editor – Page 55 – Old Magazine Articles

Thanksgiving and Football
(The Stars and Stripes, 1918)

By editor / November 24, 2021

Peace was eleven days old when this column first appeared.
Anticipating Thanksgiving, 1918, The Stars & Stripes announced that football games, movies and assorted other forms of entertainment had been arranged by the American Red Cross in order to placate the eager American survivors of the First World War who simply wanted to get on those big boats and sail home.

As an expression of gratitude, numerous French families had volunteered to invite American soldiers and sailors to their homes to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.

Bad 1940 Movies | 1940 Hollywood Studios Fail To Attract Audiences

1940, Hollywood History, PM Tabloid

Failing To Attract An Audience
(PM Tabloid, 1940)

By editor / November 23, 2021

In spite of the incredible films that Hollywood churned out in 1939 – Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, it seemed that there were some folks in 1940 who just wouldn’t be satisfied. This completely irked the citizens of Hollywood. And so the editor of Variety dispatched pollsters hither and yon to ask why they
thought the movies stunk.

1959, Coronet Magazine, The Cold War

The Book that Shook the Kremlin
(Coronet Magazine, 1959)

By editor / November 23, 2021

How Pasternak’s Russian novel, Doctor Zhivago (1957), came to be published was not your standard bourgeois affair involving manuscripts sent by certified mail to charming book agents who host long, wet lunches – quite the contrary. As the journalist noted in the attached article: It is an intriguing story involving the duplicity of one Italian communist who gleefully deceived a multitude Soviets favoring that the work be buried forever.

1940, France, PM Tabloid

‘Guns On French Cliffs Shell British Ships
(PM Tabloid, 1940)

By editor / November 22, 2021

A British convoy in the Straits of Dover today ran the gauntlet of terrific cannonade of long range German artillery on the French cliffs from Calais to Boulogne. The spectacular Channel bombardment was witnessed by thousands on the Dover cliffs. They reported that none of the 18 ships in the British convoy appeared to have been hit.

American Opinions of the NEW DEAL 1933 | American Reaction to the Great Depression

1933, New Outlook Magazine, The Great Depression

The Unhappy Constituents
(New Outlook Magazine, 1933)

By editor / November 22, 2021

If President Roosevelt were a Caliph in ancient Baghdad, he would disguise himself as a Congressman and wander about the country asking the man at the filling station, the hitch-hiker, the farmer and his wife, the local chairlady of a woman’s club – he would ask them what they thought of FDR, the NRA, [General] Hugh Johnson, Brain Trusters, Jim Farley and the entire set-up in Washington… He would be startled. Mr Roosevelt is growing exceedingly unpopular – not so much the President himself as his Administration.

More about New Deal problems can be read here…

Americans All - Immigrants All Radio Program 1938 | Encouraging European Immigration

1938, Immigration History, Pathfinder Magazine

‘Americans All”
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1938)

By editor / November 22, 2021

In an effort to keep the writers and actors of the Works Progress Administration busy, FDR’s Department of the Interior produced a 26-part radio program intended to prove that America could never have become so great without the contributions of all the various hyphenated groups that make up the country. On Sunday afternoon throughout much of 1938, Americans could gather around their radios, if they had them, and hear their identity groups being praised by the Government: African-Americans tuned in on December 18th; the WASP show was on December fourth.

1930s Public Opinion in the USA | The Mood of The 1932 Presidential Election

1932, F.D.R., Look Magazine

The Temper of the Electorate
(The New Outlook Magazine, 1932)

By editor / November 22, 2021

Just weeks before the U.S. presidential election of 1932 this article appeared in a political magazine that indicated how the Depression-tossed voters were feeling after three years of economic set-backs. The article consists of 21 pithy little paragraphs that sum up their feelings:

I BELIEVE it possible to feel hungry under either major party, but that under the Republicans it seems to hurt more.

Click here to read about the extensive press coverage that was devoted to the death of FDR…

1917, The New York Times, Women (WWI)

A Woman War Worker Cartoon
(NY Times 1917)

By editor / November 20, 2021

Attached is a cartoon that was created during the third year of the First World War by a British cartoonist who feared that women have, through the years, been loosing their feminine mojo – that charming thing that truly separates them from the males of the species.

Erik Satie and Les Six 1921 | Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie 1921

1921, Eric Satie Articles, Vanity Fair Hall of Fame

Erik Satie and Les Six
(Vanity Fair, 1921)

By editor / November 20, 2021

This article was written by Erik Satie as a salute to six unique French composers who had been working in Montparnasse during the previous years.

To me, the New Spirit seems a return to classic form with an admixture of modern sensibility. This modern sensibility you will discover in certain ones of the Six -George Autic (1899 – 1983), Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963), Darius Milhaud (1892 – 1974)…

1918, U.S. Army Uniforms of World War One

A.E.F. Knit Uniform Accessories
(Fleisher’s Catalog, 1918)

By editor / November 20, 2021

Photographs from the W.W. I era Fleisher’s Knitting & Crochet Manual that depicted the variety of Quartermaster approved scarves, wristlets, helmets, sweaters and watch caps that were available to the Doughboys for service Over There. In some cases the knitting instructions are intact.

Some might be amused to see that the photographer’s stylist had used the 1902 blouse rather than the more suitable 1912 issue.

From Amazon: Fleisher’s Knitting & Crochet Manual

1930s Fashion, 1939, Click Magazine

Sunglasses Make Their Mark in the Fashion World
(Click Magazine, 1939)

By editor / November 20, 2021

Although sunglasses had slowly inched their way forward in popularity since the late Twenties, the attached article declared that by 1939 sunglasses were officially recognized as a full-fledged fashion accessory when the Hollywood stars Joan Bennet and Hedy Lamar began to sport them around town.

Like T-shirts and khaki pants, it would be W.W. II that would provide sunglasses with a guaranteed spot on fashion stage for the next sixty-five years.

Click here to read a 1961 article about Jacqueline Kennedy’s influence on American fashion.

Edward James Smythe American Fascist 1943 | Edward James Smythe Interview 1943

1943, American Fascism, PM Tabloid

The Bund-Klan Connection
(PM Tabloid, 1943)

By editor / November 19, 2021

Edward James Smythe, a whisky-guzzling old reprobate whose great sorrow is that Hitler is too merciful toward the Jews, has decided to tell all – if anybody will listen. Smythe called PM‘s city desk the other day and, after establishing his identity as the well-known American-bred tinhorn Fascist, now under indictment with 27 others on sedition charges, said:

‘Remember that joint meeting of the Klan and the Bund at Camp Nordland over in Jersey? Well I organized that…’

Leaders of the German-American Nazi Bund Arrested 1940

1940, American Fascism, PM Tabloid

New Jersey Law Nabs Top Bundists
(PM Tabloid, 1940)

By editor / November 19, 2021

In 1937 the elders of New Jersey passed a law that was tailor-made for the thugs of Camp Nordland. Knowing well who the Bundists were, the law clearly condemned

‘the unlawful assembly of three or more persons’ and ‘and the uttering of speeches, the sale of literature, display of emblems and uniforms which counseled… hatred, violence or hostility against groups of persons… by reason of race, color, religion or manner of worship.’

In 1940 the law netted a harvest of the three highest Bund leaders.

German-Americans and the Nazis | German-American Culture and 1930s Germany | German-Americans and Hitler

1941, American Fascism, Coronet Magazine

Adolf Hitler and the German-Americans
(Coronet Magazine, 1941)

By editor / November 19, 2021

This is a fascinating article not simply for what you’ll learn about Hitler, but for what you’ll additionally learn about the manner in which many Germans tended to view that queerest of hybrids, the German-Americans.

This article was written by Rene Kraus, who had been a German diplomat during the Wiemar Republic and a refugee under Hitler.

Click here to read about the German-Americans who called themselves Nazis.

Click here and you will learn that Kaiser Wilhelm was also bugged by German-Americans.

Arthur Derounian Article About American German Bund | 1930s American Fascist Groups | Monitoring German Bund in America

1944, American Fascism, Coronet Magazine

American Fascists Exposed
(Coronet Magazine, 1944)

By editor / November 19, 2021

This is a wonderful read. Writing under the name John Ray Carlson, the journalist Arthur Derounian (1909 – 1991) went under cover into the seedy world of American fascist organizations and discovered that they all spoke with each other. Having impressed the German Bundists, he moved quickly up the ranks of American fascism and was soon given the task of uniting every antisemitic, anti-democratic, pro-fascist clique in the country. Here is a list of some of the groups he was in contact with during his four years in the underground: America First, the American Vigilant Intelligence Federation, American Nationalist Party, Chicago Patriot’s Bureau, New England Christian Front, National Workers League, Detroit Mothers, American Mothers, Yankee Freeman and Mothers of the United States of America. He finally found himself in the company of Lawrence Dennis, a creepy book-worm who was known in those low circles as the dean of American fascism.

1945, Spying, Yank Magazine

O.S.S. Agents Executed by General Anton Dostler
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

By editor / November 19, 2021

On the evening of March 26, 1944, fifteen O.S.S. agents were executed following a failed raid on Italian soil to blow-up an Axis railroad tunnel. The sabotage mission was in support of the allied attack taking place further south at Monte Cassino (Battle of Monte Cassino, January 17, 1944 – May 19, 1944) and had the tunnel been successfully blown, supplies to the defending Germans would have been cut off.

This YANK article reported on the first war crime trial of the post World War Two era: the trial of German General Anton Dostler (1891 – 1945), who gave the order to execute the O.S.S. prisoners. In his defense, General Dostler insisted that he was acting under the orders of General Gustav von Zangen, who denied the claim.

1964, Coronet Magazine, Spying

Tales of the O.S.S.
(Coronet Magazine, 1964)

By editor / November 19, 2021

“He was all in gray: a gray suit and tie, gray hair and blue-gray eyes. He was about 60 years old, I judged, and thus seven or eight years my senior. He was not a military figure – but somewhat pear-shaped, with pudgy hands and a thickset neck. Powerful, I thought, but rather overweight.”
“His voice was a surprise – softspoken, beautifully modulated. ‘I’m Colonel Donovan…'”

WW2 OSS Operations | Wartime Intelligence Stories | OSS Magazine Article | The Secret Story of OSS by Corey Ford and Alastair MacBain Collier s Magazine article October 6 1945

1945, Collier's Magazine, Spying

The O.S.S.
(Collier’s Magazine, 1945)

By editor / November 19, 2021

This was more than likely the very first mainstream magazine article to address the vital contributions that the Office of Strategic Service made in beating the Axis powers. It appeared on the newsstands just about six weeks after the end of the Second World War and lists various key operations and triumphs that had heretofore been secret.

In 1940 OSS chief Donovan wrote an article about the German-American Bund, Click here to read it.

Author name: editor