Above: Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland in "Anthony Adverse". (tcm.com)
Epic costume dramas were all the rage in the 1930s, doubtless due to their escapist qualities (escape from the Depression and fears of war, among other things) and the cool comforts of a movie palace during a decade of exceptionally hot summers (yes, once again I’m leading with a movie. Nevertheless, some tasty bits ahead!).
August 29, 1936 cover by William Steig.
Unlike MGM’s Romeo and Juliet, which lost money, Anthony Adverse was Warner Brothers’ most popular release in 1936, a nearly two-and-a-half-hour film featuring the seemingly ever-present Frederic March and rising star Olivia de Havilland. Based on Hervey Allen’s 1933 historical novel by the same name, New Yorker critic John Mosher gave Anthony Adverse passing marks.
COSTUMES IN MOTION…Critic John Mosher appreciated a costume drama that was also lively. Clockwise, from left: Warner Brothers promotional poster; Olivia de Havilland as Angela, the daughter of a cook who becomes Mademoiselle Georges, a famous opera star and mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte; Anita Louise portrayed sweet young Maria, betrothed to grumpy old Don Luis (Claude Rains). (frockflicks.com)WICKEDLY GOOD…Gale Sondergaard with Claude Rains in Anthony Adverse. Sondergaard would win the inaugural Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as the villainous Faith Paleologus. In total, the film would earn four Oscars. (IMDb.com)
Mosher found other cinema diversions, including a film featuring a cameo by Robert Benchley.
WORLD OF WODEHOUSE…Madge Evans and Robert Montgomery in Piccadilly Jim; Dolores Costello and George Raft in Yours for the Asking; Ida Lupino portrayed con artist Gertie Malloy in Yours for the Asking; pioneer American film animator Mary Ellen Bute created some of the first electronically generated film images, her specialty being visual music. (imdb.com/csfd.sk/facebook.com/Wikipedia)
And lest we forget, here is The New Yorker’sRobert Benchley portraying a “barroom character” in Piccadilly Jim:
THE TWO BOBS…Robert Montgomery and Robert Benchely in Piccadilly Jim.(immortalephemera.com)
* * *
Pentameter Pickle
E.B. White expressed his annoyance with MGM’s claim regarding Norma Shearer as “the first screen Juliet” (see last week’s post on Romeo and Juliet). He also noted that after seeing Romeo and Juliet, he had the urge to speak in Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter.
White noted that either Beverly Bayne or Theda Bara were the first screen Juliets…actually both appeared in dueling films in 1916, opening just three days apart.
FILM DUEL…Top, Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne (married in real life) in Metro’s 1916 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Below, Theda Bara and Harry Hilliard in Fox’s 1916 Romeo and Juliet. In direct competition, the Fox film was released on Oct.22, the same week as Metro’s (Oct. 19). Both silent films are considered lost. (theeverydaycinephile.com)
If White had had access to the internet, he would have learned that the very first screen Juliet was actually Florence Lawrence , who appeared in a fifteen-minute silent film short made in 1908 by Vitagraph Studios (amazingly, the film survives and can be viewed on YouTube).
THE ORIGINAL…The first screen Juliet was Florence Lawrence, who appeared in a 1908 silent film short by Vitagraph Studios. Lawrence (1886–1938) is widely referred to as the “first movie star”, appearing in almost three hundred films. She also invented a surprising list of patents, including the first “auto signaling arm.” (messynessychic.com).
* * *
He Used His Bean
“The Talk of the Town” featured a rare mention of baseball in the form of a brief profile of Jo-Jo Moore (1908–2001), a New York Giants left fielder known for his intimidating, left-handed-hitting as leadoff man; Moore batted over .300 five times in his career. Apparently he was also known for getting beaned at the plate, as this excerpt explains:
LEANING IN…Jo-Jo Moore, who batted left-handed and threw right-handed, hit over .300 five times in his career with the Giants from 1930 to 1941. When he died in 2001 at age 92, he was the last surviving member of the 1933 World Champion New York Giants. (centerfieldmaz.com)
* * *
The Bobby We Didn’t Know
Mention the name Bobby Riggs to those of a certain age and they’ll likely conjure up the cheeky grin of a 55-year-old man who in 1973 challenged 29-year-old Billie Jean King to a much-ballyhooed “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match at the Houston Astrodome—which King won in straight sets (6–4, 6–3, 6–3). What seems forgotten is the fact that Riggs was once considered the best tennis player in the world. As a 21-year-old amateur in 1939, he won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Even in 1936 the teenaged Riggs was already sensation, as this excerpt explains:
PROMISING BEGINNINGS…Left, Bobby Riggs (center) accepts the 1939 men’s national singles championship trophy after defeating Welby Van Horn at Forest Hills. Riggs also won the U.S. Singles Championship in 1941. At right, Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs strike a pose in 1973, the year they competed in famed “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. (facebook.com/Wikipedia)
* * *
From Our Advertisers
Singer Ethel Merman lit up the opening page of the August 29 issue in this colorful advertisement for Stage magazine…
…the makers of the bargain cigarette Twenty Grand used this New Yorker-style cartoon to push their brand of tobacco…
…the inside back cover featured this bright appeal from Imperial Wallpapers…
…and the makers of Luckies claimed the back page to build their base of women smokers…
…on to our cartoonists, we begin with spots by Abe Birnbaum…
…and Robert Day…
…more cartoon art from Richard Taylor to enliven Morris Bishop’s limericks…
…Birnbaum again, with a bit of hide and-seek…
…Alan Dunn confronted a moral quandary…
…Rea Irvin put up a tempting target…
…Helen Hokinson found the right words to describe a bridge party…
…Peter Arno illustrated one way to accommodate an estrangement…
Above: E.B. White had a bone to pick with whiskey distillers who tried to establish "quick antiquity" by naming their products "Old Something-or-Other." That was not true for these two brands—Old Grand-Dad was introduced in Kentucky in 1840, while Old Overholt debuted in Pennsylvania in 1810, making it America's oldest continually maintained whiskey brand. Both are now subsidiaries of Japan's Suntory Global Spirits. (alcohol professor.com/pinterest)
With the official end of Prohibition on December 5, 1933, brewers and distillers raced to ramp up production and revive brands that had lain dormant for more than a decade. Distillers of aged spirits like rye and whiskey were especially keen to invoke history and tradition when marketing their tipple.
August 15, 1936 cover by Paul C. Robertson.
In some cases newer distilleries made generous use of the word “Old” in their branding, according to E.B. White in his “Notes and Comment.” White also called out the folks at Seagram’s, who compared the character of Thomas Jefferson to that of their “V.O.” whisky (no “e” in spirits tied to British distilling traditions—Scotland, Canada, Japan, Wales, India). Most egregious, however, was the ad’s claim that Jefferson helped to draft the Constitution. White explained:
HE DID WHAT?…E.B. White called out the Seagram’s ad (left, from the July 25 issue of The New Yorker) for its historic inaccuracy (the distiller erroneously credited Thomas Jefferson for the Constitution; at right, the character and leadership of the Founding Fathers (and other early American leaders) were oft-employed metaphors for a number of whiskey brands, including James E. Pepper. (facebook.com)GOLDEN OLDIES…Here are more examples of historic figures being associated with fine spirits…at left, in 1960 the makers of Old Crow (founded 1835) depicted the genocidal Andrew Jackson pouring a glass of the stuff for Martin Van Buren; at right, in 1937 the makers of Old Taylor (1887) used quotes and themes from Thomas Paine’s revolutionary writings to promote their Kentucky Straight Bourbon. (bourbonbanter.com/etsy.com)
While we are on the subject of ardent spirits, let’s take a look at these excerpts from “The Talk of the Town” (attributed to Eugene Kinkead and Russell Maloney), which told the story of a private detective who had a nose for liquor— disguised as hair tonic.
A SIP WITH YOUR SHAVE…During Prohibition (1920–1933), high-alcohol hair tonics like Rexall 93 (containing up to 24% alcohol) were legally sold as cosmetics but were frequently bought and consumed by people seeking a cheap, accessible substitute for bootleg liquor. The photo at right is of a 1930s barbershop—it is not implied that these fine gentlemen were involved in such illicit activities. (ebay.com/pinterest.com)
A closer look at the Rexall label—the makers made sure “24% Alcohol” was clearly visible. Folks known as “strainers” would run hair tonics like these through bread, cloth, or charcoal to filter out poisonous additives, obviously a dangerous practice.
* * *
Doggy Downer
The legendary Kress “five-and-dime” stores, with more than 250 locations across twenty-nine states, served the needs of regular folks, but the designs of its stores were anything but pedestrian. This was especially true of its Fifth Avenue location, a 1935 Art Deco masterpiece. Given its lofty address, it was no place for one to order a lowly hot dog. E.B. White explained:
DECO EDIFICE…Samuel Henry Kress believed his department stores should function as works of public art that elevate the shopping experience for ordinary people. The company maintained an in-house architectural division, under the leadership of architect Edward F. Sibbert, that designed iconic, custom buildings, including the 1935 flagship S. H. Kress & Co. store on Fifth Avenue and 39th Street, an Art Deco masterpiece rendered in granite, bronze, and stainless steel; at right, a view of the store’s Ladies Lounge. Sadly, the building was razed in 1983. (Museum of the City of New York/New York Public Library)
* * *
Merely Mortal
Janet Flanner filed her second report from the Berlin Olympics, where America’s Black athletes dominated the track and field events (ESPN’s Larry Schwartz credits Jesse Owens for “single-handedly crushing Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy”). Flanner noted attempts by propagandists to make sense of the beating they received, including likening the American athletes to wild animals “living in a state of innocence.” Excerpts:
CONQUERING HEROES…Eighteen Black athletes went to Berlin as part of the U.S. team in 1936. Clockwise, from top left: Standing are high jumpers Dave Albritton and Cornelius Johnson, hurdler Tidye Pickett, sprinter Ralph Metcalfe, boxer Jim Clark, and sprinter Mack Robinson…in front, weightlifter John Terry (left) and long jumper John Brooks; Jesse Owens captured four gold medals and became the hero of the Olympics—his long jump (26 feet 5-1/2 inches) was an Olympic record; the American press reported widely on the friendship between Owens and his German long jump competitor Carl Ludwig (“Luz”) Long…Long was killed in action during World War II; the faithful offer their ugly salutes at the opening of the games. (webs.org/Bundesarchiv Koblenz/ushmm.org/history.com)
Flanner also reported on the great fanfare at the opening of the games, including “seventeen searchlights, from far outside the arena…a lofty birdcage of streaming light beams.” One wonders if those same searchlights were deployed during the war four years later, when RAF Lancaster bombers began their night bombing campaign of Berlin.
* * *
At the Movies
Last week we saw Lionel Barrymore in drag (as an old woman) in The Devil Doll. This week he resurfaces as a senile old warhorse in The Road to Glory, a Howard Hawks war film with a screenplay co-written by William Faulkner (the film also featured Frederic March, who had star billing in three major films in 1936). John Mosher found the film “presentable,” but nothing special. The same went for Down Under the Sea, a film concerning sponge divers who battle over the affections of a woman (Ann Rutherford).
WERE THEY SPONGE WORTHY?…Clockwise, from top left: Ann Rutherford finds herself torn between two sponge divers vying for her affections in Down Under the Sea (aka Down to the Sea); divers Ben Lyon and Russell Hardie surprise Rutherford with a “native necklace” in the film; Frederic March, Lionel Barrymore, and Warner Baxter in The Road to Glory; June Lang with March in The Road to Glory. (eBay/silverscenesblog)
Mosher also took in Jailbreak, a minor noir picture about racketeers, cops and newspaper reporters.
SERIOUS BUSINESS…Barton MacLane, June Travis and Joseph Crehan in Jailbreak. (IMDb.com)
* * *
From Our Advertisers
The inside front cover featured a wholesome image of a roadside stand on behalf of leaded gasoline…the makers of Ethyl, which boosted octane ratings and stopped engine knocking, deliberately hid or omitted the word “lead” in their advertising…I don’t miss the Ethyl, but I do miss those roadside stands…
…Warner Brothers took out a full-page ad to trumpet the East Coast release of their epic drama Anthony Adverse, which would go on to win four Academy Awards…
…the original torch singer Helen Morgan lent her endorsement to a budget cigarette brand in this back of the book ad…at this point her career would be headed on a downward spiral, ending with her death in 1941…
…the makers of the Dominican rum Siboney competed with Cuban rival Barcardi with this colorful full-page ad illustrated by American graphic artist Ervine Metzl…
…Barcardi placed this front cover advertisement in Aug. 1, 1936 New Yorker (illustrated by George de Zayas)…
…James Thurber kicks off the cartoons with two terrific spot drawings…
…this spot drawing by Victor de Pauw recalls my favorite childhood book, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939), by Virginia Lee Burton…
…I’m not sure if one would call this a spot drawing or a caption-less cartoon, at any rate, Garrett Price aptly illustrated the dangers of swimming beyond the bouys…
…Rea Irvin demonstrated the perils of dognapping in this multi-panel entry…
…William Steig celebrated summer in the city…
…Helen Hokinson drew up an urgent social connection…
…Denys Wortman looked in on the trappings of motherhood…
…Alan Dunn showed us one effect of long-distance travel…
…and Dunn again, with a man who’d rather not ask questions…
…and leave it to Charles Addams to draw up The New Yorker’s first Medusa-themed cartoon…
…before we continue, here are other interpretations of the mythic Gorgon from The New Yorker…this one by Lars Kenseth is from Jan. 21, 2019…
…this is by Ali Solomon (Oct. 29, 2025)…
…and from May 3, 2025, this terrific caption contest cartoon by Jason Adam Katzenstein (and the winning caption by Peter Sergison, Durham, NC)…
…and here’s a timely cartoon by Daryl Seitchik that was rejected by the magazine…
…we go back to 1936 with George Price and a plucky salesman…
…Chon Day made an unappetizing find at the fish market…
…Gardner Rea looked in on a summer stock performance…
…Peter Arno drew up a Milquetoast unwittingly ordering a knuckle sandwich…
…and we close with some racy decor, courtesy Richard Taylor…
Above: Fredric March as the Earl of Bothwell in Mary of Scotland. March sported a kilt that Alex von Tunzelmann (the Guardian, May 7, 2015) calls "the bane of Scottish historical movies from here to Braveheart." Tunzelmann notes that "What we call a kilt today—the fèileadh beag, or small kilt—was invented in the mid-18th century, almost 200 years after this film is set. The Scots should be wearing belted plaid, or the rather fetching skintight tartan trews (image at right) sported by Mary’s father, James V." (eBay.com/pinterest.com)
These were truly the dog days of summer—New Yorkers had just endured one of the hottest months on record (106 F on July 9) and it remained intensely hot and dry as August rolled in. So for this post we will retreat to one of the few places that had air-conditioning—the cinema—and see what folks were enjoying in the first week of August 1936.
August 8, 1936 cover by Arnold Hall.
Before we jump into the movies, the wonderful cover by Arnold Hall recalled the summer night concerts at Lewisohn Stadium (although Hall took some liberties with the stadium’s design for the sake of composition).
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC…Top: Illustration by Scottish artist Muirhead Bone of a nighttime Lewisohn Stadium concert, circa 1920s; below: Andre Kostelanetz conducts before a crowd of thousands at Lewisohn Stadium in 1939—for an admission price of a mere twenty-five cents, concertgoers were treated to appearances by leading performers of jazz, classical music and opera. The stadium was demolished in 1973. (digitalcommonwealth.org)
On to our movies, Russell Maloney once again sat in for John Mosher as the magazine’s film critic, taking on everything from a Tudor romance to a horror film that featured Lionel Barrymore in drag.
In Mary of Scotland, Maloney found Katharine Hepburn’s turn as Mary, Queen of Scots a bit wanting (the role should have gone to a “grown-up actress”), while he thought the film itself was rather tedious with “lots of goings on.” He concluded that the “wisps of Mary of Scotland visible between cloak-swishings and sword-wavings are not especially encouraging.”
NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME?…Clockwise, from top left: Critic Russell Maloney thought the 29-year-old Katharine Hepburn was not seasoned enough to portray Mary Stuart in Mary of Scotland; Fredric March as the Earl of Bothwell, with Hepburn; March visits with director John Ford, who was better known for his Westerns (Ford and Hepburn would famously have an affair during the filming); Hepburn in a scene with John Carradine, who portrayed Rizzio, the Italian courtier and private secretary to Mary. Patriarch of the Carradine acting dynasty, his children included actors David, Keith, and Robert Carradine. (imdb.com/pinterest.com/frockflicks.com)
In addition to a forgettable lion-tamer flick (Bengal Tiger), Maloney also reviewed a Bing Crosby movie with a host of singing cowboys, Rhythm on the Range, and a “consistently funny” film with an “unpromising name,” We Went to College…
COWBOY CROSBY…Clockwise from top left: Bing Crosby portrayed a traveling cowboy in love with a rich girl (Frances Farmer) in Rhythm on the Range;Louis Prima, Martha Raye (in her film debut), and Bob Burns performed in the ensemble “I’m an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande” along with Roy Rogers (uncredited and performing under his original stage name, Leonard Slye) and The Sons of the Pioneers; Una Merkel and Walter Abel in a lobby card image advertising We Went to College. (imdb.com)
Maloney also reviewed a horror-farce, The Devil Doll, featuring Lionel Barrymore as banker Paul Lavond. A brief synopsis: Framed by his three partners and imprisoned on Devil’s Island, Lavond escapes with a fellow inmate who introduces him to his wife, Malita. The couple demonstrate a process that shrinks animals and people to the size of dolls, which then can be animated by will power. Seeing the dolls as an opportunity for revenge on his former partners, Lavond disguises himself as an old woman and sends out the shrunken people to harm his enemies.
PLAYING WITH DOLLS…At left, Lionel Barrymore disguised as Madame Mandelip, preparing his demonic dollies for revenge in The Devil Doll; at right, Marcel (Henry B, Walthall) and his wife Malita (Raffaela Ottiano) with one of their shrunken people. (classic-monsters.com)MY, WHAT BIG TEETH YOU HAVE…At left, Tarzan star Maureen O’Sullivan portrayed Paul Lafond’s unsuspecting daughter—in this scene from The Devil Doll she doesn’t recognize her long-absent father, disguised as the kindly Paris toy shop owner Madame Mandelip; at right, Lionel Barrymore (dressed as Madame Mandelip) meeting with Devil Doll director Tod Browning, best known for his 1932 magnum opus, Freaks. (classic-monsters.com/moriareviews.com)
It seems there were few, if any, critics in the 1930s who didn’t like Mickey Mouse cartoons. These days we take animation for granted, but ninety years ago it was still something of a miracle, especially in color. Maloney noted the latest must-see Disney cartoon short, Donald and Pluto.
MARTYRDOM OF DONALD DUCK…Donald Duck was literally put through the wringer for our amusement in the 1936 short Donald and Pluto, one of the three installments of the Mickey Mouse series in which Mickey doesn’t appear as a character. Donald Duck was a fairly new Disney character in 1936, making his debut in 1934’s The Wise Little Hen. (disneyfandom.com)
* * *
Life Goes On
E.B. White mused about the increasing life expectancy at birth of the American male from 47 years in 1900 to 58 years in 1936 (a woman’s life expectancy was roughly 49/62, respectively). White (who would live 86 years) said he would spend his extra years collecting “haunting” signs, such as one on the Boston Post Road that read: Trucks Must Use Right Fork.
AND NO ELBOWS ON THE TABLE, EITHER…Trucker poses in front of his rig in 1936. (facebook.com)
* * *
Wartime Wardrobe
Beatrice Mathieu—the first and only Paris fashion correspondent for The New Yorker—sat in on Lois Long’s column to discuss the latest from The City of Light. Designers were soldiering on with their premieres despite the winds of war blowing from the east. Excerpts:
LIFE GOES ON…At left, a model shows off a “Carnival dress” by Madeleine Vionnet, 1936; a sidewalk café in Paris filled with fashionable folks, 1936. (godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com/reddit.com)
A note about Beatrice Mathieu: According to her 1976 New York Times obituary, “In an era when honest criticism in fashion writing was relatively rare, she blended humor with a kind of skepticism and honesty in writing that enhanced her reputation as a leader in the field…In 1928, when the young woman from Faribault, Minn., was making a living in Paris as a freelance writer, she received a cable from Harold Ross…asking her to do some work for him. She wired back: ‘What is The New Yorker?’ Mr. Ross replied at some length. She took the job.” Mathieu stopped writing her Paris column in 1936 but resumed after the end of World War II.
* * *
A Dose of Passos
Clifton Fadiman reviewed the latest book by John Dos Passos (1896– 1970), who is known for his pioneering works of nonlinear fiction and his U.S.A. trilogy, which he completed in 1936 with The Big Money. One of the major novelists of the post-World War I “lost generation,” he is widely praised today for his timeless insights into America’s inequalities (and was also highly regarded by contemporaries including William Faulkner). Fadiman, however wrote “A great writer he is not.” Excerpts:
HIS TIME WOULD COME…John Dos Passos on the cover of Time, Aug. 10, 1936. Dos Passos is admired today for showing how Americans respond to the chaos and inequalities of modern life. (time.com)
* * *
From Our Advertisers
We begin our advertising section with the Grace Line, which offered this inviting image (on the inside front cover) of nighttime swimming on the deck of one of its Santa liners, en route to South America and California…
…less inviting, it would seem at the time, would be a cruise to Germany aboard a Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG) ship—beginning in 1939, U.S. and British forces would seize nearly all of HAPAG’s fleet…
…the relatively new company Old Mr. Boston (founded in Boston in 1933, right as Prohibition ended) went big with this two-page color advertisement touting its line that included gin, rum, whiskey, and cordials…
…in the back of the book…Brown & Williamson launched its Viceroy brand in 1936 as the world’s first cork-tipped filter cigarette…at the bottom is a modest ad for Pilsner Urquell, a Czech brewer that produced the world’s first pale lager…it is still brewed in Pilsen (Czech Republic) under the ownership of Tokyo-based Asahi Group…
…Schaefer promoted their “light beer” in this rather spare advertisement…the “light” referred to its pale color, not to its calorie count…founded in New York City in 1842, Schaefer grew to be a top five brewer in America…today it is marketed by Pabst as a regional heritage brand…
…Dr. Seuss was still at it with his Flit ads…after rejections from nearly thirty publishers, in 1937 Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel) would publish his first book with Vanguard Press—And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street…Seuss also illustrated ads for Schaefer beer, Esso gasoline, Holly Sugar, and General Electric, among others…
HONING A STYLE…A sampling of Dr. Seuss’s advertising art from the 1930s to the 1950s. (aoghs.org/UC San Diego/booksforgoatlings.weebly.com)
…R.J. Reynolds lined up another socialite endorsement for their Camel cigarettes…here they go to the West Coast, with a plug from Mrs. William J. Hollingsworth, Jr., aka Madeleine Ruth Piper…her marriage to Hollingsworth was over by 1937…she would marry three more times before her death in 1993…
SHE REALLY LIGHTS UP A ROOM…At left, undated photo of socialite Madeleine Ruth Piper (1916–1993), who was apparently telling the truth about her love of smoking; at right, the Victor Hugo Restaurant in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills), featured in the Camel ad. (findagrave.com/facebook.com)
…on to our illustrators and cartoonists, we begin with spots by Christina Malman…
…Helen Moore Sewell…
…Victor de Pauw…
and Aaron Sopher…
…there was another installment of Morris Bishop limericks illustrated by Richard Taylor…
…Ned Hilton’s lord of the manor took up rice farming…
…Alan Dunn showed us some devious domestic doings…
…and a complaint to the mayor…
…in contrast to Dunn’s style, the spare lines of Gardner Rea…
…Gregory d’Alessio prepared for Olympic glory…
…William Crawford Galbraith continued to plumb the creepy waters inhabited by impressionable young women and lecherous older men, in this case a woman’s personal physician…
…and Rea Irvin continued to explore historic moments in American industry…
…we close with Helen Hokinson, and some scandal brewing under a hair dryer…
The name of this post comes from one of my favorite television series, Babylon Berlin, a lavishly produced German neo-noir drama that takes place during the final years of the Weimar Republic, or precisely where we are in the timeline of this blog.
Jan. 9, 1932 cover by Theodore Haupt.
The tumultuous Weimar years of the 1920s and early 30s represented Germany’s initial flirtation with democracy, an experimental age at once filled with post-war angst and libertine ways, and this was especially true in Berlin where nearly every vice could be plied along its streets and alleyways and in countless clubs and cabarets. It was the setting for a decade of political turmoil, with communists (rival Bolsheviks and Trotskyites) to the left and national socialists (later Nazis) to the right, and in the middle a fledging democracy that ultimately could not hold the center. Janet Flanner,The New Yorker’s Paris correspondent, paid Berlin a visit just one year before Adolf Hitler would seize dictatorial power.
WORLDLY VIEW…Janet Flanner’s account of life in Berlin at the end of 1931 told of economic hardship and hinted at trouble to come, but it mostly depicted life as pictured at right at a Berlin tea dance. This was not a naive perspective, but rather one of a worldly mind not easily shocked by vice and upheaval. As The New Yorker’s longtime Paris correspondent, Flanner’s weekly letters during World War II would also make her a respected war correspondent. At left is an oft-reproduced portrait of Flanner, taken by Berenice Abbott in 1927. At right, a tea dance in the garden of the Hotel Esplanade in Berlin, 1928. (Clark Art Institute/ Süddeutsche Zeitung)
In this excerpt, Flanner saw life continuing at an oddly normal pace despite the hardships and the political tension that boiled behind the façade:
TRUNCATED VISION…Berlin looked to a Modernist future until Adolf Hitler put an end to the “un-German” Bauhaus style in 1933. Despite the economic collapse and political turmoil of 1931 Berlin, the city showcased remarkable technical progress, including a prototype high-speed train (left) that travelled at 230 km per hour (143 mph) from Hamburg to Berlin. At right, Berlin exhibition of Bauhaus-inspired buildings at the 1931 Deutsche Bauausstellung. The cavernous Hall 11, themed as “The Dwelling of Our Time,” was directed by Mies van der Rohe. It mostly displayed the output of his Bauhaus “Werkbund,” including a Mies-designed modern house. (Pinterest/Reichstarifvertrag)THE OTHER BERLIN…at top, the Friedrichstrasse, Berlin’s “street of sin,” in the late 1920s; below right, prostitutes ply their trade in 1920s Berlin; and below left, buy cocaine capsules from a Berlin drug dealer, 1930. (ddr-postkarten-museum.de/Reddit/Wikipedia)ANYTHING GOES…Clockwise, from top left, cabaret performance in Berlin that left little to the imagination; the Jockey bar mentioned by Flanner—it was frequented by A-listers such as Jean Cocteau, Andre Gide, Ernest Hemingway and Marlene Dietrich; the Eldorado gay night club in Berlin, 1932; performance of “A Slide on the Razor” at Berlin’s Haller Revue, 1923; the Europahaus, one of hundreds of cabarets in Weimar Berlin, 1931. (cabaret.berlin/Bundesarchiv/tribe.net/Wikipedia)
Toward the end of her article, Flanner noted that “Berliners are busy making a new race,” which is not a reference to Hitler’s “master race” (that would come later) but rather to a new generation overtaking the old. The final lines of this excerpt, however, suggest there might be trouble ahead…
NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES: Weimer Berlin was also a place of political and economic struggle that at times turned violent. From left, a Nazi youth is wounded during Berlin street violence amid Reichstag elections in 1932; a Berlin bank damaged during violent clashes between police and demonstrators in June 1931; Communist youths in Berlin demonstrate on May Day 1931. (Pinterest/Financial Times)
The party abruptly ended with Hitler’s takeover of the government in January 1933. The images below said it all:
NEW THEME, NEW OWNERSHIP…The Eldorado gay night club in Berlin before and after Nazi takeover of the German government. (lonesomereader.com)
* * *
Masses’ Mass Media
“The Talk of the Town” pondered the symbolism of the Daily News Building—from the inscription above its entrance to the place names on its massive lobby globe—which seemed to celebrate its readership, namely the common people.
CAN YOU FIND HOOTERVILLE?…the massive globe in the Daily News lobby (circa 1941), featured the names of small towns and cities along with major population centers; below, inscription “HE MADE SO MANY OF THEM” above the building’s entrance (atlasobscura.com)
* * *
Dem Bones
Art critic Murdock Pemberton paid a visit to the Stieglitz Gallery to check out the latest works by Georgia O’Keeffe. He found that her themes were moving from the urban landscape of New York to the bleached simplicity of the Southwestern desert:
CHANGING HER TUNE…Georgia O’Keeffe’sCow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue (1931); O’Keeffe with one of her skull paintings, 1931. (metmuseum.org/CSU Archives)
* * *
Hyde-bound
Film critic John Mosher found much to like about Frederic March’s performance in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and so did critics and Academy voters who bestowed a Best Actor award on the actor.
IDENTITY CRISIS…Bar singer Ivy Pierson (Miriam Hopkins) in a state of undress as she tries (unsuccessfully) to seduce Dr. Jekyll (Frederic March); when Jekyll turns into Mr. Hyde, however, the tables are turned, much to Ivy’s distress. (IMDB)
Mosher found, however, that other pictures playing at the time left much to be desired…
BAD GIRLS…From left, Sylvia Sidney, Miriam Goldina and Esther Howard in 1931’s Ladies of the Big House. (IMDB)
* * *
Modern Methods
Early in his writing career Richard Lockridge penned a series of comic sketches for The New Yorker, many of them featuring the characters Mr. and Mrs. North, who would inspire a 26-book series of detective novels. The Norths had yet to make an appearance, but here Lockridge had some fun with the makers of Chevrolets, who used a new-fangled method to promote their product. Excerpts:
FREEBIE…Richard Lockridge thanked the folks from Chevrolet for the free phonograph record, but passed on the automobile. (Ebay)
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The Annual National Automobile Show at Grand Central Palace kicked off the new year with a stunning lineup of new cars, but General Motors separated itself from the pack by exhibiting its wares at the new Waldorf-Astoria Hotel…I believe this unsigned illustration is by Peter Arno (note “Walrus” in background)…
…The New Yorker’s advertising department reaped the benefits of the annual show, the Jan. 9 issue replete with ads from various companies…the makers of the Buffalo-based Pierce Arrow — a top-of-the-line luxury car — added a downscale version with a “New Eight” and deeply discounted their prices (which were still well above economy models offered by others)…
…the Depression would put an end to Pierce Arrow by 1938, but rival Lincoln would manage to hang on thanks to their own new “8” and the largess of parent Ford Motor Company…the Lincolns shown here are actually priced higher than the Pierce Arrows, $4300 for the 12 (vs $3185 for the PA 12) and $2900 for the 8 (vs. $2385 for the PA 8)…
…a bit more down the ladder we have venerable Oldsmobile, alas no longer with us (removed from GM’s lineup in 2014)…
…and a few more rungs down we have the DeSoto (a Chrysler product) and its “sleek” new radiator that was the talk of the auto show, and admired here by “Jimmy Flagg” (aka illustrator James Montgomery Flagg, perhaps best known for his 1917 Uncle Sam poster with the caption “I Want YOU for U.S. Army”)…the DeSoto was a real bargain, priced at under $700…
…and here are a few ads from companies long gone…like Pierce Arrow, Auburn (top left) struggled to sell its upscale cars during the Depression…however, the makers of another upscale brand, Packard (bottom right), were able to survive by favoring tried and true designs over gimmicky yearly changes…Hupmobile (top right) was known for its innovations, but a decision to build more expensive cars in the late 1920s put it into a bad position for the Depression-era market, and the company folded by 1939…when Hupmobile was on its last leg, it partnered with the ailing Graham-Paige Motor Company (bottom left), another company known for great designs, but combining two failing companies in this case yielded one larger failing company, and Hup and Graham went down together…
…the clever folks at Buick were way ahead of the others in marketing savvy, emphasizing an attractive, confident woman at the wheel of an unseen car, tapping into a previously untapped market (tobacco companies were busy doing the same)…
…as we see here from the folks who pushed the Chesterfield brand—in this ad aimed at the growing market of women smokers, you don’t see the carton, but what you do see are people waxing philosophical about smoking, quality smoking, that is, and it’s no mistake that the woman is sitting on the arm of the chair, receiving this “wisdom” from her husband…
…even when a man isn’t present, Chesterfield still perched the woman on the arm of the chair, as seen in this ponderous New Yorker ad from the previous year…
…and then you have Spud—the direct approach—yes dammit, do something, man!…your “mouth happiness” is at stake, so follow a schedule that keeps you puffing every waking minute…
…and we move on to the fashion world, where this new-fangled “Talon Slide Fastener” is keeping women’s corsets zipped up, except the vulgar, slang word “zipper” hasn’t quite made it into the fashion lexicon as of 1932…
…and this other new invention—”Rayon”—is “becoming important to women who watch and are watched in classic correctness,” but believe me, no old money deb would ever allow anything artificial to touch her delicate hide…
…we continue into the cartoons in the fashion mode with one of Helen Hokinson’s “girls” getting a makeover…
…Mary Petty, on the other hand, is keeping an eye on the younger crowd…
…we move on to Barbara Shermund and the old money gang, wary of astrologer Evangeline Adams‘ thoughts on the ailing stock market…
…one of their fellows was having troubles of his own in those troubled times, per William Steig…
…and Denys Wortman took us to the other side of that window, and the dreams of a better life…
…urban realist Reginald Marsh gave us all a splash of cold water…
…Isadore Klein, on the other hand, presented a domestic scene with particular relevance these days…
…and another domestic scene from the brilliant James Thurber, in which the pistol once again makes a timely appearance…
A New Yorker State of Mind 