editor – Page 94 – Old Magazine Articles

1945, PM Tabloid, POWs

70,000 American Prisoners of War
(PM Tabloid, 1945)

By editor / May 19, 2021

In a manly display of boastful trash-talking a few weeks before VE-Day, the over-burdened P.R. offices of the German high command issued a statement indicating that their military had in their possession some 70,000 U.S Prisoners of war. This was in contrast to the records kept by the Pentagon whose best guess stood in the neighborhood of 48,000.

The statement revealed that 27 of the 78 prisoner of war camps in Germany have been overrun by the Red Army and U.S./British forces, and that 15,000 Yanks have been liberated.

German-American Diplomatic Relations 1939 | U.S. and Germany Relations 1939

1939, Pathfinder Magazine

No, Joe Biden, U.S. Relations With Germany Were Bad Before W.W. II
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1939)

By editor / May 19, 2021

During the Presidential debate of October 22 (2020) Vice President Biden remarked that the American diplomatic corps made nice with Hitler up until the German invasion of Poland – the attached article from 1939 refutes this statement:

Eight months prior to the day when W.W. II would commence, diplomatic relations between Berlin and Washington got ugly; the carefully controlled German press declared that matters between the two camps were at their lowest point since 1917. Hitler’s diplomats demanded apologies and the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee clarified the American position by stating that the American people have a general dislike for Fascism. The Department of the Navy announced that it was expanding its presence in the Atlantic.

Who Was Missy Le Hand | FDR's Private Secretary Missy LeHand | 1938 Doris Fleeson Article on the FDR White House

1938, F.D.R., The Literary Digest

His Female Chief-of-Staff
(Literary Digest, 1938)

By editor / May 19, 2021

Missy Le Hand (1896 – 1944) was a pretty big deal in the life of President Franklin Roosevelt. FDR had many secretaries, but only one was a woman (and she was the first woman to ever serve in this capacity to a U.S. president). When the Germans attacked Poland, the State Department called her first, knowing full well that she was the only one in the White House with the permission to wake him up. Although this article lists many of the personal tasks she was charged with, it should be known that Missy Le Hand was the target of many Washington influence-peddlers.

1945, Weapons and Inventions, Yank Magazine

The Pershing M26 Tank
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

By editor / May 19, 2021

Although the the Pershing M26 didn’t get into the fighting in Europe until very late in the game (March, 1945), it was long enough to prove itself. This new 43-toner is the Ordnance Department’s answer to the heavier German Tiger. It mounts a 90-mm high-velocity gun, equipped with a muzzle-brake, as opposed to the 88-mm on a Tiger.

The M26 Pershing tank was the one featured in the movie, Fury (2014).

Bank Reform in the Great Depression | Reasons for Bank Reform in the Great Depression

1932, Pathfinder Magazine, The Great Depression

Reform The Banks!
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1932)

By editor / May 18, 2021

Eight months before the Congress passed the Glass–Steagall Act (aka the Banking Act of 1933) this unsigned editorial appeared in a Washington-based news magazine pointing out that the economic downturn in the country had created a need for such legislation.

Click here to read another 1932 article about the banks.

1945, Atomic Bombs, Yank Magazine

One of the First Letters to the Editor in Favor of the Bomb
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

By editor / May 18, 2021

Apparently the arguments that we still hear today concerning whether or not use of the Atomic Bomb in 1945 was justifiable popped-up right away. The following is a letter to the editor of Yank Magazine written by a hard-charging fellow who explained that he was heartily sick of reading the

-pious cries of horror [that] come from the musty libraries of well-fed clergymen and from others equally far removed from the war.

1950s Fashion, 1952, Holiday Magazine

Sweaters and Knits Elevated
(Holiday, 1952)

By editor / May 18, 2021

The new women’s sweaters will probably disappoint collectors of pin-up art. They are designed, oddly enough, to appeal to women – the women of taste and discrimination who will wear them.

1944, Weapons and Inventions, Yank Magazine

German Armor: Panzer III and IV
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

By editor / May 18, 2021

The attached two articles report on what the U.S. Army came to understand following the close examination of two German tanks: the Panzer III and Panzer IV.

The Panzer III was first produced in 1934 and the Panzer IV two years later; both tanks were used with devastating effect during the opening days of the Blitzkrieg on Poland, France and later the invasion of Russia. The developed a close and personal relationship with both during the North African campaign in 1943.

Click here to read about the German King Tiger Tank.

1937, Big Band 1930s-1940s, The Magazine of Art

George Gershwin: Tin Pan Alley and Beyond
(Magazine of Art, 1937)

By editor / May 17, 2021

An interesting two page article about George Gershwin (1898 – 1937), written within days of his death and filled with fascinating bits about his career, education and his instant popularity:

The Gershwin invasion of Tin Pan Alley came at a time when history was being made. The Broadway-Negro tradition that stemmed from Stephen Foster and the anonymous tune-smiths who wrote old minstrel shows, was being carried on by bards like Paul Dresser, Harry von Tilzer, and the amazing Witmark family. Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin labored in the Alley cubicles. Something called ragtime was in the air and jazz was about to be born.

1945, Japanese-American Service, Yank Magazine

Praise for the Nesei Regiment
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

By editor / May 17, 2021

A member of the 34th Infantry Division wrote to the editors of YANK to let all members of the Army know how much respect he had for the Nisei soldiers in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

1924, The Literary Digest, Women's Suffrage

Women Candidates Win Higher Offices
(The Literary Digest, 1924)

By editor / May 15, 2021

The majority of women being natural-born housekeepers, why shouldn’t the infinite details of a Governor’s office appeal to the female of the species?

This deep thought was put to the public by the inquisitive souls at The Birmingham News just four years after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote.

The attached article concerns the 1924 elections which saw many American women swept into high political offices all across the fruited plain; it lists all significant offices that would soon be held by women and clearly indicates that the year 1924 ushered in a new era in American political history.

Click here to read further about women in national politics.

In 1933 FDR named one of these women to serve as Director of the U.S. Mint…

1938, Magazines, Scribner's Magazine

Fortune
(Scribner’s Magazine, 1938)

By editor / May 15, 2021

Fortune is the world’s outstanding exponent of plush journalism. Its editors, long accustomed to prodigal expenditures, proudly talk of doing things ‘in the Fortune manner’. The Fortune manner may mean spending $12,000 on research for a single story. It means commissioning oil paintings of industrial tycoons for the sole purpose of reproduction in Fortune. It mean de luxe color gravure and high-priced writers…

1929, Abraham Lincoln, The Literary Digest

The Prophetic Dreams of Abraham Lincoln
(Literary Digest, 1929)

By editor / May 15, 2021

There are hundreds of stories concerning the life of President Lincoln. Some of them are true and some are not and we’ll leave it up to other websites to decide; among the stories told are the ones that tell the tale of a Lincoln who had dreams of foreboding, dreams that came to him in the night and told of his own demise:

Gradually she drove him into telling of his dream.

‘About ten days ago I retired late. I soon began to dream. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs…I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse, wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards, and there was a throng of people, some gazing mournfully…others weeping pitifully. ‘Who is dead in the White House?’ I demanded of one of the soldiers. ‘The President,’ was his answer. ‘He was killed by an assassin.’ Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd which awoke me from my from my dream.’

It was argued that slavery in the United States did not end in 1865…

1930s Fashion, 1937, The Literary Digest

The Invention of Rayon
(Literary Digest, 1937)

By editor / May 15, 2021

This magazine article reported on the Miracle Fabric of the 1930s: rayon – and rayon cannot be deleted from any study dealing with Thirties fashion any more than the word polyester can be separated from a discussion of 1970s fashion. The article presents a history of the fabric but makes it quite clear that the fabric was immediately embraced by all the fashion houses at that time.

Read about the 1930s revival of velvet.

Click here to read about feminine conversations overheard in the best New York bathrooms of 1937.

1938, Click Magazine, Cosmetic Surgery

Nose-Bobbing
(Click Magazine, 1938)

By editor / May 15, 2021

In the parlance of today it is politely called Rhinoplasty but back in the day, the verb bob was in use – which meant to cut short and no matter what you call the procedure, you’ll see that the gent pictured in this photo-essay needed a nose-job PRONTO!

1954, Gettysburg History, Pamphlet Produced by the National Park Service

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg
(National Park Service, 1954)

By editor / May 15, 2021

The weapons and tactics used at the Battle of Gettysburg were in no way different from those brought into use during other parts in the war. Just as war has always been practiced, weapons influence tactics and this article lists a variety of Civil War rifles and artillery pieces that were put to use during that three day battle. The author also goes to some length describing the manner in which Civil War regiments and brigades marched into battle and the deployment of their supporting artillery batteries.

1954, Gettysburg History, Pamphlet Produced by the National Park Service

The Battle of Gettysburg: Day Three
(National Park Service, 1954)

By editor / May 14, 2021

A clearly written piece which sums up the climactic third day of the Gettysburg battle:

Night brought an end to the bloody combat at East Cemetery Hill, but this was not the time for rest. What would Meade do? Would the Union Army remain in its established position and hold its lines at all costs?

1958, Civil War History, Pageant Magazine

‘Beginner’s Guide to the Civil War”
(Pageant Magazine, 1958)

By editor / May 14, 2021

As the one-hundredth anniversary of the War Between the States grew ever nearer, a Pulitzer Prize winning Civil War Historian, Bruce Catton, wrote the attached article concerning the overwhelming popularity that the nation was finding in their study of that remarkable contest:

The requirements for becoming a Civil War Buff are very simple. All you need is a desire to join. If you are interested in the Civil War, you’re in… You may get to the point where you want to join a Civil War Round Table. [Overtime] commonplace words like Appomattox and Antietam and Perryville take on a new meaning for you; a good deal of the monotony and routine of modern life somehow evaporates, as you escape into a period of profound and haunting significance.

All in all, it’s quite an experience.
Welcome to the Army!

Author name: editor