Bryce Zabel's INSTANT HISTORY

NEWSWEEK #1: A Look Back to the First Week That Was

74 years ago this week when this magazine hit the newstands, it was called Vol. I , No. 1. The exact day of release was February 17, 1933. 

The issue, all 32 pages of it, could be had for a dime, but you could get it discounted for a year's subscription at $4.  You'll also notice it was called "News-Week", not Newsweek as we know it now.

Although both Time and Newsweek have become virtually indistinguishable to the average reader these days, both had a different cover philosophy when they started.  Originally, Time was always that red-border with the famous person inside (at the beginning, always a photo).  Newsweek, in contrast, was about the week in news.  On this first cover, for example, you'll see seven pictures, each one representing a different day of the week.  Monday started off with a speech by Adolf Hitler before 15,000 in Berlin's Sports Palace where he declared "the German nation must be built up from the ground anew."   On Wednesday, for example, Franklin Roosevelt's election in the electoral college was certified by Congress. Clearly, these were monumental times for this new magazine: Hoover was out of office this week, Roosevelt was in -- and across the Atlantic, the Nazis were consolidating their grip.

What you won't find inside is a single word about how this is a new magazine.  It pretty much just hits the ground running.  The so-called "Front Page" -- page one -- has this headline: "Easing Burdens of Debut and Foreclosure."  The first words Newsweek ever wrote are as follows:

The spectre of the auctioneer stalks throughout the land, haunting debtors in city, town and country.  Next to life itself, a home is man's most prized possession.  To save it, rugged individualism has grown gregarious, and harried citizens are banding against foreclosure.  Some are violent, grimly taking the law into their own hands.

The last word in this issue, by the way, was an article about Islam, in Turkey, where Arabic had just been officially banned.

Something I found particularly interesting in this issue, however, was commentary on the subject of democracy -- in Germany where it was under attack by Hitler, and in the United States where it was far less important than surviving the Great Depression.

The article, "A Blank Check for Roosevelt: Congress Proposes, Weighs, Then Delays Grant of Extraordinary Powers to the Next President", actually begins with a quote from Alfred E. Smith, delivered in New York the previous week. It's a whopper:

"In this depression we are in a state of war. The only thing to do now is to lay aside statutes, and do what a Democracy must do when it fights. During the World War we wrapped the Constitution of the United States in a piece of paper, put it on the shelf and left it there until the war was over."

That's quite a statement. The one that followed by James M. Cox a few days later hit the same point.

"We are at war with forces that threaten to destroy our civilization. We are a democracy. While we reflect on its virtues, it has many shortcomings. One is that in time of stress it cannot re-adjust to conditions as rapidly as necessary."

Meanwhile, over in Germany, the newly appointed Chancellor Adolf Hitler was singing a similar tune, showing up for that Sports Arena rally in his brown Nazi uniform, "banked by blazing Nazi banners." He argued for a "break" with a "rotten brand of Democracy" and asked the German nation to "give us four years' time and then pass your judgment." Most people assumed this meant that even if the elections went badly, Hitler and his cabinet would cling to power.

Newsweek chose to print a baby picture of Hitler (it's there on the left) on its photo page which, honestly, is a very strange editorial choice. It also filed a gossipy little piece about "Hitler and Frau Wagner Coupled in Romance."

But anyhow, one of Frau Wagner's relatives says the family wouldn't be surprised to see Adolf and Winifred married "at some later date."

It's an odd read, like "Entertainment Tonight" covering the rise of fascism with bubbly enthusiasm.

Still, there's a lot of content in this magazine, crammed into its slender first volume. As a time capsule into the way we were, it's a great read.

Instant History: Oscar Edition

Let's go back to Oscar night, February 27, 1935 at the Biltmore Hotel. The American film industry celebrated the 1934 film crop by awarding the Oscar to It Happened One Night starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. The Academy Award winning film was directed by none other than Frank Capra.

Over in Europe, in 1934, they were celebrating a different kind of filmmaker.

Before there was Eva Braun, there was Leni Riefenstahl.  She was the filmmaker for the Third Reich, a talented actress, director, producer and writer who was seduced by Nazism.  This issue told Americans about her before her reputation had been subsumed in tragedy.  She was known to U.S. audiences at the time of this issue for the film S.O.S. Iceberg, a Greenland film presented in America in 1933. 

Although the cover described her as "Hitler's Friend", inside -- on page 16 -- the article is titled, "Hitler's Dictator: Girl, 27,Tells Der Fuehrer How and When to Smile."

Hitler's Friend
September 15, 1934

Here's how this female film auteur was described when this issue -- which cost a whole dime during the Great Depression -- hit the stands:

"'Look this way.  Now smile.'  These orders, addressed to Adolf Hitler, came from Leni Riefenstahl, whose marble-smooth complexion, gray eyes, copper-colored hair, and trim figure make her one of the loveliest women in Germany."

It's clear that people knew Hitler was bad news back then, but he is written about in ways that suggest him in gossipy terms:

"Since the death of President von Hindenburg removed Hitler's official boss, the lovely Leni is the only person of either sex who presumes to dictate in public to the dictator.  To no other woman has the ascetic Reich Leader shown such public admiration... She owes her friendship with Herr Hitler to her skill as a producer and director as well as her personal attractiveness.  Few Germans predicted a romance.  Herr Hitler's feeling for the lady, it was said, was not yet strong enough to make him apply his anti-bachelor laws to himself."

Newsweek, by the way, was in only its second year of publishing when this article was printed.  Time had been around over a decade longer.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course.  Still -- from the glam shot on the cover to the breathless movie-star kind of coverage inside -- you have to score this one in the "just didn't get it" column.  Hitler was a freaking genocidal maniac, not a touchy celebrity who needed the right "handling."  A little over a decade after this was written, over six million Jews were dead and much of the world was in ashes.  Nothing glamorous there.

Our companion blogs are also celebrating Oscar weekend with special posts:

Movie Smackdown! reviews all the Oscar nominated films that got in Smackdowns -- and tells you who already won and lost...

News! Views! & Schmooze! has a post about some first person Oscar red carpeting and a Jon Stewart story or two...

Newsweek Anniversary

As the over 4-million copies of the Monday issue of Newsweek hits the streets and the mailboxes today, I bet not even the magazine editors themselves remember to pause and remember. It was this week 73 years ago when Newsweek decided to give Time some competition.

It was called Vol. I , No. 1, and it came out on February 17, 1933.  The issue, all 32 pages of it, could be had for a dime, but you could get it discounted for a year's subscription at $4.  You'll also notice it was called "News-Week", not Newsweek as we know it now. Thomas J.C. Martyn founded the magazine.

News-Week's Debut Issue
February 17, 1933

Although both Time and Newsweek have become virtually indistinguishable to the average reader these days (Newsweek is considered the more liberal), both had a different cover philosophy when they started.  Originally, Time was always that red-border with the famous person inside (at the beginning, always a photo).  Newsweek, in contrast, was about the week in news.  On this first cover, for example, you'll see seven pictures, each one representing a different day of the week.  Monday started off with a speech by Adolf Hitler before 15,000 in Berlin's Sports Palace where he declared "the German nation must be built up from the ground anew."   On Wednesday, for example, Franklin Roosevelt's election in the electoral college was certified by Congress.

On page 5, under an article titled "A Blank Check For Roosevelt: Congress Proposes, Weighs, Then Delays Grant of Extraordinary Powers to the Next President", the magazine started with two quotes about presidential power. They were talking about the depression, but imagine them as being about the war on depression. Here they are:

"In this depression we are in a state of war. The only thing to do now is to lay aside statutes, and do what a Democracy must do when it fights. During the World War we wrapped the Constitution of The United States in a piece of paper, put it on a shelf and left it there until the war was over."
Alfred E. Smith in New York, Feburary 7, 1933.

"We are at war with forces that threaten to destroy our civilization. We are a democracy. While we reflect on its virtues, it has many shortcomings. One is that in time of stress it cannot re-adjust conditions as rapidly as necessary." 
James M. Cox, at Miami, Feburary 11, 1933

What you won't find inside is a single word about how this is a new magazine.  It pretty much just hits the ground running.  The so-called "Front Page" -- page one -- has this headline: "Easing Burdens of Debut and Foreclosure."  The first words Newsweek ever wrote are as follows:

The spectre of the auctioneer stalks throughout the land, haunting debtors in city, town and country.  Next to life itself, a home is man's most prized possession.  To save it, rugged individualism has grown gregarious, and harried citizens are banding against foreclosure.  Some are violent, grimly taking the law into their own hands.

The last word in this issue, by the way, was an article about Islam, in Turkey, where Arabic had just been officially banned in favor of Turkish. These days there are riots in the streets about cartoons published in Denmark. I don't know what that means, except that Islam in the news isn't something that's only been around since 2001.

Finally, one of the most impressive things of note about this magazine is the paper stock it's printed on. This copy I have is 73 years old but the paper is white and sturdy and better made to withstand the ravages of Time (bad pun, sorry) than my issue from last month.

I always liked Newsweek. They were the first news magazine to put the Beatles on their cover. That's gotta tell you something. Happy birthday!

NEWSWEEK: First Issue Ever!

It was called Vol. I , No. 1, and it came out on February 17, 1933.  The issue, all 32 pages of it, could be had for a dime, but you could get it discounted for a year's subscription at $4.  You'll also notice it was called "News-Week", not Newsweek as we know it now.

News-Week's Debut Issue
February 17, 1933

Although both Time and Newsweek have become virtually indistinguishable to the average reader these days, both had a different cover philosophy when they started.  Originally, Time was always that red-border with the famous person inside (at the beginning, always a photo).  Newsweek, in contrast, was about the week in news.  On this first cover, for example, you'll see seven pictures, each one representing a different day of the week.  Monday started off with a speech by Adolf Hitler before 15,000 in Berlin's Sports Palace where he declared "the German nation must be built up from the ground anew."   On Wednesday, for example, Franklin Roosevelt's election in the electoral college was certified by Congress.

What you won't find inside is a single word about how this is a new magazine.  It pretty much just hits the ground running.  The so-called "Front Page" -- page one -- has this headline: "Easing Burdens of Debut and Foreclosure."  The first words Newsweek ever wrote are as follows:

The spectre of the auctioneer stalks throughout the land, haunting debtors in city, town and country.  Next to life itself, a home is man's most prized possession.  To save it, rugged individualism has grown gregarious, and harried citizens are banding against foreclosure.  Some are violent, grimly taking the law into their own hands.

The last word in this issue, by the way, was an article about Islam, in Turkey, where Arabic had just been officially banned.

Hitler's Friend

Before there was Eva Braun, there was Leni Riefenstahl.  She was the filmmaker for the Third Reich, a talented actress, director, producer and writer who was seduced by Nazism.  This issue told Americans about her before her reputation had been subsumed in tragedy.  She was known to U.S. audiences at the time of this issue for the film S.O.S. Iceberg, a Greenland film presented in America in 1933. 

Although the cover described her as "Hitler's Friend", inside -- on page 16 -- the article is titled, "Hitler's Dictator: Girl, 27,Tells Der Fuehrer How and When to Smile."

Hitler's Friend
September 15, 1934

Here's how this female film auteur was described when this issue -- which cost a whole dime during the Great Depression -- hit the stands:

"'Look this way.  Now smile.'  These orders, addressed to Adolf Hitler, came from Leni Riefenstahl, whose marble-smooth complexion, gray eyes, copper-colored hair, and trim figure make her one of the loveliest women in Germany."

It's clear that people knew Hitler was bad news back then, but he is written about in ways that suggest him in gossipy terms:

"Since the death of President von Hindenburg removed Hitler's official boss, the lovely Leni is the only person of either sex who presumes to dictate in public to the dictator.  To no other woman has the ascetic Reich Leader shown such public admiration... She owes her friendship with Herr Hitler to her skill as a producer and director as well as her personal attractiveness.  Few Germans predicted a romance.  Herr Hitler's feeling for the lady, it was said, was not yet strong enough to make him apply his anti-bachelor laws to himself."

Newsweek, by the way, was in only its second year of publishing when this article was printed.  Time had been around over a decade longer.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course.  Still -- from the glam shot on the cover to the breathless movie-star kind of coverage inside -- you have to score this one in the "just didn't get it" column.  Hitler was a freaking genocidal maniac, not a touchy celebrity who needed the right "handling."  A little over a decade after this was written, over six million Jews were dead and much of the world was in ashes.  Nothing glamorous there.