Theatre Hats by Lilly Daché (Quick Magazine, 1949)Lilly Daché (1898 – 1989) was the most famous milliner of her era; before retiring in the late Sixties (when hats were finally shown the door) she had accomplished much in the realm of fashion - designing dresses, lingerie, gloves, bags, jewelry and hostess gowns. While in league with the Hollywood costume designer Travis Banton, her lids adorned many of the craniums of the most glamorous women ever to grace a movie screen.
Sportscaster (Quick Magazine, 1949)"It isn't a sports show; it's entertainment for the same kind of people who listen to Jack Benny"
- thus said the sportscaster Bill Stern (1907 – 1971) - who is remembered in our age as the announcer to broadcast the nation's first remote sports broadcast and the first telecast of a baseball game.
The Short Hair of the Late Forties (The Diamondback, 1949)"The shingle cut, the feather trim, the French Scissors cut or the cherub cut - no matter which you choose - a short hairstyle flatters your face.... When the American college girl first began to clip her long tresses, the general reaction was one of general horror. Now that the surprise has worn off, the various advantages of short hair become apparent: trim locks are cool, easy to take care of, smart looking and stylish." When President Truman Tried his Hand at ''Distributing Wealth'' (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)It seems like a tough nut to swallow, but 12 years before President Obama was even born - U.S. President Harry S. Truman plugged the idea of 'wealth distribution' as a portion of a piece of proposed legislation that has come to be known as the "the Fair Deal". The president's scheme was introduced to the nation in his 1949 State of the Union address, it was composed of "21 points" and the element that is discussed in the attached article involving distribution of income was called the Brannan Plan - for it was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Charles F. Brannan (1903 – 1992) who was its advocate. Secretary Brannan wanted the government to establish a guaranteed income for farmers, while allowing the market forces to determine the prices of agricultural products.
Did Stalin Want the U.S. to Recognize China? (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)Felix Morley (1894 – 1982), one of the senior Washington columnists in the early Cold War era, summarized the various concerns involved in the diplomatic recognition of Communist China as well as the surprising issue as to whether or not it was what the Soviet Premiere actually preferred at the time?
"There is good reason to believe that the Communist high command in Moscow does not want us to recognize the new Communist government of China" "But in recent years we have mixed up diplomatic recognition and moral approval. The absurd result is that we recognize Russia and not Spain, and are at present opposed to recognizing China even though we fear that may be cutting off our nose to spite Stalin's face." Washington Weighs in on China (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)Seasoned Washington journalist Felix Morley (1894 – 1982) discussed the complicated issues involved in the diplomatic recognition of Communist China:
"All the obvious arguments are against recognition. The Red regime in China has imprisoned our official representatives, confiscated American property, flouted and insulted us in a dozen different ways." "But in recent years we have mixed up diplomatic recognition and moral approval. The absurd result is that we recognize Russia and not Spain, and are at present opposed to recognizing China even though we fear that may be cutting off our nose to spite Stalin's face." Changes Added to the College Football Rulebook (Quick Magazine, 1949)For all you football scholars out there, we offer a small article concerning one of the biggest events from the 1949 world of college football which involved the numerous changes that the college football Rules Committee put into play as the season began. The unnamed journalist concentrated on the five most important that involved the legitimacy of forward passes, fumbles and laterals.
Reversals for Chiang Kai-shek (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)The years 1927 through 1947 has largely been remembered as a victorious era for the Chinese Nationalists in their struggle against the Communist rebels under Mao Zedong (1893 – 1976). However, following Mao's 1947 retreat to Manchuria and the subsequent training and reforms that took place within his army, the Nationalist Chinese troops began to feel the humiliation of defeat until they made good their "strategic withdrawal" to Formosa (ie. Taiwan), where they have remained ever since.
This single page article goes into greater detain outlining the chronology of events. When President Truman Tried his Hand at ''Distributing Wealth'' (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)It seems like a tough nut to swallow, but 12 years before President Obama was even born - U.S. President Harry S. Truman plugged the idea of 'wealth distribution' as a portion of a piece of proposed legislation that has come to be known as the "the Fair Deal". The president's scheme was introduced to the nation in his 1949 State of the Union address, it was composed of "21 points" and the element that is discussed in the attached article involving distribution of income was called the Brannan Plan - for it was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Charles F. Brannan (1903 – 1992) who was its advocate. Secretary Brannan wanted the government to establish a guaranteed income for farmers, while allowing the market forces to determine the prices of agricultural products.
The Inaugurals of Woodrow Wilson (Inaugural Program, 1949)A brief account of the two inaugural ceremonies of President Woodrow Wilson.
The 1913 inauguration was the first to be documented with a motion picture camera.
Read about an attack on President Wilson that was launched by the suffragettes in 1918...
The New Normal (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)In December of 1949 Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek's anti-communist forces retreated to the island of Formosa (Taiwan). The Japanese Death Ray? (Quick Magazine, 1949)An odd dispatch from W.W. II appeared on the pages of a 1949 issue of QUICK MAGAZINE declaring that the weapons laboratories of Imperial Japan had been developing a ray gun throughout much of the war. When they realized that the jig was up they tossed the contraption in a nearby lake.
What worked considerably better than the Death Ray was hi-altitude hydrogen balloon-bombs that the Japanese let-loose on the Western states at the end of the war - click here to read about them...
Israel: Home to Three Major Faiths (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)This article about the newly established nation of Israel will give a sense as to how difficult it is to govern, seeing that the land is dear to the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Steineck Spy Camera (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949) Design for Modern Living (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)In an attempt to define modernism for a broad audience, architect/designer Alexander Girard curated the Exhibition for Modern Living that was housed at the Detroit Institute of Arts during the winter of 1949. It was a groundbreaking exhibit that brought modernism down from the mountain and allowed people to see that modern design was intended to make life more pleasant:
"Modern design implies shape for use, simplicity, new forms to utilize new materials, easier housekeeping, and honest expression of mass production... Up the richly carpeted ramp, viewers walk up to a dining room done by Alvar Aalto; past two studies Bruno Mathsson and Jean Risom and a bedroom and living-room representing a variety of designers; then up another level to a space furnished by Charles Eames; and finally to a small balcony overlooking George Nelson's living area. The quiet simplicity of the rooms and the gentle tones of symphonic music have people talking in whispers. Sighed one woman: 'I'd like to live here.'" Lana Turner (Quick Magazine, 1949)When this Hollywood profile first appeared on paper, actress Lana Turner (1921 – 1995) was all of twenty-nine years of age and about to begin working on A Life of Her Own,
it was her thirtieth movie; her last four films had nearly grossed a record-breaking $20 million, and her smiling mug was on each and every Hollywood fan magazine that could be found.
"Today, the sleek, gray-eyed Lana has shed the plumpness of two years ago, keeps her weight between to 118 and 127 lbs... Now Lana is as shapely as she was in those early days. She has the 'perfect' figure: 5 ft. 3 in., 34-in. bust, 24-in. waist, 34.5 in. hips."
The article is illustrated with photographs from eight of her pre-'49 movies and lists all the husbands that she'd collected up to that same period (she had acquired eight husbands before she was through). The Four Inaugurations of F.D.R. (from the Truman Inaugural Program, 1949)A one page history regarding the unprecedented swearing-in ceremonies of the four-term President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 – 1945).
Read a 1933 article about FDR and the disaster that he tried to fix... *Watch A Film Clip About FDR's First Innauguration* Towards a Nuclear Strategy (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)Here is the "Pathfinder Magazine" article about Air University; established in 1946 by the U.S. Department of War in order to train senior American Air Force officers to serve as strategic thinkers in the realm of national security. In 1949 that meant conceiving of ways to implement a successful strategy in which the Soviet Union would be defeated with nuclear weapons:
"At AU's apex is the Air War College. To its senior officer-students the question of destroying an enemy's will to resist is grimly real. Killing ten million citizens of an enemy nation is no haphazard problem to the Air War College. In the statistics of modern war, a loss of approximately 4% of a nation's population saps its will to resist..."
Six months after this article was first read, the Soviets tested their first Atomic bomb; click here to read about that event. Japanese Nationalists (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)This article tells the tale of the Japanese Nationalist Masaharu Kageyama (1910 - 1979), a fellow who, in the political landscape of U.S.-occupied Japan, seemed rather like the late Mussolini of Italy: always remembering the storied past of a Japan that no longer existed. Kageyama was something a flat-Earther, choosing the road of the Japanese Nationalist, he held that Emperor Hirohito was indeed divine and that the Fascist vision of an "East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" was achievable, even in 1949.
The Soviets at the U.N. (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)In 1949 there still existed such hope and optimism for the future of the United Nations as a force for good in the world - and a profound disappointment can clearly be sensed in this writer's voice as you read this column that reported as to how the Soviets were manipulating the organization to benefit their espionage efforts.
CLICK HERE to read about the beautiful "Blonde Battalions" who spied for the Nazis...
Click here to read about the blackmail and extortion tactics that American Communists used in Hollywood during the Great Depression...
Addressing the ''Negro Problem'' (Coronet Magazine, 1949)Like the article posted above, this essay serves as further evidence that the immediate post-war years in America were ones in which the foundations for the civil rights movement were established; foundations on which the civil rights leaders of the Sixties and Seventies would rely upon to guarantee the forward momentum of the movement.
The attached article pertains to the necessary work that was being done by the National Urban League.
Upon reading this piece, we're sure you'll recognize that the author knew full well that the article should have been titled, "The Answer to the White Problem". ''I Flew for Israel'' (Collier's Magazine, 1949)"A veteran of our Air Force with Jewish blood tells why he fought for Israel and why the Israelis, hopelessly outnumbered, won the war with the Arabs. His experiences taught him that the Palestinian Jews have been badly treated by the outside world and he says, 'The people of Israel are the most democratic in the world'" Judith Coplon in Federal Court (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)FBI agents arrested Judith Coplon (1921 – 2011: Soviet code name "Kompid") on March 4, 1949 in Manhattan as she met with Valentin Gubitchev, a NKVD official employed at the United Nations, while carrying what she believed to have been secret U.S. government documents in her purse. Hoover's G-Men FBI were certain that Coplon, a secretary at the Federal Justice Department, was colluding with the Soviet agents in Washington but to prove their case conclusively would compromise an ongoing counter-espionage project called the "Venona Project". The failure to prosecute this case successfully began to shed doubt upon the FBI director and his credibility in matters involving Soviet spy-catching.- read about that here...
Years later Coplon's guilt was made clear to all when the Venona cables were released. However our laws mandate that it is illegal to try a suspect twice for the same crime and she was released.
Would Nuking the USSR Have Been an Immoral Act? (Quick Magazine, 1949)- one of the questions that had to be examined during the Stalin era... A Look Back at the Berlin Air-Lift (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)"Last week, after the Russians announced they would lift the blockade on May 12 [1949], the airlift took a bow and added a modest nod at the 324-day record:
• 189,247 flights;
• 1,528,250 tons delivered;
• best day's work: April 16 with 12,947 tons hauled in 1,393 flights.
- [and if the West had not chosen to answer the Soviet challenge in Berlin] "there might never have been an Atlantic Pact or a Western German state. The Communists might have gone amok in France and Italy. Russia might have won the Cold War in the first heat." The Soviets Get the Bomb (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)A news column that is appropriately drenched in the gravitas of the day because it announced that the short-lived age of "atomic security" that brought W.W. II to a close had come to an end. A new epoch had arrived at 11:00 a.m., September 23, 1949, when President Harry Truman announced
"We have evidence that within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the USSR."
With nuclear bombs must come a nuclear strategy:
click here to read about that...
Mildred Gillars of Maine (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)How many times have we heard an actress or actor say, "What the Heck, it's work" - plenty (if I had a nickle for every time... etc.). No doubt, this was the thought that tarried through the airy head of Mildred Gillars (né Mildred Elizabeth Sisk) when she agreed to broadcast Nazi propaganda from the heart of Germany on a radio program titled, the Home Sweet Home Hour (1942 - 1945). However, due to the fact that two witnesses must testify in order to prove the charge of treason, she was convicted in Federal Court for having performed in a 1944 Berlin Radio broadcast called Vision of Invasion. The Federal jury found her "not guilty" of committing seven other treasonous acts. Gillars served 12 years in Federal prison and was released during the Summer of 1961. Segregation Soviet-Style (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)As the April of 1949 was winding down, 11 members of the Communist Party U.S.A. were standing trial in a Federal courtroom spilling every secret they had in an all-out effort to lighten their load further down the road. Among these classified plots was a 1930s plan to invade the United States and create two separate Soviet "republics" - one White, the other Black. The region they had in mind for the African-Americans would cover nine of the old Confederate states.
A Quick Read About Soviet-Enforced Atheism Behind the Iron Curtain...
The Destruction of the Shenandoah (Coronet Magazine, 1949)Pieced together from the captain's log as well as various first-hand observations that were called to mind by the 29 surviving crew members, this article presents a blow-by-blow account as to how the U.S. Navy dirigible Shenandoah was overwhelmed by turbulent winds over Eastern Ohio and torn in two.
"As they climbed into the hull, the ship began spinning counter-clockwise on its keel, then lifted its nose and shot upward. Girders groaned and wires snapped. Then came a crunching, sickening roar as the girders parted. The ship had broken in two. Another rending crash and the control car plunged earthwards, carrying Lt. Commander Landsdowne and seven other men to their death." A Spy Within the CPUSA (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)These seven paragraphs from THE PATHFINDER magazine served to introduce their readers to Herbert Philbrick (1915 - 1993) and his efforts to expose the subversive elements within the Communist Party U.S.A..
For nine years Philbrick labored as an F.B.I. mole deep within the Cambridge Youth Council, the Young Communist League and the CPUSA until he made good his resignation by serving as a surprise government witness at a conspiracy trial in which numerous high profile American Reds were indicted (among them William Z. Foster, Eugene Dennis, Robert George Thompson, Gus Hall, Henry Winston, and ex-New York councilmember Benjamin Davis). •Herbert Philbrick Makes his Case in this Short Film• Will Television Ever Be Profitable? (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)DUH. The Bavarians Wanted a King (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)An important news item came across the wire in mid-may, 1949:
"The delegates from Western Germany's 11 states gave final approval to the draft of the constitution for the new Federal Republic of Germany."
- but what matter was this to the thousands of Bavarians who were highly distrustful of the new government; they had their own gloried past that was largely due to the royal family known as the House of Wittelsbach:
"A strong faction is campaigning for the return to the throne of former Crown Prince Rupprecht. The eldest son of King Ludwig III, deposed in 1918, Rupprecht is a tall, thin man of vast education. He led Bavarian troops under Kaiser Wilhelm. In World War II, he was exiled to Italy. Since then he has been living with his family at Leutstetten Castle on Lake Starnberg near Munich." "If the Bavarian people desire monarchy, I shall respect their desire."
Nice work if you can get it... Soap Operas Come to Television (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)The short-lived soap opera "These Are My Children" was the brain-child of Irna Phillips (1901 – 1973) and it is no matter that the "daytime drama" lasted less than a year on Chicago's WMBQ - the significance of the program rests in the fact that it was the first soap opera to be seen on American television screens:
"Last week television caught the dread disease of radio: soapoperitis... 'These Are My Children', however is no warmed-over radio fare. To make sure of this, Miss Phillips and director Norman Felton built the first episodes backward... Whether [a] soap opera on television can coax housewives to leave their domestic duties [in order] to watch a small screen was a question yet to be answered." German Prisoners Resisted Soviet Coercion (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)The article posted above pointed out that the American-held German P.O.W.s who participated in the U.S. Army's Special Projects Division were all volunteers and willing participants in the program. These Germans had shown some enthusiasm and an interest to learn about democracy and little coaxing was needed. Contrast this with the column linked to the title above that illustrated the crude manner in which the unforgiving Soviet Army chose to propagandize the malnourished German P.O.W.s who fought at Stalingrad:
"If communism provides the Utopia that Marx, Lenin and Stalin claim, why does Russia have to rule by the bayonet?"
As many of you know, the U.S.S.R. did not release most of their German P.O.W.s until the death of Stalin in 1953.
The Hiss-Chambers Case (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)This is a report concerning how the Hiss/Chambers perjury trial was proceeding before the jury. The journalist pointed out that Hiss' attorney, Lloyd Paul Stryker, was repeatedly making slanderous remarks about the character of Whitaker Chambers - an indication that the facts were simply not on the side of the defendant.
''In Hoc Anno Domini'' (WSJ, 1949)Much to their credit, The Wall Street Journal has run the attached column every Christmas Eve since 1949. John Wayne (Quick Magazine, 1949)The attached three page article about John Wayne appeared at the very doorstep of the Fifties - the decade that was uniquely hisown. The uncredited Hollywood journalist who wrote this column was doing so in order to announce to the reading public that Wayne was coming remarkably close to being the top box office attraction:
"Wayne reached this eminence by turning out film after film for 18 years. Working with a steady, un-nervous strength for four studios: Republic, RKO, Argosy and Warner Brothers. - he shifts back and forth between Westerns, sea-epics and war pictures. With each movie he makes (most of them re-hashes of of standard action-film plots, but a few of them film classics), his fans grow".
Gettysburg: an Epilogue (Coronet Magazine, 1949)An article that looks back at some of the lost opportunities squandered by both armies, wondering if the outcome might have been different had their importance been recognized and properly exploited.
"At Gettysburg, the heat broke at last, and rain fell on July 4. As doctors and ambulances moved onto the scene, neither retreating Confederates nor jubilant Northerners recognized the great issue that had been decided on that field. Only a few sensed that the twilight of the Confederacy had come."
Read an article about how Victorian fashion saved a life during the Civil War.
Campus Fashions for Autumn (The Diamondback, 1949)"Designing women are working toward the return of the chemise dress, the raccoon coat, the slicker rain coat, the ankle bracelet, multiple chains of beads, etc. Anything they have forgotten, your imagination may safely supply." "Important in high fashion this year are the scissors skirt, long and impossibly tight, the winged collar, featuring a neckline that juts off at a terrific angle, the bat collared suit - which looks more like a cartwheel than a costume. One can happily assume that these creations will never take on the campus.... Safer predictions are that the campus co-ed will take to tweed suits, especially those trimmed in velvet..." Dale Carnegie on Winning Friends and Influencing People (Collier's Magazine, 1949)Dale Carnegie (1888 - 1955) was a phenomenon unique to American shores; he was a publishing marvel whose book How To Win Friends and Influence People has sold over fifty million copies since it's first appearance in 1937.
Similar to his contemporary Napoleon Hill
(1883 - 1970), Carnegie was one the preeminent self-help authors of the last century who recognized that success can be found within all of us if we simply know how to harness those elements properly. George F. Kennan: Mr. X (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)George F. Kennan was an American diplomat who is remembered as being one of the most insightful analysts of Soviet foreign policy during the cold war.
Click here to read about the Cold War prophet who believed that Kennan's containment policy was not tough enough on the Soviets...
Cole Porter (Pageant Magazine, 1949) The Birth of the Slip Dress (Quick Magazine, 1949)One Autumn evening in 1949, New York fashion model Anna-Lee Daniels and her gay boyfriend, Henry, took it upon themselves to demonstrate just how chic ladies' undergarments were becoming. Recognizing that the latest slips were so minimal in their design - appearing much like the dresses flappers were often seen wearing back in the day It was soon decided that the two should step out for a night on the town - with young Anna-Lee sporting the slip - just to see if anyone caught on. The Ice was Thawing... (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)Starting in the 1940s, small articles like the one here began appearing in magazines and newspapers across the nation - snippets indicating that the American people (ie. whites) were slowly catching on to the system of racial injustice they had inherited - and wondering aloud as to the tyranny of it all:
"To 13 co-eds at Uppsala College, East Orange, N.J., democracy is something more than a worn text-book theory. It is a living, though thorny, reality. Shortly before school's end, they formed one of the nation's first interracial, interfaith college social sororities."
Another article about segregation's end can be read here.
The Black Women Who Pass For White (Liberty Magazine, 1949)"In most of our larger cities and many small towns there are thousands of Negroes who have successfully 'gone over the line' and are now living as white. Among them, it is said, are several well-known athletes and members of Congress - But you don't hear much about the Negro women who pass. The roving male nature makes it easier for a man to pass completely, though it involves giving up his family as well as his friends. A woman finds passing harder to take."
Click here to read about the social differences between darker skinned and lighter skinned black people.
New York's Contributions to English (Holiday, 1949)"New York City's contributions to the American language go considerably further than the pronunciation of 'avenyeh' for avenue or 'erl' for lubricant. Peter Stuyvesant's village has made rich entries into our spoken and written tongue. A handful, culled from Dr. Mitford M. Matthew's A Dictionary of Americanisms
follows."
Click here to read more articles about American English. ''Russia Has a Congress'' (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)"Many Americans do not realize that Soviet Russia has an elected congress. As its powers are set forth in the present Russian constitution, this congress has the appearance of being both representative and democratic... 'The Supreme Soviet' is somewhat similar to that of our national legislature. It has two chambers, like our house and senate." The author points out that regardless of the appearances, we all know that "there is a catch somewhere'.
Click here to read about the blackmail and extortion tactics that American Communists used in Hollywood during the Great Depression...
The Two Lincoln Inaugurations (Inaugural Program, 1949)Callously torn from the binding of the 1949 inaugural program were these pithy paragraphs describing the somber moods of both Lincoln inaugurals. The anonymous author noted that
"when Lincoln delivered his Inaugural Address, four future Presidents of the United States stood on the platform near him: Hayes, Garfield, Arthur and Benjamin Harrison."
To read the text of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, click here . The Bomb in Soviet Hands (Quick Magazine, 1949)During the opening week of October, 1949 President Harry Truman announced that the Soviet Union had exploded its own nuclear weapon. Americans were deeply shocked and wondered aloud as to what this would mean - Would the peacetime draft call be doubled?
"...Russia had caught the U.S. flatfooted. For the first time in history every American looked straight down the gun barrel of [a] foreign attack."
The pace of the Cold War picked up soon after this event took place.
Mickey Cohen in Hollywood (Quick Magazine, 1949)Illustrated with a photo of L.A. mobster Mickey Cohen and his wife, this short column from 1949 summarizes one of the many shake-down schemes that the thug would employ to blackmail Hollywood actors during their weaker moments. Vaudeville at the Palace Theater - Again (Pathfinder, 1949)"There was some dispute over what killed vaudeville. Some said talking movies. Others said radio. A few cruel critics said it committed suicide. But all agreed that with the fall of its last fortress, the Palace Theater, it was dead... Last week, the corpse that wouldn't die got up and went home. Sol A. Schwartz, vice president of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum chain (RKO) announced restoration of vaudeville at the Palace, beginning May 18 [1949]."
You can read about Chicago Vaudeville here
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