Janet Flanner – A New Yorker State of Mind

Bottoms Up!

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…

Next Time: Wherefore, Old Romeo?…

A Letter From Berlin

Above: Nineteen-thirties dance class sponsored by Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy), a sub-organization of the German Labour Front that sought to fulfill the totalitarian ambitions of the Nazi regime by "forming a genuine national and performance-based community of all Germans," in other words, keep them busy and distracted from reality. (bundesarchiv.de)

Paris correspondent Janet Flanner visited Berlin to check on that city’s preparations for the 1936 Olympic Games, an event Nazi leaders saw as a prime opportunity for some big-time propaganda.

August 1, 1936 cover by **Constantin Alajalov** with a wry twist on the upcoming Berlin Olympic games (note the strap along the left edge bearing some of flags of competing nations).

Flanner noted Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels’ charge to the German people, instructing them to show the world that the German Volk were “more charming than Parisians, more lively than the Romans, more worldly than the Londoners, and more efficient than the New Yorkers.”

EYE ON BERLIN…**Janet Flanner,** who wrote under the pen name *Genêt,* in 1940. *(National Portrait Gallery)*

There was an ambiguous quality to Flanner’s early writings about Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler in particular. As The New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz noted in “Takes” (Aug. 10, 2025) regarding Flanner’s 1936 profile of Hitler, “Instead of telling readers what they needed to know—that was what newspapers were for—she focused on what they might want to know…” Rather than taking sides, she reported in a cool and ironic tone. In her biography Genêt, Brenda Wineapple wrote that Flanner in her early writings “thought of herself as a high-class gossip columnist.”

Here are excerpts from the first part of Flanner’s “Berlin Letter.”

FASCIST FEVER DREAM…The Nazis spent large sums in preparation for the Olympic games, seeing them as the ultimate propaganda opportunity. Clockwise, from top left: Nazi officials show the extent of the Olympic village using a scale model in July 1936; a street scene with displays of the Olympic and swastika flags in Berlin, August 1936— the regime temporarily toned down public anti-Semitic displays and cleaned up the streets to impress international visitors; lively café scene on the Kurfürstendamm, known colloquially as the Ku’damm, in 1936. (Robert Hunt Library/Sueddeutscher Verlag Bilderdienst/tripadvisor.com)

BEFORE IT ALL WENT DARK…In 1936 the Kurfürstendamm was a bustling Berlin boulevard, temporarily masking the oppressive Nazi regime with a veneer of normalcy for the 1936 Summer Olympics—shown at left is the Scharlachberg House at the corner of Kurfürstendamm/Uhlandstraße in Berlin, where the Maison de France stands today; at right, the Hindenburg flies over the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, August 1936. *(Wikipedia/Encyclopædia Britannica)*

In these excerpts, Flanner wrote that the arts were overseen by Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring (of all people). She also noted the absence from the opera (which she rated poor under Goebbels) of the world-renowned conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who was in seclusion “writing an opera,” but probably wanted to be out of the limelight due to his controversial decision to stay in the Reich rather than flee like other artists and musicians. Furtwängler detested Hitler, but believed his art would wither if he left his homeland.

HORROR SHOW…**Adolf Hitler** and his Nazi thugs at the opera in Berlin in 1936. Hitler often appeared in carefully staged public settings like this one and the one in the photo below. *(archaeohistories.via Facebook.com)*

MUSICAL STRAIN…Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler acknowledges the audience following a 1935 performance by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra—visible in the left corner of the photo are **Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler,** and Joseph Goebbels, among other Nazi leaders. (Archiv Berliner Philharmoniker)

A closer look at the photo—a combination of hatred and fear in Furtwängler’s eyes? The first and second violinists don’t look too thrilled either.

In a related item, Howard Brubaker (in his “Of All Things” column), had this to say about Germany’s Olympics preparations.

* * *

A Friendly Shakedown

In Part Two of his profile on Tammany powerbroker Jimmy Hines, journalist Jack Alexander noted Hines’ unorthodox habit of soliciting contributions from his friends (illustration by Hugo Gellert). Excerpts:

* * *

At the Movies

“In the dreadful summer of 1932, [The New Yorker] paid me ten dollars for an anecdote. I was ripe for seduction…,” Russell Maloney once recalled. “[Then] I sent in an account of a situation that I thought would make a good Helen Hokinson picture…and got paid for that: seven dollars.”

Maloney (1910–1948) proceeded to send more ideas to The New Yorker, and enough were accepted that in 1935 he packed his bags and moved to Manhattan for a job at The New Yorker. In his ten years at the magazine he would contribute thousands of anecdotes to “The Talk of Town” as well as casuals, profiles, and countless cartoon captions. His interest in theater as well as celebrity gossip suited him well when he substituted for John Mosher as the magazine’s film critic.

So let’s see what Maloney—who would later call 1939’s The Wizard of Oz a “stinkeroo,” had to say about the latest fare from Hollywood.

BUT THEY PAID ME THIS MUCH…Top: **Russell Maloney** wrote that both **Bette Davis** and **Warren William** seemed “embarrassed” to be appearing in *Satan Met a Lady*, which was a loose adaptation of Dashiell Hammet’s 1930 novel *The Maltese Falcon—*Maloney found Satan to be vastly inferior to the 1931 film *The Maltese Falcon* (below), which starred Ricardo Cortez and **Bebe Daniels**. In 1941 Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor would appear in yet another adaptation of the Hammet novel. *(imdb.com/facebook.com/jbkaufman.com)*

Maloney “enjoyed” The Return of Sophie Lang, with actors “baffling one another with the greatest suavity”…

IS THIS SUAVE ENOUGH FOR YOU?…**Ray Milland** and **Gertrude Michael** get close in *The Return of Sophie Lang. (Pinterest.com)*

…while Spendthrift, featuring actors speaking in various accents, was “perfectly dreadful.” Fortunately Suzy managed to lift the reviewer’s spirits, especially with the appearance of Jean Harlow.

A WINNER AND A WIENER…Top, **Jean Harlow, Cary Grant,** and **George Davis** in *Suzy*; bottom: **Henry Fonda** is flanked by **Pat Paterson** (left) and Mary Brian in *Spendthrift. (tcm.com/eBay.com)*

See this post from Michael Maslin’s Inkspill about Maloney’s contributions to The New Yorker. Also, check out this photo below that includes Maloney (standing next to James Thurber):

LITERARY CLUBHOUSE…Familiar New Yorker faces gathered for a cocktail party at the Hotel Algonquin to celebrate the success of **Frank Case’s** 1938 memoir, *Tales Of a Wayward Inn.* Seated, from left, are **Fritz Foord, Wolcott Gibbs, Case** and **Dorothy Parker**; standing, left to right, are Alan Campbell, St. Clair McKelway, Russell Maloney and James Thurber (untappedcities.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

We begin with this colorful inside front cover advertisement for Bacardi rum, illustrated by George de Zayas, the younger brother of Marius de Zayas. Born in Mexico, these talented brothers took different artistic paths—Marius became a prominent avant-garde artist who collaborated with Alfred Stieglitz and others in New York, while George focused on commercial art and popular media…

…this isn’t exactly avant-garde, but the makers of Four Roses added a modern twist to their usual traditional style…

…United Airlines offered overnight flights as well as “scenic” daylight flights from coast to coast (New York to San Francisco)…this flight typically took seventeen to nineteen hours, with refueling stops in Cleveland, Omaha, and Cheyenne/Salt Lake City…the planes were not pressurized, so they flew through the weather rather than above it…at least this plane (Boeing 247), according to the ad, had air-conditioning…

…for the more adventurous (and perhaps wealthier) traveler, you could hop aboard a Pan Am Clipper and head for Rio de Janeiro…in 1936, this flight from Miami to Rio took five days (flying in daylight only)…

…a one-way ticket to Rio would have cost close to $11,000 in today’s dollars, while the equivalent $9,000 would get you a one-way ticket to Europe on the Hindenburg…

…in the back of the book we find various food and cocktail diversions…

…and some one-column tennis-themed ads…”Johnson’s Tennis Gut” referred to the material used in the Thirties to string rackets…the strings were almost exclusively made from natural animal gut—commonly called “catgut,” though they were actually made from processed and twisted sheep intestines…

…Liggett & Myers claimed the back page to promote their Chesterfields to women smokers…one wonders if a racking cough interfered with her playing…

…on to our illustrators and cartoonists, we kick things off with spots by Adolph K. Kronengold…

…John Groth…

…Richard Taylor…

…Christina Malman…

…and Victor de Pauw…

…Carl Rose took us through a sculptor’s creative stages…

…Helen Hokinson pondered a recipe for the day’s catch…

…and she checked out some summer reading (Warwick Deeping was a British writer of historical romances as well as books that defended the lifestyles of the bourgeoisie)…

…this was F.E. Smith’s sole contribution to The New Yorker, and it’s pretty good…beyond that, I came up empty trying to find out more about the cartoonist…

…but we all know Leonard Dove (who contributed fifty-seven New Yorker covers and 717 cartoons)…here he’s keeping things quiet on the tennis court…

…and, of course, we have the great Charles Addams…

…we close with one of my favorite cartoonists, Barbara Shermund, keeping things light after the wedding…

Next Time: Men in Kilts…

People in Glass Houses

Above: The Morris B. Sanders Studio and Apartment is the second-oldest modern townhouse in Manhattan. Sanders designed the townhouse, located on 49th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, in 1934 for his own use, and construction was completed in December 1935.  (Wikipedia/docomomo-nytri.org)

Today we barely notice the tens of thousands of shiny glass buildings that populate our cities, not to mention the countless postwar houses that feature vast expanses of glass from floor to ceiling.

April 11, 1936 cover by **Helen Hokinson.**

In 1936 a house made of glass, especially as a structural element, seemed unlikely to most folks, if not downright bizarre. Enter Lewis Mumford, arts and architecture critic for The New Yorker, who was critical of many modern industrial trends and often promoted his ideal of human-scaled, organic design in buildings and cities. Mumford was not opposed to new technologies, such as glass block, as long as it was employed with sensitivity and good taste. Here are some of Mumford’s observations after visiting the American Glass Industries Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum:

NEW NEIGHBOR…**Morris B. Sanders’** studio and apartment at 219 East 49th Street in Turtle Bay boldly interrupted a stodgy row of brownstones. **Lewis Mumford** pronounced the 1936 building “very handsome.” The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as an official landmark in 2008. (curbed.com/Wikipedia)

The Sanders House wasn’t the first time a brownstone was replaced by a modernist building. That honor goes to another Turtle Bay-area house, just one block from the Sanders house, designed by architect William Lescaze in 1933-34.

ODD COUPLE…Designed by **William Lescaze** in the International Style between 1933 and 1934 as a renovation of a 19th-century brownstone townhouse, 211 East 48th Street was one of three houses in Manhattan designed by Lescaze. (atlasobscura.com/inside inside.org)

The Brooklyn Museum exhibition also included commercial examples such as one of the world’s first buildings to be completely covered in glass, the Owens-Illinois Glass Research Laboratory in Toledo, Ohio. Mumford also commented extensively on the new uses of glass in Times Square, namely the rebuilt Rialto Theatre and a Childs restaurant located next door. Excerpts:

THINGS TO COME…Clockwise, from top left, the Owens-Illinois Glass Research Laboratory in Toledo, Ohio, built between 1935 and 1936, is recognized as one of the world’s first buildings to be completely covered in glass, utilizing glass blocks for the facade; **Lewis Mumford** was less impressed with the use of glass by the newly rebuilt Rialto Theatre, but praised the new Childs location next door for being full of “vitality and color.” *(facebook.com/dinerhunter.com)*

* * *

Down on Il Duce

Last week we saw Robert Benchley’s review of the anti-war play, Idiot’s Delight. This week he reviews another play with themes that resonated in the moment, Bitter Stream. Written by Victor Wolfson and adapted from Ignazio Silone’s novel, Fontamara, the play depicted the horrors of fascism as Mussolini’s Black Shirts brutally seize an Italian neighborhood. It featured relative newcomer Lee J. Cobb as well as Frances Bavier, who twenty-four years later would portray Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show. Excerpts:

TROUBLE IN SUNNY ITALY…A scene set in Fontamara Square in the play *Bitter Stream*, which ran for sixty-one performances at the Civic Repertory Theatre. At right, **Lee J. Cobb** portrayed Don Circonstantza, and **Frances Bavier** played the part of Soreanera. Bavier is best known for her portrayal of Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968). (revolutions newsstand.com/facebook.com)

* * *

Sick Leave

Also last week we saw the first part of Edmund Wilson’s account of his travels in the Soviet Union. For the April 11 installment of “A Reporter at Large” (titled “Scarlet Fever in Odessa”), Wilson recounted his six-week stay in a filthy Soviet hospital. Excerpts:

WANTING OUT…**Edmund Wilson** couldn’t wait to get out of the “terribly dirty” Odessa hospital where he was quarantined with scarlet fever for six weeks. At left, photo by **Margaret Bourke White**, “In a Hospital Waiting Room, Moscow,” 1932. At right, Wilson in 1936. (nyamcenterforhistory.org/Wikipedia)

* * *

Gall in Gaul

In her Paris Letter, Janet Flanner continued to share her observations about the French mood (agitated) in the wake of the German occupation of the Rhineland.

HOW ABOUT A NICE DITTY INSTEAD?…**Janet Flanner** reported that there was a “near riot” when a performance at the Paramount Theater (left) included “military music.” At left, the Paramount in 1927; at right, a Popular Front demonstration in Paris, 1936. *(Wikimedia/Bibliothèque nationale de France)*

* * *

At the Movies

Little Lord Fauntleroy was Selznick International Pictures’ most profitable film until Gone with the Wind, and it featured one of the top child stars of the 1930s, English-American child actor Freddie Bartholomew (1924–1992). However, New Yorker film critic John Mosher was “bored to extinction” by the popular film.

SLUMMING…At left, **Freddie Bartholomew** and **Mickey Rooney** in *Little Lord Fauntleroy*. Rooney once said of Bartholomew: “He was one of the finest, if not the finest child stars that we had on the scene at that time”; at right, **Aubrey Smith, Bartholomew** and **Dolores Costello** in a scene from the film. (MGM/Wikipedia)

One of Hollywood’s greatest screen villains, English actor Henry Daniell, caught Mosher’s attention for his “smooth” performance as a blackmailer in The Unguarded Hour. The critic also enjoyed the thriller The House of a Thousand Candles, but was left flat by Give Us This Night.

A MANNERED SCAMP was how **John Mosher** described one of Hollywood’s greatest screen villains, English actor Henry Daniell (right) in *The Unguarded Hour*, which also starred (at left) **Loretta Young** and **Lewis Stone**. *(imdb.com/facebook.com)*

THRILLS AND TRILLS…Top photo, **Mae Clarke** and **Phillips Holmes** in the spy thriller *The House of a Thousand Candles*; below, *Give Us This Night* was one of five films produced by Paramount that featured the popular Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano **Gladys Swarthout,** seen here with Polish opera singer and actor **Jan Kiepura.** *(imdb.com/mabumbe.com)*

* * *

From Our Advertisers

If you could afford it, a first-class salon on the Normandie sure looked like a great way to travel to France…

…this full-page ad enticed moviegoers with a quiz that promoted MGM’s The Great Ziegfeld…one of the most successful films of the 1930s, the movie won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Luise Rainer), and Best Dance Direction…

…who knows what will happen after the honeymoon, but we do know they will driving around in this swell-looking Packard 120, a lower-priced model that helped keep Packard afloat during the waning days of the Depression…

…Forstmann Woolens continued to entice buyers with their seasonal images of fine fashions…

…on to our cartoonists, we begin with the illustration for “The Theatre” section, this week Miguel Covarrubias taking over for Al Frueh…

…Richard Taylor contributed this fine spot illustration…

…and we have another spot by Helen Moore Sewell…

…James Thurber made an awkward introduction…

…George Price hoped for some comic relief at the theatre…

…Eli Garson found religious zeal at a street corner…

…Alan Dunn gave us a great opening line for an insurance salesman…

…Perry Barlow was inspired by bargains on Union Square…

…Helen Hokinson spotted a familiar face in the crowd…

…a quickie marriage left no room for romance, per Peter Arno…

…Whitney Darrow Jr signed us off with an endorsed blessing…

…and a plea to begin life anew, sans whiskers…

Next Time: Age of the Clipper…

Star Maker

Above: Although MGM head Louis B. Mayer (right) had a strong business sense, he needed Irving Thalberg's keen ability to combine artistic quality with commercial success. During his twelve years at MGM, Thalberg supervised the production of more than four hundred films. (artsfuse.org)

Born in a Ukrainian village in 1884, Louis B. Mayer grew up poor in Canada and dropped out of school at age twelve to support his family. Nearly three decades later he co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, lured the “boy genius” Irving Thalberg from Universal, and went on to lead one Hollywood’s most prestigious filmmaking companies.

March 28, 1936 cover by **Perry Barlow.**

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Henry F. Pringle (1897–1958) looked into Mayer’s life in a two-part profile, leading with a look into the movie mogul’s ability to control his vast stable of stars (illustration by Hugo Gellert):

BOY GENIUS…Clockwise, from top left, MGM producer **Irving Thalberg** (seen here in 1929 with wife and actress **Norma Shearer**), had a knack for combining quality art with commercial appeal. Born with a weak heart, Thalberg died in September 1936 at age 37; *The Great Ziegfeld* was one of MGM’s top movies in 1936—it won three Academy Awards including Best Picture; **Louis B. Mayer** with young MGM stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland; **Shirley Temple** signing with MGM in 1941 with Mayer, Garland and Rooney. *(theguardian.com/Wikipedia/facebook.com)*

Mayer (1884–1957) is credited with helping to create the “star system” in Hollywood. “The idea of a star being born is bush-wah,” Mayer once said. “A star is made, created; carefully and cold-bloodedly built up from nothing, from nobody.” Mayer believed he “made” his stars, and therefore had the right to control their careers as well as their very lives. Pringle explained the predicament of actress Joan Crawford:

MAYER-MADE…**Louis B. Mayer** not only gave Joan Crawford a new name (she was born Lucille LeSueur), he was also instrumental in transforming her from a dancer to a major Hollywood star. Throughout her career at MGM Crawford pestered Mayer for better roles (until she finally left MGM in 1943). However, they remained friends until his death in 1957. Crawford once called Mayer “the best friend I ever had.” *(Wikipedia/imdb.com)*

Many stars were less forgiving than Crawford regarding Mayer’s controlling behavior. Although many male actors saw him as a father figure, women often had a very different view. A young Elizabeth Taylor called him a “monster” for his attempts to oversee her life, while Judy Garland was forced to go on diets and take amphetamines and barbiturates to meet Mayer’s punishing work schedules. Many believe this led to Garland’s lifelong addiction issues.

* * *

Water Water Everywhere

In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White was at a loss for words to describe the floods in the northeastern U.S. that followed a bitter winter. A combination of rain and the melting of heavy snowpack caused massive damage in the Connecticut and Merrimack River valleys as well as in the Pittsburgh area. In addition to approximately two hundred fatalities, hundreds of thousands were left homeless.

DELUGE…The flooding in Albany, NY, in 1936 (top) was part of a series of devastating floods that affected much of the northeastern United States. Below, the Holyoke Dam in Massachusetts, March 19, 1936. *(South Hadley Public Library/sungazette.com)*

White’s “Notes” also included an update on the “aesthetic restlessness” at Rockefeller Center, where the statues Youth and Maiden were removed from the Paul Manship-designed Prometheus fountain. The artist decided the two bronze figures did not fit well in the fountain, so they were moved to the roof garden of the Palazzo d’Italia.

EXILED…**Paul Manship’s** two gilded figures, *Youth* and Maiden, representing mankind receiving the fire, originally flanked *Prometheus* (top photo). In 1936 they were moved to the roof garden of the Palazzo d’Italia, but were returned to the Plaza in the 1980s. Pictured below, the six-foot statues were again moved in 2001 to the top of the Plaza staircase between the Channel Gardens and the Sunken Plaza.

*(mcny.org/Elisa.rolle/photo-opsblogspot.com)*

* * *

Pyramid Scheme

“The Talk of the Town” commented on some unusual research conducted by Dr. A.E. Strath-Gordon, in which he used measurements from the Great Pyramid to predict the end of the Depression. Excerpts:

JUST READ THE STONES…**Dr. A.E. Strath-Gordon** (1873–1952) was a spiritualist, researcher, author, and lecturer on the occult and paranormal subjects. (strathgordon.wordpress.com)

* * *

Deeper South

James Thurber had some fun with novels about the Deep South that sought to employ authentic dialogue—but not as successfully as novelist Erskine Caldwell. These excerpts are the first and last paragraphs from the piece.

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED…**Erskine Caldwell’s** writings about poverty and racism in his native South included novels such as Tobacco Road (1932) and *God’s Little Acre* (1933). Unlike Thurber’s parody, Caldwell’s writing style has been described as spare, direct and unadorned. (Wikipedia/etsy.com)

* * *

An Introduction

I didn’t know much about the novelist Leane Zugsmith until I read her short story in the March 28, 1936 edition of The New Yorker. During the 1930s she was prominent among writers who focused on the struggles of the working class during the Great Depression. “Mr. Milliner” was the eighth short story she published in the magazine, out of a total of fifteen from 1934 to 1949. Here are the opening lines:

FED UP…Writer Leane Zugsmith (1903–1969) focused on the shortcomings of capitalism in her novels and short stories, including her 1936 novel *A Time to Remember,* which depicted a department store strike and the rise of white-collar unions. She published fifteen short stories in *The New Yorker* from 1934 to 1949. (*bolerium.com)*

* * *

Over There

In her latest dispatch from Paris, Janet Flanner noted the growing anxiety among Parisians over Germany’s arms buildup and its re-occupation of the Rhineland.

HAIRY HEADLINES…**Janet Flanner** noted the anxious crowds around newspaper kiosks (unlike the quiet image above) and the boos being issued by the market women in the Halles (at passing soldiers) as war with Germany was being seen as inevitable. (tresors-de-paris.com/mattbarrett-travel.com)

* * *

At the Movies

Lillian Hellman’s drama The Children’s Hour premiered on Broadway on Nov. 24, 1934, and ran for 691 performances—but bringing it to the screen in the era of the Motion Picture Production Code (aka Hays Code) proved a bit tricky, according to film critic John Mosher. Hellman’s play centered on a schoolgirl’s false accusation of lesbianism against two of her teachers, or as Mosher put it rather delicately, “a friendship of two young women…characterized by such emotional undercurrents as are not held seemly for screen exposition.”

Hellman rewrote the play to conform to the Code, removing any mention of lesbianism and changing the dramatic focus to a schoolteacher accused of having sex with another’s fiance. It appeared in 1936 under the title These Three.

Mosher wished the film could have included Florence McGee, who portrayed the conniving student protagonist Mary Tilford in the original play. The part in These Three went instead to Bonita Granville, who at age fourteen earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Mary Tilford.

TWO TAKES…**Florence McGee** (pictured at right, seated center) portrayed the conniving student protagonist Mary Tilford in the Broadway production of *The Children’s Hour.* The part of Mary Tilford in the re-written film version of the play, *These Three,* went to Bonita Granville (left), who at age fourteen earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance. (oscarchamps.com/Wikipedia)

THREE TOTALLY STRAIGHT PEOPLE…**Joel McCrea, Merle Oberon** and Miriam Hopkins starred in *These Three*, a cinematic rewrite of **Lillian Hellman’s** play The Children’s Hour. (quadcinema.com)

Mosher also reviewed Petticoat Fever, a “trifle” starring Myrna Loy and Robert Montgomery.

BABY ITS COLD OUTSIDE…**Myrna Loy** and **Robert Montgomery** in Petticoat Fever. Montgomery was the father of **Elizabeth Montgomery,** best known for her portrayal of Samantha Stephens on the TV sitcom *Bewitched.* (IMDb.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

The inside front cover advertisement belonged to the “House of Schenley,” which emphasized the purity of Kentucky’s “limestone waters”…

…the makers of Packard automobiles also appealed to bucolic sensibilities with this homespun image…

…the Easter Parade has been a New York tradition since the 1870s, when New York’s elite would walk down Fifth Avenue to show off the latest European fashions…the event was largely centered around churches like St. Patrick’s, hence the ad from its neighbor across the street, Rockefeller Center…today the event is called the Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival, a more inclusive event featuring eccentric, handcrafted bonnets…

…Lux Soap Flakes were featured in big, celebrity-filled ads in mid-century America, soap being one product (like whiskey and cigarettes) that proved to be mostly Depression-proof…

…a twelve-cylinder engine was usually a feature of top-of-the-line luxury automobiles, but the folks at Lincoln put one into their medium-priced Zephyr…the car succeeded in reigniting sales at Lincoln dealerships during the Depression…

…beginning in the late nineteenth century cigarette companies included coupons that could be redeemed for items ranging from cocktail sets to silk stockings (per this ad)…Brown & Williamson, the makers of Raleigh and Kool cigarettes, featured coupons on the back of every pack, and smokers could write the company for a free premium catalog…

…this Raleigh catalog from the early 1950s even featured toys…250 coupons could get you a “Teddy bear with plastic nose”…so keep on puffing…

…Luckies went with the glamour of flying, an experience only the well-heeled could afford…

…on to our cartoonists, we have Richard Taylor…

…and Barbara Shermund welcoming us into the issue…

…and a this nice spot from Christina Malman…

…Al Frueh gave us his interpretation of Saint Joan…

…W.P. Trent explored the deep seas…

…Helen Hokinson revealed a secret…

…Gluyas Williams was still examining club life…

…William Steig went for a haircut (across two pages)…

…Leonard Dove received some junk mail…

…George Price uncovered a spy…

…Garrett Price assessed the price of fame…

…William Crawford Galbraith continued to explore the world of sugar daddies and chlorines…

…and we close with Ned Hilton, and those floods…

Next Time: Idiot’s Delight…

Nostalgic Notes

Above: Nightlife correspondent Lois Long checked out the latest clubs as well as old-time favorites in her column "Tables for Two." From left, advertisement for Restaurant Larue; Josephine Baker in 1937; and the entrance to Monte Proser's Beachcomber, an early iteration of the tiki bar that would become ubiquitous in midcentury America. (eBay.com/Wikipedia/mytiki.life)

Part three of Janet Flanner’s profile of Adolf Hitler can be found below, but it’s time to lead with something more pleasant, namely Manhattan nightlife through the eyes of Lois Long.

In her “Tables for Two” column headlined “Nostalgic Notes,” Long checked out the new Chez Josephine Baker, the garden-like delights of Restauarnt Larue, and the French-themed Le Coq Rouge.

NEW NIGHTLIFE…Clockwise from top left, ad for *Restaurant Larue;* 1930s postcard showing interior of *Larue*; **Josephine Baker,** proprietor of *Chez Josephine Baker;* ad for *Le Coq Rouge;* interior of *Le Coq Rouge,* 1930s. (eBay/Wikipedia)

Long also noted the Beachcomber Bar, which originated in the basement of an old church, and actor Dan Healy’s Broadway Room.

MAN ABOUT TOWN…**Dan Healy** was a well-known master of ceremonies in the Manhattan nightlife scene. He married the famed “boop-boop-a-doop” singer (and possible Betty Boop inspiration) **Helen Kane** in 1939—they later opened a New York restaurant together called Healy’s Grill. (whosdatedwho.com/Facebook)

* * *

Bummed Out

E.B. White (in “Notes and Comment”) referred to confessional essays published in Esquire magazine by F. Scott Fitzgerald that frankly described his struggles with alcoholism and the decline of his literary reputation. The confessional tone of the essays (three in all, published in February, March and April 1936) proved controversial at the time.

In his first essay, “The Crack-Up,” Fitzgerald famously observed that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

A CRY FOR HELP?…At left, **F. Scott Fitzgerald** in the 1930s (top), and, apparently during happier days (below, with wife Zelda); at right, the opening page of “The Crack-Up.” (esquire.com/pbs.org)

* * *

Say What?

New Yorker writers rarely missed an opportunity to poke fun of Time magazine’s unique ways with the English language. E.B. White again, in an excerpt:

TIMEWORDS…The March 16, 1936 issue of *Time*, and E.B. White. (time.com/imdb.com)

* * *

Dying to Know

“The Talk of the Town” made brief mention of a rumor regarding Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton’s health. Reports of her demise were premature; she died in 1979.

HANGING IN THERE…**Barbara Hutton** with husband no. 2, **Count Kurt von Haugwitz-Reventlow,** circa 1936. Hutton married seven times, including a brief marriage to actor **Cary Grant**, who was husband no. 3. (whosdatedwho.com)

* * *

Part Three

Janet Flanner completed her three-part profile of Adolf Hitler by looking into the man’s mind, if that was even possible.

OBEDIENT MASSES…Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler addresses soldiers at a rally in Dortmund, Germany, 1933. (encyclopedia.ushmm.org)

Flanner also noted the Führer’s early days as an unsuccessful painter, and an odd wedding gift to his buddy Hermann Göring:

GOOSED…Top, **Adolf Hitler** presented a specially painted copy of Correggio’s *Leda with the Swan* as a wedding gift to **Hermann Göring** and actress **Emmy Sonnemann** on April 10, 1935; below, Hitler painted this watercolor during his pre-WWI time in Munich, from May 1913 to August 1914. (Wikipedia)

* * *

China Syndrome

Supporting herself as a writer for The New Yorker, Emily Hahn’s years in Shanghai, China (1935 to 1941) were tumultuous. Living in the city’s red light district, she became romantically involved with the Chinese poet and publisher Shao Xunmei (aka Sinmay Zau) and became addicted to opium. In this excerpted short essay, Hahn described her literary encounters with Shao Xunmei (here referred to as “Pan Heh-ven”) and a passel of translators.

ENOUGH OF THAT…**Emily Hahn** became romantically involved with the Chinese poet and publisher **Shao Xunmei** (aka Sinmay Zau), but ultimately left him in order to break her opium addiction. (Wikipedia)

* * *

At the Movies

Critic John Mosher did his best to stay awake during the latest fare from Hollywood…

SPECIOUS SPECTACLE…Top, from left, **Louise Fazenda, Paul Draper, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell** and Hugh Herbert in *Colleen*; below, **Wendy Barrie** and **Gene Raymond** in *Love on a Bet.* (cometoverhollywood.com/imdb.com)

Mosher also commented on a film he walked out on (The Farmer in the Dell), and considered the twentieth anniversary of Intolerance, a 1916 drama that had become a “cheap amusement.”

HO HUM…Critic **John Mosher** walked out of *The Farmer in the Dell,* mostly due to boredom—above, **Frank Albertson, Jean Parker, Fred Stone** and Esther Dale in the romcom *The Farmer in the Dell;* below, scene from **D.W. Griffith’s** epic silent film from 1916, *Intolerance.* (imdb.com/cinemafromthespectrum.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

The folks at Hormel once again claimed the inside front cover with this array of soups featured sideways, in full color…

…the illustrator of this Lord & Taylor advertisement hoped to superimpose a pair of shoes over a woman’s face, with less than convincing results…

…the makers of Packard automobiles sent a condescending message “To The Ladies,” promising not to “bore them” with talk of mechanical features…

…a sampling of one-column ads featured, from left, the renowned Russian Eagle cafe-bar at the Sherry-Netherland, the Modernage furniture store on East 33rd, and the Milwaukee Road railroad, which offered adventure at such places as a Montana dude ranch…

…the inside back cover featured this drawing of actress/dancer/singer June Knight by Abe Birnbaum…

…Birnbaum was a terrific artist, but his portrait of Knight was not terribly flattering…this is what she looked like in the 1930s…

**June Knight** (1913–1987) circa 1930s. (reddit.com)

…on to the cartoons, we kick off the issue with Canadian cartoonist Richard Taylor…

…and Taylor again, striking a pose…

…Arnold Hall contributed an example of floral marketing…

…Al Frueh contributed to “The Theatre” section…

…Jack Markow did some rubbernecking…

…Howard Baer welcomed a new tax deduction to the world…

…Perry Barlow drew up impressions of a field trip to the Hayden Planetarium…

…Barlow again…

…one of Helen Hokinson’s “girls” explained herself…

…Barbara Shermund interpreted modern dance…

…Alain sought some dish over tea with the vicar…

…and we close with James Thurber, and a penny for her thoughts…

Next Time: The Harsh Glare of Fame…

Making of a Madman

Above: At left, the Nazi Party sought to remake Christian holidays such as Christmas into Nazi-themed, pagan events, even trying to redefine St. Nicholas as Wotan, the ancient Germanic deity; at right, Adolf Hitler rejected Christianity, calling it a Jewish plot to undermine the heroic ideals of the Aryan-dominated Roman Empire. Here he is seen meeting the nuncio to Germany, Cesare Orsenigo, on January 1, 1935. (reddit.com/Wikipedia)

For the March 7 issue we look at the second part of Janet Flanner’s profile of German dictator Adolf Hitler, in which she attempted to identify the social and political influences that led to his peculiar vision of the world.

March 7, 1936 cover by Constantin Alajalov.

Flanner noted that Hitler’s ancestors were intermarrying, pious Roman Catholic peasants, including his parents, second cousins Klara Pölzl and Alois Hitler. While Klara was a doting parent, Alois was often abusive and distant. And so it began.

MOM AND DAD…**Adolf Hitler’s** parents were second cousins Klara Pölzl (1860–1907) and **Alois Hitler** (1837–1903). Pölzl was the third wife of the much older Hitler, who was a stern, mid-level Austrian customs official. (Wikipedia)

Flanner described Hitler’s struggles as an artist (rejected twice by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts), however his real disappointment was nationalistic; serving as a courier (and wounded) in World War I, he blamed internal traitors for Germany’s defeat. To bolster his patriotic ideals, Hitler turned to books, and particularly to poet and dramatist Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)—the Nazis would later manipulate Schiller’s works to fit the Party’s themes of nationalism, struggle, and obedience. Hitler would further hone his world view through the works of white supremacist Count de Gobineau (1816–1882), nihilist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), and philologist Max Müller (1823–1900), whose work inadvertently contributed to the idea of a superior “Aryan” race.

REWRITING HISTORY…Clockwise, from top, a 1940 Nazi propaganda film, *Friedrich Schiller— Der Triumph eines Genies*, portrayed Schiller (played by actor **Horst Caspar**) as an idealistic *Übermensch;* Hitler and the Nazis were also influenced by white supremacist **Count de Gobineau;** philologist Max Müller; and the nihilist philosopher **Friedrich Nietzsche.** *(film portal.de/Wikipedia)*

In her conclusion, Flanner noted Hitler’s dislike of jokes at his own expense, and she was surprised that German comedian Weiss Ferdl, known for his “Führer gibes,” wasn’t in a concentration camp with cabaret singer Claire Waldorff (somehow both survived the regime and the war). Flanner also touched on Hitler’s antipathy toward Christianity.

SURVIVORS…At left, **Weiss Ferdl** (1883-1949) was a German actor, humorous folksinger known for his jibes at Hitler; at right, **Claire Waldorff** (1884-1957) was a famous cabaret singer and entertainer in Berlin, known for performing ironic songs with lesbian undertones. *(Wikimedia Commons)*

I’LL TRY TO KILL YOU LATER…German Chancellor **Adolf Hitler** greets (l to r) Roman Catholic Abbot **Albanus Schachleiter** and Protestant Reichsbischof **Ludwig Müller,** outside the Frauenkirche in Nuremberg, September 1934. (Wikipedia)

* * *

Thrill Ride

In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White described “one of the strangest nightmares of motordom”…

THE GREAT WALL…**E.B. White** feared whatever might pop out of the dark tunnels on the northern stretches of Park Avenue. Clockwise, from top, an 1876 illustration of the new viaduct through the Harlem Flats; E. 108th Street pedestrian tunnel between Lexington and Park; Park Avenue Viaduct–La Marqueta. (Wikipedia/manhattanwalkblog.com/6tocelebrate.org)

* * *

Ding-dong

Robert Benchley filed a brief review of The Postman Always Rings Twice, a stage adaptation at the Lyceum Theatre of James M. Cain’s acclaimed novel. Although the play was well received by audiences, many reviewers found the subject matter distasteful. Cain would later describe the 1936 production as “a dreadful experience from beginning to end.”

SCHEMERS AND DREAMERS…**Richard Barthelmess** and **Mary Philips** portrayed star-crossed lovers in the 1936 stage production of *The Postman Always Rings Twice*. Philips was a noted Broadway performer and Humphey Bogart’s first wife. (Wikipedia/imdb.com)

* * *

At the Movies

Critic John Mosher commented on familiar Hollywood tropes (doctors chasing nurses, execs pursuing secretaries etc.) and offered up the “tepid” example of Wife vs. Secretary, which featured three of Tinseltown’s top stars.

MILD HIJINKS…At left, **Clark Gable** and Jean Harlow in a scene from *Wife vs. Secretary*; at right, Gable with **Myrna Loy.** *(faintlyfamiliar.com/facebook.com)*

Mosher didn’t find much excitement in the dog-themed picture The Voice of Bugle Ann, and was left flat after seeing Road Gang and the German film Liebelei.

SWEET AND SOUR…**Lionel Barrymore** and Spring Byington were on one side of a feud over a special dog in *The Voice of Bugle Ann.* (tcm.com)

WELL THIS SUCKS…At left, **Donald Woods** and Carlyle Moore Jr. find themselves behind bars in *Road Gang;* at right, **Paul Hörbiger** and **Olga Tschechowa** in 1933’s Liebelei (aka Playing at Love). (rotten tomatoes.com/screenslate.com)

* * *

Language Arts

H.L. Mencken continued his exploration of American English by taking a look at past attempts to simplify spelling—most of them unsuccessful. Excerpts:

NOT ONE FOR GIMMICKS…**H.L. Mencken** at his desk at the Baltimore Sun. *(Paris Review)*

Mencken noted the Chicago Tribune’s radical approach to simplified spelling in 1934, and the lasting effects of Noah Webster’s American dictionary.

“PEDAGOGUE” was one of the milder insults cast at **Noah Webster** by his peers. (National Portrait Gallery)

* * *

First World Problem

Food critic Sheila Hibben looked into the complexities of tea-drinking during the cocktail hour, and vice-versa.

CHOOSE YOUR MOOD…The Plaza Hotel offered the ideal setting for whatever libation one chose at tea time. At left, the Plaza’s Persian Room, 1934, and the Palm Court, undated photo. (cooperhewitt.org/mcny.org)

* * *

Finer Things

Rebecca West was a brilliant journalist and gifted prose writer, and when she published something people took notice, including critic Clifton Fadiman, who noted her return with The Thinking Reed. A brief excerpt:

A MIGHTY PEN…**Rebecca West** (1892-1983) was considered one of the finest prose writers of twentieth-century England. This 1934 photograph was produced by **Howard Coster.** (National Portrait Gallery)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

The March 7 issue opened to this sumptuous image of luxury travel aboard the Normandie…

…the salons of Dorothy Gray returned with another tale of a magical transformation, here the plain “Miss Adams” suddenly becomes lovely and exciting thanks to the illusion of cosmetics…

…the makers of Packard automobiles took out this full page ad to gently chastise Time magazine for questioning the carmaker’s adherence to a timeless, “basic design”…

…although in Time’s defense the Packard didn’t look much different from this Lincoln…

…what did look different was the Chrysler/DeSoto Airflow, which had disappointing sales due to a streamlined design that was a bit too radical for consumers…

…actress and costume designer Kate Lawson (1894-1977) made her image available to promote washable wallpaper…

…in addition to calming nerves and boosting energy, Camels apparently aided one’s digestion, or so this ad claimed…

…Liggett & Myers stuck with the homespun approach, here three generations light up Chesterfields in the warm glow of the parlor…

…did you spot the cigarettes in the ad?…

…on to the cartoons, we have Al Frueh’s take on the Ziegfeld Follies…

…James Thurber contributed this to the calendar section…

…and Thurber again with his beloved dogs…

…George Price found a glitch at the weather bureau…

…Californians circled their wagons in the hostile Midwest, per Carl Rose…

…Alain saw a trip to the dentist in this man’s future…

…Helen Hokinson lost us in the peculiarities of needlepoint…

…Barbara Shermund found a bargain in portraiture…

…and Shermund again, in the dress department…

…and we close with Whitney Darrow Jr, and something to write about…

Next Time: Nostalgic Notes…

Führer Furor

Above, left, Janet Flanner regards the cover of the Sept. 13, 1931 issue of The New Yorker; at right, Adolf Hitler's chosen filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl at Nuremberg's "Shovel Day" parade, 1936. (Library of Congress/Sueddeutscher Verlag)

The February 29, 1936 issue stands out from pack not only for its cover—James Thurber’s first—but also for the magazine’s first in-depth look at a man who would spark the deadliest conflict in human history.

February 29, 1936 cover by James Thurber. This was the first of six covers Thurber contributed to *The New Yorker.* You can see all six covers at Michael Maslin’s Ink Spill, the go-to site for all things Thurber and so much more. **UPDATE:** Also check Maslin’s post regarding the repeat of this cover on Sept. 4, 2023. Fascinating read!

Before we jump in…Thurber’s close friend E.B. White noted another unusual fact about this issue…

…twenty-eight years later, and a dime extra (cover by Garrett Price)…

* * *

Inside the Feb. 29 issue, The New Yorker’s Paris correspondent Janet Flanner published the first part of a three-part profile on German dictator Adolf Hitler. In this first excerpt she described the Führer’s ascetic diet and personality (caricature by William Cotton).

NAZI NUM NUMS….Adolf Hitler with one of his official food tasters, **Margot Woelk**, during World War II. Woelk later claimed she was the sole survivor from a group of food tasters who were summarily executed by the Red Army after the fall of Berlin. *(warfarehistorynetwork.com)*

Flanner described Hitler’s relationships with influential women, particularly filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS…**Adolf Hitler** had influential admirers both in and outside of Germany, including, clockwise, from top left, filmmaker **Leni Riefenstahl** (in the white skirt described by Flanner) at the 1936 “Shovel Day” in Nuremburg; **Winifred Wagner,** daughter-in-law of composer **Richard Wagner,** in 1925; Hitler with **Unity Mitford,** one of six aristocratic Mitford sisters and a fanatical Nazi; Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl with another Mitford sister, **Diana Mitford,** at a 1934 Nuremberg rally. Diana as married to **Oswald Mosley,** leader of the British Union of Fascists, and Hanfstaengl was the son of **Katharina Wilhelmina Hanfstaengl,** a prominent Munich art publisher who helped finance Hitler’s rise to power. *(Sueddeutscher Verlag/Wikipedia/historyreader.com)*

Flanner concluded the piece with a look at Hitler’s sexuality, which seemed non-existent, and drew an ominous conclusion about his personality type.

EXPENDABLE…**Ernst Röhm** with Adolf Hitler in 1933. Although Hitler knew Röhm was gay, he also valued Röhm’s leadership and organizational skills, that is until his presence proved a liability. Röhm was murdered by the SS in 1934 during the “Night of the Long Knives.” *(Wikipedia)*

As part of a centenary series, The New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz recently looked at Flanner’s profile of Hitler, noting that she was “neither an antifascist, like her friend Dorothy Parker, nor a Fascist, like her friend Ezra Pound; she was against crude bigotry, but she was not the world’s greatest philo-Semite.”

* * *

Lamour Amour

In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White pointed out the challenges of expressing physical beauty over a non-visual medium like radio:

TELEGENIC…Hopefully E.B. White managed to see **Dorothy Lamour** on the “television waves… bumping along over the Alleghenies.” At left, publicity photo of Lamour from 1937; at right, Lamour appeared as a mystery guest on *What’s My Line?*, Feb. 20, 1955, seen here with host John Daly. In later years Lamour was a guest on a number of television shows, ranging from *Marcus Welby, M.D.* to *Remington Steele. (Wikipedia/YouTube.com)*

* * *

Shadow Plays

Morris Bishop (1893-1973), a noted scholar of the Middle Ages as well as a writer of light verse, offered up these lines after screening early silent films at the Museum of Modern Art. The screenings were curated by Iris Barry to showcase MoMA’s new film library and to advance the study of film as a serious art form.

TIME CAPSULES…The Museum of Modern Art was a pioneer in the study of film as a modern art form. Among the films screened at MoMA in 1936 (clockwise, from top left): famed stage actress **Sarah Bernhardt** as Queen Elizabeth in the *Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth* (The Loves of Queen Elizabeth) with **Lou Tellegen,** 1912; Bernhardt in the film *Camille* (*La Dame aux camélias*) with **André Calmettes,** 1911; **Theda Bara’s** 1917 take on *Camille*, in a scene with Alan Roscoe; **Gloria Swanson** in *Zaza,* 1923. *(Wikipedia/imdb.com/YouTube.com)*

* * *

A Reporter’s Chops

With so much attention given to James Thurber as a humorist, it is easy to forget that he was an experienced journalist, and that he could apply his considerable gifts as a writer to narrative non-fiction. For the Feb. 29 “A Reporter at Large” column, Thurber penned “Crime in the Cumberlands.” I can’t do it justice through excerpts, but I highly recommend giving it a read as a prime example of Thurber’s skills as a reporter.

SERIOUSLY SERIOUS WRITER…You can find both humorous and not-so-humorous crime stories (and drawings, of course) in 1991’s *Thurber on Crime,* edited by Robert Lopresti. “Crime in the Cumberlands” is included in the collection. *(jamesthurber.org/barnesandnoble.com)*

* * *

At the Movies

Not so serious were the films being churned out by Hollywood, including the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers toe-tapper Follow the Fleet, set to an Irving Berlin score that featured the hit “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” Critic John Mosher was on board for the ride.

GOOD CLEAN FUN…Dance partners “Bake” Baker (**Fred Astaire**) and Sherry Martin (**Ginger Rogers**) find love during shore leave in *Follow the Fleet.* *(Toronto Film Society)*

Bandleader Harry Richman, well known in the New York nightlife scene of the 1920s and 30s, showed his acting chops in The Music Goes ‘Round…

I CAN SING TOO…**Rochelle Hudson** and **Harry Richman** in The Music Goes ‘Round. (imdb.com)

…Fred MacMurray, Sylvia Sydney, Henry Fonda and Fred Stone appeared in living color in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine–it was just the second full-length feature to be shot in three-strip Technicolor and the first to be shot outdoors in Technicolor…

LIFELIKE…Clockwise, from top left: **Fred MacMurray; Sylvia Sydney**; a Paramount movie poster; **Henry Fonda** and **Fred Stone.** *(moviesalamark.com/imdb.com)*

…the 1936 film Rhodes (aka Rhodes of Africa) featured the massive acting talents of Walter Huston and Peggy Ashcroft; not surprisingly, the subject matter of the film has not aged well…a 2015 review in The Guardian is headlined: “Rhodes of Africa: only slightly less offensive than the man himself”…

COLONIAL KLINK…**Walter Huston** and **Peggy Ashcroft** in Rhodes. *(imdb.com)*

* * *

From Our Advertisers

We begin with a Stage magazine ad from the inside front cover, featuring an illustration by Alexander King…

…only new-money swells would be seen doing this…old money wouldn’t dare enter the kitchen, unless they needed to sack the cook…

…on the back cover of the Feb. 29 issue you would find this elegant woman taking a break from her vanity to enjoy a “toasted” Lucky…

…we join our cartoonists, starting with this spot by Richard Taylor…

…Garrett Price got stuck over the frozen falls…

…George Price drew up a sandwich board competition…

…Al Frueh continued to illuminate “The Theatre” section…

…James Thurber posed a loaded question…

…Denys Wortman got down to some debugging…

…Carl Rose offered up another example of rugged individualism…

…Charles Addams came down to earth…

…Alain illustrated a case of jury tampering…

…Helen Hokinson demonstrated the allure of a netted hat…

…and Hokinson again, doing some early spring cleaning…

…and Barbara Shermund explored the idyll of wanderlust…

…and before we go, here is the New Yorker cover—by Helen Hokinson, Sept. 12, 1931—that was the object of Janet Flanner’s attention…

Next Time: Making of a Madman…

The Major’s Amateur Hour

Above: Photo of the Hoboken Four as they appeared on the "Amateur Hour with Major Bowes" in 1935. At center is "Major" Edward Bowes, and at right is Frank Sinatra. The other three members of the Hoboken Four were Frank Tamburro, Patty Prince and Jimmy Petro. (knkx.org)

Nearly seventy years before American Idol appeared on our TV screens, a hugely successful and influential talent show filled the airwaves from NBC’s radio studios at Rockefeller Center.

January 4, 1936 cover by **Constantin Alajalov.**

Millions tuned in each week to the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which got its start in 1934 at radio station WHN before moving to NBC the following year. Created and hosted by “Major” Edward Bowes (1874–1946), Bowes would chat with contestants before listening to their performances, which could be cut short by the Major’s gong (see below). For his “A Reporter at Large” column, Morris Markey paid a visit to Bowes during evening auditions at the NBC studios. Excerpts:

THE GONG SHOW…At bottom right, **Edward Bowes** with the gong he used to abruptly end acts he deemed poor or inept—he abandoned the prop in 1936 after receiving thousands of letters from listeners who objected to the premature termination of acts (apparently the concept was a direct inspiration for Chuck Barris’s 1970s TV program, *The Gong Show*). At left, a July 1936 *Women’s Home Companion* advertisement from the show’s sponsor, Chase & Sanborn. The ads highlighted the rags-to-riches stories of the more successful contestants. (eBay.com/Wikipedia)

Markey ended his piece noting the reality of the many contestants who, unlike Frank Sinatra, would not go on to successful entertainment careers.

STARMAKER…Clockwise, from left: Major Edward Bowes and returning Amateur Hour performer **Frank Sinatra** in 1943; in 1935 eleven-year-old **Maria Callas** performed the Madama Butterfly aria “Un bel dì vedremo,” on the Amateur Hour; actor/baritone **Robert Merrill** performed on the show in 1936. (winnetoba.com/mariacallasestate.com/Wikipedia)

* * *

Fleeing the Limelight

In December 1935 Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh secretly boarded a ship in New York and headed to England, seeking to escape the media frenzy that followed their son’s kidnapping and the subsequent trial. Thanks to connections through Anne’s family, they were able to move into a secluded estate in the Kent countryside. In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White explained:

HIDEOUT…From 1936 to 1938 **Charles** and Anne Morrow Lindbergh lived in a secluded English estate called “Long Barn.” The estate in County Kent was owned by a friend of Anne’s family. (waverlyhs.weebly.com)

NOT HIS FINEST HOUR…In July 1936 Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering (right) presented the Sword of Honor of the German Air Force to **Charles Lindbergh** during a visit to Berlin. **Anne Morrow Lindbergh** is to the far left. Goering would also present Lindbergh with a high-ranking Nazi-era civilian medal, the Service Cross of the German Eagle, during a 1938 visit. Anne presciently referred to the medal as “the albatross.” (Library of Congress)

According to White, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia cited lax police control of the media in the case of the fleeing Lindberghs. In turn, White attempted to explain the unique temperaments of Irish police officers.

GIVE US A BREAK…**E.B. White** noted the courage and wisdom of Irish cops, but also found their lassitude “almost theatrical.” Pictured above is Irish immigrant Patrick Leddy, who joined the NYPD in 1910 and remained on the force for more than thirty-five years. (Courtesy of Margaret Fitzpatrick Leddy via nyirishhistory.us)

A final note on the Lindberghs from Howard Brubaker, a snippet from his “Of All Things” column.

* * *

Italian Swashbuckler

The Italian fencer Aldo Naldi (1899-1965) won three gold medals and one silver at the 1920 Olympics before turning professional. According to West Coast Fencing, Aldo traveled Europe like a prizefighter, “competing in well-attended matches for cash purses…in a world of travel, glamour, drinking, womanizing, gambling and fencing, Aldo Nadi reigned supreme, going nearly eight years without a defeat.” “The Talk of the Town” was on hand for his American debut. Excerpts:

EN GARDE!…During the interwar years **Aldo Nadi** reigned supreme, going nearly eight years without a defeat. (dennishollingsworth.us)

“Talk” also examined the fuss being made over the Great Chalice of Antioch, which was on display at the Brooklyn Museum. Excerpts:

COULD IT BE?…Claimed to have been found in Antioch around 1900, this chalice’s plain silver bowl was ambitiously identified by some as the Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. It is displayed with the Metropolitan Museum’s Byzantium collection. (metmuseum.org)

* * *

Year, Schmear

To mark the New Year, Arthur Guiterman offered up one his humorous poems…

…Guiterman (1871–1943) was an early contributor to The New Yorker—the magazine’s very first issue, Feb. 21, 1925, featured the first installment of Guiterman’s recurring “Lyrics from the Pekinese,” which ran through the first eleven issues.

MEOW…**Arthur Guiterman’s** “Lyrics from the Pekinese,” featured in the first issue of *The New Yorker.* At right, Guiterman in an undated photo. (Library of Congress)

* * *

Before He Was Spooky

Robert Benchley’s review of the stage began on a bright note with Victoria Regina, which starred Vincent Price as Prince Albert and Helen Hayes as Queen Victoria. Benchley praised the realism Price and Hayes lent to the production. Excerpts:

A MATCH MADE ON BROADWAY…The 24-year-old **Vincent Price** and the 35-year-old **Helen Hayes** portrayed Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in Victoria Regina, which ran for 203 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre. **Robert Benchley** thought their casting was ideal. (Pinterest)

Benchley also sat through George White’s latest Scandals revue, finding it similar to White’s older shows—beautiful showgirls, various singers and dancers, and assorted comedians—with Bert Lahr shining above it all.

IT SEEMED LIKE OLD TIMES to Robert Benchley as he took in the latest edition of **George White’s** *Scandals.* **Bert Lahr** (left) was among the headliners for the 1936 revue, which ran for 110 performances at the New Amsterdam Theatre before taking to the road. (Wikipedia/Playbill.com)

* * *

At the Movies

John Mosher had a busy week at the movies, finding “considerable pleasure” in the screen adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Ah Wilderness!…

MILLER TIME…The Miller family attends a commencement ceremony that helps kick off the action in *Ah Wilderness!* From left, **Aline MacMahon, Mickey Rooney, Spring Byington**, and **Bonita Granville.** (IMDB)

Mosher also looked at films featuring leading actresses of the day—Barbara Stanwyck in Annie Oakley, Bette Davis in Dangerous, and Claudette Colbert in The Bride Comes Home.

A TRIO OF TALENTS…Clockwise, from top left, **Claudette Colbert** had her hands full with **Robert Young** and Fred MacMurray in The Bride Comes Home; **Barbara Stanwyck** took aim in Annie Oakley; and **Bette Davis** portrayed a down-and-out actress with trouble on her mind in *Dangerous.* For her performance, Davis won the Academy Award for Best Actress. (laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/girlswithguns.org/vanguardofhollywood.com )

* * *

Gaming the Games

In her “Paris Letter,” Janet Flanner noted the preparations for the Fourth Olympic Winter games to be held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

WINTER HAS ARRIVED…**Adolf Hitler** and his fellow Nazi thugs brought a certain chill to the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Garmisch and Partenkirchen were separate communities until Hitler forced them to merge in anticipation of the games. (arolsen-archives.org)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

From 1933 to 1939, Macy’s hosted a series of unique design exhibitions under the title “Forward House” that showcased contemporary furniture, decor, and architectural ideas…

…for reference, here is another “Forward House” advertisement from the February 1936 House & Garden magazine…

…the folks at Robbins Island Oysters employed the legend of Giacomo Casanova to market their tasty little rocks…apparently Casanova claimed that he consumed more than fifty oysters each morning to sustain his amorous adventures…

…with the holidays over, the number of ads decreased significantly, leaving readers with a mere sixty pages—less than the half the length of the fat pre-Christmas editions…the theme in the Jan. 4 issue was travel to warmer climes, these examples culled from several back of the book pages…

…the end of the holiday season did not stop tobacco companies from taking out lavish full-page advertisements targeting women smokers, this one gracing the back cover…note the implied medical endorsement at the bottom…

…we clear the air and move on to our cartoonists, beginning with spot drawings by D. Krán…

…and Christina Malman…

…one of Helen Hokinson’s girls sought an impromptu parking lesson…

…while another welcomed winter with her furry charges…

…Whitney Darrow Jr gave us a full-service information booth…

…Mary Petty illustrated a dowager with simple tastes…

…Gardner Rea was confounded at the hat check…

…Carl Rose offered up another example of rugged individualism…

…Alan Dunn served up a unique language challenge…

…Robert Day stood tall at a basketball game…

…William Crawford Galbraith was horsing around…

…Alain looked crosseyed at a store closing…

…and we close with Barbara Shermund, who sized up things at a hat shop…

Next Time: Magnificently Obsessed…

It Can’t Happen Here

Above: Cover of Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel about a fascist takeover of America, It Can't Happen Here. At right, 22,000 people attended a Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. (Wikipedia/Reddit)

Ninety years ago Sinclair Lewis published It Can’t Happen Here, a dystopian novel that responded to the rise of fascism in Europe as well as to American demagogues like Louisiana Senator Huey Long.

October 26, 1935 cover by Roger Duvoisin. Duvoisin (1900–1980) was a Swiss-born American writer and illustrator best known for children’s picture books. He illustrated 32 covers for *The New Yorker,* along with five cartoons. Duvoisin won the Caldecott Medal in 1948 (along with author **Alvin Tresselt**) for *White Snow, Bright Snow.*

In his 2016 New Yorker article, “Getting Close to Fascism with Sinclair Lewis’s ‘It Can’t Happen Here,'” journalist Alexander Nazaryan notes how Lewis was arguing for journalism and civic education as essential pillars of democracy. The title of Lewis’s book, Nazaryan observes, suggests that ‘It’ was something more subtle: “a collective apathy, born of ignorance, and a populace that can no longer make the kind of judgments that participatory democracy requires.”

Lewis’s novel also made book critic Clifton Fadiman sit up and take notice. Here are excerpts from the first part of his review:

HOME-GROWN…American fascism was represented by organizations such as the German American Bund, the Silver Legion of America, and radio host Charles Coughlin, who opposed the New Deal and promoted conspiracy theories and antisemitic views. Clockwise, from top left: Nearly a thousand uniformed men wearing swastika arm bands and carrying Nazi banners parade past a reviewing stand in New Jersey on July 18, 1937. The New Jersey division of the German-American Bund had opened the 100-acre Camp Nordland at Sussex Hills; **Huey Long** in 1935, the same year he was assassinated; Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in 1939. (AP/Wikipedia)

If you zoom in on the photo at bottom right, you can’t help but notice the woman in the black hat, who seems a little unsure about what she is doing, especially in front of a camera…the woman to her right appears to be hiding her face.

Here is more of Fadiman’s review (click to enlarge). It’s worth a read.

WE’VE BEEN WARNED…Published nearly seventy years apart, **Sinclair Lewis’s** *It Can’t Happen Here* (1935) and **Philip Roth’s** *The Plot Against America* (2004) both explored the dangers of fascism in the United States. (pulitzer.org/Wikipedia/Nancy Crampton via stanford.edu)

* * *

It Was Happening There

In her “Letter from Paris,” Janet Flanner was noting “increasing Fascist sentiment and sympathy” in her adopted city:

OVER THERE…The French Popular Party (*Parti populaire français,* PPF) was a French fascist and anti-semitic political party led by **Jacques Doriot** before and during World War II. Formed in June 1936, with an estimated 120,000 members by 1937, it is generally regarded as the most collaborationist party of France. (thefrenchhistorypodcast.com)

* * *

All Talk

Marion Sayle Taylor (1889–1942) was the popular host of a radio advice show, The Voice of Experience. Margaret Case Harriman (1901–1966) penned a two-part profile of Taylor titled “The Voice.” I’ve included the opening lines to Part One here:

IF ONLY SHE KNEW…**Margaret Case Harriman,** left, circa 1936, profiled **Marion Sayle Taylor** before his misdeeds were revealed. (Vogue Archive/eleanorbritton.blogspot.com/Oregon Encyclopedia)

After reading both parts of Harriman’s profile piece, it appears she wasn’t yet aware that Taylor was more than a radio personality; he was also dishonest, manipulative, and opportunistic, according to a biography by Dick and Judy Wagner featured in the Oregon Encyclopedia. For example, Harriman reported (likely from Taylor’s official bio) that Taylor’s first wife, Pauline, had died in childbirth, when in fact she was quite alive and suing him for divorce that same year. Taylor also divorced his second wife, Jessie, who sued him in 1936 after he deceived her about another woman. Not surprisingly, his radio image as a reliable marriage counselor was damaged irretrievably.

FALSE ADVERTISING…A streetcar, possibly in Newark, N.J., advertising a lecture by Taylor, circa 1931. In addition to hiding a previous prison record, Taylor also falsely reported that he had studied at several universities (he did not earn a Ph.D, as the redundant title claims in the above photo). It appears Taylor also kept much of the money he solicited for charitable causes. (Oregon Encyclopedia)

* * *

Selling Pooh

Commercial cross-marketing of children’s books with toys and other products had its origins in the late nineteenth century with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and in the first years of the 20th century Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit series inspired everything from dishes and wallpaper to board games and dolls—in 1903 Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy.

Then came another character from British children’s literature, A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. In January 1930, Stephen Slesinger (1901–1953) purchased U.S. and Canadian merchandising, television, recording, and other trade rights to the Winnie-the-Pooh works from Milne (for $1,000, plus royalties), marketing a wide range of products. For the column “Onward & Upward With the Arts,” St. Clair McKelway paid a visit to Slesinger at the Park Avenue offices of Winnie-the-Pooh Association, Inc. Excerpts:

KEEP YER SHIRT ON…The Parker Brothers were the first to feature Winnie-the-Pooh in color for a 1932 board game. Stephan Slesinger added the iconic red t-shirt to Pooh for the game and a children’s record, a look that was later adopted by the Disney Corporation when it acquired the rights from Slesinger’s widow and daughter in 1961. (thedisneyclassics.com)

FUNNIES MAN…At left, **Stephan Slesinger** in an undated photo. Slesinger was a radio, television and film producer, and a curator of comic strip characters including *Alley Cop, Captain Easy, Buck Rogers* and Blondie, among others; at center, a record of “Winnie-the-Pooh Songs,” 1932; an ad for the *Red Ryder* BB gun—in 1938 Slesinger created the comic strip *Red Ryder along* with artist **Fred Harmon**. (alchetron/yesterdaysgallery.com/Port Isabel Press)

In another excerpt, McKelway gave us an idea of the scope of Slesinger’s Pooh empire:

* * *

At the Movies

Critic John Mosher found few thrills in the latest fare from Hollywood, offering his views of Admiral Richard Byrd’s Into Little America and the musical Metropolitan, featuring famed baritone Lawrence Tibbett.

FOR THE BYRDS…At left, lobby card for *Into Little America;* at right, **Alice Brad**y and Lawrence Tibbett in Metropolitan. (eBay.uk/rottentomatoes.com)

With a screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur and direction by Howard Hawks, one would hope for some rough and tumble in a film about Gold Rush San Francisco. Instead, Mosher found the trappings of Barbary Coast rather mild. This was doubtless due in part to the Hays Code that curtailed the sex and violence portrayed in films of the 1920s and early 1930s.

TAKING A SPIN…**Miriam Hopkins** runs the roulette wheel as **Edward G. Robinson** looks on in *Barbary Coast.* A brief 2019 review in the *Harvard Film Archive* praised the film’s Gothic feel created by the “evocative portrayal of early San Francisco as a foggy labyrinth of rickety boardwalks and ominous, sky-high ship masts…” (harvardfimarchive.org)

One might think that a film featuring the destruction of Pompeii would have some thrills, however RKO’s The Last Days of Pompeii proved to be a “temperate affair” in Mosher’s eyes, “one of the great bores of the moment.” The Dick Powell/U.S. Navy vehicle Shipmates Forever didn’t prove to be any better.

HOT TIMES IN POMPEII?…**John Mosher** called *The Last Days of Pompeii* “one of the great bores of the moment,” including the “drearily enacted” eruption of Vesuvius in which “Paper temples fall and there is a bit of bustle, and that is all there is to that.” Mosher did single out **Basil Rathbone’s** performance as an urbane Pontius Pilate, “a Pontius Pilate with a Long Island manner.” (tcm.com)

GO GET ‘EM DICK…The U.S. Naval Academy provided the setting for the musical *Shipmates Forever,* featuring Dick Powell as a crooner who ultimately chooses the Navy over a singing career. (tcm.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

We begin with the inside front cover, where the folks at Fisher touted their innovative “Turret Top” design…Body by Fisher began as a separate company in 1908, specializing as an automobile coach builder…although acquired by General Motors in 1926, the Fisher brand was promoted until the 1980s…

…there were many fall and winter fashion ads in this issue, including this continuing series by Russeks promoting Rayon fabrics…and women smoking, no doubt considered a sign of sophistication…

…Guerlain perfume ads featured the unmistakable style of illustrator Lyse Darcy…

…the Heyward/Gershwin production of Porgy and Bess made a splash in this ad for Stage magazine…

…World Peaceways often used terrifying imagery to promote their anti-war messages…this ad was on the inside back cover…

…and as you closed the magazine, the back cover greeted you with this stylish appeal to smoke Luckies…

…on to our cartoonists, starting with Al Frueh in the Theatre section…

…and Frueh again, in this interesting arrangement…

…George Price was featured twice…

…with scenes of domestic life as only Price could render…

…and speaking of distinctive, no one did it quite like the great James Thurber…

…Robert Day gave us two Republicans looking in on the progress of the New Deal…

…Carl Rose bid farewell to a writer sick of his peace and quiet…

…Whitney Darrow Jr illustrated a literary exchange on a park bench…

…and I close with today’s New Yorker cover artist, Roger Duvoisin—here is his cover for White Snow, Bright Snow, which won the Caldecott Medal in 1948.

Next Time: Planes, Trains and Automobiles…

Looking For Mister Wrong

Widely acknowledged as a classic, The 39 Steps further solidified British director Alfred Hitchcock’s image as a master of suspense with American film audiences.

September 14, 1935 cover by **Helen Hokinson.** Over a twenty-year span, she contributed 68 covers and more than 1,800 cartoons to *The* *New Yorker.*

A successful follow up to 1934’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps was conceived and cast by the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation as a vehicle to establish British films in America. The film also featured one of Hitchcock’s favorite plot devices—an innocent man forced to go on the run—seen in such notable films as 1942’s Saboteur and 1959’s North by Northwest. New Yorker film critic John Mosher was among the film’s many admirers:

WE’LL TAKE THE STAIRS…Clockwise, from top left, poster for *The 39 Steps*; **Alfred Hitchcock** (second from right) directing the handcuffed **Madeleine Carroll** (as Pamela) and Robert Donat (as Richard Hannay) on the first day of filming; Hannay evades police on the heath; Pamela and Richard make the best of their predicament as handcuffed escapees. (Wikipedia/jimcarrollsblog.com/criterion.com)

* * *

Pop-Up Stores

“The Talk of the Town” had a look at the “madhouse” on Nassau Street that daily erupted from noon to 2 p.m. as peddlers took over the street to hawk their wares.

IF WE DON’T HAVE IT, YOU DON’T NEED IT…Hester Street peddlers in 1936. Photo by **Berenice Abbott.** (boweryboyshistory.com)

* * *

Art of the Artless

James Thurber dissected the workings of a “bad play,” examining varied techniques and familiar tropes. Excerpts:

…below is the complete illustration for Fig. 4, which got cut off in the excerpt above…Thurber depicted “the elderly lady who is a good sport, a hard drinker, and an authority on sex.”

* * *

The Petulant Painter

Known for a primitive style that included bizarre scenes of frolicking (or floating) voluptuous nudes, the painter Louis Michel Eilshemius (1864–1941) had a style all his own, and had no trouble telling anyone that his work was better than anything hanging in the finest museums (which would not consider him at all until after his death). In 1931 he began calling himself “Mahatma,” hence the title of this profile by Milton MacKaye (illustration by Hugo Gellert). Some brief excerpts:

IRASCIBLE RASCAL…Clockwise, from top left, **Louis Michel Eilshemius** in 1913; *Standing and Reclining Nymphs* (1908), *Self-portrait* (1915); *Nymphs Sleeping* (1920). Known for his numerous and vitriolic letters to newspaper editors, his letterheads would proclaim such accomplishments as “Educator, Ex-actor, Amateur All-around Doctor, Mesmerist-Prophet and Mystic, Reader of Hands and Faces, Linguist of 5 languages, Spirit-Painter Supreme.” He also claimed to be a world-class athlete and marksman as well as a musician who rivaled Chopin. (Wikipedia/Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery)

Eilshemius regularly visited art galleries, loudly condemning the works on display. No wonder museums would not consider his odd paintings, which were probably best received by the French, including the artists Henri Matisse and Marcel Duchamp; the latter invited Eilshemius to exhibit with him in Paris in 1917.

Eilshemius’ mental stability had deteriorated substantially by the time MacKaye wrote the profile, which concluded with this sad, final accounting of the man’s life.

Eilshemius would die in the psychopathic ward of Bellevue Hospital in 1941. In the years since, his work has gained a wide audience and can be found in such collections as the Smithsonian, The Phillips Collection, MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

SINGULAR VISION…**Louis Michel Eilshemius**, *Afternoon Wind*, 1899. (MoMA)

* * *

In Good Company

In her “Letter From Paris,” Janet Flanner noted that even the French honored the memory of Will Rogers, who had died in a plane crash with aviator Wiley Post on Aug. 15, 1935.

NOTED AND NOTABLE…As an example of **Will Rogers’** worldwide fame, **Janet Flanner** noted that the Paris entertainment newspaper *Comœdia* published Rogers’ obituary next to that of famed neoimpressionist painter **Paul Signac.** The other obituary remembered the renowned Swiss soprano **Lucienne Bréval.** *(gallica.bnf.fr via onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu)*

* * *

At the Movies

Coming down from The 39 Steps, John Mosher also sampled some of latest comedies gracing the silver screen…

…Mosher didn’t understand why Marion Davies, nearing the end of her film career, even bothered to appear in the romantic comedy Page Miss Glory (although she was also the producer), in which she portrayed a country girl who stumbles into fame while working as a chambermaid in a luxury hotel…

JUST LIKE CINDERELLA…**Marion Davies** and Pat O’Brien in *Page Miss Glory.* (IMDB)

…Two For Tonight featured a lot of fine crooning from Bing Crosby, and some hijinks, but fizzled out in the end…

Bing Crosby (right) takes aim in *Two For Tonight.* (IMDB)

…of the three comedies, Mosher found The Gay Deception to be the most winning. Directed by William Wyler, the film featured a sweepstakes winner pretending to be a rich lady (Frances Dee) who encounters a prince masquerading as a bellboy (Francis Lederer)…hilarity ensued…

THE WYLER TOUCH…**William Wyler’s** *The Gay Deception*, starring **Francis Lederer** (left) and Frances Dee, anticipated Wyler’s 1953 *Roman Holiday*, also a tale about a royal wanting to be a normal person. (letterboxd.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

We welcome fall with the latest fashion from Forstmann Woolens…

…and here is where those wool dresses were spun…

Image from the National Archives depicts the spinning room at Forstmann & Huffman in Passaic, N.J., 1918. The Passaic plant closed in 1958. (Historical Society of Garfield, NJ)

…the makers of leaded gasoline continued to promote their product in full-color spots…

…General Tire (like competitor Goodyear) played up the safety theme and potential perils to loved ones to tout their “blow-out proof” tires…

…like many advertisers in The New Yorker, United Air Lines appealed to the affluent, hoping some of them would take to the air, since only they could afford it…

…for reference…

COZY…Interior of the Boeing 247. (Wikimedia Commons)

…Abe Birnbaum, who contributed nearly 200 covers to the New Yorker, offered this rendition of Mickey Mouse to Stage magazine…

…heading to the back of the book we find the latest in entertainment at the Plaza…

…James Thurber contributed the drawing at left (rendered in negative) on behalf of Libby’s tomato juice on page 75, and page 80 featured the spare, modern lines of a Cinzano ad…