Alice Chamalian – A New Yorker State of Mind

Road Warriors

Above: 1936 Vanderbilt Cup program cover and the winner of the race, Italy's Tazio Nuvolari. (Wikipedia)

When William K. Vanderbilt II founded the Vanderbilt Cup Race in 1904, Long Island’s Nassau County was mostly farmland, its North Shore dotted with the luxurious country estates of wealthy New Yorkers. The Vanderbilt Cup would help crack open the door to the eventual suburbanization of Long Island, now home to more than eight million people.

October 10, 1936 cover by **Helen Hokinson.**

The race was cancelled after just three years—a spectator was killed in 1906— but it was revived in 1908 with the opening of the Long Island Motor Parkway. That nine-mile (14.4 km) private toll road, combined with fourteen miles (22.5 km) of public dirt roads, served as the Vanderbilt Cup course until the race was suspended in 1916 with the U.S. entry into World War I. The race would not be revived until Oct. 12, 1936, when the new Roosevelt Raceway opened in Westbury, welcoming 50,000 spectators. New Yorker correspondent G.F.T. Ryall (aka “Speed”) looked forward to the big race:

EAT MY DUST…*Top photo*: Averaging sixty-five miles per hour (104.6 kph), with a top speed exceeding one hundred mph (161 kph), **George Robertson’s** 1906 Locomobile is shown rounding a turn in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup race—the crowd, estimated at more than 250,000—often stood dangerously close to the action (a spectator was killed in the 1906 race); *Below:* The 1906 finish saw the first-ever use of a checkered flag to signal the winner of an automobile race. *(hemmings.com)*

The 1936 race was revived by William K’s nephew George Washington Vanderbilt III, NFL founder George Preston Marshall, and famed World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. The three hundred-mile (482.8 km) race, featuring seventy-five laps on a twisting, four-mile (6.4. km) circuit, was won by Italy’s Tazio Nuvolari driving a twelve-cylinder Alfa Romeo. The best American driver, William Cummings, finished almost twenty-five minutes behind Nuvolari.

STEERING COMMITTEE…At left, 1936 Vanderbilt Cup winner **Tazio Nuvolari** and his mechanics prior to the race—his average speed was similar to the winner of the 1908 race due to the twisty, maze-like design of Roosevelt Raceway; at right, **George Washington Vanderbilt III** presents the winning trophy to Nuvolari. The massive sterling silver cup, crafted by Cartier, is now housed at the Museo Nicolis in Verona, Italy. *(vanderbiltcupraces.com)*

Ryall noted that the leading American driver was Louis Meyer, but Meyer would not compete due to a crash on a practice run. Also noted was the labor and materials involved in the construction of Roosevelt Raceway, where the winning average speed (65.998 mph or 106.2 km/h), was nearly the same as the 1908 race. This lack of speed was later mocked by spectators and the press, who criticized the many twisty hair-pin turns on the course.

LOTS OF CURVES, YOU BET…Army Air Forces aerial photograph of the new Roosevelt Raceway taken during the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race Oct. 12, 1936. Deluxe clubhouse seats were sold for $27.50, or about $700 today. The four-mile (6.4. km) layout featuring sixteen unbanked corners (many with tight hairpins), a layout that kept average speeds disappointingly low. *(Wikipedia)*

The revived race lasted only two years, both won by Europeans. Check out the website Vanderbilt Cup Races for more photos and information on the race. This final note by Ryall suggested that travelers use the Long Island Motor Parkway to get to the race—the very same road that was originally constructed for the 1908 race.

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A Gentler Pastime

Noel F. Busch reported from the 1936 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, where the young British golfer Pamela Barton won her second major tournament of the year.

KING AND COUNTRY…Photo at left: **Pamela Barton** (right) defeated **Maureen Orcutt** (left) to win the 1936 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, becoming the youngest, at age nineteen, to win the U.S. and British women’s amateur titles in the same year—Barton was considered the best female golfer in the world in the late 1930s; photo at right: Barton takes part in training for the Volunteer Ambulance Service in England during WWII—sadly, the crash of a Royal Air Force Tiger Moth on November 13, 1943, claimed Barton’s life at age twenty-six. *(USGA Archives)*

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At the Movies

Italian tenor Nino Martini took top billing in the second film produced by Mary Pickford and Jesse Lasky for United Artists, the musical comedy The Gay Desperado. Critic John Mosher gave a thumbs up to this spoof of the gangster genre.

LIGHT AND EASY…*Top photo*: Italian operatic tenor **Nino Martini** took top billing in *The Gay Desperado,* seen here with co-star Ida Lupino; *below:* the film’s other co-star, **Leo Carrillo**, performs in costume in front of (from left) **Martini**, producer **Mary Pickford**, director **Rouben Mamoulian,** Mexican Consular Ricardo G. Hill, and producer Jesse L. Lasky. *(Citizen Screen via Facebook/just watch.com)*

Not so light was Craig’s Wife, starring Rosalind Russell as a domineering woman who drives everyone from her life, including her husband. Mosher found some relief in the “toothsome” comedy Kelly the Second.

MOTHER MAY I?…Top photo: **Rosalind Russell** portrayed the domineering wife of Walter Craig (**John Boles**) in *Craig’s Wife;* Below: **Patsy Kelly, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams** and Charley Chase in *Kelly the Second. (melanienovak.com/tcm.com)*

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Whining for Winesburg

Book critic Clifton Fadiman found himself “stymied” by Sherwood Anderson’s latest novel, Kit Brandon: A Portrait, in which the author seemed “to be asking himself questions about a dozen things at once.”

A LOT ON HIS MIND…**Sherwood Anderson’s** *Kit Brandon: A Portrait*, would be his eighth novel. (neh.gov/abebooks.com)

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The calendar pages continued to feature mini-bios of celebrities, this week theater producer and director Guthrie McClintic…

THEATER ROYALTY…**Katharine Cornell** and **Guthrie McClintic** in the library of their home at 23 Beekman Place in Manhattan, 1933. (Wikipedia)

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From Our Advertisers

We begin with this antediluvian image from Hiram Walker, which greeted readers on the inside front cover…the ad was part of series showcasing the consumption of Canadian Club around the world…

…National Distillers lined up their domestic and imported brands to promote a “perfect martini”…

…and we have more stylish lids from Stetson, which included a “new pork-pie” that was apparently popular among university students…

…and Hockanum Woolens continued its series celebrating the seasons in fashion…

…there were numerous ads in the issue touting the latest in modern furniture, including Bloomingdale’s…

…and B. Altman…

…The New York Sun hired cartoonist Fred Neher to tout the newspaper’s advertising reach…

…Neher (1903–2001) was best known for his long-running syndicated cartoon Life Is Like That, which ran from 1934 to 1977…he also published one cartoon in The New Yorker, Jan. 21, 1933…

Left, **Fred Neher’s** sole *New Yorker* cartoon (Jan. 21, 1933), and at right, an example of his long-running gag panel from 1936. (Thanks to Ink Spill for the always invaluable reference!)

…the inside back cover featured an appeal to motorists to make the switch to leaded gasoline (during the 20th century, leaded gasoline released millions of tons of toxic lead particles into the air, soil, and water, and even today persists throughout ecosystems, including human bloodstreams)…

…on a cheerier note, we have a bunch of cartoons, beginning with spots by Carl Rose…

…Victor de Pauw, Helen Moore Sewell, and Alice Chamalian…

…Richard Taylor began his series of “Ancient Favorites”…

…Barney Tobey gave us a 1930s version of “can you hear me now?”…

…Garrett Price recognized a face in the crowd…

…after a long absence, Isadore “Izzy” Klein returned to The New Yorker with this contribution (in 1935 Klein (1897–1986) resumed his work as an animator for major studios including Screen Gems and Disney)…

…Barbara Shermund got creative at a department store…

…Whitney Darrow Jr overheard some inside scoop at the theater…

…Alain offered up some timeless advice from the advertising world…

…Helen Hokinson’s “girls” steered clear of some political rhetoric…

…Ned Hilton had an urgent change order…

…and we close where we began, at the races, this time with Charles Addams…

Next Time: National Treasure…

Can-Can in Cleveland

Above: Postcard image of the "Avenue of Presidents" at the 1936 Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio. (youtube.com)

Before the days of mass communications, millions would flock to various world’s fairs and expositions to see the latest inventions, experience the boosterism of the host city, and seek out the thrills of a carnival ride or peep show.

September 26, 1936 cover by Constantin Alajalov.

Along with the major world’s fairs such as Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, smaller cities also hosted expositions to “boom” their standing in the world—Omaha’s 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition attracted 2.6 million people, including President William McKinley, and three years later Buffalo’s 1901 Pan-American Exposition would draw eight million—McKinley was there, too, but his visit (and life) would be cut short by an assassin’s bullet.

In many cases these expositions commemorated anniversaries that marked the progress of a particular city or geographic area. Such was the case of Cleveland’s Great Lakes Exposition, which was created to commemorate the centennial of Cleveland’s incorporation as a city while giving a boost to a region hit hard by the Depression. The exposition was visited by The New Yorker’s Eugene Kinkead, who was an editor and writer of the magazine’s “The Talk of the Town” section for many years. Here are brief excerpts from his visit:

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE…Clockwise from top left: Poster for the Great Lakes Exposition; the most popular attraction was Billy Rose’s Aquacade, a 5,000-seat theater-restaurant that featured diving and synchronized swimming (the Aquacade was also a hit at the 1939 New York Wold’s Fair); star attractions at the Aquacade were Olympic champion swimmers **Eleanor Holm** and Johnny Weissmuller, pictured here with **Billy Rose**; the “Streets of the World” showcased the cultures of more than forty different countries—it also featured the “French Casino,” a restaurant/nightclub that drew massive crowds to its “Girl Revues”—naturally, the scantily clad performances and nude can-can dancers created a major stir among more modest expo attendees. *(chicagovintageposters.com/clevelandmemory.org)*

OTHER DIVERSIONS…Above: the can-can dancers who caused quite a stir at the French Casino, located in the “Streets of the World” section. Below: One of the blimps the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company featured at the exposition rises in the background of “Streets of the World.” Visitors could purchase tickets for three dollars (roughly $65 today) to take a scenic flight over downtown Cleveland, the exposition, and Lake Erie. *(clevelandmemory.org)*

EXPO BY NIGHT…Clockwise, from top left: Postcard view of the main entrance to the Great Lakes Exposition, backlit by the “Aurora Borealis”—a spectacular light display created by powerful searchlights and colored beams; a tower sponsored by Cleveland’s famed Higbee’s Department Store; photograph of the main entrance at night. *(clevelandmemory.org/clevelandhistorical.org)*

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Relax, Joan

New Yorker regular Frank Sullivan found inspiration in a newspaper article featuring actress Joan Blondell lamenting the “surprised look” she thought was permanently fixed on her face. Sullivan suggested that Blondell “must live a pretty secluded life” not to notice a world “full of startled faces.” Alluding to the coming war in Europe, he suggested that in a year or two “everyone will probably look like ZaSu Pitts.”

PUT ON YOUR WAR FACE…**Frank Sullivan** reassured **Joan Blondell** (center) that soon everyone would wear the expression of actress **ZaSu Pitts** (left). *(imdb.com/sspl.org)*

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At the Movies

As previously noted, costume dramas were big in 1936, and critic John Mosher was less than enthusiastic about many of them, but he found Nine Days a Queen (Tudor Rose in the British release) a sensible affair, noting that “English studios manage to dress up their historical pageants with a care and a suggestion of authority…”

TEMPORARY CROWN…*Nine Days a Queen* (aka *Tudor Rose*) tells the story of **Lady Jane Grey’s** brief reign as the queen of England before she loses her head. Left: **John Mills** as Lord Guilford Dudley and **Nova Pilbeam** as Lady Jane Grey. At right, executioners seek forgiveness from Lady Jane ahead of their grisly task. Critic John Mosher liked the film, but Graham Greene (critic for *The Spectator),* wrote that he had “seldom listened to more inchoate rubbish…” *(oldhollywooddiary via instagram.com)*

Mosher found the musical comedy Sing, Baby, Sing a minor entertainment, and dismissed the screwball comedy My Man Godfrey as “nonsense.” Mosher was in the minority on that latter opinion: Godfrey was one of the most acclaimed comedies of 1936, nominated for six Oscars. In 1999 the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

PAIRING OFF…**Alice Faye** and Adolphe Menjou in *Sing, Baby, Sing.* **Carole Lombard** and **William Powell** in *My Man Godfrey.* Lombard and Powell were briefly married from 1931 to 1933, but remained close friends after their divorce. (eBay.com/pbs.org)

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From Our Advertisers

The inside front cover greeted readers with this romantic image from Richard Hudnut cosmetics…

…the makers of Lucky Strikes used a bit of romance themselves to inspire more women smokers…

…the folks at Birds Eye took out this advertisement to extol the virtues of frozen fish…

…an odd ad from Green Giant, using the image of an annoying little man to sell peas…one imagines the woman calling “Pa, git yer shotgun”…

…the Parc Vendome advertised its apartments as a great place to keep fit, everything from calisthenics to sun-lamp treatments…

…a couple of one-column ads from the back of the book…at left: founded in 1935, Cadaco was known for transforming real-world sports into table-top versions…on the right: John-Frederics was a partnership between hat designer “Mr John” Harberger and Frederic Hirst…John-Frederics hats were famous in Hollywood, including the green velvet bonnet worn by Vivien Leigh in 1939’s Gone with the Wind…

This 1938 edition of Cadaco’s Bas-Ket featured spring-loaded levers that propelled a ping-pong-like ball toward a basket. (etsy.com)

…Scribner’s magazine, a product of publisher Charles Scribner’s Sons, tried to head off declining circulation by hiring a new editor-in-chief, Harlan D. Logan, who sought to modernize the format to compete with contemporary lifestyle magazines…the publisher took out this cheeky full-page ad to draw attention to the “new” Scribner’s…

…founded in January 1887, the magazine saw its strongest sales when Teddy Roosevelt was a contributor from the 1890s to about 1910…despite Logan’s efforts, the magazine folded in May 1939…

The October 1936 issue of *Scribner’s* marked a change in editorship and design of the magazine. This cover was by American graphic designer **Thomas Cleland.** *(vintage.es)*

…archetypes like the pompous British Colonel and the haughty Duchess seemed to be everywhere in the 1930s, whether they were foils in screwball comedies or wealthy aristocrats laughably out-of-touch and obsessed with past glories (Peter Arno knew that trick well)…if you’ve followed these posts for awhile you know they are often seen in New Yorker advertising as well…