Snappy Stories: 1926

That's kind of an ironic cover story considering that the crash was only a few years away.

Just for fun I googled one of the mags on the shelf, American Mercury, and found that it went through several amazing incarnations over the years. The contoversial H. L. Mencken was the original editor.

Great stuff! There are some Snappy Stories covers (and much else of interest) on the Ellis Parker Butler site.

I bought some copies of Field & Stream from the mid-1930's and was amazed at the number and length of the articles. Quite a lot of reading for the money; even the advertisements were short on illustrations but long on text.

A lot of these old magazines can still be found at your local library either the real thing bound in books or on microfilm. I've whiled away more than one afternoon reading stuff meant for young ladies in the early 1900s. it's kind of trippy. And I love the advertisements!

is on the cover of the February 1926 issue of Motion Picture magazine:

15 years later, she would play the part of Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon opposite Humphrey Bogart.

One espresso; extra sugar.
A box of Have-a-Tampa jewel cigars.
And the latest issue of PC Magazine.

Do you have change for a dime? I'd like to make a local call.

I'm surprised that there are no copies of this magazine on display. It had been around for quite some time and by 1926 Norman Rockwell was doing the covers.

Dave, would it be possible to make all new photo posts to open as large as this one does? It makes seeing the smaller details a lot easier.

[They already are -- this big or bigger. - Dave]

Here's the Ace-High western magazine that appears on the rack a few times.

Two decades earlier, Henry Offterdinger was the last cigar manufacturer in D.C. to agree to the demands of the cigarmakers' union local for a wage increase. One day before he gave in, he warned that the higher wages would drive the company out of business. Apparently not.

Besides smokers' articles, apparently they supply chewers also, judging from the spittoon in front of the showcase.

And what are the people upstairs doing? Rolling cigars?

Don't kick over the spittoon.

January 1926

February 1926

Interesting, Life Magazine started out as a literary magazine. In its second incarnation it became the great photo publication.

A real time capsule photo and yet…I count 15 magazines still available today including Weird Tales on the bottom shelf; and not counting House & Garden, gone from the U.S. but still around in the UK.

Here's the cover of the Weird Tales from the bottom shelf.

Check out the do on the lady up top. She looks like she might have been involved in a couple of snappy stories of her own.

I would love to compare the Cosmo of 1926 with a current issue.

[It started out as a family magazine with general-interest articles and short stories. - Dave]

This looks like the cover from American Golfer:

Interesting group of magazines, but do they have the National Police Gazette?