the least as to why the audiences laughed uproariously while listening to perfectly ordinary dialog during the viewing of one of Hollywood's newest offering "War Nurse" (directed by Edgar Selwyn): "It was not so much [that they chortled] at these isolated bits of dialogue that the audience laughed, as it was a resort to laughter caused by the absurdity ceaseless chatter that prevails throughout the entire production."
From Amazon: Shattered Silents: How the Talkies Came to Stay
International Movie Star - Mickey Mouse (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Although Euro Disney would not be opening until 1990, this article by Hollywood costume designer Howard Greer implied that it would have done quite well had they opened eighty-six years earlier: "You know everyone in Hollywood?" they asked. I blushed modestly and admitted that I did. "Don't you want to know about the stars? I went on."Shall I tell you about Garbo?"
"'A smile passed across their faces.'
'Garbo? Yes, we like her. But the star we 'd love to know everything about is - Mickey Mouse!'"
The First Atheist Government (The Commonweal, 1930)Throughout much of the Twenties and Thirties the religious communities of the Western world looked at the nascent Soviet Union with some fascination: not only was it the first atheist government to be established, but it was the first government to be openly hostile to all religions alike. When this article went to press, Stalin's government was busy at work reducing the number of cherches from 5,000 down to 500 by the time his reign of terror came to a close.
An article about Chinese persecution of the Christian Church can be read here...
Click here to read about the Nazi assault on the German Protestant churches in 1935. Unemployment Data for 1930 (Pathfinder Magazine,1930)"In a statement for the month of December, President Green of the Federation of Labor placed the number of unemployed at about 5,000,000; estimated that incomes of wage earners had declined over $6,000,000,000 in the past year and said about 50 percent of trade union members had had to lower their standard of living because of lowered incomes." Lew Ayres at Twenty (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)Here is a profile of the actor Lew Ayres (1908 - 1996) that was published, quite coincidentally, shortly before the release of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (Universal):
"Naturally a great deal depends on the outcome of this picture. Lew is not the type that will go on for years as a moderate success. He will either be a tremendous hit or or a failure."
Click here to read about Lew Ayres and his status as a conscientious objector during the second World War.
T.E. Lawrence of Arabia (Saturday Review of Literature, 1930)This is a 1930 review of of Gurney Slade's fictionalized account of the World War One Arab revolt, In Lawrence's Bodyguard. The book was intended as a novel for boys and is here reviewed anonymously by one who was simply credited as, A Friend of T.E. Lawrence. Gurney Slade (pen name for Stephen Bartlett) was libeled as "a man of taste and sensibility" and the novel was generally well liked. "'The Arab business was a freak in my living; in ordinary times I'm plumb normal.' Normal, yes; but only the normally strong arise to be normal after trial and error." You might also like to read this 1933 article about T.E. Lawrence.
Click here to read about Lawrence's posthumous memoir and the literary coup of 1935.
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