Color Styling and the Cars of the Fifties (Gentry Magazine, 1956)A 1956 article by Eugene Bordinat (1920 - 1987), one of Detroit's grand old men of automotive design; during his reign at Ford, Bordinat oversaw the styling of such cars as the Mustang and the Falcon: "The average American likes to think that he is an independent thinker and a rugged individualist, while actually he is closer to a sheep and follows the herd. He resists change. He wants just enough change in cars so his neighbors will know it is the latest model, but not so much that he has to explain to his friends why he bought the strange contraption...The stylist must consider these factors when he out-lines his advanced thinking on trim and color...he must be sure that the scheme isn't so radical that it will frighten the color-timid public."
The Depression and Humor of President Lincoln (National Park Service, 1956)This 1956 article addressed the issue of Lincoln's depression:
"Lincoln's story telling proclivities were well known in his own time. On the old eighth circuit in Illinois his humor and fund of anecdotes were proverbial. What was not so well known was that the tall, homely man needed a blanket of humor to suppress the fires of depression, gloom, and sense of tragedy that almost consumed him".
Click here to read about Lincoln, the joke teller.
The Fall of Seoul (Dept. of the Army, 1956)"The very first engagement of the conflict, when the North Koreans crushed South Korean defenses at the 38th parallel, demonstrated the superiority of the North Korean Army. On June 28, three days after the opening attack, a tank/infantry force leading the main North Korean thrust entered Seoul... In the face of the onslaught, the South Korean Army retreated, leaving most of its equipment behind. Whatever effectiveness it may have possessed was already lost." The Life and Death of Hank Williams (Coronet Magazine, 1956)Country Music legend Hank Williams (1923 - 1953)
died just four and a half months after being kicked out of the Grand Ol' Opry for drunken and erratic behavior. He was at the peak of his fame, earning over $200,000 a year and enjoying the enthusiasm of ten million fans in the U.S. and five million abroad. He was 29 years old and known only for 35 songs. The attached article will let you in on the short and painful life of country music's fair haired boy.
Like many artists, his creativity was nurtured by an empty stomach. Hank Williams was raised under dreadfully impoverished conditions in Depression era Alabama; suffering from spinal bifida, the illness that eventually overcame him, he sought relief from the pain with liquor and drugs and died in the back of the Caddy that was ferrying him to a gig in Canton Ohio.
Styling the Fifties (Gentry Magazine, 1956)A one page essay by automobile-stylist William H. Graves, a former Vice President and Director of Engineering at the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. "Two years ago a new product philosophy was approved at Packard which gave the engineering department a green light that had not been on since 1935. This enabled us to set up a program to style future cars for the luxury field...The Packard program was launched in October, 1952, with the formation of a new styling group of young men, whose average age was 28. An advanced design section and a special section to experiment with plastics as a possible material for both parts and dies were established." Click here to read the obituary of J.M. Studebaker. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (National Park Service, 1956)Here is the brief text to President Lincoln's very eloquent second inaugural address, that was delivered during the closing weeks of the Civil War. The Atomic Bomb (Dept. of the Army, 1956)In ten lines the U.S. Army history section succinctly outlined Japan's grim situation and the events that led up to the dropping of the bomb: "By the summer of 1945 it was obvious to most responsible leaders in Japan that the end of the war was near. For the first time those who favored ending the war came out in the open and in June, Japan sent out peace feelers through the Soviet Union. The rejection of the Potsdam Declaration of 26 July, however, sealed the doom of Japan..."
Click here to read an article about American public opinion during the early Cold War years The Lincoln - Douglas Debates: Defining Slavery (National Park Service, 1956)"The Republican Party, which developed rapidly as a new political force following the enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 1854, gathered its strength chiefly from those who opposed the extension of slavery into the territories. In the Lincoln - Douglas Debates this issue was paramount. Perhaps nowhere can a more concise and explicit statement of the position of the Republican Party on this issue be found than in Mr. Lincoln's opening speech at Quincy [Illinois] in the sixth of the joint debates". ''School Crises in Dixie'' (American Magazine, 1956)"Not since the Civil War has the nation faced such an explosive situation as it will when public schools in the South open their doors next month. In a plea for tolerance, sympathy and understanding in the South as well as the North, Pulitzer Prize award winning journalist Virginius Dabney (1901 - 1995) analyzes and interprets a problem serious to Americans in every section of the country." 18th Century Christmas Grogs (Gentry Magazine, 1956)Attached, you will find the preferred brandy-based drink recipes of three outstanding Virginians: Nathaniel Bacon, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. General Grant Recalled Meeting Lincoln (National Park Service, 1956)A short paragraph from General Grant's memoir recalling the "the first private interview with President Lincoln, on the occasion in the early spring of 1864 when he was given command of all the Federal armies." "In my first interview with Mr. Lincoln alone he stated to me that he had never professed to be a military man or to know how campaigns should be conducted..."
Click here to read about a dream that President Lincoln had, a dream that anticipated his violent death.
The Military Results of the Korean War (Dept. of the Army, 1956)Attached is an article concerning a page from American Military History and it outlines the losses and gains of the Korean War (1950 - 1953). In five sentences this article gives the number of American dead and wounded, the number of U.N. dead and wounded and the amount of ground lost to the Chinese and North Korean military; a map of the stabilized front is provided. Lincoln Remembered (National Park Service, 1956) Shortly after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, William H. Herndon (1816 - 1891), Lincoln's law partner, devoted much of his life to collecting as much original source material on the man as he could possibly find. Indeed, scholars have pointed out that there never would have been an accurate word written about Lincoln if not for the efforts of Herndon. The following description of Lincoln is from a lecture delivered by Herndon in 1865.
1863: The Importance of Chattanooga and East Tennessee
(National Park Service, 1956)Situated where the Tennessee River passes through the Cumberland Mountains, forming gaps, Chattanooga was called the "Key to East Tennessee" and "Gateway to the deep South." The possession of Chattanooga was vital to the Confederacy, and a coveted goal of the Northern armies. Chattanooga's principal importance during the Civil War was it's position as a railroad center.
Click here to print American Civil War chronologies. Early Cold War Events: 1948 - 1956 (Dept. of the Army, 1956)Attached herein is an essay written during the mid-Fifties that briefly summarizes the primary global events spanning the end of World War II through 1955 which set the stage for that period in Twentieth Century history called the Cold War: the global containment of Soviet expansion.
Click here to read about espionage during the Cold War.
When Grant Met Lincoln for the First Time (National Park Service, 1956)A short paragraph from General Grant's memoir recalling the "the first private interview with President Lincoln, on the occasion in the early spring of 1864 when he was given command of all the Federal armies: "In my first interview with Mr. Lincoln alone he stated to me that he had never professed to be a military man or to know how campaigns should be conducted, and never wanted to interfere in them..."
Click here to read about General Grant's Chief of Staff, General John Rawlins. The Lincoln - Douglas Debates Observed (The National Park Service, 1956)These four paragraphs first appeared on the pages of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE and were written by a reporter named of Horace White at the conclusion of Lincoln - Douglas debates of 1858. The journalist did a fine job in describing the excitement at the debates and the spirit of the participating candidates. "Douglas ended in a whirlwind of applause...and Lincoln began to speak in a slow and rather awkward way. He had a thin tenor, or rather falsetto voice, almost as high pitched as a boatswain's whistle".
The debates resulted in a close election that returned Douglas to the U.S. Senate and Lincoln to his law practice. Abraham Lincoln: The Boy (National Park Service, 1956)Following the death of his mother, Nancy Hanks, the future president was but six years old. Lincoln's father, Thomas Lincoln, then married Sarah Bush and the family moved to Indiana. The Lincoln family was poor and suffered hardships living in the Indiana wilderness but a bond was created between stepmother Sarah and the boy Abraham that was never broken. From the age of nine and throughout the rest of his life Lincoln would call her, "Mother".
These are the tender memories of his boyhood that she called to mind just five months after the assassination. VJ-Day + 11 Years (Collier's Magazine, 1956)"The new Japan is fermenting a mash of new ideas and old customs. It is mixing political democracy with feudal loyalties, free enterprise with giant monopolies, and several shades of Marxism with a hankering for the good old days. The nation that once meekly did what a handful of leaders told it to do is now outspokenly divided on every major issue... For seven Occupation years the Japanese had no choice of sides. We ran the country and fed them slabs of democracy sandwiched between $2,500,000,000 worth of relief and rehabilitation. Japan enjoyed our help and even digested a good deal of the democracy. But when the Occupation lid came off in 1952 it revealed a country weary of being told what to do, curious to taste the forbidden fruit behind the bamboo curtain and relishing its authority over the foreigners who had been giving it orders for so long." Shirley MacLaine at 22 (Modern Screen, 1956)Arriving in Hollywood by way of "The Trouble with Harry" in 1955, and cute as buttons - Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934) was the adopted "little sister" of the Rat Pack, that odd movie star whose sensitive skin burned too easily in the California sun and one of the few starlets who was actually capable of sewing her own clothes. William Holden (Coronet Magazine, 1956)The attached profile of actor William Holden (1918 – 1981) appeared in print when his stock was about to peak.
When the summer of 1956 rolled around, Holden was already a double nominee for a BAFTA ("Picnic"), an Oscar ("Sunset Boulevard") and was the grateful recipient of an Academy Award for Best Actor one year earlier ("Stalag 17"). In 1957 his performance in the "Bridge on the River Kwai" would bring even more pats on the back (although the Best Actor statue would go to Alec Guinness).
This five page interview tells the story of Holden's initial discovery in Hollywood, his devotion to both the Screen Actor's Guild and Paramount Pictures. His Hollywood peers held him in especially high-regard:
"In a poll of Hollywood reporters recently he was designated 'the best adjusted and happiest actor around'"; by contrast, the same poll identified Humphrey Bogart as a total pain in the keister - click here to read that article.
THE RETURN OF THE RACCOON COAT (Gentry Magazine, 1956)Fads like ukulele strumming and flagpole sitting have not been seen on college campi since the 1920s - but the undergraduates in 1956 did adopt one fashion element from the Twenties - their father's raccoon coats.
Click here to read about the Ivy League look for 1953. Leaving Hollywood (Collier's Magazine, 1956)Here is a short, well illustrated article about the love shared between Grace Kelly and Prince Rainnier III:
"I don't think I've ever seen two people who looked more in love. Every time I turned around to change film or grab another camera, they'd start whispering, holding hands... like any just-engaged couple. Pretty romantic." ''The Dictator and his Woman'' (Coronet Magazine, 1956)The article attached herein is oddly titled The Dictator and his Woman; a more apt title would have been "The Woman and her Dictator"
"From the start, the relationship between Peron and Evita was a curious and contradictory liason. It is true that she was still a struggling actress when Peron met her, but she had achieved a considerable reputation for spreading her favors around with a sharp eye to the future,"
Read about Fascist Argentina...
Read about the post-war Nazi refuge that was Argentina... The Fabulous Brazil Nuts (Coronet Magazine, 1956)In 1956 the editors of CORONET Magazine saw fit to print this three page history of the Brazil nut; a fruit that has been popular in much of Europe for centuries but seldom known by the Brazilians or their neighbors:
"The Brazil nut is the world's most fabulous nut, fabulous in the manner of its growth, its gathering, its distribution and the perils associated with bringing it out of the Amazon jungle where it thrives."
"The nut has been consistently exported to Great Britain, Germany and other European countries since 1633. After W.W. II, a large share of the annual crop was shipped to the United States, as well, where the raw nuts were shelled and reshipped throughout the world." San Francisco: 1906 (Collier's Magazine, 1956)These historic pen portraits were compiled and re-worked for publication some fifty years after the San Francisco Earthquake; together they serve to illustrate the collective, yet individual, acts of suffering and heroics that took place April 18, 1906:
"On the front steps of an abandoned house she had seen a young Chinese mother nursing a baby. The mother's face was besmirched, and drawn with weariness. Her own child slept in swaddling blankets beside her. The child on her breast was white." The Beau (Gentry Magazine, 1956)Widely remembered as the best dressed man of the Nineteenth Century, Beau Brummell, (né George Bryan Brummell 1778 - 1840), set the standard for male sartorial splendor and as a result, his name
liveth ever more.
The attached men's fashion article was written at a time when American leisure wear was going through it's birth pangs and slovenly attire was on the rise all over the fruited plain; it was thoroughly appropriate for the editors of GENTRY MAGAZINE to print this article which not only examined the clothing philosophy of the Beau but also paid heed as to which actors portrayed him on screen (oddly, there was no mention made whatever as to who the various costume designers were). "He dressed simply, without ornamentation. What was it then that set him apart so ostentatiously from the crowd? What made him the best dressed man of the century? The answer lies not, as history has decided, in his clothes. It lay entirely in the way he wore them."
A further study of Dandies can be found here...
A Brief History of Pepper in America (Coronet Magazine, 1956)Told in this three page article is the story concerning the rise of the global pepper trade and the subsequent spread of that spice throughout the kitchens of the world: "Although Americans use more than one third of the world's annual supply of nearly 90,000,000 pounds, it has been estimated that the average American family shakes only 7.1 ounces into their food a year. The balance is used by the makers of baked and canned goods, and meat-packing houses." Abe Lincoln: Short Story Writer... (Gentry Magazine, 1956)Reagan was the first actor to become president, Buchanan the first tailor, Jefferson the first architect and Abraham Lincoln was the first writer to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:
"The world has long known that Lincoln liked an occasional back-room story. Here is the only record - in his own handwriting - of that earthy side of the Great Emancipator." The Berlin Blockade: A Definition (R.O.T.C. Handbook, 1956)In his 1989 book, Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby , author Phillip Knightley pointed out that when the Soviet spy Philby, stationed in Washington, discovered that the U.S. had no atomic bombs on hand, Stalin soon gave the order to commence the blockade of the German capital. That said, here is a two paragraph essay briefly explaining what the 1948 Berlin Blockade was and how the Anglo-American masters of West-Germany dealt with the issues at hand:
"Soviet counter-action to American efforts to rebuild the European economy came swiftly. Besides rejecting participation in the program the Soviets, in October 1947, announced the organization of a permanent committee for coordinating the activities of the Communist parties in Europe...By June 1948 the Russians had cut off all land and water traffic with Berlin and the only means of entry was by air." Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (Coronet Magazine, 1956)An exceptional article about Fiorello LaGuardia (1882 – 1947), who is remembered to have been one of the great mayors of New York City (1934 - 1945). Written by a fellow who knew him well, you get a sense of his energy, humor and strong sense of civic duty:
"At exactly midnight on January 1, 1934, Fiorello H. LaGuardia took the oath of office as Mayor of New York City. At exactly one minute after midnight, he ordered the arrest of the most notorious gangster in town: Lucky Luciano. This jet-propelled momentum never let up during the next 12 years."
The article is composed of a series of anecdotes that clearly illustrate his humanity, making you feel somewhat at a loss for never having known him yourself.
Even today, LaGuardia's memory is so revered that New Yorkers conveniently forget that he was a Republican.
Click here to read about the NYC air-raid wardens of W. W. II... •Watch a Film Clip of Mayor LaGuardia reading the Dick Tracy Comic Strip Over the Air During the 1945 Newspaper Deliveryman's Strike• John Hay Recalls Lincoln (National Park Service, 1956)"John Hay (1838 - 1905), formerly one of Lincoln's private secretaries, wrote out some of his recollections of Lincoln's daily personal and official habits as President. "He was very abstemious, ate less than anyone I know. Drank nothing but water, not from principle, but because he did not like wine or spirits." Hay was in Paris serving as Secretary of United States Legation when he wrote the letter, about a year and a half after Lincoln's death".
The conduct of the war contributed mightily to Lincoln's rapidly aging appearance. Look at this photo-essay examining his facial decay year by hear: click here.
Lincoln's Address at Cooper Union (The National Park Service, 1956)Before his 1860 address at the Cooper Institute (presently known as Cooper Union) Abraham Lincoln "was known in the East chiefly as a rather obscure western lawyer who had gained some prestige a little over a year earlier in the debates with Douglas during the Illinois senatorial contest. The day after the address Horace Greeley's NEW YORK TRIBUNE remarked:
"No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience".
"This speech put within Lincoln's grasp a chance for the Presidency".
Attached, you will find his very powerful conclusion to the address.
Click here to read about the Confederate conscription laws.
N.AT.O. Established (Dept. of the Army, 1956)Attached is a printable page from an R.O.T.C. primer concerning American Military History outlined the events of 1948 that created the need for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.). "This pact, called the North Atlantic Treaty, united Great Britain, the United States, and ten western European nations in a common security system. Approved by the Senate in April 1949, the treaty provided for mutual assistance, including the use of armed force in the event of a Soviet attack upon one or more of the signatory powers." The Two Korean Armies Compared (Dept. of the Army, 1956)This single page analysis of the North Korean People's Army and the Army of South Korea will clue you in pretty quickly as to why President Truman hastened to get the necessary beans, bullets and band-aids delivered to the South as quickly as he did. This comparison, written by the U.S. Army History Section, clearly indicates that the North Korean force was intended to be an offensive army; well-equipped and fast-a-foot; the army of the South, by comparison, was intended (for some unexplained reason) to fight limited engagements - rather than prolonged, corps sized campaigns.
It was no surprise to the assorted military insiders of the world when the South Korean capital of Seoul was seized three days into the war. Harley Earl on Car Design (Gentry Magazine, 1956)Few realize that when we applaud the tremendous style that went into so much of the design of 1950s American cars, we are actually praising the fertile mind of Harley J. Earl (1893 – April 10, 1969):
Earl, who served as the Vice-President of Design at General Motors, conceived of so many design elements that are associated with that period, such as wrap-around windshields, tail-fins and two-tone paint styling. In the attached 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..."
*See the Stylings of Harley Earl in this Terrific Film Clip* Levi Strauss and his Denim (Coronet Magazine, 1956)The attached piece was written in the shadows of W.W. II - a time when Levi Strauss' famous blue jean fabric was not simply being woven for the 12,000,000 souls in the U.S. military, but also the civilian war-workers who donned jean overalls and found them ideal for the heavy, industrial labor that they faced each day.
As if this wasn't enough to keep the factories of Levi Strauss & Co. humming happily, the American teenagers also discovered blue jeans in the around the same time and have been devoted to them ever since. The author of this article could never have known that the social revolution that made the name "Levi" a household word all across the globe was only nine years away.
Read About the History of the T-Shirt
An article about 1940s denim can be read here...
The ICBM (Collier's Magazine, 1956)"The U.S. and Russia are engaged in a race whose outcome may determine the course of history. The goal: development of the most frightful weapon conceived by man - a virtually unstoppable 16,000-mph intercontinental ballistic missile that can drop a hydrogen warhead on a city 5,000 miles away. At stake is not only the security of the free world , but our position as the world's most technological and industrial power." The Grand Cognac Taster (Gentry Magazine, 1956)Here is an article from GENTRY MAGAZINE on the delightful day and high expectations of a French cognac taster: "This is how it works: each morning, from about ten o'clock until lunch, at one, the taster receives in his office those farmers and distillers who have come to offer him samples of their cognac. The taster has eaten only a very small breakfast hours before. His stomach is practically empty...The taster never fills the glass with cognac, for that way the bouquet is lost . Instead, he pours in the cognac until the glass is one-third or at most half filled. Then he turns the glass so that the cognac is twirled in the glass and it's vapors mix even more with the air of the glass..."
A fascinating read. Lobster Recipes (Gentry Magazine, 1956)This summer calls for some thought on that most succulent of all shellfish: lobster.
Attached herein are three easy recipes, not for quick preparation and fast dining, but rather for more leisurely days or evenings following a day on the beach. Traveling to the Lincoln - Douglas Debate (National Park Service, 1956)Stephen Douglas (1813 – 1861), Lincoln's Democratic rival in the contest for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois, was a popular figure with a great deal of political capitol who enjoyed wide spread fame throughout much of the fruited plain; this all contributed to a robust ego which would not suffer anything less than traveling to the debates in a grand style. By contrast, "Honest Abe" traveled in economy class, packed among the masses (although as a railroad lawyer, he certainly could have afforded better). This short paragraph (accompanied by a photograph of both men) was written by a friend of Lincoln who recalled his train ride with the (losing) candidate as he made his way to Ottawa, Illinois, the site of the first debate. Humphrey Bogart and his Feud with the Hollywood Press (Pageant Magazine, 1956)"There was a time, Humphrey Bogart maintains, when he saw all interviewers and tried to answer all questions put to him..."
"But I can't take it anymore, I've had to cut the fan magazines off my list entirely. Just the sheer smell of them drives me crazy. They smell of milk. The interviewers themselves treat you like a two-year-old child with their will-Debbie-marry-Eddie and can-Lance-Fuller-live-without-a-wife kind of idiocy. You know the whole sorry groove of the thing."
You can read about David Niven HERE
Summing Up the Aisne-Marne Offensive (Dept. of the Army, 1956)This printable page from an R.O.T.C. manual concerns the American military efforts in World War I.
Attached is a useful summation in three paragraphs of the Aisne-Marne offensive. The reader will learn which American and French units participated, the dates on which the battle raged and the German defense strategy. "The battle had numerous and far reaching results. It eliminated the German threat to Paris, upset Ludendorff's cherished plan to attack the British again in Flanders, gave the Allies important rail communications, demonstrated beyond further doubt the effectiveness of American troops on the offensive, firmly established Allied unity of command..." | 
