Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Friday, February 20, 2026
Monday, February 16, 2026
Saturday, February 16, 1901. Tariff wars.
Russia retaliated on a tariff raise imposed on Russian sugar with a 30% increase on the tariff on American ferric goods.
Hmm. . . seems like I've heard this tune before. . .
We don't think of Russia as a player in sugar today, in no small part due to the Russian Revolution. Before that, however, Russia was a major sugar exporter, being a beneficiary of the German process for refining sugar beets. The U.S. sugar industry is based on the same process.
The U.S. sugar industry was heavily impacted by the Spanish American War, oddly enough, as the U.S. became a major market for Cuban sugar and tobacco. When Cuba went communist in the 1950s, Russia in turn became the market for both of those things. Today, Cuba really doesn't have a market for either. A logical trade policy would open trade back up with Cuba, which is far more likely to liberalize its government than attempting to starve it to death before Marco Rubio convinces Mad King Donny to invade it.
Also in Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Vladimir Lamsdorf presented a revised treaty proposal to China's Ambassador to the Russian Empire, Prince Yang-ju. Under the 12-article treaty, China would retain ownership of Manchuria, but Russian troops would be allowed to occupy the territory to guard the railways there, and China would be forbidden from granting rail or mining privileges to anyone without Russian consent. China wasn't impressed and leaked the details to the Japanese and British.
Most of Alabama's Legislature arrived in Pensacola, Florida, at the invitation of the West Florida Annexation Association, to discuss the possibility of the annexing western Florida.
Macedonian demonstrators in Sofia demanded independence for Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.
Today In Wyoming's History: February 16: 1901 Governor Richards signed an act that required county commissions to raise taxes for the purpose of building a residence for the governor. Attribution: On This Day.
Wyoming's Sixth State Legislature concluded.
It was a Saturday.
The British journal The Sphere reported on a recent visit by Kaiser Wilhelm II, pictured here wearing a completely absurd helmet, to the UK.
In sharp contrast, The Saturday Evening POst had an illustration of George Washington, no doubt in commemoration of his birthday, on the cover. The attempt at illustrating a bit and bradoon was seriously flawed, however.
I'd be interested in what the article on millionaires not being able to stop making money held. Millionaires at that time would be like billionaires now.\
The progressive movement at the time was attempting to rein millionaires in. The Great Depression, a good thirty years away, would accomplish it. . . for a time.
Last edition:
Thursday, February 16, 1911. A resolution to annex Canada voted down.
U.S. Representative William Stiles Bennet (R-New York), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a resolution proposing that the United States annex Canada, after unsuccessfully opposing the reciprocal trade agreement with the country.
He was a sore loser.
The proposal had no chance of passage but rightfully angered Canadians, who had kicked American a** twice in prior armed attempts to annex it.
The resolution failed 9 to 1. Today Republicans would show dronish servitude to King Donny the Mad and vote to approve it.
Life magazine issued its "Socialist Number"
The illustration was by William Balfour Ker, and quite striking. The choice was intentional as Ker, who generally did illustrations, including for Life, was a dedicated Socialist, and one who lived an unconventional lifestyle as was common for radicals of the period.
Last edition:
Wednesday, February 15, 1911. Bogosity then and now and "Viva Diaz!"
Friday, February 13, 2026
Saturday, February 13, 1926. Calles attempts to end Catholic education.
The Calles government in Mexico ordered all Catholic schools to close.
This is no longer the case and Catholic schools are once again common in Mexico.
The U.S. issued its first Air Mail stamp.
It was a Saturday.
Last edition:
Thursday, February 12, 2026
Saturday, February 12, 1916. Russians advance against the Ottomans.
Russian forces captured Fort Kara-gobek at Erzurum.
British forces failed to take Salaita Hill in what is now Kenya in the first large scale battle of the East Africa Campaign.
The Aurora was free of ice, but only temporarily.
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Apparently a Casper Knights of Columbus event was a big success, but what was surprising is that it was held at the Masonic hall.
Last edition:
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Friday, February 5, 1926. Attacking the couriers.
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Terrorists attacked a train traveling from Moscow to Riga in Latvia, killing Soviet couriers L. F. Pecherskiy, Theodor Nette and his partner, with the apparent goal of stealing a diplomatic pouch.
A crowd of 10,000 people gathered in Los Angeles to watch the funeral procession of actress Barbara La Marr.
La Marr was regarded as a great beauty and was famous for that, as well as a torrid life. Only 29 at the time of her death, she'd been married four times.
Last edition:
Tuesday, February 2, 1926.
Friday, January 30, 2026
Wednesday, January 30, 1946. Roosevelt Dime.
The Roosevelt Dime was introduced on what would have been the late President's 64th birthday. The design replaced the Mercury Dime.
Plans for honoring Roosevelt on the dime commenced very soon after his death. He's been on the dime so long, I actually can't recall every seeing any other design, although I'm sure that I have.
By TUBS - This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15952232
The United Nations passed UNSCR calling on Iran and the USSR to resolve the crisis caused by the Soviet invasion of Iran.
Last edition:
Sunday, January 27, 1946. Die Rückkehr der Demokratie
Saturday, January 30, 1926. Pinks and Greens.
The Allied occupation of the first zone of the Rhineland in Germany ended.
It was a Saturday.
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The Army was just introducing its new service uniform.
1926 was the year the U.S. Army adopted an open collared "service uniform", with a different pattern for enlisted men as opposed to officers. Here Maj. John B. Coulter is shown wearing the newly introduced uniform. While the cut is a little different, and breeches are not common now, and were then, this is the same basic color scheme of uniform, "pinks and greens" reintroduced for all ranks in 2018, after having been originally phased out in 1954. While it was a good looking uniform, it was actually not as practical as its predecessor, given that it was supposed to be a combat uniform. This would cause the Army to rapidly develop combat specific clothing immediately before World War Two.
Officers had to buy their uniforms (they still do) and Coulter must have just purchased his. Coulter was a cavalryman (hence the breeches) who had entered the Army in 1912 and who would serve until 1952, retiring as a Lt. General.
Friday, January 23, 2026
Saturday, January 23, 2026. Saturday Art. Tramps and J. C. Leyendecker.
It was a Saturday, obviously.
A couple of comments. The Saturday Evening Post featured a cover by J. C. Leyendecker. This cover was cross posted over at Reddit's 100 Years Ago sub and immediately drew a comment about how Rockwell did the covers for the magazine.
That's a really common perception, but it's highly inaccurate. A short search, whose accuracy I can't verify, indicates that Rockwell did 323 covers for the Saturday Evening Post during his career but Leyendecker did over 300. Joseph Kernan and Ruth Eastman did quite a few, but there were other illustrators as well. Both Rockwell and Leyendecker did them for Country Gentleman as well.
Rockwell's style is very close to Leyendecker's, and Rockwell openly credited Leyendecker with being his mentor. Indeed, his style is so close that if these were illustrated today Rockwell would draw criticism for it.
Leyendecker is not nearly as well recalled by the general public as Rockwell but he has an enormous number of fans to this day. We've commented on his somewhat tragic life story several times.
The Parasite is a written work by Tarkington that must have been reprised in he magazine i this issue. Tarkington also wrote The Magnificent Ambersons. The story is unrelated to the illustration, but it's startling in this context. The portrayal of what we'd regard as the homeless in this fashion was really common, and continued up until at least the early 60s. Indeed, Buddy Ebsen portrayed essentially this sort of character, in an unsympathetic portrayal, in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show.
The New Yorker had a typical one of its illustrations.
Some people really love these, I'd note, but I don't.
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Last edition:
Saturday, January 16, 1926.
Friday, January 16, 2026
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Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Thursday, January 14, 1926. The Girl Who Went For A Ride In A Balloon.
African railway workers went on strike in Sierra Leone.
A total solar eclipse took place that was visible in the Southern Hemisphere from French Equatorial Africa, Sarawak and North Borneo (in Malaysia) and the Philippines. Scientists gathered in Sumatra to perform observational experiments, including an evaluation of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Last edition:
Saturday, January 9, 1926. A different train attack.
Labels: 1920s, 1926, Art, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Norman Rockwell, U.S. Navy, Washington Naval Treaty
Friday, January 9, 2026
Saturday, January 9, 1926. A different train attack.
Oddly enough, given the events that had happened ten years prior, Mexican rebels, under Colonel Manuel Núñez, opened fire on board a train traveling from Guadalajara to Mexico City, ultimately destroying it and making away with 300,000 pesos. Eleven people were killed.
The Navy League of the United States released a report finding the United States Navy to be unprepared for war and short of the tonnage limitation set by the Washington Naval Treaty.
It was a Saturday.
Last edition:
Friday, January 8, 1926. Crownings.
Labels: 1920s, 1926, Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud, Bảo Đại, French Indochina, Kingdom of Hejaz, Mecca, Monarchy, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Vietnam (Huế)
Friday, January 2, 2026
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