Old Magazines

As FDR background for "Annie," Steve handed me a "Look" Magazine from 1940 to read. "Look" was the striving second-sister to "Life": both magazines of course are chock-full of wonderful Americana from mid-century. Besides a rundown of FDR's 1940 worries (including starkly-opinionated political commentary), this issue of "Look" (January 16, 1940) included new Sonja Henie ice fashions, promos for Walt Disney's "Gulliver's Travels," how women can reel in men like fish, how skinny girls can gain weight, a picture-biography of Stalin, protests against rigged boxing matches, and an analysis of Lou Gehrig's mysterious disease.

What I liked most was a four-page picture preview of Darryl Zanuck's new motion picture version of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," starring Henry Fonda. What a good promotional device! Then I began thinking how we don't see these magazine previews anymore. Not only are the variety magazines largely gone, but today's magazines focus on the star, not the film. I guess the assumption is that everyone gets most of their information through TV these days, but we still have a need - a largely unmet need! - to learn about new motion pictures, and this simple promotional device is still a good idea.