The Amazing Volkswagen (Pic Magazine, 1955)Much of the credit for the success of Volkswagen immediately after the war was due to the visionary leadership of Volkswagen CEO Heinz Nordhoff (1899 - 1968), who was able to assess the faults of the existing model and make the necessary improvements:
"The power was low, and the engine had a life of only 10,000 miles. Nordhoff brought in new experts who redesigned every vital component, working on the original pre-war designs of Ferdinand Porsche... The new car was quieter and more powerful, and had hydraulic brakes and shock absorbers. Soon, models with luxury touches were introduced." The Witnesses (People Today Magazine, 1955)This is a report on the UFO and extraterrestrial experiences recalled by numerous men and women who attended the Second Annual Spacecraft Convention at the Giant Rock Airport near Palm Springs, California in 1955. A History of THE BOB (Coronet Magazine, 1955)A single page history essay concerning the most popular hairstyle of the 1920s. American Love is Better (People Today Magazine, 1955)This article is based on the research of Paul Popenoe (1888 - 1979), and the American Sociological Society that pointed out the high STD rate in Europe at the time indicated that the first sexual experiences among the males of that continent were with prostitutes. Two additional factors in the author's argument highlighted the alarmingly high suicide rate among young European women coupled with the fact that the illegitimate birthrate far outpaced that of the United States at that time. Illustrated with four images that depict how depraved European dating in the Fifties was and how darn wholesome American teenage dating used to be by comparison, this article presents some sociological data supporting the conclusion that American love is better than European love because the American approach to the topic was simply "easier" and Europeans are just a bunch of pervs. Flappers Altered the Sexual Contract in Society (Coronet Magazine, 1955)Perhaps the above headline gives a wee-bit too much credit to the flappers for changing the sex codes of North America - but it certainly would never have happened without them. They were one of the necessary elements, in addition to motion pictures, recorded music, automobiles and greater job opportunities for women, that, when mixed together created a new social contract. The attached article spells it all out as to how the flappers of the 1920s had "stripped the female body of its Victorian wrappings and proudly displayed it in the sunlight".
You might also want read about sex during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Tennis Skirts of the Mid-Fifties (People Today Magazine, 1955) The First Celebrity Hairdresser (Coronet Magazine, 1955)This article tells the story of a certain Antoni Cierplikowski - better known as "Antoine of Paris" (1884 – 1976). He was the premiere hairdresser throughout much of the last century and his illustrious client list included many names that you would recognize. Yet, to simply write the man off as a "celebrity hairstylist" is to ignore his myriad innovations:
• Antoine was the creator of the Bob.
• He created the Perm.
• He was the first to tint gray hair to blue.
• He was the first to apply a lacquer to hair as a fixative.
• Antoine was the first to tinge isolated elements within a hairdo blond as a streaked highlight.
A Profile of ''Mr. America'' (Pageant Magazine, 1955)"WHO, WHAT, AND WHY is the average American [man]? What does he eat? What does he wear? What does he worry about? These questions and more like them have taken us on a long journey through the realm of statistics. Out of the discoveries of the Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau and Dr. Gallup's polls, we've succeeded in piecing together an uncommon portrait of the common man."
The Atlantic Heats Up (Pic Magazine, 1955)"Icebergs are disappearing from Canada's Atlantic coast; forests are growing in the sub-Arctic of the east and air bases have been established on Baffin Island." Modigliani in Paris (Gentry Magazine, 1955)"Modigliani came to Paris from Italy in the propitious year of 1906, start of a decade of art in which every contemporary movement germinated...When he became acquainted with Romanian sculptor Brancusi in 1909, the impact of the meeting gave his work a new direction..." The Conversion of an Atheist (Coronet Magazine, 1955)Throughout the course of her life Lillian Roth (1910 - 1980) had lived the high life as well as the low, and during one of the darker moments she sat pining in the depths of her anguish crying out to God - even though she didn't believe He existed - a well-wisher approached her with a unique line of reasoning that was so pure in its simplicity it immediately lead her to realize that God does indeed exist.
The Lady in the Harbor (Coronet Magazine, 1955)When this article first appeared, the Statue of Liberty was praised as the tallest statue in the world - today, it doesn't even make the list of the tallest statues; nonetheless, here is a collection of facts about the Ladyy Liberty:
• 200,000 pounds of copper were used in the statue, enough copper for more than 100 stacks of pennies, each as tall as the Empire State Building.
• Trans-Atlantic voyagers do not see Liberty until their ship enters N.Y. Harbor, but her torch can be seen 15 miles out.
• Her index finger is eight feet long. Notes on Her Hair (Pageant Magazine, 1955)Here is a handy how-to piece by a popular hairdresser of the Fifties explaining how to duplicate Marilyn Monroe's hairdo on your own head - take a look.
Joe Rosenthal on Iwo Jima (Collier's Magazine, 1955)Associated Press combat photographer Joe Rosenthal (1911 – 2006) wrote the attached article ten years after snapping the world famous image of the four U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima. In five pages, he explains the remarkable impact that the photo had on the American psyche as well as the popular culture on the American home front, both during the war and afterward. Rosenthal was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for capturing on film one of the greatest events of W.W. II and briefly explains that the three surviving men who participated in the event were thrust into fame for years afterward.
•Read our article about the treason of Ezra Pound.•
An American Red Comments on the Cold War (Masses & Mainstream, 1955)FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called him "the most dangerous Communist in the United States" - his name was Herbert Aptheker (1915 - 2003) and in this magazine article he explained to his readers that as he traveled the Western states he saw an America that was heartily "sick of the Cold War". Clark Gable: Cad (Confidential Magazine, 1955)We all know that there are two sides to every story, but not in this article. If the utterances of Clark Gable's first wife (Josephine Dillon, 1884 - 1971) are true, then we have no choice but to believe that Gable was a real stinker.
"When Miss Dillon left for Hollywood, he followed. A year later they were married in Los Angeles by gospel minister A.C. Smithers. Josephine traded the Dillon name to become Mrs. Clark Gable.
It didn’t take her long to discover quite a bit about her new young husband. He didn’t even have a grammar school education. He knew nothing about acting. And he was penniless. They lived in the money Josephine made as a dramatic coach. There wasn’t much of it, because her best pupil was her big-eared husband; his lessons were 'on the house'. He sopped up what she knew like a sponge."
• Watch A Clip About Hollywood and Confidential Magazine • Good-Bye, James Dean (Collier's Magazine, 1955)Two months after James Dean's fatal car crash, photographer Sanford Roth (1906 - 1962) penned this reminiscence of his unique friendship with this actor so many years his junior:
"Dean was what Hollywood loosely labels a nonconformist, an individualist in the Brando stripe. He wasn't easy to know." Marlon Brando (Photoplay Magazine, 1955)This is a three page PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE profile of method actor Marlon Brando (1924 – 2004) regarding the first eight years of his fame. Much of the column space is devoted to Brando's friendship with Harry Belafonte and all the boyish pranks and general carousing that the two enjoyed during their (thankfully) brief salad days. The Allure of the Private Bomb Shelter (People Today Magazine, 1955)This is a consumer report concerning various bomb shelter plans that were commercially available to the American public in 1955:
"The most elaborate of five government-approved home bomb shelters is a combination tunnel and emergency exit in reinforced concrete, extending outward under ground from cellar walls It holds six persons and offers maximum protection from all effects of an atomic explosion... But the FCDA (Federal Civil Defense Administration) also recommends a practical type type that can be put together by any do-it-yourselfer for around $20.00." The Rise of Oral Roberts (Coronet Magazine, 1955)The editors at Coronet recognized that Oral Roberts was not your average minister, who was simply contented to preside over thirty full pews every week; they labeled him a "businessman-preacher" and subtly pointed out that the man's detractors were many and his flashy attire unseemly for a member of clergy:
"God doesn't run a breadline...I make no apology for buying the best we can afford. The old idea that religious people should be poor is nonsense." Delinquency and Other Shenanigans (Quick Magazine, 1955) Jean-Paul Sartre on the Cold War (Masses & Mainstream, 1955) The Man Behind the Look (Collier's Magazine, 1955) Puerto Ricans Arrive (Pic Magazine, 1955)In the early Fifties many of the people from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico decided to pack their bags and move to New York City. Overnight, it seemed, a portion of Harlem came to be known as "Spanish Harlem" - where hastily assembled mambo dance halls could be found among restaurants serving the exotic cuisine of the Caribbean. There were also complications that emerged with the new comers that are addressed in this 1955 article:
"Today, however, there is a forceful change taking place, an influence so great that New York City officials have forecast a startling racial shift within a few years and are already making plans for meeting this switch..." He Posed for Auguste Rodin (People Today Magazine, 1955)Sixty years before this article was published, Libero Nardonne, who posed for the Rodin's celebrated sculpture, "The Kiss" (1885), enjoyed a life as one of the most popular artist's model in all of Paris - at a time when the greatest artist's in the world were residences of that famous burg. Jump forward to 1955 and you would find him a broke and broken man who lived on the streets - nonetheless, he showed the American photographers through the art museums to point out all the masterpieces he had played a part in creating.
''What Happens When Abortion is Legalized'' (People Today, 1955) Building the Suburban Dream (Pic Magazine, 1955)The author Thomas Hine pointed out in his 1986 tour-de-force, Populuxe , that by the time the Eisenhower years rolled around, suburban houses were growing in size, as is typified in the attached article that was created to sell the plans for a 1,290 square foot piece of suburban splendor . Gone were the days of the "little boxes" that dotted the countryside throughout the late Forties and early Fifties; these newer and larger domiciles were built in the shapes of "U" or "L" and the most popular models were built in the "Ranch House" style with attached garages (gasp!).
Sex During the Second World War (Coronet Magazine, 1955)"At the beginning of World War II, our army was a mixture of callow boys and and domesticated men. The older men were homesick for wives and children...There were plenty of lonely wives, too, and it soon became evident that a fair number of them were committed to the belief that continence was bad for women."
Marriage vows were one of the unsung casualties of the Second World War: by 1944 many married women who hadn't seen their drafted husbands in years began producing babies; you can read about that here...
In 1943 a woman on the home front introduced a sexual component that she believed would bring an end to the problem of industrial absenteeism - click here to read about her idea...
Her First Born (Collier's Magazine, 1955)This article served to introduce the boy who is now Charles III (b.1948) to American magazine readers and answer all their questions as to how impossibly glamorous his life was when he was only six years-old:
"Despite his scant years, Charles is already launched in his training for chairman of the board. In that training, the ancient and splendid trappings of British royal tradition still play a part, but in the main Charles is unmistakably a child of the mid-Twentieth Century." Audie Murphy: the Most Decorated (Coronet Magazine, 1955)Audie Murphy (1925 – 1971) was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of the Second World War. This article appeared on the newsstands just in time to promote To Hell and Back , the Universal Studio movie based on Murphy's 1949 wartime memoir of the same name. Some men fit quite comfortably into the public life of a celebrated hero, Audie Murphy was not one of them. The Post-War Miracle that was Volkswagen (Pic Magazine, 1955)Out of the smoldering ruins of Japan came the Honda factories, while Germany amazed their old enemies by rapidly beating their crematoriums into Volkswagens. Confidently managed by a fellow who only a short while before was serving as a lowly private in Hitler's retreating army, Volkswagen quickly retooled, making the vital improvements that were necessary to compete in the global markets.
Ludwig Erhard (1897 – 1977), West Germany's Minister of Economics between the years 1949 and 1963, once remarked that Germany was able to launch its "Wirtschaftswunder" (economic miracle) by implementing the principles of a market economy and laissez-fair capitalism within the framework of a semi-socialist state. 'A' is for Acting (People Today Magazine, 1955)It was called the Universal-International School of Motion Picture Drama and it was established in 1948 (the year of it's closing is not so easy to find). The school's young students were all Universal contract players who had been chosen by legendary casting agent Robert Palmer; a few illustrious names from the alumni list include Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Shelley Winters, Jeff Chandler and Piper Laurie.
Although he is not listed as a student in that program, Clint Eastwood can clearly be seen in the center of the attached class photo. A Poem of Outrage (Masses and Mainstream, 1955)In the Digital Age, Beulah Elizabeth Richardson (1920 – 2000: stage name Beah Richards) is largely remembered as an award-winning actress, but it has widely been forgotten that she was also a poet and playwright. The attached poem is an honest expression of her reaction to the tyranny experienced by too many African Americans. Racial Integration Comes to Sin City (People Today Magazine, 1955)When it became clear to all that the Black community was not wasting its money or withering under the weight of Syphilis like their White counterparts - it was decided that it was time to erect an interracial hotel in the Nevada casino capital of Las Vegas, and so they did; it was called Moulin Rouge. The Predator (Pageant Magazine, 1955)The attached article, "A Mother's Ordeal with Homosexuality" first appeared in 1955, a time when the term "gay" was not known, and the word "homosexual" was used in its place - and as you will learn, homosexual was essentially synonymous with the designations "sex offender", "Paraphilia" and "Child molester".
"The charge of homosexuality against someone, anyone, is not a light one. It requires proof, the strictest proof there is; getting it is not an easy matter."
Saul Steinberg (Gentry Magazine, 1955)"The art of living in the wrong century - this is Saul Steinberg's (1914 – 1999) own designation for the predicament he has been illustrating for over a decade. In his latest collection, The Passport (the title is a deceptively mild clue to the whole works; it sneaks up on you), he has again and more inexorably than ever demonstrated his infinite capacity for taking pains in his graphic pursuit of melange, drafting, with a vilifying grasp of the murderously essential, our contemporary quest for style - in architecture, in furniture, clothing and machines - which we can also own." Bette Davis Tells All (Collier's Magazine, 1955)"Those were the days when the talkies had taken over from the silent films and movie executives began a wholesale raid on the New York stage for promising young talent. It was fertile territory. In a comparatively brief period they signed Clark Gable, George Brent, Jimmy Cagney, Joan Blondell, Spencer Tracy Ginger Rogers, Humphrey Bogart, Francis Tone and a score of others. While I was in Broken Dishes I had been screen tested by Samuel Goldwyn for a feminine lead opposite Ronald Coleman...I reached Hollywood with my mother on December 13, 1930." James Beard on Champagne (Gentry Magazine, 1955)This article, by celebrated chef James Beard (1903 – 1985), walks us through the history of Champagne as only a true lover of food and wine can do:
"Not until around 1670 was a way discovered to imprison those tantalizing bubbles in every bottle, and keep the bottle from exploding. Credit for inventing sparkling Champagne is attributed, inaccurately perhaps, to a Benedictine monk named Dom Perignon...It is said that as an old, blind man, Dom Perignon could sniff a glass of Champagne, sip it, swish it about his mouth, and then unfailingly say from what hillside the grapes had come..." Stalin's Successor, Georgi Malenkov, Forced to Resign (Collier's Magazine, 1955)Crocodile tears were shed for Georgi Malenkov (1902 – 1988), a buddy of Stalin's who was forced to resign as Soviet premier a few weeks earlier on the grounds that he had failed to produce any memorable reforms in agriculture (Nikita Khrushchev had drawn up a laundry list of additional Malenkov failings as well). The author sweetly pointed out that the Premiere was not to blame; after all,the entire system of government had been schemed by a dreamer who intended his utopia to be built in Germany or Britain.
Click here to read about Stalin's Five Year Plan.
Read an article explaining how the Soviets used early radio...
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, the Universal Studio movie based on Murphy's 1949 wartime memoir of the same name. Some men fit quite comfortably into the public life of a celebrated hero, Audie Murphy was not one of them.