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| Vogue - May 1933
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The Red Caps (Ken Magazine, 1938)
The history of the African American baggage handlers called Red Caps is a sad story in American social history. The Red Caps had been around since the 1890s and they were assigned the task of carrying luggage to and from trains and taxis; this article points out that in the Thirties, one of every three of them had a college degree:"Red Caps did not go to college to learn how to be Red Caps. Their problem is a racial one. To the white, a job toting luggage is a poor way to eke out an existence. To the black, red capping is one of the 'big' fields open. The white man who works as a porter can do nothing else, as a rule; the Negro almost invariably can do something else but can't get it to do." Dorie Miller was an African-American hero during the Second World War, click here if you would like to read about him.
| Decline of Religiosity Among 1920s College Women
The reporter who filed this 1922 article for LITERARY DIGEST was concerned with the secular world on college campi that was damaging the well-balanced minds of American women:"Woman is learning the same things that are taught to her brother; scientific theories destructive of the faith she imbued at home." The women are not doing their duty - they are giving too much time to outside interests - they are degenerating! Women smoking! Women drinking! Women preferring adventures and amusement to caring for families! The flapper - the short skirt - the lack of corsets..." Click here to read the review of a novel that dealt the feminist discomfort with Christianity.
| Harley J. Earl on Car Design (Gentry Magazine, 1956)
In the annals of automotive history, 1893 was unique: the first car
insurance policy was written, the first successful gas-fed vehicle in the U.S. was driven in Massachusetts and Harley J. Earl was born in California. This may not seem so remarkable at first glance, but whether we know it or not, when we praise 1950s American automotive design we are actually glorifying the fertile mind of Harley Earl.
Earl, as Vice-President of Design at General Motors, conceived of so many design elements that are associated with the era: tail-fins, wrap-around windshields and two-tone paint styling. In this article, written when he was at the top of his game, Harley Earl tells his readers what is involved in automobile design: "Shakespeare has told us 'neither a borrower nor a lender be'. An automobile stylist must be both. He must borrow his ideas from the creatures and creations of nature which are all about him..."
| A Census of Skyscrapers (Literary Digest, 1929)
Inspired by the 1929 completion of the Chrysler building, the curious souls who ran the New York offices of THE LITERARY DIGEST were moved to learn more about skyscrapers, both in New York as well as other parts of the U.S.: We were surprised to learn that as of 1929"50 percent of the buildings in New York from 10 to 20 stories and 60 percent of those over 20 stories are located between 14th and 59th streets." "There are 10 buildings in the country taller than 500 feet, and five others are in the course of construction. The highest is the Woolworth building, whose 792 feet has not been surpassed in sixteen years. This mantle of supremacy will pass this year to the Chrysler Building, which will rise 809 feet above the sidewalk..." The article also presents statistical data concerning the number of tall buildings that could be found throughout the 1920s United States.
| Broadway Theatre in the Forties (Yank Magazine, 1945)
An article about New York's Broadway theater scene during the Second World War:"Show people will never forget the year 1944. Thousands of men and women from the legitimate theater were overseas in uniform -actors and actresses, writers, scene designers, stage hands - and all looked back in wonderment at what war had done to the business... Letters and newspapers from home told the story. On Broadway even bad shows were packing them in..." Click Here to Read an Article About KKK Activity in New York City
| The War Movies for the Month of June (Click Magazine, 1943)
This printable list of war-themed movies indicates that Hollywood studio heads were all earning their commission stripes in 1943; attached you will find a list of film titles, stars and a one sentence synopsis of the plots.
Which Hollywood actors received draft deferments?
| FDR: Patriot, Statesman, & Glamorous Scenario Writer... (Coronet Magazine, 1947)
An article by one of the foot soldiers of famed silent movie producer Adolf Zukor, in which she recalled a time in 1923 when the future president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, mailed an unsolicited photoplay (ie. script) to their offices in hopes of securing some measure of Hollywood immortality. Recognizing that this was a man with tremendous power, Zukor instructed her to let him down gently; twenty years later FDR would chuckle about his ambitions with her at a White House party.
| The Birth of Hollywood Filmmaking (America, 1932)
2012 Anno Domini marks the 100th anniversary of the Hollywood film industry. With this in mind it is entirely fitting and proper that we post this thumbnail history that outlines how it all got rolling, as told by the jaded Robert Sherwood, an early film critic who witnessed much of it.
Hollywood history begins with four men: Jesse Lasky, Sam Goldwyn, Cecil B. DeMille, Dustin Farnum and a silent film called "The Squaw Man"...
| Manhattan During Wartime (Yank, 1945)
This is a three page article concerning the city of New York from YANK's on-going series, "Home Towns in Wartime".
The YANK correspondent, Sanderson Vanderbilt, characterized Gotham as being "overcrowded" (in 1945 the population was believed to be 1,902,000; as opposed to the number today: 8,143,197) and I'm sure we can all assume that today's New Yorkers tend to feel that their fore-bearers did not know the meaning of the word. New York was the home base of Yank Magazine and this article presents a young man's view of that town and the differences that he can recall when he remembers it's pre-war glory (Sanderson tended to feel that the city looked a bit "down-at-the-heel"). Click here if you would like to read an article about the celebrations in New York the day World War Two ended. Read a VANITY FAIR article about New York during W.W. I-
| A Word on New York Waiters (Stage Magazine, 1939)
Waiters are to New York City what lobbyists are to Washington and celebrated illustrator, author and all-around foodie Ludwig Bemelmans (1898 – 1962) had some thoughts on this very diverse group:"New York is full of waiters, Chinese, American, Congo, French, Italian and German waiters, Jewish and Christian waiters, Vegetarian and Greek waiters, many good waiters, many bad waiters." Click here to read an article by Benny Goodman concerning the arrival of Swing on Park Ave.
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