Noel Field: Family of Spies (People Today Magazine, 1950) The Patton Tank (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)As is made clear on this website, numerous tanks were fielded by the U.N. Forces during the Korean War, and one of the most effective ones was the Patton Tank (in all it's variations). The March from Chosin to the Sea (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)This is an eyewitness account of the fortitude and endurance exhibited by the freezing members of the 1st Marine Division as they executed their highly disciplined 100 mile march from the Chosin Reservoir to the Korean coastline - inflicting (and taking) casualties all the while. The account is simply composed of a series of diary entries - seldom more than eight sentences in length recalling that famous "fighting retreat" in the frozen Hell that was Korea. The journalist's last entry points out that the number of Marine dead was so high, we need never think of the Battle of Tarawa as the bloodiest engagement in Marine history. American Women in the Early War (People Today Magazine, 1950)Standing before the United Nations General Assembly during the Fall of 1950, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson reminded the diplomats that five years earlier, when the U.N. Charter was conceived, it was agreed that the institution should have a military arm with which to enforce its edicts. Sighting Over South Dakota (Quick Magazine, 1950)Flying comfortably above Aberdeen, South Dakota, the passengers of a Northwest airliner got an eyeful for almost a full hour. The Invincible Chinese? (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"Man, those Chinese are good soldiers... You can't see 'em; you can't hear 'em. You don't know they're there until they're on top of you... They're experts at camouflage and the best damn night-fighters I've ever seen. We could walk a company over the hill and see nothing. Then we'd look around and they'd be swarming on us like flies. It was just like they'd sprouted from the ground." The War Budget Grows (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)The Chinese foray into Korea resulted in the coming together of numerous politicians in Washington in order to boost Army spending by $41.8 billion dollars, with an additional $1 billion designated for nuclear warfare preparedness. Assorted branches of the military increased the draft pool and lowered their admission standards. New Jersey Representative Charles Eaton(R) gravely stated:
"We face the greatest danger of extinction since the nation was founded." Walt Disney's Cinderella (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"The film abounds in charming little animals. A pair of bluebirds, venturing out in wintry weather, fly about in galoshes and overcoats. The heroine's best friends are the mice who ultimately carry her pumpkin to the ball...However, people who have been distressed by Disney's recent preoccupation with 'live action' will be happy to find him back where he belongs." The Critical Situation in Korea (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)Upon hearing the news of the Chinese Army's appearance on the Korean peninsula, President Truman turned to his trusted advisers:
"At 11 a.m. the President spoke first to General Bradley. How bad, he wanted to know, would the casualties be? 'Very bad, I'm afraid, sir. It is too early for an accurate estimate, but our losses will be heavy.' Then President asked how serious the situation was. 'Critical,' was Bradley's terse response." Color Trends in Men's Suiting 1935 - 1950 (Men's Wear Magazine, 1950)Although there is black-out during the war years, the attached charts will give you a sense of the preferred suiting colors both before the war and upon it's immediate conclusion. The pointy-headed soothsayers who attempt to predict which colors men will buy were very surprised to find that in the aftermath of World War II, American men were quite eager to buy browns and khaki-colored suiting after all. False Hope in Washington (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)This snippet appeared on the newsstands shortly after Halloween, 1950. It will give you a sense of the great relief that was felt not simply in the halls of Congress and the Pentagon, but all across the country. The journalist wrote this report as if decades had past and a distant memory was being recalled about a five month-long war that was once fought and won by the all-suffering Americans and their U.N. Allies, but the Communists learned their lesson, so we don't have to worry about them anymore. The war's turning point is hailed (The Inchon Landings), as is General MacArthur, American casualty figures are listed and mention is made of the South Koreans moving into the recently liberated towns of the North. But this same reporter would write a very different article for the next issue of the magazine when he would relay that the war had expanded, and casualty figures had ballooned with the intervention of the Chinese Army. His Fashion Influence (Men's Wear, 1950)The Duke's influence on men's fashion throughout the Western hemisphere is undeniable and it is highly likely that there are a number of bucks in your life who loaf about town entirely ignorant that they are wearing the togs that he first introduced.
The attached is a 1950 article from an American fashion trade magazine that lists a number of fashion innovations first sported by the Duke of Windsor, illustrated by seven photos. The Necessity of Overthrowing Russia (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)This is a profile of the American Cold Warrior James Burnham (1905 1987), who is remembered as being one of the co-founders of the conservative monthly, National Review . What is little known about Burnham is the fact that he was a communist in his early twenties and a steady correspondent with Trotsky. It didn't take long before he recognized the inherit tyranny that is the very nature of communism - and from that moment on he devoted much of his life to revealing to the world the dangers of that tyranny.
The Start of the Korean War (Quick Magazine, 1950)On June 25, 1950 ten divisions of North Korean infantry invaded South Korea. In its narrowest sense, the invasion marked the beginning of a civil war between peoples of a divided country. In a far larger sense, it represented a break in tensions between the two dominant power blocs that had emerged from the Second World War. These well-illustrated pages appeared in Quick Magazine two weeks after the hostilities commenced and serves to summarize the events in Washington and at the United Nations. Within the first twelve hours of the war President Truman committed U.S. air and naval forces to the defense of South Korea and signed a bill to widen the draft pool.
The Korean War ended in 1953. Click here to read about the military results of that war.
''Korean Pearl Harbor'' (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"The first surprise attack came at night. It was mounted by reckless fighters, who swarmed into battle on horseback and afoot after [American] bugles had morbidly sounded 'taps'. The Reds pounced on two combat regiments of the American First Cavalry Division and the South Korean First Division. Hundreds of civilians, caught by the flaming machine gun and mortar fire, were mowed down. In U.N. casualties, it was the one of the costliest engagements of the war." The Continuing Crisis (Quick Magazine, 1950)"[In Washington] the U.S. defense effort snowballed. Looking beyond the Korea showdown, the U.S. had to plan against new Russian surprises... There would be no appeasement, even at the risk of W.W. III. U.S. intelligence indicated a ten year Russian military plan designed to bleed America white. The aim would be to keep the U.S. in a semi-mobilized state for years."
Click here to read an article about the American POW experience during the Korean War. Neckties During the War Years (Men's Wear Magazine, 1950)This is a remarkably brief history of the W.P.B. restrictions on American necktie manufacturers during the Second World War. CIA Issues Report on UFO Sightings (Quick Magazine, 1950) The College Fashion Forecast for the Spring of 1950 (The Diamondback, 1950)A few words that anticipated fashion's offerings for the Spring of 1950:
"This Spring is predicted to bring a completely new point of view to the clothes-conscious American woman... Although the boyish figure of the 20s will not return as pronounced, the trend seems to be toward narrow shoulders with heavy exaggerated lines above the waist and slimness below." J. Edgar Hoover on the CPUSA (Coronet Magazine, 1950)This Cold War article about the American Communist Party (CPUSA), penned in 1950 by F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover (1895 1972) was published for two reasons:
To alert the readers that such subversive groups exist and that they are operated by their fellow Americans who take orders from Joseph Stalin -
and that the F.B.I. is on the job and has thoroughly infiltrated their ranks and watches them very closely.
The column is a good read for all of you out there who enjoy the "cloak and dagger" type of plot lines; I was surprised to learn that this group had so many secrets to hide - seeing that their problems in the arena of public relations at that time were so overwhelming, one has to wonder how they were actually able to tend to their assignments in espionage, sabotage, propaganda and all other assorted shenanigans Moscow expected of them.
Click here to read about the man who spied on the the American Communist Party.
Click here if you would like to read what the CPUSA was up to during the Great Depression.
In time, J. Edgar Hoover's prestige began to fade...
Watch This Animated Piece of Soviet Propaganda from the Fifties Tensions Build in Washington (Quick Magazine, 1950)The Korean War was all of two weeks old when this column went to press describing the combustible atmosphere that characterized the Nation's Capitol as events unfolded on the Korean peninsula:
"A grim Senate voted the $1.2 billion foreign arms aid bill. Knots of legislators gathered on the floor or in the cloakrooms for whispered conversations. Crowds gathered around news tickers...
On everyone's lips was the question: 'Is this really World War III?'"
Click here to read about the need for Army women during the Korean War.
Christian Nationalism: the First Go-Round (Christian Herald Magazine, 1950)We like to think that if the Christians who call themselves "Christian Nationalists" today were aware of what that term meant decades ago, they would immediately insist that the name be changed. The organization discussed in the attached article was the brainchild of Gerald L.K. Smith (1898 1976), a hate-filled man, an alleged minister of the Gospel, who denied the Jewishness of Christ and all His lessons. Ground Zero: Washington, D.C. (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)When it became clear to all that the Soviets had the bomb - and Washington was the target - the egg-heads in D.C. decided it was time to disperse various government offices to the suburbs:
"Given any warning at all, the National Security Resources Board now seems confident it can preserve at least a skeleton Government. But as for the run-of-the-mine Federal employee, he'll have to take his chances amid the irradiated rubble..." The Stalin ''Peace Plan'' (Quick Magazine, 1950)This column will give you a quick understanding as to how 1950 ended:
"Russian diplomats made valiant efforts. In Moscow, [Stalin's adviser] Andrei Gromyko called Western envoys, urging Big Four talks to 'unify' Germany. In the U.N., Andrei Vishinsky protested Russia's 'devotion' to peace and to the belief that capitalism and Communism could live in the same world... But while the Reds talked, Chinese Communists had swept into the Korea War. The Soviet military budget had soared . Russia's submarine fleet had multiplied, it's air force had expanded to 14,000 combat planes, its army was millions strong, and still growing." Can You Spot a Red? (People Today Magazine, 1950)"The President has asked all Americans to keep their eyes open for spies and subversives and to report them to the FBI. Who would you start looking for?" Explaining Abstract Art (Pageant Magazine, 1950)"WHY DO THEY DISTORT THINGS? CAN'T THEY DRAW? WHY DO THEY
PAINT SQUARES AND CUBES?"
In an effort to help answer these and many other similar questions that are overheard in the modern art museums around the world, authors Mary Rathbun and Bartlett Hayes put their noodles together and dreamed up the book Layman's Guide to Modern Art (Amazon), and we have posted some of the more helpful portions here, as well as 17 assorted illustrations to help illustrate their explanations. The authors point out that abstract images are not simply confined to museums and galleries but surround us every day and we willingly recognize their meanings without hesitation:
The Air War in Korea (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)Five days after China entered the Korean War, three U.S. Air Force F-80 Shooting Star fighter jets duked it out with three Soviet-made MIG-15s 20,000 feet above the the Korean/Manchurian border. Lieutenant Russell Brown of Southern California fired the decisive shot that sent one MIG down in flames. While engaged with the other two F-80s, the remaining MIGs were dispatched in a similar manner (although other sources had reported that these two fighters had actually been able to return to their bases badly damaged). In the entire sordid history of warfare, this engagement was the first contest to result in one jet shooting down another. Racism in ''The Old Line State'' (The Diamond Back, 1950)From the pages of THE DIAMONDBACK, the student newspaper of the University of Maryland, came this surprising article that listed numerous denunciations concerning the various ways that the state of Maryland had failed time and again to educate their African-American youth.
"'Separate but equal' facilities are a myth in Maryland. No Negro school in the state compares with the University of Maryland, which is for white students only." ''The Hell Bomb'' (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)This article from February, 1950 goes on in some detail explaining why Americans should not be worried in the least about the fact that the Soviets now have atomic capability because the U.S. military has bigger and far more destructive bombs.
"A hydrogen bomb could cause damage almost without limit. The Nagasaki plutonium bomb affected an area of 10 square miles. The new weapon could destroy an area of 100, or 1,000 square miles." ''The O School'' (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School in Chicago turned some heads when it first opened. As you read the attached column you will learn about the unorthodox approach they bring to the subject of educating the autistic and the emotionally disturbed. With the fullness of time it has been revealed that they must be doing something right - it has been in business since 1944. The Draft (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"Christmas in khaki" became the new theme song of thousands of the nation's young men last week when the Army handed Selective Service a new quota... the Army wants 70,000 in November." The Arrests of David Greenglass and Alfred Slack (Quick Magazine, 1950)The arrests of David Greenglass (1922 - 2014: Soviet code name "Kalibr") and Alfred Slack (1905 - 1977: Soviet code name "El") were the result of the FBI having arrested and interrogated a vital Soviet courier a month earlier: Harry Gold (1911 1972: Soviet code name "Arno"). When Gold began to sing, the spies began to fall like leaves of autumn day. This quick read concentrates on Gold's fellow chemist, Slack, who had been passing along information to the Soviets since the mid-Thirties, however between the years 1944 and 1945 Slack had been assigned to work in Oak Ridge Tennessee with the Manhattan Project. Greenglass had also been on the Manhattan project, and he was a far bigger catch.
A Rift in the Containment Policy (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)Washington's growing distaste for the Chinese Nationalist dictator Chiang Kai-shek was reaching fever-pitch that last week in January, 1950, when President Truman's Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893 1971) presented the administration's Asia policy:
"No official military aid for Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalist government, either on the island of Formosa [Taiwan] or anywhere else." The Draft Dodgers (People Today Magazine, 1950)"With the U.S. inducting some 50,000 men a month there must necessarily be a high number of delinquents... Few draft dodgers realize that the FBI steps in when the draft board steps out of the picture. Furthermore delinquents are liable to five years imprisonment."
To read an article about American draft dodgers of W.W. II, click here.
How the Soviets Would Have Attacked (Pageant Magazine, 1950)"There wouldn't be any warning.
Long-range Soviet bombers attempt to knock out our key industrial targets by atomic bombing. Some fly the 4,000, miles from Murmansk across the roof of the world to our East Coast; others strike from bases in Eastern Siberia at California and the Midwest... Simultaneously, organized sabotage breaks out in aviation plants, shipyards, power stations, etc., to complement the work of the bombers." Oldest Schoolhouse in America? (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)A minor dust-up between Florida and New York as to which of the two had the oldest schoolhouse. Let The UN Keep The Peace (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)In the fall of 1950, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson stood before the United Nations General Assembly and reminded them that five years earlier, when the U.N. Charter was conceived, it was agreed that the U.N should have a military arm with which to enforce its edicts. He prodded their memories to a further degree when he reminded them that they'd have one today if the Soviet delegates hadn't objected so vociferously.
"Korea has shown how ill prepared the United Nations is to stop aggression. The defense of Korea is nominally a U.N. responsibility. But 98% of the effort, and an equally high percentage of the 'United Nations' casualties, come from the United States." The Pliable Front Line (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"The United Nations defense 'line' in Korea was more like a rubber band. It gave with Red punches, then snapped back. But last week the strain on the elastic was terrific... Neat shifting by the out-numbered defenders met and tossed back each of the blows - first along the southern coast toward Pusan..."
G.M. Mid-Century Motorama (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950) Communism vs Democracy (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)Pathfinder Magazine publisher Graham Patterson put pen to paper in an effort to articulate what the Cold War was in its simplest form, and what were the differences between a communist government and a democracy.
"It is important for free people to know their avowed enemy, to understand communism, to recognize the difference between their present freedom and the way of life communism would force upon them." U.N. Dilemma (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)With the expansion of the Korean War, the United Nations realized that World War III was at their doorstep if they wanted to engage. Withdrawing in order to fight another day made sense - but such a decision was not without costs. History of the Necktie in America (Men's Wear, 1950)This illustrated column points out a number of interesting historic facts about ties in America; most notably that up until 1865 the preferred form of neck wear in the U.S. was a pre-tied bow that fastened in the back. In the 1920s the United States became the premiere manufacturer of men's neckties - a record that was comfortably held for some time afterword. Click here to read about the fabric restrictions imposed on
the American fashion world during the Second World war.
The Biblicist (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"Few Americans have more Bibles than Harry S Truman (he has 'about 50') and few quote from them with greater facility... The President seldom misses a chance to stress that only as the U.S. has faith in God can it face the future with confidence." The Colors in Men's Suits 1935 - 1950 (Men's Wear, 1950)A chart produced by the editors of MEN'S WEAR MAGAZINE indicating the best-selling colored wool used in men's suits spanning the years 1935 through 1950.
The pointy-headed soothsayers who attempt to predict which colors men would buy were very surprised to find that in the aftermath of World War II, American men were quite eager to buy browns and khaki-colored suiting after all. The Stalin ''Peace Plan'' (Quick Magazine, 1950)This column will give you a quick understanding as to how 1950 ended:
"Russian diplomats made valiant efforts. In Moscow, [Stalin's adviser] Andrei Gromyko called Western envoys, urging Big Four talks to 'unify' Germany. In the U.N., Andrei Vishinsky protested Russia's 'devotion' to peace and to the belief that capitalism and Communism could live in the same world... But while the Reds talked, Chinese Communists had swept into the Korea War. The Soviet military budget had soared . Russia's submarine fleet had multiplied, it's air force had expanded to 14,000 combat planes, its army was millions strong, and still growing."
Click here to read an article about the American POW experience during the Korean War. ''Why I Live In Los Angeles'' (Pageant Magazine, 1950)An article written at a time when L.A. was a very different city - with a population of merely ten million, the city's detractors often called it "Iowa by the sea"; today they compare it to the Balkans:
"The point is that in [1950] Los Angeles the individual leads his own life and plays his own games rather than lose himself vicariously in the capers of professionals."
Click here to read about the San Fernando Valley.
Meet Mao Zedong (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)When this profile first appeared in 1950, the column's subject, Mao Zedong (1893 - 1976), was generally seen as a tin-horn dictator and Stalinist dupe. It wouldn't be long before he would be widely recognized as one of the greatest mass-murderers in world history. Famine in the North-East (Quick Magazine, 1950)Quite often when Marxist economic theories are put into effect, tree bark becomes a sought-after delicacy... The World War Two Origins of the T-Shirt (Men's Wear Magazine, 1950)A couple of paragraphs from a popular fashion industry trade magazine that pointed out that the white cotton knit crew-neck garment we call the T-shirt came into this world with the name "quarter sleeve" and had it's origin in the U.S. Navy where it earned it's popularity and soon spread to other branches of the U.S. military during the mid-to-late 1930s. When the war ended in 1945 the T-shirt was the only element of the uniform that American men wanted to keep.
There was another fashion innovations of W.W. II, click here to read about it...
''Uncle Ho Strikes Back'' (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)Three years before the total French withdrawal from Vietnam, this one Frenchman summed up his comrade's frustrations concerning their battles against the Viet Minh:
"We can't win a guerrilla war unless we have the support of the people. Frankly, we have not got it. Hitler or the Russians could conquer this country in two months with mass executions, wholesale reprisals and concentration camps. To fight this war and remain humanitarian is difficult." A Pox on Both Your Houses... (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)Washington's growing impatience and distrust with both Chiang Kai-shek's island nation and the communist thugs on the mainland was reaching the high-water mark during the earliest days of 1950 when President Truman's Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893 1971) presented that administration's China policy:
"No official military aid for Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalist government, either on the island of Formosa [Taiwan] or anywhere else. No hasty recognition of the Communist Chinese government of Mao Zedong. No attempt to stop further Russian advances in Asia except through 'friendly encouragement' to India, French Indo-China, Siam, Burma and the new United States of Indonesia..." Korea: The Contributions of the U.S. Navy
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)With no other seafaring nation afloat to oppose them, the United States Navy directed it's attention entirely to land-based targets on the Korean peninsula. Navy jets pelted the mountainous terrain in support of UN operations ashore while battleships, cruisers and destroyers served as floating artillery batteries:
"The miracle-man most responsible for this rejuvenated navy is brilliant, 53-year-old Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, the first air officer to serve as CNO..."
Germany, The Unrepentant (See Magazine, 1950)Filed from Berlin by the respected American journalist William Shirer (1904 1993), he read the findings of a German opinion poll revealing that
A majority of Germans tended to hold that Nazism was good, when properly administered.
Antisemitism was rapidly assuming its customary spot within German society.
War guilt was largely non-existent and Nazi publications were rolling off the smaller presses with predictable regularity.
Shirer also reported that unrepentant, senior Nazis like Max Amann were getting out of prison, expecting to wield the power they once enjoyed as as one of Hitler's yes-men.
This was Jack Benney (Quick Magazine, 1950) The Elegant Story of Men's Undergarments: 1890 - 1950 (Men's Wear, 1950)In merely nine paragraphs the attached men's fashion magazine article from 1950 outlines the style and fabric that was put to use in the manufacturing of men's underwear between 1890 through the Forties (wool to nylon). The Duke of Windsor Influences (Men's Wear, 1950)Men's Wear Magazine printed a few paragraphs on the heavy hand that the Duke of Windsor had in the world of manly attire: "No one completely personified English qualities in attire than the Prince of Wales...Whatever he chose to wear was considered correct and in good taste and was accepted by millions of others in America and elsewhere. Following are a few of the styles that can be traced right back to the Duke of Windsor, either because he wore them first or was responsible for their spread..." -they include such fashion innovations as the Panama hat, the spread collar and brown buckskin shoes among others.
Click here to read more articles about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor...
The Swedish Touch (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950) Stepping-Up The Training (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)By the autumn of 1950 it became clear to the old hands at the Pentagon that the "police action" on the Korean peninsula was beginning to resemble a real war. With that in mind, thirteen military training camps that had been been barren for the past five years, were dusted off in order that they might once more begin training Americans for war. Two weeks later China threw her hat in the ring.
During this same period, the U.S. Navy took 62 ships that had been mothballed in order to launch the Inchon Landings...
George Orwell (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"No one perhaps has done as much as the British writer who calls himself George Orwell to persuade former fellow-travelers that their ways lie in some direction other than the Stalinist party line."
So begin the first two paragraphs of this book review that are devoted to the anti-totalitarian elements that animated the creative side of the writer George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair: 1903 1950). The novel that is reviewed herein, Coming Up for Air, was originally published in 1939 and was reviewed by Pathfinder Magazine to mark the occasion of the book's first American printing in 1950. More Fighting for Christmas (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"The toughest fighting was in a three-mile beachead at the chewed-up port of Hungnam. There the U.S X Corps had escaped from a Chinese trap and was piling aboard a fleet of Victory and Liberty ships."
The U.S. Navy had a strong presence off shore to cover the American withdrawal. TV Viewers And Sports Attendance (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)Without a doubt, the strongest impulse to buy the earliest televisions came from sports fans. The deep lust in their hearts to witness their favorite sporting events as it happened, free of a bar tab, was a strong one - and the television industry loved them right back. This glorious trifecta consisting of viewers, TV networks and team owners not only altered the way America watched sports, it totally transformed sports itself. Author Steven D. Stark put it nicely in his book Glued to the Set (1997):
"Television has changed the sports landscape changing everything from the salaries, number of teams, and color of uniforms, to the way that fans conceive of sports and athletes alike," Marriner Stoddard Eccles on Cold War Economics (The Diamondback, 1950)While serving as FDR's Federal Reserve chairman between 1934 and 1948, Marriner Stoddard Eccles (1890 - 1977) put into play numerous policies that allowed the Federal Reserve to be sublimated to the interests of the Treasury; as a result, he is largely remembered as the patron saint of deficit spending. When he left that position during the Truman administration he went on the lecture circuit where he repeatedly condemned both the post-war economic policy as well as the Cold War policies of the State Department. The attached article summarizes a talk he gave at the University of Maryland in February of 1950.
Click here to read a Cold War editorial by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Movie Streaming was Invented in 1950 (Quick Magazine, 1950)We were surprised to learn that the earliest television mavens recognized that television programming could be enhanced and customized when the signal is carried through telephone lines of individual subscribers - a perk that wasn't made widespread for a few decades. The early concept was called "Phonevision". U.N. Gripes (Collier's Magazine, 1950)This editorial was one of the first of its kind and many more would follow on its heels. The opinions expressed would be repeated in American schoolrooms, barrooms, dinner tables and state houses all the way up to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It was not merely the parents of draftees who wondered aloud as to the whereabouts of the U.N. signatories in times of crises, but practically the whole nation:
"For two months the American and South Korean ground forces fought it out alone. For two months they fought without even the promise of help from other major powers..."
General Patton's Prayer for Battle Weather (Faith Is Power For You, 1950)The attached paragraphs tell the story of General Patton's famous prayer for battle weather - who authored it and how many men recited it.
"That prayer [and the accompanying Christmas] greeting were typically Patton. They [read as if they] were [pulled] from the Old Testament rather than the New and had the ring of Joshua and David at their militant best.They were not written for a soft time but for their occasion; they were words to make men strong - and they did."
FDR's D-Day prayer can be read here Watch A Clip About The Prayer From The Movie, Patton Truman Decides to Defend South Korea (Quick Magazine, 1950)"[Truman's] fateful decision to send U.S. planes and ships into the Korean fighting was made with advice of Representative Walter Judd (1898 - 1994: R., Minn.). Judd had been sharply critical of U.S. Far Eastern policy on grounds that it was opening the doorto Communism. The day after fighting started, State Department officials asked Judd's advice on procedures for helping South Korea."
Enter China (Quick Magazine, 1950)On Friday, November 3, 1950 Mao Tse-Tung (1893 1976) ordered the Chinese Army to intervene in the Korean War on behalf of the the retreating North Korean Army:
"...perhaps [as many as] 250,000 Chinese Communists jumped into the battle for Northwest Korea; at best, their intervention meant a winter campaign in the mountains; at worst, a world war."
From Amazon: The Korean War: The Chinese Intervention
The Clothing of Abraham Lincoln (Coronet Magazine, 1950)The attached article is a segment from a longer one about the history of Brooks Brothers and it confirms that the Great Emancipator was one of their customers, as were the Union Army Generals Grant, Sherman and Hooker.
Click here if you would like to read the entire article about the first 132 years of Brooks Brothers. The Mid-Century Look in Fashion (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"Hair as short as a boy's and feathered into wisps about the face... Accented waist... Long slim look... Spread-eagle effect about the shoulders obtained by deep armholes, bloused backs, big collars or little capes... Mostly narrow skirts but still plenty of full ones."
- so begins the attached two page Spring fashion review that was torn from the Women's Page of the January 25, 1950 issue of Pathfinder Magazine. Judging from the six photographs that illustrate the column, Christian Dior continued call the tunes that other fashion designers had to dance to if they expected to attract a following. The New York designers whose efforts were singled out for praise were Lilly Dachι, Hattie Carnegie, Ben Reig, Ceil Chapman and Vera Jacobs of Capri Originals.
More about 1950s hairstyles can be read here...
The Satellite War (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"Then came June 24 [1950]. Her skirts legally clean, Russia hit upon a way to fight the U.S. without technically using a single bullet or soldier of her own. It mattered little if Korean mercenaries, not identifiable nationally with the USSR, were doing the fighting. A satellite war was just as good a way to weaken the U.S. as a direct war - if not better."
The Proxy Wars (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)"On June 24 [1950] Soviet Russia dug deep into her bag of tricks and came up with a new one - war by proxy. Today, still sadly unprepared for satellite warfare, the US may yet profit by tragic experiences - so that even possible defeat in Korea will not be totally without gain. What has been learned and how this knowledge might be used in future satellite wars is discussed here." A History of Brooks Brothers (Coronet Magazine, 1950)There is only one retail establishment in the world that is able to boast that they had retained the patronage of both Thomas Jefferson and Andy Warhol, and that would be Brooks Brothers.
"Diplomats and prize fighters, dukes and bankers, Cabinet members and theatrical luminaries stroll every day through the ten-story building on Madison Avenue. The sight of Secretary of State Dean Acheson trying on a new overcoat, or Clark Gable testing a new pair of shoes, or the Duke of Windsor undecided between a red or green dressing gown causes scarcely a flurry. The reason is simply that the store itself is a national legend, as noted in its own right as any of its patrons."
The attached five page article lays out the first 132 years of Brooks Brothers. It is printable.
The Importance of Winning (Quick Magazine, 1950)Policy makers in Washington were divided into two groups during the early Cold War days: one held that Communist expansion was most dangerous in Asia while the other believed that Europe was the spot most deserving of attention. This short editorial by John Gunther (1901 1970) argued that Asia was the vulnerable zone and if Korea was lost to the Reds - the whole world would follow. What was Pathfinder Magazine (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)PATHFINDER MAGAZINE was a pretty terrific news organ and to thumb through any of the issues spanning 1910 through 1922 you'll get the sense that it had a heavy hand in influencing TIME, NEWSWEEK and any number of other magazines that came later. Established in Washington, D.C. in 1894, PATHFINDER earned its reputation as a genuine source for domestic and international news.
This article was written by its last publisher, Graham Patterson, and it served as both a history of that weekly as well as an obituary for its founder, George Mitchell - which is entirely fitting because the whole enterprise folded four and half years later. By the time its final issue rolled off the press in 1952 it had become the second largest news magazine in America - with a circulation numbering 1,200,000. With a record like that it seems odd that it went under at all.
Click here to read our collection of articles from PATHFINDER MAGAZINE. Atomic Researcher Arrested in London (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)In January, 1950, a British scientist named Klaus Fuchs (1911 1988) was arrested for passing atomic secrets on to Soviet agents.
"In his confession Fuchs admitted that the transfer of information began in 1942, shortly after he joined the [British Ministry of Supply] as a German Refugee." The Korean War's Effect on Wall Street (Quick Magazine, 1950)"The outbreak of the war in Korea sent stocks tumbling in all important world markets. In N.Y., three months of profits were wiped out. At week's end some stocks rose, but jittery brokers kept an eye on the war news and - an ear turned toward Washington, where announcements of increased U.S. participation in the fighting touched off further waves of selling>"
Click here to read about the Wall Street panic that was brought on by with the election of Abrham Lincoln... | 
. What is little known about Burnham is the fact that he was a communist in his early twenties and a steady correspondent with Trotsky. It didn't take long before he recognized the inherit tyranny that is the very nature of communism - and from that moment on he devoted much of his life to revealing to the world the dangers of that tyranny.