Vanity Fair Magazine – Page 2 – Old Magazine Articles

The Training of American Blue Blooded Officers at Plattsburg
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1917)

A leaf torn from the chic pages of VANITY FAIR in which eight snap shots depict various high-profile New Yorkers absorbed in their officer training routine. The journalist opined:

The Business Man’s Camp at Plattsburg has accomplished several of it’s avowed objects. It has proved itself practicable. It has demonstrated that men of high standing in business, professional and social affairs are willing to make personal sacrifices for the country’s good. It has shown that American officers have made good use of lessons taught by the War, and have adapted their tactics to conform to modern exigencies. Finally, the Plattsburg camp has grounded a large number of intelligent Americans in the rudiments of warfare.

You can read an article about General Wood here.

The Lusitania Attack and the Violation of Naval Traditions
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1915)

Attached is a Vanity Fair article printed a few months after the Lusitania sinking in which the journalist listed the many and myriad explanations as to why this event was such a departure from the traditions of naval warfare set in place by John Paul Jones, Admirals Nelson and Dewey.

Click here to read read a 1919 German condemnation of Admiral Von Tirpitz.

The Steel Tennis Racket Makes It’s Appearance
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1922)

Although the steel tennis racket would not know true glory until Jimmy Connors used his Wilson T2000 in the 1970s, a big splash was made by William A. Larned (1872 – 1926; seven times champion of the U.S. Open) when he designed the Dayton Steel Racket in 1922. It wasn’t the first steel racket, but it was an improvement on the existing ones.

Mocking Ad Practices in the Early 20th Century
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1914)

In the attached Vanity Fair article, James Montgomery Flagg (1877 – 1960) had a good laugh at the hand that fed him: the New York advertising establishment.

Better remembered in our own time as the creator of the iconic I Want You for the U.S. Army poster (1917), Flagg was a prolific artist and one of the highest paid magazine and advertising illustrators of his day. As the era of mass-media advertising developed, Flagg didn’t just have a good seat on the fifty-yard line; he was a player on the field and he saw his work reproduced in all sorts of unlikely venues.

British Flappers
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1914)

Click here to read more articles about flappers.Read more …

Rea Irvin and the New York Home Front
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1915)

This cartoon pokes fun at the high cost of being charitable. Throughout much of World War One there was always the problem of what to do with the growing number of refugees and orphans -and the answer was never cheap. This drawing reveals a different Rea Irvin, but the drawing style for which he would be remembered is clearly emerging.

The German Occupation of Manhattan
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916)

The famed Conde Nast illustrator from days of old, Ann Fish, assumed the nom de guerre, Hello in order to impart to her well-fed audience the terror of German Prussianism. In this cartoon, she illustrated what a German invasion of Manhattan would look like.

The Returning Doughboys
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1919)

A piece of VANITY FAIR social satire concerning the returning American veterans of the World War I and how the industrial slaughter had changed them (as if such a thing could!).

‘Some Aspects of War Poetry by Siegfried Sassoon
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1920)

The following five page article was written by the World War One poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886 – 1967), in an attempt to give a rough outline of what the British poets did in the Great War, making every allowance for the fact that they were writing under great difficulty….

Farewell Woodrow Wilson
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1921)

Celebrated columnist Walter Lippmann (1889 – 1974) wrote this piece to mark the end of the Wilson administration (1912 – 1920) and usher-in that of Warren G. Harding (1865 – 1923).

Unlike the ink-slingers in ages to come, Lippmann had pleasant remarks to make regarding his presidency:

And I firmly believe that the historian who examines the state papers of Wilson up to November, 1918, will say, not only that they are in an unbroken line from Washington’s Farewell Address, but that it required something very like genius under the pressure and in the fog of a world war, to keep that line intact.

Click here to read about a dream that President Lincoln had, a dream that anticipated his violent death.

Read a 1951 profile of a future First Lady: the young Nancy Reagan.

Who Was Wilde’s Dorian Gray?
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1919)

One writer’s reminiscence of attending a London party and being introduced to Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) and the object of his affection, John Gray. The author insists, as has been documented in other places, that Gray was the model for Wilde’s character Dorian Gray:

Once at a Private View in the New Gallery, as I came downstairs, I came on Wilde, in the midst of his admirers, showing more than ever his gift of versatility. Seeing me he made a gesture, and as I went up he introduced me to John Gray, then in what is called ‘the zenith’ of his youth. The adventure was certainly amusing…

An additional article about Wilde can be seen here.

Click here to read a 1940s article about American sodomy legislation.

Ties, Waistcoats, Panama Hats & the Right Clothes for Summer Sports
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1921)

This article is very broad in it’s appeal; the fashion journalist did not simply cover the summer suit options available to the Well-Dressed Man of 1921 but also the tennis apparel, equestrian attire and the apropriate togs for slacking off at your favorite homo-phobic, sexist, anti-semetic and racist club.

Men’s Summer Clothing for 1915
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1915)

A look back at men’s jackets, both for the garden party as well as other antiquated leisure activities.

Man and Horse and Equestrian Clothing
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1918)

A smartly illustrated review of the the equestrian fashions for the year 1918. Various illustrated equestrian profiles are provided and brief attention is paid to the newest boots available at that time.

If you would like to read another article about men’s equestrian attire, please click here.

Equestrian Attire
(Vanity Fair Magazine 1916)

1916 was a poor year if you happened to be a German sailor off the coast of Denmark; it was a terrible year if you were in the infantry on the Somme or near Verdun but if you were an American man fond of horseback riding and you happened to have been shopping for the perfect riding suit on Madison Avenue, then OldMagazineArticles.com is quite certain that 1916 was a great year for you!

If you would like to read another article about men’s equestrian attire, please click here.

Car Design in 1922
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1922)

Five sketches of motor car designs which won cash prizes or honorable mention at the recent [1922] first annual ‘Body Builders’ Show in New York. In this competition were entered many leading custom body builders.

The Swing of Cecil Leitch
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1921)

Attached herein is a photographic study of the British golf champion Cecil Leitch (1891 – 1977) snapped with a high-speed, stop-motion camera. In nine black and white images depicting her drive from start to finish, we are able to gain an understand as to how she was able to win three British driving championships up until that time. She left the game after having won a total of twelve national titles; at the time of this printing, she was writing her first book: Golf (1922).

The Invincible Mrs. Mallory
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1922)

The Vanity Fair sports writer Fred Hawthorne was filled with high praise for tennis star Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (1884 – 1959):

To-day Mrs. Mallory’s backhand shots are on par with her famous forehand drive, and her all-around play has improved tremendously. She is a splendid volleryer, too, though not in our typical American style. Mrs. Mallory has won the national singles title five times and last August defeated Mlli. Suzanne Lenglen, of France, probably the most finished woman tennis player in the world.