Mary Petty – A New Yorker State of Mind

Strike Me Pink

Above: Eddie Cantor (left) consulting his "confidence book" in Strike Me Pink; at right, Dona Drake and the “Goldwyn Girls” performing “The Lady Dances." (cometoverhollywood.com)

You don’t hear much about him today, but in 1936 Eddie Cantor was a household name, an entertainer who seemed to do it all—comedian, actor, dancer, singer, and songwriter were just a few of his trades.

January 25, 1936 cover by **Constantin Alajálov.**

Critic John Mosher marveled at the energy Cantor (1892–1964) brought to his latest film, Strike Me Pink, in which Cantor played a mild-mannered manager of an amusement park infested with mobsters. The film was a “convulsion,” Mosher wrote, packed with action on “the grand scale” with occasional interludes by co-star Ethel Merman, who portrayed Cantor’s love interest.

FINDING HIS MOJO…top and below left, **Eddie Cantor** and **Ethel Merman** in *Strike Me Pink.* Bottom right, **Cantor, Sally Eilers** and **Helen Lowell** in a scene from the film. (Wikipedia/tcm.com/imdb.com)

Bette Davis wasn’t the only Hollywood celeb known for her peepers. After artist Frederick J. Garner published a big-eyed caricature of Cantor in 1933, those “Banjo Eyes” became Cantor’s trademark.

BANJO EYES…at left, **Frederick J. Garner’s** caricature of Cantor. After he published the drawing in 1933, other artists followed suit with their own interpretations of the “Banjo Eyes.” At right, movie poster for 1934’s Kid Millions. (npg.si.edu/laughterlog.com/imdb.com)

Cantor would pack a lot into his seventy-two years, a regular with the Ziegfeld Follies (he would repeat his routines in numerous films), he would also appear in other stage productions, on the radio, on television (hosting The Colgate Comedy Hour) and recording hit songs like “Makin’ Whoopee.” He wrote or co-wrote seven books, was the second president of the Screen Actors Guild, and a co-founder of the March of Dimes (Cantor came up with the name as well). He also appeared in numerous cartoons, and even wrote the Merrie Melodies/LooneyTunes theme song, “Merrily We Roll Along.”

DOWN AND OUT…**Eddie Cantor** was caricatured along with, from left, **Al Jolson, Jack Benny** and Bing Crosby in the 1950 *Looney Toons* short “What’s Up, Doc?” The scene depicts a low point in Bugs Bunny’s career when he spends the winter with fellow struggling actors in Central Park. (Warner Brothers)

In 1934 Cantor was depicted as a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the only full-size balloon to represent a real person.

MY, WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE…**Eddie Cantor** looms over the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1934. (Ephemeral New York)

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Fishing For Buyers

The Thirty-first annual Motor Boat Show was on at the Grand Central Palace, featuring everything from yachts to tiny sailboats. Excerpts from a report by a correspondent who wrote under the name “Bosun.”

FOR LANDLUBBERS TOO…The New York Motor Boat Show began in 1905 at Madison Square Garden before moving to the resplendent surroundings of the Grand Central Palace. Clockwise from top left, undated photo from the Grand Central Palace; advertisement in *Yachting* magazine; a 1935 Elco Cruisette. (offthehookyachts.com/antiqueboatamerica.com)

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Cultured Congress

Hard to believe that ninety years ago the U.S. House of Representatives devoted considerable time and attention to a proposed bill for a “Department of Science, Art and Literature.” E.B. White covered the hearings in an extensive two-part report for “Onward & Upward With the Arts.” Here is a brief excerpt from part one.

ARTS FANATIC is how **E.B. White** characterized New York Congressman **William I. Sirovich** (1882–1939), who proposed the establishment of a Department of Science, Art and Literature. (findagrave.com)

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A Really Big Show

“The Talk of the Town” paid a visit to the Adelphi Theatre to see how preparations were going for opera-oratorio The Eternal Road. Conceived by journalist and playwright Meyer Weisgal to alert the public to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, it featured a score by Kurt Weill with libretto by Franz Werfel (translated into English by Ludwig Lewisohn).

Directed by Max Reinhardt on an imposing set designed by Norman Bel Geddes, The Eternal Road would take time to produce, finally premiering at the Manhattan Opera House on Jan. 7, 1937. It ran for 153 performances.

ON THE ROAD…Key figures in the production of *The Eternal Road* included, from left, director **Max Reinhardt,** composer Kurt Weill, and set designer **Norman Bel Geddes** (who here bears an uncanny resemblance to *New Yorker* founding editor **Harold Ross**). (weillproject.com)

DRAMA QUEEN…Among the 245 actors in the production was Lotte Lenya, who portrayed Miriam. An acclaimed Austrian singer and actress, Lenya was also **Kurt Weill’s** ex-wife, and is probably best known today for her role as the sadistic Rosa Klebb in the 1963 James Bond film *From Russia with Love.*

MAKE NO LITTLE PLANS…At left, a sketch by Harry Horner of the *The Eternal Road’s* five-level set designed by **Norman Bel Geddes** for the Manhattan Opera House; at right, massive set piece from the production. (Kurt Weill Foundation kwf.org)

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Location, Location, Location

“Talk” also looked at property values in the city, noting that the site occupied by the Hell Gate power plant was assessed at nearly $57 million (roughly $1.3 billion today). Excerpt:

PRIME REAL ESTATE…Artist’s rendering of the Hell Gate generating station, circa 1922. (T.E. Murray, *Power Stations* 1922)

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A New, Improved Carmen

Music critic Robert Simon (writing for “Musical Events”) was delightfully surprised by the Met’s latest production of Carmen, and namely by the performance of Swedish mezzo-soprano Gertrud Pålson-Wettergren:

HUMOROUS AND HEROIC were just two for the adjectives Robert Simon used to describe an interpretation of *Carmen* by Swedish mezzo-soprano **Gertrud Pålson-Wettergren** (1897–1991). She made her **Metropolitan Opera** debut in December 1935. (Wikipedia)

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At the Movies

We rejoin critic John Mosher for a look at the rest of the cinema lineup, beginning with King of Burlesque, which featured Alice Faye and “everything but the kitchen stove.”

FACES IN THE CROWD…Mosher found a film crowded with talents in King of Burlesque, including **Fats Waller** (performing “I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed”), **Warner Baxter,** and Alice Faye. *(YouTube.com/IMDb.com)*

Mosher found a “stimulating” gangster flick in Exclusive Story…

DRESSED TO THE NINES…**Franchot Tone** was clad in his usual Sunday best, here flanked by **Madge Evans** (left) and **Louise Henry**. (themovied.org)

…and a “trifling” horror movie, The Crime of Dr. Crespi…

I’M NOT DEAD YET…Evil Dr. Crespi (**Erich Von Stroheim**) gives fellow doctor Stephen Ross (**John Bohn**) a drug that induces a state of apparent death in *The Crime of Doctor Crespi.* (moma.org)

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A Hot Hobby

St. Clair McKelway filed the second of a two-part profile on New York’s Chief Fire Marshal Thomas P. Brophy (1880-1962). McKelway wrote, “How to stop a fire is the fire chief’s problem; how it got started, that of the fire marshal, Thomas Brophy…Brophy’s specialty, however, is pyromaniacs— it is almost his hobby.” Hugo Gellert supplied the drawing.

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From Our Advertisers

We begin with the inside front cover, and this colorful illustration of Fanny Brice by Abe Birnbaum for Stage magazine…

…the makers of budget automobiles such as Nash, Plymouth and Hudson were all on the same page when it came to marketing their automobiles, namely, that their products suggested luxury despite the bargain price…a “Motor Car by Hudson,” the ad proclaimed, is “worthy of its place in the New York style ensemble”…

…the makers of Pierce Arrow had a solid reputation as the Rolls-Royce of American automobiles, so they took the safety angle in this understated, hyperbole-free advertisement…(however, cheaper cars like Hudson would survive the Depression, Pierce-Arrow would not)…

…this Scotch whisky ad recalled the days when “rolled hose” could create a scandal, underscoring how things can mellow after ten years, including whisky…

…in this back cover advertisement, Vivian Dixon (apparently just eighteen years old) was the latest New York debutante to invite young women to join her in smoking Camels…

**Vivian Dixon** (1918-1974) circa 1940. You can read more about her here. (stoningtonboroughct.com)

…the Major continued his quest for fresh peas in this ad from the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (aka Green Giant)…

…on to our cartoonists, beginning with this spot drawing for the boat show by Constantin Alajálov…

…this spot by Abe Birnbaum broke up the text for James Thurber’s “Nine Needles” short story…

…Perry Barlow gave us a gentleman attempting to explain the subtleties of ice hockey…

…Barlow again, where seeing is not necessarily believing…

…James Thurber contributed a serenade, accompanied by dog…

…Peter Arno bid farewell to honeymooners destined for Niagara Falls and the Shredded Wheat factory…

…besides the falls, the Shredded Wheat factory was a big attraction in the early 20th century…

A 1905 postcard touting “One of the Wonders of Niagara.” (Niagara Falls Public Library)

…George Price illustrated the hazards of bargain shopping…

…and Price again, with a lucky streak in Atlantic City…

…Carl Rose continued to offer examples of rugged individualism…

…Charles Addams explored some exotic thrills…

…Mary Petty found nuance among youthful suitors…

…and Petty again, and the complexities of hat shopping…

…Alain paid a visit to the boat show…

…Ned Hilton drew up a mail-order mix-up…

…and we close with Alan Dunn, and a matter of the heart…

Next Time: Having a Ball…

A Profile in Paint

Above: Portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1935, by Alfred Stieglitz, gelatin silver print; at right, O'Keeffe's Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills, 1935. Oil on canvas. (National Gallery/Brooklyn Museum)

Over the seven decades of her career, Georgia O’Keeffe created works that did not necessarily follow the art movements of the 20th century. Critic Lewis Mumford referred to these works as “autobiographies in paint,” every painting “as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa.”

January 18, 1936 cover by Robert Day, illustrating the days before the invention of the Zamboni (in 1949).

O’Keeffe was married to art dealer and photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who exhibited her works at his “An American Place” gallery at 53rd and Madison. The couple had a complex, open relationship (Stieglitz had a number of affairs) that proved painful to O’Keeffe, and in 1933 she was hospitalized for two months after experiencing a nervous breakdown; she did not paint again until the following year. Although Mumford did not directly reference this episode in O’Keeffe’s life, he did note that “Certain elements in O’Keeffe’s biography were plainly visible” in her paintings.

PAINED PAINTINGS…Clockwise, from top left, **Georgia O’Keeffe’s** *Eagle Claw and Bean Necklace,* 1934; *Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV,* 1930; *Purple Hills,* 1935. (MoMA/Phillips Collection/San Diego Museum of Art)

Mumford noted that O’Keeffe’s newer works revealed a “resurrection of spirit,” such as the painting of a ram’s skull, “with its horns acting like wings, lifted up against the gray, wind-swept clouds…”

GLOWING WITH POETRY AND TRUTH is how Lewis Mumford described **Georgia O’Keeffe’s** latest work. Clockwise, from top left: *Ram’s Head* suggested to Mumford “a resurgence of life and a resurrection of spirit” in the artist; other bright works included *Sunflower, New Mexico 1*, 1935; and *Hill,* 1935. (National Gallery/Cleveland Museum of Art/ Denver Art Museum)

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Lights Out

In the previous issue E.B. White noted that the Edison Company was threatening to cut off electric service to the magazine’s offices due to nonpayment. This “Notes and Comment” update cleared up the matter.

THE PRICE FOR POWER…Above, an aerial view from 1926 of New York Edison’s East River Power Station at 38th Street. In 1936 it was powered by coal, which burned pungently and created problems with soot throughout the area. (tudorcityconfidential.com)

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Revisiting a Pint-size Poet

“The Talk of the Town” paid a visit to Nathalia Crane (1913–1998), who became famous after the 1924 publication of her first book of poetry, The Janitor’s Boy, at the age of ten. Excerpts:

PIXIE POET…**Nathalia Crane** published her first poems in *The New York Sun* when she was only nine years old, the paper unaware that she was a child. She later became a professor of English at San Diego State University. (gutenberg.org)

The fledgling Crane received a very different New Yorker reception in 1928, when Dorothy Parker took her to task for contributing to the collapse of grammar and civilization in general. Here’s an excerpt from Parker’s Jan. 7, 1928 “Reading & Writing” column:

GRUESOME was the word Dorothy Parker chose to describe chocolate-covered olives and bad poetry. At left, Parker in 1928. At right, a contents page from The Spirit of St. Louis, a collection of one hundred poems selected from thousands in a poetry contest celebrating Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic. (literaryladiesguide.com/ebay.com)

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Order in the Court

Howard Brubaker commented on a recent ruling by the Supreme Court regarding the ongoing fight by Republicans to curtail FDR’s New Deal.

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Cinderella Stories

For his Jan. 4, 1936 “A Reporter at Large” column Morris Markey visited “Major Bowe’s Amateur Hour” at NBC’s Rockefeller Center radio studios. He was so impressed by the rags-to-riches stories that he shared a few in his Jan. 18 column, titled “The Crystal Slipper.” He warned readers that the stories were “sentimental,” but not in the vein of A Christmas Carol: “Tiny Tim, asking God to bless every one, regardless, was a pious little fraud,” Markey noted. Excerpts:

Markey shared the story of a garbage collector turned opera tenor, and a wealthy debutante who was encouraged to “stay off the stage” by “Major” Edward Bowes himself.

CUT THE TRASH TALK…**Joseph Rogato** told the Amateur Hour audience that his job as a “garbage man” was no laughing matter, and went on to wow them with his singing voice. At left, a detail from an ad for Chase & Sanborn coffee, the show’s sponsors. At right, show founder and host “Major” **Edward Bowes** with the gong he used to abruptly end acts he deemed poor—he soon abandoned the practice after listeners objected. (eBay.com/Facebook)

Markey next told the story of Marguerite Ryan, the “Singing Housewife”…

FROM RELIEF TO RICHES…This Chase & Sanborn advertisement described **Marguerite Ryan’s** brush with fame and her deliverance from poverty thanks to her appearance on the Amateur Hour. (newspapers.com)

Finally, the story of Rhoda Chase, whom Bowes promoted as a “penniless orphan.” Born Anna Blanor, her stage name, Rhoda, was selected by a psychic, while her last name was inspired by sponsors Chase & Sanborn.

VELVET VOICE…At right, detail from a Chase & Sanborn ad that promoted **Rhoda Chase** as a “Penniless Orphan” who made the big time thanks to the Amateur Hour. At left, a 1944 newspaper ad for the Zombie Club in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Known as “The Blue Velvet Voice”, Chase was a radio, stage, nightclub and USO blues singer. (Wikimedia Commons/eBay)

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At the Movies

Film critic John Mosher found some bright spots at the movies, praising René Clair’s The Ghost Goes West but feeling sorry for Jean Harlow in her “thankless” role in Riffraff, a film about the tuna-fishing industry.

THE FRIENDLY GHOST…**Robert Donat** and **Patricia Hilliard** in the romantic comedy The Ghost Goes West. (IMDB)

FISH OUT OF WATER…**Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow,** and Joseph Calleia in *Riffraff,* a drama about a strike at a tuna fishery. “Just why a life of tuna-fishing should be chosen as background for Miss Harlow’s vehicle I can’t imagine, but there it is,” wrote critic John Mosher. (IMDB)

Mosher didn’t know what to make of Katharine Hepburn’s latest film, Sylvia Scarlett, in which she portrayed a con artist disguised as a boy hiding from the police. Despite its major star power and George Cukor as director, the film was a flop.

Mosher also reviewed Last of the Pagans (also about a labor dispute!) and The Private Life of Louis XIV (released in Germany in 1935 as Liselotte von der Pfalz).

SHE’S A MAN, MAN…Clockwise, from top left, **Katharine Hepburn** and Cary Grant in Sylvia Scarlett; **Lotus Long** and Mala in *Last of the Pagans;* **Renate Müller** in *The Private Life of Louis XIV* (*Liselotte von der Pfalz*). Müller would die in 1937 at age 31 under mysterious circumstances. Many believe the Nazis had her killed because she refused to appear in their propaganda films. (academymuseum.org/MGM/IMDB)

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From Our Advertisers

General Motors promoted their Buick Eight in a two-page advertisement that called out Eustace Tilley and reprinted a Carl Rose cartoon from the Nov. 2, 1935 issue…

…here is the original cartoon…

…with the holidays a memory and the Depression still lingering, most of the automobile ads touted economy over luxury, however Chrysler claimed you could have both with this $760 model…

…by the looks of this guy, he probably added three fingers of vodka to his pineapple juice…

…as noted before, the folks at World Peaceways pulled no punches with their anti-war appeals…

…the makers of Lux were still rolling out Broadway stars to endorse their toilet soap…(Betty Lawford, #5, was an English film and stage actress and a cousin of actor Peter Lawford)…

…the inside back cover belonged to Stage magazine…the illustration, “Amateur Night at the Apollo,” is by Alexander King…

…the Grand Central Palace was hosting the thirty-first annual National Motor Boat Show, a rare back cover not taken by a tobacco company…

…a couple of ads from back of the book…at left, an Anglophilic appeal from Miami’s Roney Plaza Hotel, and, at right, pre-revolutionary days at the National Hotel in Havana (I had a drink there a few years ago during the Obama thaw…the lobby is beautiful, a classic from another era still hanging on thanks to Canadian and European tourists)…

…William Steig continued to illustrate these one-column ads from Pilgrim Rum…

…which segues to our cartoonists…on the bottom of page 3 was this one-column drawing by Peggy Bacon…

…Norwegian opera singer Kirsten Flagstad (1895–1962) was a famous Wagnerian soprano who made a triumphant debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1935…

**Kirsten Flagstad** circa 1940. (Wikipedia)

…we continue with Helen Hokinson soaking up some sun…

…Robert Day cracked the whip in the steno pool…

…originally published sideways, another look at club life by Gluyas Williams...

…James Thurber offered up a toast…

…Richard Taylor looked into an auction mystery…

…Barney Tobey gave us a friendly greeting on the slopes…

…Perry Barlow was lost in a department store…

…William Crawford Galbraith continued to probe the woes of sugar daddies…

…and we get the last word from Mary Petty…

Next Time: Strike Me Pink…

Magnificently Obsessed

Above: Irene Dunn gets her head examined by Parisian doctors during a scene from the 1935 melodrama Magnificent Obsession. (letterboxd.com)

I can’t think of a better time to escape the world for a few moments and indulge in a bit of frivolity. In this case we take a brief look at a popular film that pushed the envelope of plausibility in true Hollywood style.

January 11, 1936 cover by Helen Hokinson.

Magnificent Obsession featured two of Tinseltown’s leading stars, Irene Dunn and Robert Taylor. Although many critics have called the film’s plot preposterous, it was a fan favorite—at the Radio City Music Hall premiere on Dec. 30, 1935, capacity crowds braved sub-zero weather to see it.

For a film that has been debated and discussed for decades (and remade to some acclaim in 1954 by director Douglas Sirk with Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson in the leads), critic John Mosher barely gave it a glance, feeling sorry for Dunne in her role as a tragically blinded widow.

MAGNIFICENT HAPPENSTANCE…In Magnificent Obsession, **Robert Taylor** played a spoiled playboy, Robert Merrick, who survives a boating accident at the expense of kindly doctor. Clockwise from top left, Taylor in a scene with **Margaret Brayton**; Taylor and **Irene Dunn** in the scene where Dunne’s character, Helen Hudson, is struck by a car and blinded; Dunn with child actor **Cora Susan Collins** *(who incidentally passed away in April 2025 at age 98)*; the end of the film emphasized Merrick’s transformation from a selfish playboy into a selfless, Nobel Prize-winning man of faith and science. (roberttayloractor.blog/mubi.com/rottentomatoes.com/Facebook)

A brief synopsis: Wealthy playboy Robert Merrick (Robert Taylor) drunkenly capsizes his boat. A hospital’s only pulmotor saves his life at the expense of a beloved surgeon who dies without it. Merrick falls in love with the surgeon’s widow, Helen (Irene Dunn). While driving Helen home he makes a pass at her; she exits the car and is struck by another, losing her eyesight. Merrick conceals his identity while watching over Helen; he then follows her to Paris, where she learns her sight is gone forever. Merrick reveals his identity and proposes. Helen flees. Six years later Merrick, now a Nobel Prize-winning brain surgeon, restores Helen’s sight.

In the film’s defense, plots that stretch credibility have been around since the Greeks and deus ex machina, and consider how many films today employ “portals” of various types to get heroes out of sticky situations. Unless you’re talking about a Werner Herzog film, it’s all make believe.

HANDS OFF…**John Mosher** had particular scorn for the way beloved character actor **Charles Butterworth** (left) was used in the film. Along with Dunn, Butterworth was another “victim” of *Magnificent Obsession*, according to Mosher. (IMDB)

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A Lot On His Mind

E.B. White had a lot to say in his Jan. 11 “Notes and Comment,” beginning with a paragraph about the impending merger of two Condé Nast publications, Vanity Fair and Vogue. The old Vanity Fair magazine, published from 1913 to 1936, was a casualty of the Great Depression, and it essentially disappeared with the merger (Condé Nast revived the title in 1983).

FADE OUT…At left, *Bali Beauty* by Miguel Covarrubias, on the cover of the final issue of the old *Vanity Fair* magazine, February 1936. Publisher Condé Nast merged VF with Vogue beginning with its March 1, 1936 issue (at right). *The New Yorker,* once considered a competitor of the old *Vanity Fair,* was itself acquired by Condé Nast in 1985. (vanity fair.com/vogue.com)

White also commented on a new book, The Ruling Clawss, which criticized The New Yorker for its “bourgeois attitude.” Interestingly, the book was produced by none other than New Yorker cartoonist Syd Hoff, who wrote and illustrated The Ruling Clawss as “A. Redfield,” a pseudonym he used in the 1930s for his contributions to The Daily Worker and other leftist causes.

HOFF IN A HUFF…Cover of the 1935 edition of *The Ruling Clawss;* frontispiece from a 2023 reprint of the book by *The New York Review of Books.* **Syd Hoff** (1912–2004) contributed 571 cartoons to The New Yorker between 1931 and 1975. Hoff also drew cartoons for The Daily Worker under the pseudonym “A. Redfield.” (*abebooks.com/nyrb.com)*

In The Ruling Clawss, Hoff (as Redfield) criticized “bourgeois humor” as an opiate of the masses, citing The New Yorker, Esquire, Judge, and Life as publications that take “the banker boys and politicians, who are the rapers of liberty and democracy,” and present them between perfume ads in whimsical situations. The bourgeoisie makes itself look human, wrote Hoff, “By exposing itself in the boudoir, or the night club, doing foolish things or saying something ‘funny’…In other words, the fascists and warmongers are little lambs who do their parts in contributing to the merriment of a nation.”

Referring to his fellow cartoonists, Hoff concluded: “the Arnos, Soglows, Benchleys and Cantors…are all talented and funny, but…and here, I believe, is the point…their comedy is all too often a whitewash for people and conditions that, in reality, are not funny.”

NO LAUGHING MATTER…Examples of **Syd Hoff’s** cartoons in *The Ruling Clawss. (nyrb.com)*

Today Hoff is probably best remembered for his children’s books, especially Danny and the Dinosaur. You can read all about his work at this website.

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A Different Kind of Hoff

We move on to another Hoff, namely Mardee Hoff, who was “ungrammatically selected” by the American Society of Illustrators as the possessor of the “most perfect figure in America.” Here is an excerpt from “The Talk of the Town.”

HER BODY OF WORK…**Mardee Hoff** (1914–2004) possessed the best body shape in America, according to the American Society of Illustrators following a contest involving 2,600 women at New York’s Commodore Hotel. At left, Hoff on the cover of *Life*, Oct. 21, 1940. At right, circa 1936. (findagrave.com/Reddit)

* * *

Life With Clarence

“The Talk of the Town” noted the passing of beloved author and cartoonist Clarence Day in a lengthy tribute that highlighted his remarkable output despite crippling arthritis. Excerpts:

GOOD OLD DAYS…**Clarence Day** (1874–1935) developed crippling arthritis as a young adult, and spent the remainder of his life as a semi-invalid. Nevertheless, he churned out more than a dozen books, most famously Life With Father, a collection of stories from *The New Yorker* that were published in book form shortly after Day’s death. *The New Yorker* continued to publish Day’s stories through August 1937. Above, Day, circa 1920, and a first edition of *Life With Father.* Below, scene from the 1947 comedy film by the same name featuring **William Powell, Irene Dunn,** and **Elizabeth Taylor.** (Wikipedia/abebooks.com/IMDB)

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At the Movies

In addition to Magnificent Obsession, John Mosher endured screenings of several other pictures he could not recommend, despite featuring “talented and delightful people”…

…Mosher thought the best thing about mezzo-soprano Gladys Swarthout in Rose of the Rancho was her, um, feet…

SINGING BANDIT…**Gladys Swarthout**, a popular Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano, portrayed the daughter of landowner besieged by outlaws in *Rose of the Rancho.* In the film she disguises herself as a man (right) and organizes a band of vigilantes to fight the outlaws. The film was one of five produced by Paramount in the 1930s featuring Swarthout. (IMDB/swarthoutfamily.org)

…and he was frankly mystified by the Soviet Russian film Frontier, featuring lots of beards, collective farms, and a big display of airplanes at the finale…

FOR THE FATHERLAND…At left, **Aleksandr Dovzhenko** directs the Soviet film *Frontier* (aka *Aerograd*), about a remote Siberian outpost that comes under threat of attack by the Japanese. At right, **Sergey Stolyarov** portrayed the pilot Vladimir Glushak, who was filled with wondrous tales about the new city of Aerograd. The film was commissioned by Joseph Stalin. (IMDB/kinorium.com)

…English actress, dancer and singer Jessie Matthews (1907–1981) also wore the pants in First a Girl, a comedy adapted from the 1933 German film Viktor und Viktoria (which was remade as Victor/Victoria in 1982 with Julie Andrews)…

SHE/HE…At left, **Jessie Matthews** in First a Girl, a comedy adapted from the 1933 German film *Viktor und Viktoria;* right top, Matthews with **Sonny Hale;** and, at bottom, with **Griffith Jones.** Mosher called the film a “dreary affair.” (IMDB/interwarlondon.com)

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All Aboard

During the 1930s “Snow Trains” carried skiers from Manhattan to the Catskills, the Berkshires and other destinations. Railroads offered travel packages that helped popularize downhill skiing before World War II. Excerpts:

POLAR EXPRESS…A Snow Train arrives at Thendara Station full of skiers headed for the slopes and winter activities in Old Forge. Circa late 1930s. (northcountryatwork.org)

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From Our Advertisers

We take wing with Bergdorf Goodman’s stylish “Trinidad Clipper suit…

…the folks at Nash took out the center spread to tout their inexpensive yet distinguished Ambassador…

…apparently it was distinguished enough for these toffs…

…by contrast, a more spare, minimal style is seen in this ad for Schaefer beer…

…and in this ad for Bloomingdale’s…this was tricky to reproduce, the lightness of the compass against all that black ink…

…here’s a new marketing ploy from R.J. Reynolds…smoke a half a pack of their Camels, and then send back the rest if you don’t like them…I’m guessing most folks finished them off…

…Liggett & Myers kept it simple, equating smoke in your lungs with clean, crisp winter air…

…on to our cartoonists, we begin with spots by Gregory d’Alessio…

…Daniel “Alain” Brustlein…

and Christina Malman…

…Leonard Dove looked in on an owly patient…

…Alain again, seeking an elusive promotion…

…the stages of love and marriage, per George Price…

…Helen Hokinson reconvened her ladies club…

…Barbara Shermund discussed politics…

…Mary Petty considered the price of great art…

…and Petty again, at the dress shop…

…Robert Day illustrated the benefits of “how to” books…

…and we run off with James Thurber...

Next Time: A Profile in the Paint…

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…

Picking on Pickford

Above: Mary Pickford (right, from 1916) spoke out against salacious content in films, such as this scene from 1930's Madam Satan. (Wikipedia/mainemedia.edu)

James Thurber seemed to enjoy teasing silent film legend Mary Pickford in her new career as social commentator and author of spiritual articles and books. Having retired from acting in 1933, Pickford was also using her powerful position as a co-founder of United Artists to focus on the moral direction of the film industry.

December 21, 1935 cover by Ilonka Karasz.

Back in the Sept. 21 issue of The New Yorker, Thurber took a humorous poke at Pickford’s Liberty magazine article on the afterlife, and found more fodder after Pickford, in an interview with the World-Telegram, criticized “salacious” films. “Be a guardian, not an usher, at the portal of your thought,” she advised. Thurber took the bait. Excerpts:

KEEPING IT CLEAN…From left, producer **Samuel Goldwyn**, actors **Charlie Chaplin** and **Douglas Fairbanks Sr.** pose behind **Mary Pickford** at a United Artists board meeting in Los Angeles, July 9, 1935. (AP)

Thurber took particular pleasure in Pickford’s comments regarding the control of one’s dirty thoughts:

PICKFORD’S UNITED ARTISTS produced some memorable, non-salacious films in 1936, including **Charlie Chaplin’s** *Modern Times,* and the acclaimed Dodsworth starring **Ruth Chatterton** and **Walter Huston** as Fran and Sam Dodsworth. (Wikipedia)

Pickford had a strong ally in the Hays Code, a set of self-imposed censorship guidelines that would keep mainstream studio films relatively free of salacious content for the next thirty years.

* * *

A White Christmas

E.B. White offered holiday greetings to everyone from drinkers of blended whiskey to the makers of red tape (plus a plug for New Yorker subscriptions)…

CHEERS AND JEERS…**E.B. White** sent holiday greetings to the men who were changing the Normandie’s massive propellers (from three- to four-blade), and probably wanted to give a lump of coal to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia for “foolishly” banning organ grinders from city streets. (ships nostalgia.com/ephemeralnewyork)

…and concluded with these words…

…Otto Soglow added this bit of spot art to the bottom of White’s “Notes and Comment”…

* * *

A Holiday Tradition

Page 21 featured Frank Sullivan’s annual Christmas poem (he wrote forty-two of them from 1932 to 1974)…

…which continued on page 22…

* * *

Lost In Paradise

Robert Benchley did the honors as theatre critic for the Dec. 21 issue, enjoying an evening at Longacre Theatre with the richly endowed characters featured in Clifford Odets’ Paradise Lost.

GREAT PLAY, WHATEVER IT MEANS…**Robert Benchley** thoroughly enjoyed **Clifford Odets’** gallery of characters in Paradise Lost. Top, Odets circa 1930s; below, photo from the 1935-36 production at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre. (mcny.org)

Apparently the rest of the Broadway fare was not so great, as Benchley fled Cort’s Theatre (it featured This Our House, which closed after just two performances) to catch A Night at the Opera with the Marx Brothers.

* * *

At the Movies

Benchley wasn’t the only one enjoying a night at the movies. Critic John Mosher found favor with German actor Emil Jannings’ latest flick, The Making of a King (Der alte und der junge König), calling the film “a sensible picture of the old bully,” namely the father of Frederick the Great.

LIGHTEN UP, FRED…**Heinrich Marlow** (left) and **Emil Jannings** in a scene from *The Making of a King*. The film depicted the turbulent relationship between Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I and his son, Crown Prince Friedrich. (IMDB)

Mosher found bright moments in Ginger Rogers’ latest film, but would have preferred another pairing with her fellow hoofer, Fred Astaire.

BETTER WITH FRED thought John Mosher of **Ginger Rogers’s** brave turn as an actress fleeing from her admiring fans in 1935’s In Person. Rogers donned eyeglasses, a wig, and fake teeth (inset) to portray the actress in hiding. She is pictured here in a scene with co-star **George Brent**. (IMDB)

Mosher was stimulated by The Great Impersonation, however, the “cordial” films about small town life and happy radio folk left him less than enthused.

MORE SPIES, PLEASE…**John Mosher** didn’t get too excited over the standard fare offered in the films *Millions in the Air* and *Your Uncle Dudley,* however he found the performances of Edmund Lowe and Wera Engels (bottom right) in the spy caper The Great Impersonation to be most stimulating. (IMDB)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

After touring France in the late 1870s, a New York drugstore owner named Richard Hudnut returned to the States determined to introduce French-style perfumes and cosmetics to American women. He soon transformed his drugstore into an elegant showroom, and in time became the first American to achieve international success in cosmetics…

…advertisements for Christmas gifts mostly dropped out of the magazine, and the back of the book was filled with spots touting various New Year’s Eve entertainments…

…in this ad from the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (renamed Green Giant in 1950), a robber baron’s humble roots, and his checkbook, are triggered by a can of corn…

…thanks to the makers of Luckies, Jolly Old St. Nick was dropping more than soot down your chimney on Christmas Eve…

…we kick off our cartoons with this spot illustration by Abe Birnbaum…

...Richard Decker gave us this caption-less appeal to the masses…

…Al Frueh brightened up the “Theatre” section…

…Helen Hokinson got in line at Macy’s…

…and found a challenge in the housewares department…(see Summer Pierre’s wonderful tribute to Hokinson and her observational forays into the city with James Reid Parker)…

…Mary Petty took the laid-back approach to a medical emergency…

…Charles Addams placed undersea explorer William Beebe in a precarious situation…

…Alan Dunn diagnosed a bad a ticker at a watch shop…

…Gluyas Williams was back with another look at club life…

…Garrett Price snowplowed his way onto the page…

…it seems Howard Baer channeled Peter Arno for this one…

…and we close with William Crawford Galbraith, just doing a little browsing…

Next Time: Fracking the Frick…

Two Nights At The Opera

Above: Left image, coloratura soprano Lily Pons with Henry Fonda in I Dream Too Much;at right, Kitty Carlisle and Groucho Marx in A Night at the Opera. (rottentomatoes.com/IMDB)

The title of this post refers to two items below, which you’ll discover as we make our way through the December 7, 1935 issue of The New Yorker.

December 7, 1935 cover by **Robert Day.** A longtime contributor to *The New Yorker,* Day (1900-1985) contributed hundreds of cartoons as well as eight covers from 1931 to 1976.

**Robert Day** (photo from *This Week* anthology via Ink Spill.)

Our first night at the opera comes courtesy of RKO Pictures, which presented French-American coloratura soprano Lily Pons as the star of the musical rom-com I Dream Too Much. Critic John Mosher found the film enjoyable, singling out Pons for praise while chastising the screenwriters for interrupting the lively farce with some “social research.”

DREAM DATE…Clockwise, from top left: **Henry Fonda** in his third screen appearance as **Lily Pons’** love interest in RKO’s *I Dream Too Much;* movie poster and publicity photo of Pons from the film; **Lucille Ball** (seen here with actress **Esther Dale**), appeared in a bit part as a gawky American teenage tourist in Paris (which was actually an RKO studio lot)…little did Ball know that one day she would own that RKO studio lot with husband Desi Arnaz as home to their Desilu Productions facility. *(IMDB/Wikipedia/TCM)*

Mosher also said farewell to Will Rogers in his final film, In Old Kentucky, which he found to be a “minor affair.” He also reviewed The Land of Promise, a film about Palestine that indicated to Mosher that “life there is highly successful for all present.”

THIS IS GOODBYE…**Will Rogers** in a scene with **Dorothy Wilson** in Rogers’ final film appearance, *In Old Kentucky. (rotten tomatoes.com)*

ORIGIN STORY…According to the Israel Film Archive, **Judah Leman’s** *The Land of Promise* “laid the cinematic groundwork for all subsequent Zionist propaganda films that would follow.” *(IMDB)*

* * *

E.B. White keeps us on the cinema trail with some thoughts on the film, Mutiny on the Bounty, namely a certain historical inaccuracy:

AHEAD OF HIS TIME…**E.B. White** noted that Roger Byam (**Franchot Tone**) would have to wait seventy years to learn about germ theory. In addition, the trailer for *Mutiny on the Bounty* (above) incorrectly referred to Tone’s character as an ensign, when in fact Tone’s role was as a midshipman. (Wikipedia)

* * *

They Had It First

The swastika was among the more popular designs incorporated into southwestern tribal art during the American tourist era (roughly 1890 to the 1930s). For the Navajo, the symbol represented humanity and life, and was used in healing rituals (it was also widely used by tribal peoples across Europe and Asia). Tourism promoters (called “hotel men” here) encouraged the symbol’s use until the 1930s, when it was increasingly associated with Germany’s Nazi Party. E.B. White explained:

TOURIST FAVORITE…Navajo blankets such as this example, made from 1864 to 1910, were popular with tourists. (Wichita State University)

* * *

Lois Long’s fashion column continued to be dominated by exhaustive Christmas shopping lists, in this issue stretching from pages 58 to 97…here are the first and last paragraphs of the column…

* * *

A Woolly Read

Perhaps your special someone was hoping for a thousand-page book under the tree; then look no further than The Woollcott Reader, a collection of stories, essays and other literary gems by New Yorker personality and former “Shouts and Murmurs” columnist Alexander Woollcott. In this excerpt, book critic Clifton Fadiman noted that a signed copy could be had for $7.50.

MY GIFT TO THE WORLD…**Alexander Woollcott** in 1939, as photographed by **Carl Van Vechten**, and the $3 brown cloth edition. (Wikipedia/Abebooks.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

Colorful advertisements brightened the 149 pages of the Dec. 7 issue…we begin with this colorful array from Martex…

…the women’s specialty shop Jane Engel commissioned one of the best-known commercial photographers of the day, Ruzzie Green, to capture this glamorous image…

…Caron Paris offered up this cheerful bouquet…

…the makers of White Rock were enjoying the fruits of post-Prohibition days…

…the publishers of Stage magazine highlighted Beatrice Lillie’s Broadway revue, At Home Abroad…

…the Capitol Theatre took out this full-page advertisement to tout the opening of the latest Marx Brothers film…

…here is a close-up of the ad’s “testimonials”…

…and what awaited audiences…

…the Lord & Thomas advertising firm imitated the New Yorker style in this full-page promotion…

…now who wouldn’t want a Philco “Radiobar” for the holidays?…

…found this one on 1stdibs.com…pretty cool…

…or you could get a little something for every one of your smoking friends (likely everyone)…

…and you could keep those holiday memories alive with a swell Kodak movie camera…

…Schrafft’s must have been something like an upscale Cracker Barrel…

…house ads from The New Yorker included this Otto Soglow-illustrated full pager…

…the magazine also touted books and poems by its contributors…

…and the Seventh New Yorker Album…

…more James Thurber here in this spot drawing for the “Books” section…

…and in this cartoon filled with holiday hijinks…

…Ilonka Karasz gave us a hockey goalie to open the calendar listings…

…George Price drew up this Depression-themed drawing at the bottom of the “Goings On” section…

…a great spot drawing by Aaron Sopher (1905–1972), who is perhaps best known for his depictions of everyday life in Baltimore…it was oddly placed amidst the “Christmas Gifts” section…

…according to Michael Maslin’s Ink Spill, Sopher contributed just two cartoons to the magazine, in the issues of June 15, 1929, and December 6, 1930 (pictured below)…

…back to the Dec. 7 issue, and at the Velodrome with Robert Day…

…who also visited an ill-suited Santa…

…Helen Hokinson pondered gift ideas…

…Carl Rose illustrated an unspeakable act at a progressive school…

…Mary Petty gave us a straightforward diagnosis…

…Alain asked us to ponder the fate of one man…

…Whitney Darrow Jr eavesdropped on some child philosophy…

…and we close with Peter Arno, and a groom’s surprise at the altar…

Next Time: Marxist Mayhem…

A Merry Menagerie

It has been a while since we’ve heard from art and design critic Lewis Mumford, who often cast a censorious eye at the rapidly changing world around him.

October 12, 1935 cover by William Steig. From 1930 until his death in 2003 at age 95, Steig contributed 121 covers and 1,676 drawings to *The New Yorker.*

In his column “The Sky Line,” Mumford cast an envious gaze north toward Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Zoo, which he believed had greatly improved upon the recently rebuilt Central Park Zoo.

HE HAD OPINIONS…**Lewis Mumford** (1895-1990).

Brooklyn’s advantage, according to Mumford, was the superior design of Prospect Park, which offered a better location for a zoo than Central Park. We’ll let Mumford explain in these excerpts:

CURIOSITIES, MOSTLY…Clockwise, from top left: Animals were on display at Prospect Park as early as 1866, as seen in this photo of the “Deer Farm”; circa 1900 postcard of Prospect Park’s rather distressing “Menagerie,” which opened around 1890; the park’s Elephant House opened in 1908—modeled after the Hippo Palace at the Antwerp Zoo, the Elephant House also featured rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, and tapirs; baby elephants (postcard circa 1940s) were a popular attraction until the zoo moved on to smaller creatures in the 1990s. (bklynlibrary.org/untappedcities.com/blog.wcs.org/nycgovparks.org)

LEWIS MUMFORD PRAISED the 1934 plan for the Prospect Park Zoo, designed by architect **Aymar Embury II** and approved by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. The zoo was built, in large part, through Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration labor and funding. (Brooklyn Public Library)

FLATBUSH FAUNA…Clockwise, from top left: Postcard image of Prospect Park Zoo circa 1935; zoo keeper sprays an elephant with a hose, circa 1940; an 1899 bronze sculpture depicting a mother lion nursing her cubs was created by French artist Victor Peter; seal pool, undated photo. (nycgovparks.org/Center for Brooklyn History/Facebook)

CARING OVER CAGES…Prospect Park Zoo today. The zoo closed in 1988 for five-year, $37 million renovation program that, except for the exteriors of the 1930s-era buildings, completely replaced the original zoo. With an emphasis on education and conservation, current exhibits house smaller species rather than elephants, tigers, and lions. (Prospect Park Alliance)

Mumford also looked at the latest developments at Rockefeller Center. As we’ve seen before, he favored smaller-scale developments that were organic and community-focused, and therefore was a strong critic of projects like Rockefeller Center. At its inception he called it a dehumanizing “megamachine,” a product of corporate greed, a “reckless, romantic chaos” that represented the capitalist jungle. Harsh words indeed, so it was something of a surprise to see his approval of the latest piece of the complex—the International Building at 630 Fifth Avenue:

SIMPLE AND CORRECT were the words **Lewis Mumford** used to describe the interior entrance to 630 Fifth Avenue. (Wikiwand/newyorkoffices.com)

* * *

Bad Benito

In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White had some choice words for the murderous Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and for the newspaper columnist Arthur Brisbane, both unconcerned with the slaughter of “backward” Ethiopians by invading Italian forces:

White also noted the role played by The New Yorker in a new novel by William Farquhar Payson (1876–1939) titled Give Me Tomorrow. Apparently the novel credited the magazine’s unique humor for revealing the banality of an evangelist and delivering a young woman from his clutches…

*THE NEW YORKER* TO THE RESCUE…**William Farquhar Payson** deployed a copy of the magazine for a pivotal scene in his novel *Give Me Tomorrow*. (findagrave.com)

* * *

A Star Is Born

Stage and film director Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986) moved from Chicago to New York in 1931, where he worked as a stage designer for Earl Carroll’s Vanities and costume and set designer for the Ziegfeld Follies before becoming art director at Radio City Music Hall. He got his big break in 1935 when he directed, to critical acclaim, the Broadway musical At Home Abroad. “The Talk of Town” took notice of the rising star (excerpts):

AN EYE FOR DESIGN…Photographer **Lusha Nelson** photographed **Vincente Minnelli** at his desk with a miniature stage on Feb. 1, 1936. (James Grissom via threads.com)

* * *

A Safe Space

Lois Long had mixed feelings regarding the Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room, fearing that it was a tourist magnet but also desiring to take in its sumptuous floor shows. In the first excerpt, Long continued her comment on the heated competition she perceived among nightclub owners.

FEAR FACTOR…The entertainment lineup at Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room helped **Lois Long** overcome her fear of encountering tourists. Clockwise, from left, the Rainbow Room in 1934; **Ramon** and **Renita** lit up the dance floor (photo from Nov. 1935 *Harper’s Bazaar)*; **Ray Noble** and his orchestra provided “all-around beauty”; and (inset) cabaret singer **Frances Maddox** offered her sophisticated warble to the glittering affair. (Rockefeller Center Archives/Pinterest/Shedd Institute)

* * *

An Untamed Shrew

Theatre critic Wolcott Gibbs had a good time watching Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne take on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew at the Guild Theatre, especially Lunt’s uproarious take on the play.

FUN WITH SHAKESPEARE…**Alfred Lunt** and **Lynn Fontanne** matched wits in the Theatre Guild’s presentation of The Taming of the Shrew. (minnesotaplaylist.com)

* * *

At the Movies

Our film critic John Mosher didn’t have much to say about Here’s To Romance, which seemed contrived to introduce the Italian tenor Nino Martini (1905–1976) to a wider audience. To Mosher, the highlight of the film was the appearance of Ernestine Schumann-Heink (1861–1936), the Austrian-American operatic dramatic contralto, who appeared to be having a good time.

SINGER SANDWICH…**Genevieve Tobin** (center) stands between tenor **Nino Martini** and dramatic contralto **Ernestine Schumann-Heink** in a scene from *Here’s to Romance.* (rottentomatoes.com)

Mosher reviewed two other films that were a bit more dismal: The Last Outpost was a war-themed melodrama starring Cary Grant and Claude Rains; O’Shaughnessy’s Boy featured Wallace Beery as a circus animal trainer who loses his arm as well as his family.

DUELING MUSTACHES…**Cary Grant** (left) sported a rare mustache in a role opposite **Claude Rains** in *The Last Outpost.* (mabumbe.com)

A TOUGH ACT…**Sara Haden** played a skeptical aunt who sees a one-armed circus animal tamer (**Wallace Beery**) regain his son (**Jackie Cooper)** and the confidence he lost along with his wife in *O’Shaughnessy’s Boy*. (tcm.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

I find these advertisements oddly appealing, because this kind of travel no longer exists. Today there is exactly one ocean liner left in the world—the Queen Mary 2; the cruise ships that rule the 21st century seas are essentially hotel/amusement parks stacked on top of a huge barges…water slides, Vegas-style entertainments, and all-you-can-stuff-into-your-face buffets…

…this curious ad on page 10 mimicked the look of a New Yorker short in the vein of Clarence Day…what it promoted was an around-the-world cruise that would take two-hundred (well-heeled) passengers to more than twenty destinations including Malaysia, Bali and Singapore…

Postcard image of the Franconia. (Pinterest)

…society women could be counted on to endorse all sorts of things from cigarettes to cold cream…here a “Mrs. Francis L. Robbins, Jr” (I couldn’t find her given name) endorses Cutex nail polish and lipstick…the ad noted that Mrs. Robbins “is a beautiful and popular member of Long Island and New York society”…

…the makers of Spud menthol cigarettes entered the realm of the surreal with a talking cigarette that encouraged chain smoking…

…the board game Monopoly had its origins in The Landlord’s Game, created in 1903 by an anti-monopolist named Lizzie Magie…over the years variants of the game were introduced until Parker Brothers bought the rights from Magie and another inventor and began mass-marketing the game in the fall of 1935…

…Peggy Lou Snyder was performing in vaudeville when she met the saxophone-playing bandleader Ozzie Nelson in 1932. Nelson hired her to sing with his band (under the name Harriet Hilliard) and then married her three years later…in 1944 the couple would launch a comedy series for radio, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which made a successful transition to television, appearing on ABC from 1952 to 1966…

…here we have some old-timers offering hunting advice and promoting octane-boosting Ethyl gasoline, which helped prevent engine knock…it also contained the highly toxic additive tetraethyllead, which could cause severe neurological damage, particularly in children…it was completely banned in the U.S. by 1996…

…on to our cartoonists, we start with this delightful spot art by Christina Malman that graced the bottom of the calendar and events page…

…Helen Hokinson appeared twice, first at the vet’s…

…and later shopping for the maid at a department store…

…George Price had a surprise in store for this mirror-gazer…

…Charles Addams took the top of page 29 to show us a proud papa in a maternity ward…

…Ned Hilton uncovered some history at the Singer Building…

…Mary Petty eavesdropped on a tactless toff…

…Leonard Dove showed us that being a sugar daddy wasn’t so sweet…

…and we close with William Steig, one of his “Small Fry” speaking up for the old man…

Next Time: On Catfish Row…

School Days

Above: First-grade pupils at the blackboard, circa 1943. (The New York Times)

Peering into the life of a Manhattan elementary school—as it was ninety years ago—offers a glimpse into the social mores of the 1930s.

October 5, 1935 cover by **Constantin Alajalov.**

Taking us back to those days was St. Clair McKelway (1905-1980), who beginning in 1933 served as a writer and editor for The New Yorker. Although not well-known today, McKelway was credited by William Shawn as one of a handful of people who “set the magazine on its course.”

For the “A Reporter at Large” column, McKelway toured PS 165 on the Upper West Side. In this first excerpt, McKelway sits in on a geography lesson:

AROUND THE WORLD IN TWENTY VOLUMES…The Grolier Society’s *The Book of Knowledge* was a well-known resource to students and teachers alike in the 1930s. Originally largely a reprint of the British *Children’s Encyclopædia* with U.S. revisions, it evolved over time into an entirely new entity. This particular volume is from 1919, part of a twenty-volume set. *(Randal Oulton via Wikipedia)*

In this next excerpt, a teacher and principal speak of the schoolchildren dispassionately, casually referring to one pupil’s IQ as “almost down to mental defective.”

PS PUPILS…Students participate in Elizabeth Irwin’s “Little Red Schoolhouse“ program at PS 61 in 1928; at right, a kindergarten painter at PS 23 in 1935. (NYC Municipal Archives/Fordham U)

In this final excerpt, McKelway looked in on the school’s “ungraded class” of sixteen boys, most from families who were “on relief.” Beginning in the third paragraph, note how the teacher speculates on the future of one of the students.

STILL STANDING, STILL SERVING…PS 165 Robert E. Simon school today. *(insideschools.org/Anna Duncan/Friends of PS 165)*

A final note: It is interesting to compare McKelway’s article with one written almost thirty years later by Richard Schickel for Commentary magazine (January 1964). Schickel also visited PS 165, his observations of the “special service” school sometimes echoing McKelway’s. Today PS 165 receives high marks from teachers and parents. Located a few blocks from Columbia University, the school teaches children of graduate students and professors as well as long-time neighborhood residents and newcomers.

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Moving Days

In the fall of 1935 E.B. and Katharine White and their four-year-old son Joel moved from their Greenwich Village apartment on East 8th Street (reluctantly for E.B.) to Turtle Bay Gardens in the East 40s. At about the same time The New Yorker moved from its original headquarters on West 45th Street to its new digs at 25 West 43rd Street, where the magazine would settle in for more than fifty years.

HOME SWEET HOME…This New York townhouse (left) was the new home of **E.B. and Katharine White** in the fall of 1935 (their neighbor was **Katharine Hepburn**). At right, *The New Yorker* also moved to a new home at 25 West 43rd Street. The magazine would occupy several floors of the building for 56 years. (homes.com/Ink Spill)

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A Good Bad Girl

Journalist Meyer Berger (1898-1959) was known for digging deep into his subjects, including a two-part New Yorker profile of Anna Lonergan, “Queen of the Irishtown Docks.” Her two husbands and a brother—notorious killers themselves—were murdered in gang wars along with dozens of others who were Lonergan’s friends and neighbors. She was often called to the morgue to identify murder victims, thus the “Profile” title “Lady in Crepe”—one who is in a constant state of mourning. Here are the opening paragraphs:

SHE WANTED TO BE A NUN…**Anna Lonergan**, as rendered by Reginald Marsh for the Profile.

KILL OR BE KILLED…Members of the Irish “White Hand Gang” battled their Italian rivals (the Black Hand Gang) on the Brooklyn waterfront from the early 1900s to 1930. **Anna Lonergan’s** first husband William “Wild Bill” Lovett (top) was murdered in 1923; her brother Richard “Pegleg” Lonergan was gunned down in 1925. *(artofneed.com)*

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At the Movies

Film critic John Mosher took on a couple of very different films—the lively Claudette Colbert comedy She Married Her Boss, and the “mournful, graceful” Iceland Fisherman featuring the 1890s French cabaret star Yvette Guilbert.

BUSINESS AND PLEASURE…**Melvyn Douglas** and Claudette Colbert in *She Married Her Boss.* (IMDB)

GRAND GRANDMOTHER...John Mosher found French actress and cabaret singer Yvette Guilbert (1865–1944) to be the main attraction as a Breton grandmother in 1934’s *Pêcheur d’Islande* (Iceland Fishermen). Guilbert was a favorite subject of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who made many portraits and caricatures of Guilbert, including the one at right from 1894. (musee-breton.finistere/National Portrait Gallery, London/Wikipedia)

Mosher also screened Soviet Russia through the Eyes of an American, which documented American engineer Charles Stuart’s travels through the Soviet Union. You can watch the entire film here.

NO FAMINE HERE…Children playing games were featured in *Soviet Russia through the Eyes of an American*, a travelogue that skipped all the bad parts of Stalinist Russia. (YouTube/Hoover Institution)

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Some Housekeeping

Before we jump into the advertisements, I would feel remiss not to mention other writers in the issue, including poet Ogden Nash (“How Now, Sirrah, Oh, Anyhow”), James Thurber (“Smashup,” featuring henpecked husband Tommy Trinway); Frances Warfield (“Practical Nurse”); Theodore Pratt (“I Jes’ Goin'”); James Reid Parker (“The First Day”); Andree L. Eilert (“Words Across the Sea”) W.E. Farbstein (“Copycat”); and P. S. Le Poer Trench (“Parsons is Prepared”). Some of these contributors are long forgotten—Warfield often wrote about her deafness, but little to nothing can be found out about Eilert or Trench without considerable effort (Trench published twice in the New Yorker in 1935).

AMONG THE KNOWN…At left, **Ogden Nash** (1902-1971) is the most famous of this trio that includes **Theodore Pratt** (1901-1969), center, known as the “Literary Laureate of Florida”; and at right, **James Reid Parker** (1909-1984), who sidelined as a writer of captions for **Helen Hokinson.** Read more about Parker’s contributions to *The New Yorker* at **Michael Maslin’s** *New Yorker* treasure trove **Ink Spill.**

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From Our Advertisers

Apparently business was booming at Forstmann Woolens, who continued to post these stylish ads in the opening pages of The New Yorker—note Midtown’s 1927-29 New York Central Building (now Helmsley Building) that served as a gateway to Grand Central…

…who knew that one could be so stylish while drinking a glass of tomato juice?…

…the Capehart Automatic Phonograph Company produced a radio-phonograph that could automatically flip records to play both sides—this particular model could play up to twenty records in succession…

QUITE THE GIZMO…Restoration of a Capehart 405E. These units were not cheap, selling for the equivalent of $30k or more today. (forum.antiquephono.org)

…Warner Brothers took out a full-page ad to announce the world premiere of A Midsummer Night’s Dream…the lavish, star-studded production featured, among others, James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Dick Powell, Anita Louise and Mickey Rooney…

AN ACQUIRED TASTE...Anita Louise as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, and **James Cagney** as Bottom, the Weaver, in the 1935 film production of Shakespeare’s *A Midsummer Night’s Dream*. The film failed at the box office with mixed reviews, however it won two Academy Awards—Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and it was nominated for Best Picture. Today the film gets mostly good reviews. (www.academymuseum.org)

…Stage magazine also took out a full-page ad to trumpet its own star-studded lineup, including contributions by James Thurber, Peggy Bacon and Abe Birnbaum…

…Mrs. Chiswell Dabney Langhorne, nee Caryetta Davis Saunders (1899-1971), was the latest society maven to encourage women smokers to enjoy the unfiltered pleasures of Camel cigarettes…

…on to our cartoonists, George Price and Maurice Freed got things rolling with these spot drawings…

…Carl Rose mixed the old with the new on moving day…

…Barney Tobey showed us how the posh travelled to school…

…George Price again, here demonstrating the joys of moneyed eccentricity…

…Richard Decker explored the origins of art criticism…

…Mary Petty offered some durable fashion advice…

…and we close with Peter Arno, finding sudden inspiration in a Pink Lady cocktail…

Next Time: A Merry Menagerie…

Notes and Comment

Above: Among E.B. White's notable happenings in the fall of 1935 was a streamlined baby carriage for the toddler of tomorrow. (Pinterest)

Occasionally, E.B. White would allow his seemingly random thoughts to fill out his “Notes and Comment” column, observing in no particular order various happenings of the day.

Sept. 28, 1935 cover by **Antonio Petruccelli,** who began his career as a textile designer. In addition to four *New Yorker* covers, Petruccelli (1907-1994) illustrated twenty-four Fortune magazine covers as well as several covers for *House Beautiful, Collier’s, Life* and other magazines.

What he accomplished, however, was a collection of snapshots of life in Manhattan and abroad. Here is the first part of E.B. White’s “Notes and Comment” for Sept. 28…

PERENNIAL PROBLEM…**E.B. White** noted that more than 51,000 Americans died in car accidents in an 18-month span, a number that is oddly similar to today’s statistics (although the U.S. has more than double the population today). At left, photo by **Weegee** (aka Arthur Fellig) of a wrecked taxicab in New York City, circa 1930s; at right, a streamlined baby buggy, 1930s. (Instagram/Pinterest)

…White also noted a number of cultural events, from airmailed lobsters to a new slogan for the State of Maine…

HODGEPODGE…Clockwise, from top left, **Leo Reisman** brought the sound of music to the beautiful Central Park Casino ballroom (adjoining photo), which was designed by Joseph Urban; in 1927 **Clarence Chamberlain** became the second man to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft across the Atlantic and the first to carry a transatlantic passenger—in 1935 he accepted a contract from boxer/restauranteur Jack Dempsey to fly two-hundred Maine lobsters to NYC; safari film celebrities **Osa and Martin Johnson** bought a picnic basket at Abercrombie & Fitch; the state of Maine announced plans to add “Vacationland” to license plates—a slogan still in use today. (IMDB/centralpark.org/alchetron.com/ebay)

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Class Acts

Lois Long continued to chronicle the nightlife scene in her “Tables For Two” column, observing the efforts of nightclub impresarios to promote their establishments as epitomes of sophistication.

WHY GO HOME?…**Lois Long** noted the many reasons why New Yorkers might stay out into the wee hours. Clockwise, from top left: Gossip columnist **Walter Winchell** as photographed by Edward Steichen in 1930; nightclub impersario and former Village speakeasy king **Barney Gallant**; the exclusive confines of El Morocco; Romanian-born American crooner and actor **Georges Metaxa** made the society ladies swoon at the Stork Club; the Stork Club’s Cub Room in 1944 occupied by **Orson Welles** (left) among other notables; entrance to the club, 1930s. (CondeNast/boweryboyshistory.com/Pinterest/Wikipedia/NYPL)

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From Rough to Refined

Alva Johnston profiled acclaimed film director W.S. Van Dyke (1889–1943), whom Johnston portrayed as a tough guy who slipped effortlessly from the rough and tumble world of Westerns to the sophisticated heights of high society films such as 1934’s The Thin Man.

LOW TO HIGH…**W.S. Van Dyke** moved from making Westerns to more sophisticated fare including 1934’s *The Thin Man.* (Facebook/Wikipedia)

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Silly Mystification

Book reviewer Clifton Fadiman began his review of T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom by first clearing the air about the enigmatic writer and diplomat who had recently died in a motorcycle accident. “Wittingly or unwittingly, willingly or unwillingly, he exhaled during his lifetime a vapor of silly mystification,” Fadiman wrote about Lawrence, who was known to embellish accounts of his adventures in the Arab world. Here is an excerpt of the review:

LITERARY COSPLAY…**T.E. Lawrence** (1888-1935) in an undated photo. Writing for the *New Criterion,* **David Fromkin** noted the importance of Lawrence’s prestige to the British Empire. “T. E…was of his time and ours. Of all the public figures of the twentieth century, across a wide range of interests, issues, and attitudes, he best expresses the century. ” (The New Criterion)

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At the Movies

Critic John Mosher reviewed one of Will Rogers’ final films, Steamboat Round the Bend, released just weeks after Rogers’ death in an Alaska plane crash. Mosher found the film “satisfying.”

SOUTHERN CHARM was laid on thick in *Steamboat Round the Bend,* which featured **Anne Shirley** and **Will Rogers** in one of his final film roles (Rogers filmed In Old Kentucky before *Steamboat,* but In Old Kentucky wasn’t released until Nov. 22, 1935).

Mosher also took in another “revue” film, Broadway Melody of 1936, which served as a showcase of MGM’s star power.

THE MGM STABLE OF STARS showcased in *Broadway Melody of 1936* included, at top, the elegant **Eleanor Powell;** below, Powell (left) joins brother-sister dancing team Buddy and Vilma Ebsen in a down-home skit. Buddy Ebsen’s “carefully preserved homeliness” (quoting **John Mosher**) served him well 27 years later when he was cast as Jed Clampett in TV’s The Beverly Hillbillies. (IMDB)

Mosher also endured a “perfunctory” performance by Bette Davis in Special Agent, and a “mousy” Madeleine Renaud in Maria Chapdelaine.

PHONING IT IN…**Joe Sawyer, Bette Davis** and Ricardo Cortez in Special Agent. (IMDB)

NOT GAGA-WORTHY…Critic John Mosher thought French actress **Madeleine Renaud** (center) was too “mousy” to be cast against the rugged beauty of the Canadian frontier in 1934’s *Maria Chapdelaine*. Based on a romance novel written in 1913 by the French writer Louis Hémon, the film cast Renaud as a young woman enduring the hardships of rural Quebec while she is pursued by three suitors. An IMDB reviewer writes that this early **Julien Duvivier** film “is mostly of pictorial interest: the location shooting in Quebec is impressive, but the story is thin-to-nonexistent. Madeleine Renaud is cute but not magnetic enough to have three men going absolutely gaga over her.” (IMDB)

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From Our Advertisers

Forstmann Woolens kicks off our advertisements with this image of attenuated women posed in the autumnal landscape of Central Park…

…what is notable about this Arrow Shirts ad is the formal attire of father and son at a baseball game, not at all unusual in 1935…

…Seagram’s continued its aggressive campaign to promote its lineup of seven “masterpieces”…

…Coca-Cola also had a substantial war chest, marketing its product for home consumption, which still seemed to be somewhat novel…

…the back page ad went to the makers of Lucky Strike, pursuing that growing market of women smokers…

…Richard Decker drew up an ad for a more wholesome product…

…while Peter Arno put pen to paper to promote his “puzzle-cartoons” in the New York Post…

…which segues to our cartoon section, and Arno again with some office hijinks…

…Christina Malman’s wonderfully unique spot art was making regular appearances in the magazine’s pages…

…Perry Barlow served up some dinnertime etiquette…

…Carl Rose found order in the court…

…James Thurber continued to mesmerize…

…Helen Hokinson’s Ladies Club took a stand against fascism…

…Alan Dunn looked in on a polite perp…

…Mary Petty encountered a challenge in a dress shop…

…Gilbert Bundy revealed an odd duck among the fox hunters…

…and we close with Barbara Shermund, ready to curl up with a good (or bad) book…

Next Time: School Days…

She Who Must Be Obeyed

The 1935 film She was one of those old movies you’d see on television during the 1970s when there were only three or four channels (plus UHF) and local stations would tap into the “B” movie vault to fill airtime. One of those films was She.

Film critic John Mosher felt a bit sorry for Helen Gahagan, who portrayed “She Who Must Be Obeyed” (aka “She”)—an immortal who ruled an exotic, lost civilization near the Arctic Circle. The challenge for Gahagan was to seem imperious before her co-stars Randolph Scott and Helen Mack, who seemed more suited to the high school hijinks of an Andy Hardy picture. The film was a pretty standard adventure tale, in the mold of producer Marian C. Cooper’s 1933 King Kong, with two explorers falling in love during a perilous journey.

ARCHETYPE…At left, **Helen Gahagan** as “She” (Who Must Be Obeyed). Her costume possibly inspired the Evil Queen in Disney’s 1937 animated *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.* At right, lobby card that promoted the film. (Scifist.net/Reddit)

WHEN YOU PLAY WITH FIRE…She Who Must Be Obeyed (**Helen Gahagan**), believing that the explorer Leo Vincey (**Randolph Scott**) was a reincarnation of his ancestor (whom she loved), and jealous of his girlfriend Tanya (**Helen Mack**), invites Leo to join her in the eternal flame. Unfortunately, her re-entry into the flame that gave her immortality turned her into a dying, withered crone. (The Nitrate Diva/Scifist.net)

The 1887 H. Rider Haggard novel, She, inspired eponymous silent films in 1908, 1911, 1916, 1917, and 1925. The 1935 film reviewed here received tepid reviews and lost money on its first release, however in a 1949 re-release it fared much better. She was re-made in 1965 with Ursula Andress in the lead role, and again in 1984 in a post-apocalyptic film that had virtually nothing to do with Haggard’s novel.

*SHE* THROUGH THE YEARS…Clockwise, from top left, “She” **(Marguerite Snow**) offers a dagger to Leo Vincey (**James Cruze)** in a 1911 two-reel (24 min.) adaptation; **Valeska Suratt** as “She” in the 1917 film (now lost); **Betty Blythe** took the title role in the 1925 production, considered to be the most faithful to the 1887 **H. Rider Haggard** novel; **Sandahl Bergman** appeared dressed for a Jazzercise video in the 1984 post-apocalyptic *She*; and finally, **Ursula Andress** and John Richardson in the 1965 CinemaScope production of *She.* (Wikipedia / digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu / cultcelebrities.com / Reddit)

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Colonial Ambitions

With most of Africa carved up by other European powers (Britain, France, Belgium etc.) in the 19th century, Italy set its sights on Ethiopia, which by the end of the 19th century was the only independent country left on the continent. Ethiopia fought off Italy’s first attempt at conquest in the Battle of Adwa (1896), but with the rise of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Italy paid a return visit, this time with heavy artillery and airstrikes that included chemical weapons. E.B. White tried to make sense of this latest invasion in his opening comments.

THOSE GUYS AGAIN…Italy invaded Ethiopia on October 3, 1935, a significant act of aggression in the lead up to World War II. Despite facing a technologically superior Italian army (top) equipped with modern weapons, including tanks, aircraft, and chemical weapons, the Ethiopian forces (bottom photo) mounted a strong resistance. (Wikipedia)

In his weekly column, Howard Brubaker mused on the Italian aggressions and other rumblings of the coming European war.

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Author, Author

The writer Willa Cather was a favorite of New Yorker critics, including Clifton Fadiman, however her latest novel was a bit too mild for his tastes.

HERE’S LUCY…**Clifton Fadiman** confessed he was “mortified” to admit that he found **Willa Cather’s** latest novel a bit too gentle. At right, portrait of Cather on her birthday, December 7, 1936. (willacather.org)

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From Our Advertisers

We begin with more fearmongering from the folks at Goodyear, who offered weekly reminders of the perils of not choosing their all-weather tires…

…the Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company conjured up this “naughty maiden” to encourage even timid souls to take up the habit…

…on the other hand, the makers of the upstart KOOL brand kept it simple with their chain-smoking penguin, who was grabbing ever more market share from rival menthol pusher SPUD…

…ads in the back of the book offered up even less sophisticated products, such as Crown Smelling Salts…

…while Dr. Seuss and Norman Z. McLeod continued to make a living with their distinctive illustrations…

…at the very back of the magazine, this tiny ad from Knopf promoted Clarence Day’s Life With Father, published just months before Day’s death on Dec. 28…

…which brings us to our cartoonists…Constantin Alajalov kicked us off with this happy number…

…James Thurber found steamy goings on in the parlor…

…Charles Addams came down to earth with this pair…

…George Price showed us the rough and tumble of news reporting…

…Mary Petty contributed this sumptuous drawing of a croquet match…

…Helen Hokinson was in a transcendental mood…

…and Ned Hilton had a big surprise for one garage tinkerer…

…on to August 10 and a rich summer scene by Arnold Hall:

August 10, 1935 cover by **Arnold Hall.**

“The Talk of the Town” checked the lunch crowd at Mary Elizabeth’s Tea Room, where some preferred to drink their lunch.

TEA AND SWEETS (and cocktails) were among the offerings at Mary Elizabeth’s Tea Room at 36th and Fifth, seen here circa 1912. (*Photo by Karl Struss via Facebook*)

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Comic Relief

Film critic John Mosher offered an appreciation of W.C. Fields, noting that civilization needed films like Man on the Flying Trapeze during those hard years. Mosher also found some worthy distractions in the Jean Harlow vehicle China Seas, but was prepared to consign Spencer Tracey’s latest offering to the “lower circles of cinema hell.”

ANSWERING HIS NATION’S CALL…**W.C. Fields** brought joy to millions during the Depression in movies such as Man on the Flying Trapeze. Above, from left, **Kathleen Howard, Fields,** and **Mary Brian**. (IMDB/Rotten Tomatoes)

SHORE LEAVE…At left, **Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow,** and **Clark Gable** on the set of *China Seas;* top right, **Hattie McDaniel** with Harlow in a scene from the film; below, Gable, **Rosalind Russell,** and C. Aubrey Smith with Harlow in *China Seas.* (musingsofaclassicfilmaddict.wordpress.com / Pinterest)

FRESH FACE…Cinema newcomer Rita Hayworth was credited as Rita Cansino (she was born Margarita Carmen Cansino) in *Dante’s Inferno.* Here she is flanked by **Spencer Tracy** and **Gary Leon**. *Dante’s Inferno* was Spencer Tracy’s final film for 20th Century Fox. It was at MGM where his career really took off. (IMDB)

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All Wet

In his London Letter, Conrad Aiken (pen name Samuel Jeake Jr) examined the priggish ways of England’s seaside resorts.

SITE OF SCANDAL…Bathing huts at Bognor Regis, circa 1921. (bognorregistrails.co.uk)

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Beware the Bachelor

In her “Tables for Two” column, Lois Long examined some of the city’s seasonal escapes for “summer bachelors.”

GHOSTS OF THE PAST…**Lois Long** recommended the air-conditioned lounges of the Madison Square Hotel and the Savoy Plaza (center) or the cooling breezes of the Biltmore roof (right), which featured music by **Morton Downey.** Sadly, all three of these beautiful buildings have been demolished. (geographicguide.com/Wikipedia)

Other more casual venues recommended by Long included Nick’s Merry-Go-Round…

…a menu from Nick’s dated 1937…

…and its cryptic back cover…

From Our Advertisers

…speaking of the Biltmore and Morton Downey, we kick off our advertising section…

…the ad on the left announced the private residences at the Waldorf-Astoria…

Clockwise, from top left, the Waldorf Astoria circa 1930; the Waldorf’s Starlight Roof in the 1930s; after eight years and billions in restorations and renovations, the hotel has seen many changes including the transformation of the Starlight Roof into a swimming pool. Decades of grime were also cleaned from the building’s exterior. (mcny.org/loc.gov/som.com)

…another ad from the makers of Lincoln suggesting that the market for their luxury auto wasn’t confined to citified execs…

…the Camel folks introduced us to their latest society shill…

…I didn’t find much about Beatrice Barclay Elphinstone (1916-1977), described in the Camel ad as a “charming representative of New York’s discriminating younger set”…she did make the Times‘ Dec. 10, 1937 society wedding announcements, however…

…Dr. Seuss was back with another twist on Flit insecticide…

…on to our illustrators and cartoonists, a nice charcoal by Hugo Gellert for a profile titled “Yankee Horse Trader,” written by Arthur C. Bartlett…the harness horse racing legend Walter Cox (1868-1941) was known in New England as “the king of the half-milers”…