Harold Nicolson on Paul Verlaine
(Current Opinion, 1921)
A review of Harold Nicolson’s 1921 biography, Paul Verlaine. Numerous aspects of Verlaine’s life and poetry are discussed as are the roots of French Symbolism.
‘Paul Verlaine in London”
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916)
British poet and literary critic Arthur Symons (1865 – 1945) remembered the time French poet Paul Verlaine (1844 – 1896) was his house guest.
The 1921 book review of Paul Verlaine can be read here…
A Profile of Guillaume Apollinaire
(Vanity Fair, 1922)
An appreciative essay celebrating the work of Guillaume Apollinaire (born Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky: 1880 – 1918) by the high-brow art critic Paul Rosenfed (1890 – 1946).
For Apollinaire possessed the perfect adjustibility of the born poet. He would have found himself much at home in any environment into which he would have been born, whether it would have been one of pampas and herds and lonely hamlets, or one of concrete, newspapers, war and steel.
General Billy Mitchell: Advocate of American Airpower
(American Legion Weekly,1921)
This is one of the editorials written by U.S. Army General Billy Mitchell (1879 – 1936) that only served to annoy the senior army leadership and their civilian overlords in Washington. On these pages General Mitchell made his case for the creation of a unique branch of the military confined entirely to air power that was distinct and independent of the Army. He points out that numerous armies are doing just this and the U.S. would be wise to do the same. He was particularly keen on seeing to it that everyone know that that the Imperial Japanese Army was doing the same thing.
November 11th With the First Division
(American Legion Weekly, 1919)
An American artillery officer from that famous division recalled the last minute of the war to end all wars…
An Ice Cream History
(Coronet Magazine, 1951)
In this admirable effort to briefly tell the history of ice cream, the authors of this three page narrative begin in the year 62 A.D., pointing out that the Roman Emperor Nero had gone on record declaring his fondness for frozen delicacies, but, as you will read, what he was consuming was in actuality something more along the lines of a snow-cone; but it is good to know that the market was very much in place at such an early moment in time. Jumping ahead some 1,200 years, we learn that Marco Polo had returned from China with a frozen tasty treat:
People tried it out, and something like our sherbet was soon served in many parts of Europe, eventually being improved upon by the addition of milk to resemble ice cream.
The trivia truly begins to flow from that point and we learn that George Washington was really quite fond of the stuff, and how ice cream sundaes and Eskimo Pies came into the world.
A refreshing read.
Food and WineCorn on the March
Corn on the March
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1918)
Forty-three years after the bloody end of the American Civil War, this reminiscence by a Southern officer appeared in print recalling the important roll that corn played during those days as it had throughout all American history:
During the war I commanded the 1st Arkansas Regiment, consisting of twelve hundred men, and during the four years we never saw a piece of bread that contained a grain of wheat flower. We lived entirely on plain corn bread, and my men were strong and kept the best of health….
‘Some of My Best Friends Are Jewish”
(Literary Digest, 1936)
Jews are like everybody else, only more so.’
So clicked the typewriter of the epigrammatic Dorthy Thompson (1893 – 1961), syndicated columnist and wife of Sinclair Lewis (1885 – 1951)’.
‘Are they?’ queried Robert Gessner (1913 – 1978), twenty-nine-year-old instructor of English at New York University. ‘Then why are they so persecuted?’
‘To answer his own question, the young Michigan-born Jew traveled to Europe, saw Hitler-swayed Jews march from meetings shouting ‘Down with us! Down with Us! Less fantastic were his experiences in Poland, Palestine, the Soviet Union and England…’
The ”Actress/Models”
(Quick Magazine, 1951)
The Forties and Fifties were indeed the infancy of the model/actress era; one of the first slashies, Lauren Bacall (b. 1924) was buried in 2014.
Looking Back at the War with Regret
(The Nation, 1927)
Ten years ago the American people reversed its national tradition against entangling alliances and participation in the political struggles of Europe in order, as it is fondly believed, to make the world safe for democracy, safeguard the rights of small nations and the principle of self-determination… If the causes and justifications for our intervention were based on facts, some evidence of their truth ought now, after ten years, to be apparent.
Babe Ruth Ranks and his Peers
(Literary Digest, 1929)
The ten best players that Babe Ruth can pick from the major leagues go into an unofficial diamond hall of fame. Ruth started picking these teams as a result of a clubhouse argument…
That there has been no prejudice is best shown, I think, by the fact that I have named six men from the National League and only one from my own league, the American…I haven’t named a single man from my own club, the New York Yankees, the men who play alongside me day after day through the season.
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.
The Most Powerfull Men in Cold War Washington
(’47 Magazine)
A former player and long-time watcher of the Washington power-game, James Watson Gerard (1867 – 1951) – he was known to have kept a list throughout the decades leading up to his death, of all those Washington insiders who wielded the greatest influence in that burg. Well-heeled journalist, John Gunther (1901 – 1970), managed to catch up with him and his 1947 list, which was comprised of 64 names – some of the names had been on his list for decades (such as W.R. Hearst and Colonel Robert McCormick) others were appearing for the first time (George Gallup and Clark Clifford).
Click here to read about the men BEHIND these men…
Click here to read Ambassador Gerard’s list of the most powerful men in Depression-era Washington (non of them were elected)…
‘Don’t Count on Germany to Fight”
(Collier’s Magazine, 1951)
Not too long after the end of World War II, the French, British and Americans found that they had to assemble a coalition of nations (NATO) that would be willing to fight the Soviets for what was believed to be an even bigger rumble in the future – but after losing two enormous wars, West Germany refused to join.
Constance Drexel of Massachusetts
(Coronet Magazine, 1943)
The hokum that Constance Drexel (1894 – 1856?) coughed-up over the airwaves on behalf of her Nazi paymasters was considered to have been so negligible in content by the U.S. Department of Justice that all charges against her were dropped.
Alexander of Yugoslavia Joined in Marriage to Marie of Romania
(Vogue Magazine, 1922)
A beautifully illustrated page from VOGUE MAGAZINE reporting from Belgrade on the the royal wedding of Alexander I of Yugoslavia (1888 – 1934) and Marie of Romania (Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen: 1900 – 1961). An earlier posting on this site indicated that the groom had been promised in 1913 to wed Grand Duchess Olga of Russia (1895 – 1918), but there were complications.
Following Alexander’s 1934 assassination, their oldest son, Peter II (1923 – 1970) assumed the throne and presided as the last king of Yugoslavia.
Richard Julius Hermann Krebs Under the Nazi Boot
(Ken Magazine, 1939)
A first-hand account as to the daily goings-on at Hitler’s Plotzensee Prison.
Written by Jan Valtin (alias of Richard Julius Hermann Krebs: 1905 – 1951), one of the few inmates to make his way out of that highly inclusive address and tell the tale. Krebs was a communist in the German resistance movement who later escaped to New York and wrote a book (Out of the Night
) about his experiences in Nazi Germany.
The prisoner who has served his sentence is usually not released; he is surrendered to the Gestapo for an indefinite term in one of the concentration camps, preferably Sachsenhausen or Buchenwald. Incurable hard cases are sent to Dachau…
French Pilot Glides Under the Arc de Triomphe
(Popular Mechanics, 1919)
A great picture of Lieutenant Charles Godefroy flying his Nieuport under the great arch of Paris during the Autumn of 1919. The stunt was performed three weeks after the French Victory parade that marked the end of the First World War and was intended to serve as a salute to the French pilots who died during the course of that blood bath.