For the Promotion of Good Manners (Literary Digest, 1900)Americans of the mid-Nineteenth Century who entertained any social ambitions at all were totally at a loss as to how they might find their place in the business world, much less the swank and pomp of polite society, if they were without any understanding as to the manners required to open these doors. Unable to benefit from such T.V. shows as "Dallas" or "Dynasty" and finding that Emily Post was no where in view, they found a reliable ally in a collection of pamphlets briefly published by the firm of Beadle & Adams.
Why Men Don't Like Going to Church (Literary Digest, 1900)Assorted reasons were put forth in the attached article from 1900 as to why the Christian male prefers to remove himself from the pews every Sunday; here is one:
"If we consider the minister, and his power in the pulpit, sincerity must be at the heart of all that comes from him. Men are drawn by earnestness and honesty, and frankness, more than by beauty and the fragrance of flowers. Truth is what man wants, not the straining after effect, which results in verboseness, for he will come only to hear the unvarnished truth, red-hot from a courageous heart."
Click here to read a 1929 article on the same exact topic. ''Southern Opinions on Negro Suffrage'' (Literary Digest, 1900) ''Virginia and Negro Suffrage'' (Literary Digest, 1900) France, Germany & Alsace-Lorraine (Literary Digest, 1900)A printable article that illustrated the sensitive diplomatic status existing between France, Britain and Germany in 1900 when France was still smarting from their humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian War; recently allying themselves with Imperial Russia, Germany felt extremely ill at ease. The kaiser's diplomats remarked openly that Britain, as the abusive tormentors of the Boer farmers in South Africa, were not likely to be on friendly terms with Germany any time soon. ''Rise and Fall of the Dime Novel'' (Literary Digest, 1900)Although the dime novel was in full swing as a popular form of mass literature in 1900, the journalist titled this article as he did because the genre was undergoing so many changes at the time, departing from it's original format. A short history of the dime novel is provided with an emphasis on it's "classic period" spanning the years 1860 through 1870:
Some references are also made to the work of the Beadle and Adams bookkeeper, George Munro, who completely changed the direction of the dime novel when he took up the pen in 1865.
''Is It Worth While to Educate the Negro?''
(Literary Digest, 1900)This column discusses a public address that got a lot people talking back in 1900. Charles Dudley Warner (1829 - 1900) was an honored man back in his time - even today he is celebrated with a website that has preserved his better quotes - but non of those citations were pulled from the controversial speech that is remembered here. In his address as president of the American Social Science Association, Warner openly called into question the usefulness higher education for African-Americans. The news of his prattle soon spread like a prairie fire and thousands of editorials were set to newsprint. Three eloquent responses appear here, one was by the (white) editor of a prominent African-American paper, The New York Age. The Need for French Military Glory (Literary Digest, 1900)Appearing on newsstands fourteen years prior to the outbreak of the First World War was this small piece from THE LITERARY DIGEST declaring that the thirst for military glory was woven into the very fiber of the French Republic: "Not within the memory of living men has France been the mistress of continental Europe; yet the memory of her military glory is still vivid among her people, and the expressions of many of her writers show that she has not given up her proud preeminence."
"Revenge for Sedan is a sentiment necessary to our national existence."
Click here to read a 1912 article about the expansion of the Imperial German Navy.
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