Canada Steps Up for Britain
In 1939, “Canada wisely decided that she could become an ideal training center for pilots and airmen generally. Canada could […]
1940, Collier's Magazine, World War Two
The Mad Plaid of 1940
(Collier’s Magazine, 1940)
Fashion writer Henry Jackson had a few words to say concerning the importance of Glen Plaid in men’s fashions during the Fall of 1940.
Spotlight on the Secret Service
(United States News, 1963)
“The chief responsibility of the U.S. Secret Service is to guard the life of the President… In Dallas, on November 22, a sniper hidden in an office building shot and killed President John F. Kennedy… It was the first time since the Secret Service took over its protective mission 62 years ago that a President had been harmed.”
‘The Girl Who Struck-Out The Babe
(Coronet Magazine, 1959)
This article tells the tale of a 17 year-old, left-handed girl pitcher from the Volunteer State who swore that all she wanted to do in life was strike-out Babe Ruth – and she did (and Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri).
The War in Northern Finland
(Liberty Magazine, 1940)
When Stalin decided to mess with the Finns in 1939 he failed to take into consideration one demographic that was accustomed to blood, and that was the seal hunters of Finland. Upon hearing of the invasion, these men immediately burned their houses and turned their rifles away from the seals, toward the Soviets. Liberty war correspondent Edward Doherty (1890 – 1975) witnessed much of the fighting.
Stockings for Movie Stars
(Coronet Magazine, 1944)
$2,500.00 stockings, anyone? (in today’s currency, that would be $41,519.00) This is the story of Hollywood’s go-to-guy for outrageously priced, beautifully tailored silk hosiery. Unbelievable.
”It’s Fun to be a Jew”
(Liberty Magazine, 1957)
Abraham L. Feinberg (1899 – 1986) was a good man and a remarkable rabbi. Born in the United States and practicing his vocation in the snowy-north of Canada, he contributed the attached article to Liberty Magazine in order to explain that Jews are not too terribly different from their gentile neighbors, and the Rabbi did it in a charming, light-hearted manner that made us want to read more:
“We have been trained to inquire. As the old story relates, a Gentile once prodded his Jewish friend: ‘Why do you people always answer a question with a question?’ And the answer came swift; there was just time enough for a hunched shoulder: ‘And why not?'”
”My First Jump
(Sir! Magazine, 1942)
“I can’t help but feel it’s all a dream. What am I doing up here… I vaguely remember leaping out the door before I knew or realized it. My static line hooked up to the cable on the plane, pulled the cover off my chute. Then, when the weight of my body hit the extended line, the connection broke and I fell free… This is where all our wits are needed – my life depends on it…”
The Nazi Spy Factories
(Collier’s Magazine, 1943)
“From businesslike German schools come the professional spy and the saboteur – cunning, ruthless, superbly trained for their specific tasks. They’ll be hard to stop, says Mr. Hoover, and catching them – in time – is a job in which every American can give the FBI a hand.”
They Gave Their All for the Troops
(Liberty Magazine, 1945)
This is one of the more enjoyable reads on the site. Published during the Summer of 1945, with the war in Europe over and the Japanese capitulation only six weeks away, the Liberty editors saw fit to run an article that recalled the absolute devotion that so many USO performers displayed again and again in order to guarantee that American military personnel abroad was fully entertained and amused – no matter their proximity to the enemy.
The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League
(Click Magazine, 1938)
The Los Angeles of the late Thirties was plagued by a small coterie of Nazis; they were not terribly visible, but they were around, nonetheless. From time-to-time real Fascists from Europe would blow into town and they would be met by such groups as the Jewish Labor Committee, the United Anti-Nazi Conference and the Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee. This article concerns another organization that worked shoulder to shoulder with these groups, but with a little more style: the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League. The League was 5,000 strong (likely an exaggeration) and within its ranks were Hollywood notables such as Herbert Biberman, Robert Rossen, Francis Edward Faragoh, Ring Lardner, Jr. and Dalton Trumbo.
The First Ten Years of Passenger Air Travel
(Click Magazine, 1938)
In the wake of numerous air disasters involving the nascent passenger airlines, this article was produced to show readers that with each crash, steps were taken to make each flight safer. In 1938, the Federl Government stepped in and established the Civil Aeronautics Authority.
”If Lincoln Were in the White House”
(Liberty Magazine, 1936)
By cleverly borrowing from the state paper, letters and speeches of the Great Emancipator, a journalist from the usually pretty anti-New Deal Liberty Magazine was able to piece together a few paragraphs indicting
what they hoped Lincoln would think of the New Deal.
H.L. Mencken on the Brain Trust
(Liberty Magazine, 1934)
“The Brain Trust has devised a number of schemes for getting money away from the fellows who accumulated it during the Golden Age of Coolidge, and some of those schemes are working…”
U.S. General Benjamin Oliver Davis
(Coronet Magazine, 1944)
Civil Rights leader Walter White (1893 – 1955) recognized an historic moment when he saw one: during the summer of 1944 he wrote about the first African-American general – Benjamin O. Davis (1912 – 2002; West Point ’36):
“He had endured snubs because of his color and seen less able men promoted over his head without complaint. Some soldiers of his own race charge that he is not as militant as they think he should be in redressing their grievances. Non of this disturbs him.”
The British Six-Pounder
(PM Tabloid, 1942)
“Six-pounder guns are being turned out in large numbers in one of the Royal Ordnance factories in England. Most of the workers who make them are women. The gun is highly mobile and is said to have a high rate of fire and remarkable armor penetration.”