A gentleman who bears more than a passing resemblance to Jay Z hangs about in New York in 1939.
(Source: Daily Mail)
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Posts tagged 1930s:
The Edelweiss Pirates
The Edelweiss Pirates were a German youth organisation which resisted the Nazis and their ideology. Consisting mainly of fourteen to seventeen year olds, who had evaded the Hitler Youth by leaving school at fourteen and were not yet old enough for military conscription, the group emerge as the Hitler Youth were mobilised to serve the state, severely impacting the leisure time, and more importantly, the autonomy of young people in Germany.
They were distinguishable by their dress, which was a take on fashions associated with American Swing mingled with German folk dress, for example, ‘Dressing in lederhosen was a central part of their look as German heritage and resisting its malign was always at the forefront of their minds.’ [Source]
Although a lot of their activity involved petty provocations, they actively defied the restrictions imposed by the government, gathering on street corners in mixed-gender groups, taking camping and hiking trips, and were highly antagonistic towards the Hitler Youth, frequently starting fights with them. As one Nazi official put it in 1941: “Every child knows who the [Edelweiss] Pirates are. They are everywhere; there are more of them than there are Hitler Youth… They beat up the patrols… They never take no for an answer.” During WWII they supported the allies, helped deserters of the German army, distributed allied propaganda, and possibly carried out the assassinations of several Gestapo Officers.
The government responded characteristically, shaving the heads of those they identified as Pirates to shame them, and often sending them to concentration camps and prisons. Thirteen members of a group from Cologne were publicly hanged.
[Sources: Previous Blog | Edelweiss Pirates]
‘The Circus’
A circus scene made from cloth by an eight-year-old Queen Elizabeth II (1934)
(Source: Daily Mail)
Object, 1936
This Surrealist object was inspired by a conversation between Oppenheim and artists Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar at a Paris cafe. Admiring Oppenheim’s fur-covered bracelet, Picasso remarked that one could cover anything with fur, to which she replied, “Even this cup and saucer.” Soon after, when asked by André Breton, Surrealism’s leader, to participate in the first Surrealist exhibition dedicated to objects, Oppenheim bought a teacup, saucer, and spoon at a department store and covered them with the fur of a Chinese gazelle. In so doing, she transformed genteel items traditionally associated with feminine decorum into sensuous, sexually punning tableware.
(Source: moma.org)
![Disney Rejection Letter, 1938
Miss Mary T. FordSearcy,ArkansasDear Miss Ford,Your letter of recent date has been received in the Inking and Painting Department for reply.Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school.The only work open to women consists of tracing the characters on clear celluloid sheets with India ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to the directions.In order to apply for a position as “Inker” or “Painter” it is necessary that one appear at the Studio, bringing samples of pen and ink and water color work. It would not be advisable to come to Hollywood with the above specifically in view, as there are really very few openings in comparison with the number of girls who apply.Yours very truly,WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, LTD.
[Sources: Found here | Originally from Flickr]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/ace8849893af96ceb65a473936a94670/tumblr_mj3w9oWFhC1rnseozo1_400.jpg)
Disney Rejection Letter, 1938
Miss Mary T. Ford
Searcy,
Arkansas
Dear Miss Ford,
Your letter of recent date has been received in the Inking and Painting Department for reply.
Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school.
The only work open to women consists of tracing the characters on clear celluloid sheets with India ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to the directions.
In order to apply for a position as “Inker” or “Painter” it is necessary that one appear at the Studio, bringing samples of pen and ink and water color work. It would not be advisable to come to Hollywood with the above specifically in view, as there are really very few openings in comparison with the number of girls who apply.
Yours very truly,
WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, LTD.
Hitler When a Baby
In 1933, a picture [above left] supposedly showing Adolf Hitler as a baby began circulating throughout England and America. The child in the picture looked positively menacing. Its fat mouth was twisted into a sneer, and it scowled at the camera from dark, squinted eyes. A greasy mop of hair fell over its forehead.
The image was distributed by Acme Newspictures, Inc. and appeared in many newspapers and magazines. For instance, in October 1933 the Chicago Tribune printed it alongside a photo of the adult Hitler addressing 500,000 farmers and storm troopers, above the caption, “Two Pictures of Hitler.” The Winnipeg Free Press ran the picture with the caption: “This is a picture of a man who controls the destiny of a mighty nation, as he appeared when he was not quite one year old. Do you think this photo is prophetic of the figure he has become? The picture is one of Adolf Hitler, who was born in 1889.”
However, the baby picture didn’t actually show the infant führer. The German consulate in Chicago wrote a letter to the Chicago Tribune correcting the error:
In the … Tribune of October 22, 1933 there appeared under the title ‘Two pictures of Hitler’ two photographs .. The alleged ‘baby picture’ … was sent to the Foreign Office in Berlin and the Consulate General was recently advised that the photograph stated to be a ‘baby picture’ of the Reichs-Chancellor is a falsification.
If the baby in the picture wasn’t Adolf Hitler, then who was it? The answer to this question wasn’t known until 1938.
Mrs. Harriet Downs of Ohio happened to see the picture in a magazine and immediately recognized it as her son, John May Warren. However, in the original image her son looked cute, bright, and wholesome [above right]. Someone had darkened the shadows around the child’s face to give him a more sinister look.
However, it still remained a mystery how John Warren’s picture had ended up in Austria in the hands of a photo forger. That mystery has never been solved.
(Source: museumofhoaxes.com)
Spruce Girls: Modelling Wooden Swimwear
According to Popular Science, May 1930:
[Wooden bathing suits] are the latest novelty for use on the bathing beaches. Fashioned of thin spruce, they are said to be practical as costumes and also are sufficiently buoyant to encourage a timid swimmer to take a plunge. So far, none of them has warped or cracked.
Many of the photographs likely come from a 1929 advertisement featuring “Spruce Girls” on the beach modelling spruce wood veneer bathing suits to promote the products of Gray Harbor lumber industry in Washington. Furthermore, a 1932 video of the production of these costumes can be seen here. [Source]
(Source: vintag.es)
David and Bertie
On this day, 10th December, 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire was caused by King-Emperor Edward VIII’s proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing a divorce of her second.
The marriage was opposed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the autonomous Dominions of the British Commonwealth. Religious, legal, political, and moral objections were raised. As British monarch, Edward was the nominal head of the Church of England, which did not allow divorced people to remarry if their ex-spouses were still alive; so it was widely believed that Edward could not marry Wallis Simpson and remain on the throne. He was succeeded by his brother Albert, who took the regnal name George VI.
I’ve posted the above image before and although it’s crap quality I think it’s the best photograph of David and Bertie ever - the informality of it and casual expression of brotherly love…
William Kogut, Death by Playing Cards
William Kogut was on death row at San Quentin, but was never actually executed. In a note, he stated that only he should have the right to punish himself for his crimes, and so he committed suicide in a remarkable way.
He had decks of playing cards, a pipe, a broom, and a kerosene heater in his room. He tore the packs of playing cards to shreds, taking the pieces with red ink. At the time, the ink in these cards contained nitrocellulose, which is flammable when wet. He stuffed these into his pipe, then crammed a broom handle in behind them to plug the pipe. He then poured water through the other end of the pipe, which soaked the card pieces at the end into an explosive mixture. Finally, he put the plugged end against the kerosene heater in his room and the empty end against his head, creating something not unlike a shotgun.
The heat from the heater turned the water to steam, causing an explosive pressure build up that helped ignite the nitrocellulose solution. This in turn caused an explosion that actually shot pieces of playing cards through his skull.
(Source: weirdworm.com)
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