EDITOR’S CORNER
My friend Phyllis “Okie From Just North of Muskogee” Denman brought me two old magazines she unearthed last week.
One is a 1952 edition of Household, a magazine I didn’t recognize.
But the other is the May 11, 1936, issue of Time.
It’s hard to overstate just how important, and universal, Time and its larger-and-slicker cousin, Life, were for about 50 years.
Both were news magazines, the CNN of their day. You got Time for the writing and Life for the photos.
Just a glance through the 82-year-old edition of Time yielded some interesting insights on what was going on in the news, and in our culture, back then:
• You could buy a new Pontiac Eight for $730. Or, if that was too pricey, a DeSoto would set you back $695.
• Four letters to the editor in ALL CAPS. No idea why.
• Ah hindsight. There was a story on French General Henri Petain, a hero of World War I. In another 10 years his name would be sullied forever when he collaborated with the Nazis to head a puppet government.
• More hindsight. There’s a “puff piece” with photos on a luxurious new way to travel across the Atlantic. It was a blimp called the Hindenberg and it had just landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey. One year later, almost to the day, it tried to land again in the same place and......well, you know.
• It Was A Long Time Ago Part I—A photo of the newest member of the National Academy of Sciences, Orville Wright. Yes, that Orville Wright.
• It Was A Long Time Ago Part II—A photo of a lady who complained because she was now being charged rent by a San Diego hotel where she had been living rent-free for many years. Her name was America Grant, daughter-in-law of General, and President, Ulysses S. Grant. The hotel was the U.S. Grant, formerly owned by her late husband, son of the president.
• Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, worried too many people were listening to baseball games on the radio and not paying to get inside the park, stopped every major and minor league team from entering into new radio contracts.
‘TOOTLE’—Remember, earlier I noted you bought Time for the writing? An example. This is how their coverage of a classical music concert by a woman named Grace East began:
“...the solo performer was a comely young woman who appeared in a low-cut Nile-green gown, bowed graciously to her audience, raised a gold trumpet to her lips, closed her eyes, and proceeded to tootle. Her arm muscles twitched while she played. The ruffles on her bosom and the orchids on her shoulder fluttered fitfully with each inspiration. But there were no signs of exertion.”
Time also noted East played a concert on the north rim of the Grand Canyon at almost 8,000 feet and quoted a cowboy’s assessment of it:
“Lady, I think you’re wonderful. We’ve never had a prizefight that lasted more than two rounds up here and I think you lasted about nine with that trumpet.”
Okay. Rockdale’s Matinee Musical Club, I’m anxiously awaiting your next report.
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