Summer reading: Truth Magazine, 1899 [part 1]

" How racy was this?"

 

Here are some scans from summer issues of Truth magazine from 1899. I have not been able to found a lot of information on this social commentary publication, but from what I found on PBS's History Detectives website has been quite interesting. Here's an excerpt from an interview:

Rich West: It’s a great image. This is very typical of the work that he did for “Truth” magazine in the 1890s.

Wes: I’m not familiar with “Truth” magazine.

Rich: It was a dominant 1890s publication. They called themselves “the handsomest illustrated magazine in the world.”

Wes: Oh, great!

Rich: And this is an example, I think, of why it could rightly claim that title.

Wes: So, Rich, have you seen this particular image in “Truth?”

Rich: It’s vaguely familiar to me. I may have seen it before, but I can’t really place it.

Wes: So what exactly would this have looked like in the magazine?

Rich: Well, I’m sure they had the name “Truth” up at the top that’s been trimmed off and there most certainly was a caption on the bottom that’s been lost.

Wes: Really?

Rich: It’s very rare to find any 1890s artwork where the editor couldn’t resist putting in a tag line. Yeah, I suspect it’s not because the artist supplied these beautiful drawings, but the editors supplied the captions, and my guess is it’s probably wittier than that.

Wes: Do you have any copies of “Truth?”

Rich: Yes.

Wes: Can we take a look at some?

Rich: Sure, let’s go.

Wes: Okay, great.

Rich: So there’s a woman on the cover.

Wes: That’s unusual, isn’t it?

Rich: Yes, especially this early. Of course, after the turn of the century, every magazine in America had a woman on the cover, but at this time, it was an unusual thing.

Wes: How racy was this?

Rich: There were a lot of libraries that refused to subscribe to a magazine like “Truth” because it was not appropriate family reading matter.

Summer time

From the archives...some lovely ladies and gentlemen enjoying warm weather...anybody know who they might be or where they are? The last photo looks like maybe a 4th of July celebration...do you see the American flags?

Sherrills Ford Strings

We recently acquired a photograph to add to our archives. The writing on the back says, "Sherrills Ford Young Tarheels Farmers Band 1934-36." It was given by Mr. Charlton Lindler, who is the last on the right in the first row, with the banjo. Thank you for your contribution! Does anyone know anything more about this group?

Retro summer

Tomorrow and Friday's weather is supposed be hot, hot, hot! Thought I'd share this photo from the archives. Does anyone know who these bathing beauties (taken in Hickory) might be?

The first Mother's Day holiday

From The History Channel:

"On this day in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation that officially establishes the first national Mother's Day holiday to celebrate America's mothers.

The idea for a "Mother's Day" is credited by some to Julia Ward Howe (1872) and by others to Anna Jarvis (1907), who both suggested a holiday dedicated to a day of peace. Many individual states celebrated Mother's Day by 1911, but it was not until Wilson lobbied Congress in 1914 that Mother's Day was officially set on the second Sunday of every May. In his first Mother's Day proclamation, Wilson stated that the holiday offered a chance to "[publicly express] our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."

This sweet photograph of a mother and daughter is from the archives. Happy Mother's Day!

V-E (Victory in Europe) Day

May 8, 1945 marks V-E or VE Day, the day on which the Allied forces accepted the surrender of Nazi German forces, ending the reign Adolf Hitler's Third Reich in Europe. Many of Catawba County's World War II vets served in the European Theater. We'd like to share a few snapshots of Catawba soldiers we've had the pleasure of scanning over the past few weeks: 

  

"Hello Mom, This is me taking it easy on a spring day here in Germany. I'll be sitting on the porch at home soon. Love, Joe"

Happy May Day

May Day and Maypole celebrations are common in Germanic countries. Since many Catawbans trace their roots back to Germany, the tradition of "winding the maypole" lived on. Many residents recall the weaving of ribbons around a wooden or metal pole to music, creating a lovely pattern to welcome spring. The above picture was taken in Hickory, and I believe that George Lyerly is in it, but correct me if I'm wrong.

A woman online actually collects postcards of different maypole dances and May Day festivities and can be found here. She got the postcards from California and they are so interesting! She also has links to learn more about this intriguing ritual.

Her own recollection of the celebration: "I remember that the pole was in the school yard and the colorful crepe paper ribbons were attached to the top. The boys would have a ribbon and walk to the right, the girls would take a ribbon and walk left. The boys and girls would walk in opposite directions holding the ribbons taut. As the children met, we would alternate by going under the ribbon of the first boy then go over the ribbon of the next boy (the boys would reverse the pattern) and so on. This up and down or in and out movement would create a weaving pattern (tabby weave) down the pole as the ribbons got shorter and shorter. I'm not positive, but I think there was an odd number of either boys or an odd number of girls in order to create the weave. It was almost like a dance because we moved to music. The winding of the Maypole was a traditional activity every year that the whole school participated in to welcome spring. Also, when I was young we made May baskets out of squares cut from left over wall paper--rolling them into cone shapes, adding a handle, then filling the baskets with handpicked flowers. That evening we would hang them on our friends' doors (usually older seniors), ring the door bell or knock, then run and hide and watch them find the flowers from our hiding places. I have very fond childhood memories of May Day."

Happy May Day, Catawba County!

Taxes through Time

Ever find yourself sitting around wondering, "how did the U.S. government finance the Civil War?" Yeah, I didn't think so, but the answer might surprise you--in fact, you may even have evidence of it in some old family scrapbooks.

In "celebration" of today being federal income tax day, I wanted to share something interesting I recently learned while researching photographs for a genealogy project. I was trying to estimate dates from a few photos called cabinet cards or carte-de-visites (a "CDV" in archival jargon). You may be familiar with CDVs without realizing it; they are portraits, usually of a quite stoic-looking ancestor, printed onto what feels like cardboard. A clue on the back gave me a date range that helped significantly.


They were quite popular in the 1860s as they were relatively inexpensive and could be mailed easily or used as calling cards. You could even buy CDVs of famous people, such as Ulysses S. Grant, and studio portraits of entertainers, actors, and actresses, sort of like collecting baseball cards would be later on.

Anyway, on the backs of many CDVs are small adhesive squares of paper that look much like postage stamps, a direct result of the Revenue Act of 1862 (Now that whole Stamp Act thing from social studies is starting to make sense, right? Yep, actual stamps on paper). You can read more here.

Virtually every document was required to carry a tax stamp, as were many proprietary articles such as matches, medicines, playing cards, perfume, and, you guessed it, photographs--but only for a short period of time, thus narrowing down the possible date ranges for this mystery person.

While many of these stamps have been lost over time, the durability of CDVs allowed some to survive. The two I have on my photographs are both blue, 2-cent stamps featuring George Washington's portrait, but there were several varieties printed during the "War Between the States." Start looking at the backs of your pictures and see what you may find!

Vintage Easter greetings

From the archives...