Blog Mirror: Norman Rockwell and his Dam Painting

 

Norman Rockwell and his Dam Painting

Saturday, November 27, 1923. Cairo Declaration, Australian advances, Poignant art.

It was a Saturday, and all the Saturday magazines were out. As we're dealing with 1943, they're still protected by copyright.  They all featured Thanksgiving themes, but the most recalled is that of the Saturday Evening Post, which featured a Rockwell with a picture of an Italian girl praying near rubble, wearing the wool mackinaw of an American Army 1st Sergeant.

The US, China, and UK agreed to the release of the Cairo Declaration.  It stated:

The several military missions have agreed upon future military operations against Japan. The Three Great Allies expressed their resolve to bring unrelenting pressure against their brutal enemies by sea, land, and air. This pressure is already rising.

The Three Great Allies are fighting this war to restrain and punish the aggression of Japan. They covet no gain for themselves and have no thought of territorial expansion. It is their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed. The aforesaid three great powers, mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent.

With these objects in view the three Allies, in harmony with those of the United Nations at war with Japan, will continue to persevere in the serious and prolonged operations necessary to procure the unconditional surrender of Japan.

Included in the "rising pressure" that declaration referenced were actions on New Guinea, where on this day the Australians, who didn't get a seat at the table in the Cairo Conference, began an armored supported advance at Wareo.

The Australian Army was using the Matilda tank, which had been a disappointment elsewhere, to great effect in New Guinea.  Its use took the Japanese by surprise.

The campaign in New Guinea, one of the major ones of the war against Japan, which was heavily borne by the Australian Army, went on until the Japanese surrender.  It was like the Marine action at Bougainville, albeit on a much larger scale, that way.

The Army-Navy Game was played at West Point.  Navy beat Army 13 to 0.

Angelo Bertelli was awarded the Heisman Trophy for his performance as Notre Dame's quarterback.  He was in Marine Corps bootcamp at the time.

Photo of eleven collegic football players, including Bertelli, who had joined the Marine Corps.

Badly wounded as a Marine Corps officer on Iwo Jima, his football career in the NFL was short after the war, ending in 1948.  His Marine Corps career lasted longer, as he remained in the reserves until 1957.  He died of brain cancer at age 78 in 1999.

As playing for Notre Dame would indicate at the time, Bertelli was Catholic and the child of Italian immigrants.

Thursday, November 22, 1923.

Saturday, November 10, 1923. The loyal dog Hachikō (ハチ公).

Hachikō (ハチ公) an Akita, was born. The dog would return daily to wait for his deceased owner to return from work for over nine years, living to be eleven years old.

The Saturday magazines were on the stand.

Former President Woodrow Wilson condemned the U.S. isolationist policy as "cowardly and dishonorable" in a radio address.

Crown Prince Wilhelm of German returned to Germany from the Netherlands.

Ludendorff was released on parole, demonstrating one of the problems Weimar Germany had with suppressing anti-democratic uprisings. . . the tendency to let those on the right, go.

Saturday, June 26, 1943. Mutiny in Norway, Choosing Normandy, and Willie Gillis.

Today in World War II History—June 26, 1943: Allied commanders choose Normandy for invasion of France in 1944 and appoint Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory to prepare air plans for D-day.

Sarah Sundin, on her blog.

The crews of six U-boats based in Norway mutinied, refusing to put out to sea in light of high German submarine losses.  They were arrested and placed in Akershus Prison in Oslo.  The collapse of Imperial Germany began, of course, with sailor revolts in 1918.

Fritz Schmidt, age 39, the German Commissioner-General for Political Affairs and Propaganda in the occupied Netherlands died when he "fell, jumped, or was pushed out of a train".

"USS Newell (DE-322), launches sideways at Houston, Texas, June 26, 1943. The ship was named in honor of Naval Aviator Lieutenant Commander Byron Bruce Newell who was killed while serving onboard USS Hornet (CV-8) during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, October 26, 1942. Ship’s Sponsor was the widow. Photographed August 12, 1943. Official U.S. Navy photograph."

A famous Norman Rockwell illustration appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, depicting his everyman soldier figure, Willie Gillis,  showing the "cat's cradle" string trick to an Indian snake charmer.

Saturday, May 29, 1943. The "real" Rosie the Riveter

The Saturday Evening Post ran Norman Rockwell's illustration of Rosie the Riveter.

I wrote about this earlier here, although I did not post the iconic image as it's copyrighted:\

Sarah Sundin's blog has a number of interesting items in it:

J. Howard Miller's little seen "We Can Do It" poster.  Note the "Post Feb. 15 to Feb 28" notation on the poster.

Today in World War II History—February 15, 1943: J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It” poster, now identified with Rosie the Riveter, is first posted at Westinghouse for a two-week in-house campaign.

The poster is one of the most recognizable in history now.  Ironically, it was little known to the World War Two generation itself, and only became widely known some forty years later.  In this sense, it's much like the "Keep Calm And Carry On" British poster, which was so rare in World War Two that it's debated if it was put up at all.

The poster, which is in fact not particularly skillfully executed, was limited to 1,800 runs and 17" x 22" in side.  In its original posting, it was put up only in Westinghouse factories, and in fact the female subject in the image wears a Westinghouse Electric floor employee badge. The workers who would have seen it were engaged in making helmet liners, and the poster was part of a gentle effort, in part, from dissuading strikes.  It was part of a 42 poster series by Miller.

Miller himself may be regarded as a somewhat obscure illustrator.  He was busy during World War Two and issued other posters that had an industrial theme.

Miller's female worker was based on a photograph of Geraldine Doyle, nee Hoff or Naomi Parker, it isn't really clear which, although some claim that it's definitely Parker.  It might have been both women, and more than just the two. The poster was painted from a photograph or photographs, and not a live model.

During the war itself, the Rockwell Saturday Evening Post illustration of a stout, defiant female riveter was the accepted depiction of Rosie the Riveter.  Rockwell, with his keen eye for detail, had painted "Rosie" on her lunch box.  

The name, Rosie the Riveter, was first used in a song by that name by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, recorded by The Four Vagabonds, which came out prior to Rockwell's May 1943, illustration.  The song, in turn, had been inspired by a newspaper column about 19-year-old Rosalind P. Walter who had gone to work as a riveter in Stratford Connecticut as part of the war effort. The model for the Rockwell painting was not an industrial worker, but a telephone operator, Mary Doyle Keefe, née, perhaps ironically, Doyle, who was Rockwell's neighbor.  She actually posed for a photograph for Rockwell's photographer, rather than for Rockwell live.

Keefe, who was not yet married, didn't like the painting as Rockwell had made her image so beefy, for which he apologized.  She attended Temple University, became a dental hygienist, married and passed away in 2015 at age 92.  Rosalind P. Walter went on in later life to become quite wealthy and was a noted philanthropist, particularly supporting public television.  She died in 2020 at age 95.

J. Howard Miller lived until 2004, but remained obscure, unlike his famous poster.

It should be noted that the depiction of the women and their story itself is interesting.  Vermonter Keefe was the daughter of a logger, but was obviously from a solid middle class Catholic family, something that would not have been surprising in any fashion at the time. As noted, she was not an industrial worker herself.  Geraldine Doyle worked only very briefly as an industrial worker in 1942, quitting as she feared injuring her hands as she was a cellist.  She later married a dentist later in 1943.  They met in a bookstore.  While her association with the painting is disputed, her World War Two factory photograph is remarkably similar to the poster.  Parker was employed in a factory prior to the war and continued to be during it.

The Miller image is used for a sign on the outside of the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in California, a Federal park dedicated to the World War Two home front.  World War Two, immediately following the Great Depression, had an enormous and permeant (and probably not good, really) impact on California, so the location is well placed.

The Rockwell image is, in my view, so much better than the poster variant that's come to be lionized it isn't even funny.  I'm not saying the Miller version is bad, but it doesn't compare to the Rockwell illustration that appeared the day before Memorial Day, 1943. 

Note also that the Saturday Evening Post went with something bold and defiant, and actually female, rather than the endless maudlin posts you'll see this Memorial Day.  Indeed, offhand, I can't find any of the national media that sought to inspire guilt, as current recollection so often do.

Saturday, April 28, 1923. Measuring

The Saturday magazines were out.

The SS Deutschland was launched. The passenger ship of the Hamburg American line would go into Kreigsmarine service in 1940 as an accommodation ship.  In 1945 she was converted to a hospital ship but insufficient paint existed in order to paint her entirely white.  She was sunk in May 1945.

Wembley Stadium hosted its first event.

McGreen & Harris, 4/28/23

Williams ran a wordless classic.

Monday, April 12, 1943. They also serve. . . an accidental tragedy.

U.S. Army Lt. Robert Toner, the co-pilot of Lady Be Good, wrote his last journal entry, "No help yet, very cold nite".

Toner was a native of North Attleboro, Massachusetts, where he was the son of the police chief.  In contrast to football star Tom Harmon, who we noted in our entry yesterday, Toner wanted int, having first jointed the Royal Canadian Air Force.  He completed his flight training with the U.S. Army after the US entered the war.

The British War Office issued its first report on Germany's missile program.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the war had cost the United Kingdom £13 billion to date and was costing £15 million per day.

Martin Bormann was appointed as Secretary to Adolf Hitler, the second-highest office in Nazi Germany.

Bormann would not outlive the Third Reich.  He attempted to escape encircled Berlin but was unable to, and committed suicide like many high ranking Nazis.  Perhaps uniquely, however, he was sentenced to death, after his death, as his body was not identified until 1998.

Bormann had seen German military service late in World War One, but he never saw action.  He was an early member of the Nazi Party, having joined in 1927.

Sarah Sundin reports:

Today in World War II History—April 12, 1943: US Second War Loan Drive begins, centered around Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms posters. Hitler appoints influential Martin Bormann as Secretary to the Führer.

Saturday, March 13, 1943. Freedom from Fear.

Gen. Henning von Tresckow attempted to assassinate Adolph Hitler in an aspect of "Operation Spark" in which he handed a bomb disguised as a gift of liquor to a staff officer boarding an airplane with the German dictator.  The bomb, which would have killed all on board had it exploded, failed to go off.  The fuse, a British time pencil, failed to detonate.

The plan was not a fully formed one, unlike the July 20, 1944, plot.  The thought was simply that with German losing the war, Hitler's death would spark a coup d'état.  This attempt is the only one depicted in the movie Valkyrie prior to the July 44 attempt.

The plot was one of several that this circle of German officers would attempt, but it was the first.

The Germans removed the final 10,000 Jewish residents of Kraków.

The Saturday Evening Post had the last of its four freedom illustrations appear in the magazine, the four taken from a speech by Theodore Roosevelt. This one was "freedom from fear".

The illustration featured a (middle-aged?) couple tucking their children into bed.  It's likely the least well liked of the four illustrations, but it is full of interesting details.

The two children are being tucked into the same bed, for one thing, something that the viewers would not have thought odd even in a middle class home of the era.  The young children are, moreover, a boy and a girl, which would also not have risen to odd comments at the time.  The father is still wearing a tie, even though we'd presume this is early evening.  The newspaper he's holding notes what the world had to fear, at the time.  Viewers today would probably put the male image in his 50s and the female adult in her 40s, but chances are pretty good that Rockwell was portraying a woman in her 30s and a male around 40.

The bedroom, given the angle of the background, is likely an attic bedroom.

It'd be worth asking how we've done with the four freedoms over the years.  Perhaps we can do that in another tread, but in regard to freedom from fear, fear is still with us, and indeed we live in an era of record angst.

The accompanying article was written by Stephen Vincent Benét.

The Canadian Pacific Ocean liner RMS Empress of Canada was sunk by the Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci in the South Atlantic, 1,400 of 1,800 passengers survived, with 392 being lost, half of which, ironically, were Italian POWs.

On the same day, the Canadian corvette sank the U-163 in the Atlantic.

Finland signed a trade agreement with Nazi Germany.

Japanese troops ended their assault on Hill 700 on Bouganville.

 J. P. Morgan, Jr. died at age 75 in Boca Raton.

Saturday, March 6, 1943. Fredendall out, Patton in. Rommel's swan song in North Africa. Freedom from Want. Stalin promotes himself while his Party praises him with B.S.

Wyomingite Maj. Gen. Lloyd Fredendall was relieved of his command of II Corps and replaced by Maj. Gen. George S. Patton.

Patton as a Lieutenant General

Patton, widely regarded as the premier American expert on armored warfare, was very quickly promoted to Lt. General.  Fredendall was assigned stateside duty.  His reputation never recovered after Kasserine Pass, and he did not return to Cheyenne in later years.  He died in 1963 in California, having retired from the Army in 1946.

Fredendall was twice appointed to West Point and twice dropped out.  Senator F. E. Warren was willing to appoint him a third time, but the Academy was unwilling to accept him.  He instead attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and thereafter entered the Army in 1907.  His trouble at West Point was with math, which ironically was also very problematic for the home educated George S. Patton.  His performance in World War One was excellent.

His home state has forgotten him.

The Battle of Medenine was fought in Tunisia.  It was a spoiling attack by the Afrika Korps which resulted in a costly defeat.  It was also Rommel's last command action in North Africa.

Things were going downhill for the Axis in North Africa quickly.

Freedom from Want appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.  It proved to be the most popular of the four freedom's illustrations, and is regarded as one of Rockwell's best.  The accompanying essay was by Phlipinno, immigrant Carlos Sampayan Bulosan.

I wonder to what extent we've forgotten this freedom?

Joseph Stalin, who put many into the want of starvation, promoted himself to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.  Contemporaneously, the Soviet Communist Party proclaimed him "the greatest strategist of all times and all peoples".

M'eh.

Unfortunately, his adopted home has not forgotten him and has drawn the wrong conclusions about his leadership.  First siding with the Germans during World War Two, his miscalculation about what he could extract from them in order to join the war against the British Empire led to the Germans charging ahead with a war against the Soviet Union for which it was not prepared.  It took two years for the USSR to form a sufficient armed mob in order to counter to begin to throw the Germans back, which relied on, in spite of wanting to ignore it, massive Western Allied support.

The Battle of Blackett Strait was fought between the U.S. Navy and the Japanese Imperial Navy.

A small engagement, the Japanese lost 100% of their two destroyer force.

Saturday, February 27, 1943. Mining disaster in Montana.

"Freedom of Worship", the second in Rockwell's four freedoms illustrations, ran in the Saturday Evening Post along with an essay on the topic by Will Durant.

An explosion and resulting carbon monoxide poisoning killed 74 minders in Montana's Smith Mine No. 3.  The horrible incident remains Montana's worst mining disaster.

The final arrest and expulsion of Jews from Berlin and other large German cities commenced.

The British landed on the island of Herm in the English Channel, but found that it was not occupied.  Because of their landing spot, residents of the island were not aware that their countrymen had landed.

1943  Bishop Count Konrad von Preysing, Catholic Bishop of Berlin, made another in a series of outspoken attacks on Nazi rule. In a pastoral letter issued throughout Germany he protested against totalitarianism, the execution of hostages and the Jewish persecution, stating "It is a Divine principle that the life of an innocent individual, whether an unborn child or an aged person, is sacred, and that the innocent shall not be punished with the guilty, or in place of the guilty. Neither the individual nor the community can create a law against this."  Bishop von Preysing had gone on record early about his opinions on the Nazis, having declared "We have fallen into the hands of criminals and fools" when they came to power, and in 1940 he'd ordered that prayers be said throughout his diocese for arrested Lutheran ministers.  He'd later go on to decry the German Communist postwar who declared that he was an "agent" of "American Imperialism".  He died in 1950.

Sunday, February 21, 1943. Marines land on the Russells.

Marines land on Mbanka and Pavuuvu in the Solomons, near Guadalcanal.  Contrary to expectation, the Japanese had withdrawn.

Together, the islands are known as the Russell Islands.

The day prior, which I failed to mention, Rockwell's Freedom of Speech was a feature of The Saturday Evening Post, along with an article on the magazine upon that freedom.

Monday, February 15, 1943. Princess Elizabeth appears on the cover of Life, We Can Do It appears at Westinghouse.

Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, appeared on the cover of Life magazine.  The black and white photograph of the young Elizabeth is a shock to see today.

The Battle of Demyansk began, with the objective of encircling German troops in a salient and relieving the front near Moscow.  It'd more or less achieve the latter, but not the former.

Sarah Sundin's blog has a number of interesting items in it:

J. Howard Miller's little seen "We Can Do It" poster.  Note the "Post Feb. 15 to Feb 28" notation on the poster.

Today in World War II History—February 15, 1943: J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It” poster, now identified with Rosie the Riveter, is first posted at Westinghouse for a two-week in-house campaign.

The poster is one of the most recognizable in history now.  Ironically, it was little known to the World War Two generation itself, and only became widely known some forty years later.  In this sense, it's much like the "Keep Calm And Carry On" British poster, which was so rare in World War Two that it's debated if it was put up at all.

The poster, which is in fact not particularly skillfully executed, was limited to 1,800 runs and 17" x 22" in side.  In its original posting, it was put up only in Westinghouse factories, and in fact the female subject in the image wears a Westinghouse Electric floor employee badge. The workers who would have seen it were engaged in making helmet liners, and the poster was part of a gentle effort, in part, from dissuading strikes.  It was part of a 42 poster series by Miller.

Miller himself may be regarded as a somewhat obscure illustrator.  He was busy during World War Two and issued other posters that had an industrial theme.

Miller's female worker was based on a photograph of Geraldine Doyle, nee Hoff or Naomi Parker, it isn't really clear which, although some claim that it's definitely Parker.  It might have been both women, and more than just the two. The poster was painted from a photograph or photographs, and not a live model.

During the war itself, the Rockwell Saturday Evening Post illustration of a stout, defiant female riveter was the accepted depiction of Rosie the Riveter.  Rockwell, with his keen eye for detail, had painted "Rosie" on her lunch box.  

The name, Rosie the Riveter, was first used in a song by that name by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, recorded by The Four Vagabonds, which came out prior to Rockwell's May 1943, illustration.  The song, in turn, had been inspired by a newspaper column about 19-year-old Rosalind P. Walter who had gone to work as a riveter in Stratford Connecticut as part of the war effort. The model for the Rockwell painting was not an industrial worker, but a telephone operator, Mary Doyle Keefe, née, perhaps ironically, Doyle, who was Rockwell's neighbor.  She actually posed for a photograph for Rockwell's photographer, rather than for Rockwell live.

Keefe, who was not yet married, didn't like the painting as Rockwell had made her image so beefy, for which he apologized.  She attended Temple University, became a dental hygienist, married and passed away in 2015 at age 92.  Rosalind P. Walter went on in later life to become quite wealthy and was a noted philanthropist, particularly supporting public television.  She died in 2020 at age 95.

J. Howard Miller lived until 2004, but remained obscure, unlike his famous poster.

It should be noted that the depiction of the women and their story itself is interesting.  Vermonter Keefe was the daughter of a logger, but was obviously from a solid middle class Catholic family, something that would not have been surprising in any fashion at the time. As noted, she was not an industrial worker herself.  Geraldine Doyle worked only very briefly as an industrial worker in 1942, quitting as she feared injuring her hands as she was a cellist.  She later married a dentist later in 1943.  They met in a bookstore.  While her association with the painting is disputed, her World War Two factory photograph is remarkably similar to the poster.  Parker was employed in a factory prior to the war and continued to be during it.

The Miller image is used for a sign on the outside of the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in California, a Federal park dedicated to the World War Two home front.  World War Two, immediately following the Great Depression, had an enormous and permeant (and probably not good, really) impact on California, so the location is well placed.

Democracy returned to Uruguay.

Saturday, February 3, 1923. French Guns, Legislative Hijinks, Kamchatka Earthquake

The Saturday Evening Post was out, as it was of course a Saturday, with a Rockwell.  This one is apparently entitled "Grandpa's Little Ballerina".

The Country Gentleman went with a mid winter fox and its prey.

A magnitude 8.3+ earthquake struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula causing a twenty-five foot tsunami.  Twelve people were killed by seven resulting waves in Maui.

The Soviet Union approved plans to create a civil aviation authority for passenger airlines, leading to the world's most dangerous major airline, Aeroflot.

French guns and legislative shenanigans were in the news.

 

Saturday, December 2, 1922. Kuwait gets axed.

The Uqair Protocol was signed on this day in 1922, setting the boundaries between Iraq, the Sultanate of Nejd, and the Sheikdom of Kuwait.

Basically, the British High Commissioner to Iraq imposed it as a response to Bedouin raiders from Nejd loyal to Ibn Saud being a problem.

Kuwait lost 2/3s of its territory in the deal, setting is modern boundaries.  It had no say in the arrangement, resulting in anti-British feelings in Kuwait.  It did establish a Saudi Kuwait neutral zone of 2,230 square miles which existed until 1970 and a Saudi Iraqi neutral zone that existed until 1982.

Country Gentleman had a winter theme, but the Saturday Evening Post and Judge were already in the Christmas spirit, even though this was still the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 1922.

Saturday, November 4, 1922. Ottoman vestiges.

The Country Gentleman appeared on the stands with an election themed issue.

I don't know if women really had to give their ages. They don't know, of course, except I suppose at the time of their registration.

A young maid with kittens made up the sad cover of the Saturday Evening Post in a Rockwell illustration.

Ahmet Tevfik Pasha resigned as Grand Vizar of the Ottoman Empire, there no longer being the post following its elimination by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and there also no longer being an Ottoman Empire.

The position was essentially that of Prime Minster by power of attorney through the Sultan, who also no longer existed.

On the same day Ali Kemal, former Turkish Interior Minister, was kidnapped from a barbershop in Istambul under orders of the military governor of Izmir.  He'd be murdered two days later.

Colorado was hit by severe weather:

The Colorado killer tornadoes of November 4, 1922

British archeologist discovered the Tomb of King Tutankhamen.

This story has never fascinated me the way it does other people.  This is not to say that it isn't significant, it certainly is, but many people are fascinated with it, which I'm afraid I am not.

Saturday, September 5, 1942. British victory in the desert.

The Battle of Alam el Halfa, part of the larger First Battle of Tobruk, concluded with an Allied victory. 

Today in World War II History—September 5, 1942: Japanese reach Owen Stanley Gap in drive toward Port Moresby, New Guinea. New song in Top Ten: “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.”

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

And, from the sadly inactive Today World War II Day By Day:

Guadalcanal. Just before 1 AM, Japanese destroyers Yudachi, Hatsuyuki and Murakumo shell Henderson Field as they return from landing troops at Taivu. A US Navy PBY Catalina floatplane drops flares to illuminate the attackers but instead lights up US fast transport ships (converted WWI-era destroyers) USS Gregory and USS Little in Savo Sound, which are promptly sunk by Yudachi (USS Gregory 22 killed, 43 wounded; USS Little 62 killed, 27 wounded; survivors from both ships rescued by US destroyer USS Manley). During the day off Santa Isabel Island, US Cactus Air Force operating from Henderson Field again sinks barges carrying heavy equipment for the Japanese troops on Guadalcanal.

The Red Army drove into the Sinyavino Gap, closing to within 3.5 miles of the Leningrad lines. They were, however, exhausted and could not advance further.  On the same day, the Soviet 24th and 66th Armies counterattacked the XIV Panzer Corp at Stalingrad, but their progress was halted due to the Luftwaffe.

The Saturday Evening Post, which I can't put up here due to copyright restrictions for 1942, published a classic in its Willie Gillis series with two young women both picking up photos of Gillis, from Gillis, at  their mailboxes.  The title of the illustration was "Trouble for Gillis".  On the same Saturday, The New Yorker published an illustration of male war workers looking out with envy at the lunches of their female coworkers.  The Toronto Star Weekly featured an illustration of charging Soviet cavalrymen.

Saturday, July 29, 1922. Late July Summer.

The Saturday magazines hit the stands, with The Saturday Evening Post featuring a circus dog and clown by Leyendecker.

It's certainly a well done illustration, but I've always found clowns creepy.

An article appeared in that issue on Elanor Franklin, certainly an early one.

The Literary Digest featured a Rockwell.
 

And a poll on prohibition, which was already becoming unpopular, even though it had really only just recently become the law overall.

The Country Gentleman featured an illustration that likely couldn't grace the cover of a magazine today.

Colliers simply went with the always popular female portrait.

The German Mark hit a new low.

Oil was discovered at Smackover, Arkansas, that had a population of 100.  That population would reach 25,000 within a few months.

The government reported that the Catholic population of the United States had reached 23,000,000.

People were out doing Saturday things.

Saturday, May 20, 1922. The weekly magazines hit the stands.