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Best New Yorker Articles of 1936

Explore 50 featured picks from The New Yorker's 1936 issues.

50 picks · 51 issues · Top author: Jack Alexander (6)

Most featured section: Profiles

Featured Picks

CHANCE OF A LIFETIME
Morris Markey · A Reporter at Large · January 4

REPORTER AT LARGE about Major Bowes "Amateur Hour." Ten thousand men and women, boys and girls try to get before the microphone on a Sunday night. Tells …

Colonel of the 7th.
Victor Weybright · Profiles · January 11

PROFILE of Colonel Tobin, whose military hero is the late Colonel Dan Appleton, whom he frankly imitates. Appleton, a member of the publishing family, was …

Firebug-Catcher--I
St. Clair McKelway · Profiles · January 18

Profile of Thomas Patrick Brophy. As soon as an important case of arson has been discovered, the N.Y. Board of Fire Underwriters, which represents all the …

Firebug-Catcher--II
St. Clair McKelway · Profiles · January 25

Profile of Fire Marshall Thomas P. Brophy. Charles Carmen, who went to jain in 1927 for a long term, was a firebug known as the Professor among the …

De Senectute--I
Henry F. Pringle · Profiles · February 1
De Senectute--II
Henry F. Pringle · Profiles · February 8
De Senectute--III
Henry F. Pringle · Profiles · February 15
Success Story,
Morris Markey · A Reporter at Large · February 22

REPORTER AT LARGE about the red tape, and delay in receiving relief, citing the case of Billy, a juggler.

Führer—I: The Sublimated World of Adolf Hitler
Janet Flanner · Profiles · February 29

Fanatic, celibate, vegetarian. Janet Flanner’s 1936 Profile of the man who brought the Nazis to power.

The Führer—II: Where Hitler Got His Ideas
Janet Flanner · Profiles · March 7

Young Hitler was rejected from art school and disliked in the army, Janet Flanner wrote, in 1936. A fateful pamphlet circulated just after the First World War inspired him in another direction.

The Führer—III: How Hitler Talked His Party Into Power
Janet Flanner · Profiles · March 14

His brain is instinctive, not logical, Janet Flanner wrote, in 1936. His name, in Germany, has been substituted for that of God.

CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM
Carl Carmer · A Reporter at Large · March 21

REPORTER AT LARGE. Visit to the Oneida Community Mansion, in Kenwood, built over sixty-five years ago by American communists as a communal dwelling, …

CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM--II
Carl Carmer · A Reporter at Large · March 28

REPORTER AT LARGE to the Oneida Community Mansion, Kenwood, N.Y., built over 65 years ago by American Communists as a communal dwelling, founded by John …

London to Leningrad.
Edmund Wilson · A Reporter at Large · April 4

Reporter at Large. An American coming to Russia from England discovers that in certain fundamental respects he has more in common with the Russians than …

SCARLET FEVER IN ODESSA
Edmund Wilson · A Reporter at Large · April 11

Reporter at large about having spent six weeks in a contagious hospital in Odessa. Description of the hospital, the staff, care, etc.

Poor Samaritan
Dorothy Day · Fiction · April 18

In a piece published during the Great Depression, Dorothy Day writes about giving food to an out-of-work man with a wooden leg.

THE GOVERNOR--I
Hickman Powell · Profiles · May 2
THE WOMAN WHO DIED TWICE
Carl Carmer · A Reporter at Large · May 9

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Jemimakins, followers of Jemima Wilkinson. When Jemima Wilkinson was 17 years old, in 1776, she caught a plague spread by the …

Farewell, My Lovely!
E. B. White · Onward and Upward with the Arts · May 16

ONWARD & UPWARD WITH THE ARTS about the early Model T Fords and their tricks. Only one page in the current catalogue of Sears, Roebuck is devoted to …

Reporter at Large
Carl Carmer · A Reporter at Large · May 23

Part two of the Lily Dale Spiritualist Colony. A seance.

Groton, Harvard and Tahiti
Geoffrey T. Hellman · Profiles · May 30

PROFILE of George Biddle of Philadelphia, artist, now working on a mural in the new Department of Justice Building at Washington. Fifteen other painters …

The Harlem Preacher Who Convinced Hundreds of Thousands He Was God
St. Clair McKelway · Profiles · June 13

Part 1 of St. Clair McKelway and A.J. Liebling’s Profile of Father Divine, the founder of the the Peace Mission movement, who provided food during the Great Depression—a ministry that netted a miraculous amount of money.

The Earthly Wages of Becoming an “Angel” in Father Divine’s Ministry
St. Clair McKelway · Profiles · June 20

Part 2 of St. Clair McKelway and A.J. Liebling’s Profile of Father Divine. Converts to the Harlem preacher’s Peace Movement were promised a better life—with a few stipulations.

The Preacher Who Claimed His Money Fell from the Sky
A. J. Liebling · Profiles · June 27

Part 3 of St. Clair McKelway and A.J. Liebling’s Profile of Father Divine. Through his ministry in Harlem, Father Divine preached peace and equality—all while acquiring blocks of brownstones, two newspapers, restaurants, and a fleet of limousines.

Grandpa Makes Me a Bear Pit
Clarence Day · Fiction · July 4
HOLLYWOOD AGENT
Margaret Case Harriman · Profiles · July 11

PROFILE of Leland Hayward, agent for Ina Claire, Miriam Hopkins, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Helen Hays, and many other theatrical people.

For Any Occasion
Margaret Case Harriman · Profiles · July 18

Profile of Max Schling.

DISTRICT LEADER--I
Jack Alexander · Profiles · July 25

PROFILE of Jimmy Hines, Destrict Tammany Leader, tells about the duties and activities of a District Leader. Stories of Hines's connection with …

DISTRICT LEADER--II
Jack Alexander · Profiles · August 1

PROFILE of Jimmy Hines, Destrict Tammany Leader, tells about the duties and activities of a District Leader. Stories of Hines's connection with …

DISTRICT LEADER--III
Jack Alexander · Profiles · August 8

PROFILE of Jimmy Hines, Destrict Tammany Leader, tells about the duties and activities of a District Leader. Stories of Hines's connection with …

My Political Career
Beverly L. Clarke · Fiction · August 15

Every Presidential campaign, makes me think of my first and only venture into national politics. I was assigned to the office of the Director of Publicity,…

The Rather Difficult Case of Mr. Kaplan
Leo Rosten · Fiction · August 22

Mr. Parkhill, who teaches English to foreigners, has a difficult time with a student, Mr. Kaplan, who has very little grasp of the English language.

TRINITY IN MIDSUMMER
St. Clair McKelway · A Reporter at Large · August 29

REPORTER AT LARGE about a visit to Trinity Church on a Sunday in August. Tells about the service, the summer congregation. It was Dr. Fleming who had …

Mid-Campaign
Frank Sullivan · Fiction · September 5

How do things stand in the middle of the campaign? Well, at any rate the candidates remain the same. The Democratic nominee continues to be Mr. Roosevelt, …

Their Mother's Purse
Morley Callaghan · Fiction · September 12

Joe went to see his mother & father planning to ask for a loan of a dollar. His sister Mary, dressed to go out for the evening asked her mother for fifty …

COMPLETE WITH BAYONETS.
Chester L. Morrison · A Reporter at Large · September 19

REPORTER AT LARGE about Bannerman's Island. In the course of seventy years in the arms business, the Bannermans have gathered one of the finest …

From Sandlot Grandstand
Alvin F. Harlow · A Reporter at Large · September 26

REPORTER AT LARGE about vacant lot baseball diamonds in the city and outskirts: Astoria, Queens. Names of teams, "Incarnation", "Sacred Hearts", "Our …

INDEPENDENT COP--I
Jack Alexander · Profiles · October 3

PROFILE of Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine.

PONIES FOR SALE
Morris Markey · A Reporter at Large · October 10

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Argentine polo ponies being auctioned off on Long Island. Mr. Jack Nelson, president of the Argentine association makes it …

Independent Cop--III
Jack Alexander · Profiles · October 17

PROFILE of Police Commissioner Valentine. Mr. Valentine is Chairman of the Board of Control for Major Catastrophic riots, bloodshed, floods, fires, …

Big Race
Morris Markey · A Reporter at Large · October 24

Tells about the automobile race at the Roosevelt Raceway, recounts a story about Henry Ford. During an International automobile race in Florida a Frenchman…

Hollywood’s Feminine Fashions
Lois Long · On and Off the Avenue · October 31

Lois Long’s 1936 piece on fashion in Hollywood. “I came West and saw clothes that are so simple and so well bred that only the most dashing beauty could hope to make a dazzling first impression in them.”

EX-MOTORMAN
Ik Shuman · Profiles · November 7

Composite PROFILE of John Gilhaus, a former motorman on the Sixth Avenue line for 38 years. The company retired him when buses replaced the streetcars last…

THE MAN BEHIND PROMETHEUS--I
Geoffrey T. Hellman · Profiles · November 14

Profile of John R. Todd, one of the members of the board of managers of Rockefeller Centre. Tells about the proposed site for the new Metropolitan Opera …

Bar and Grill
Joseph Mitchell · A Reporter at Large · November 21

Joseph Mitchell on Dick’s Bar and Grill—a saloon with a twitchy neon sign, a cranky, sad-eyed proprietor, and a bar that sags, possibly from being moved in and out of speakeasies during Prohibition.

Time . . . Fortune . . . Life . . . Luce
Wolcott Gibbs · Profiles · November 28

Wolcott Gibbs on Henry Luce, the founder of Time, Inc.

ENEMY OF SOCIETY
Hickman Powell · A Reporter at Large · December 5

REPORTER AT LARGE. Case history of Joe Jamboni, born in Christopher Street, his father a drunkard, his mother on the verge of insanity, a young brother at …

GUARDING THE COAST
Jack Alexander · A Reporter at Large · December 12

REPORTER AT LARGE about the U. S. Coast Guard Air Service Tells about a trip in a Coast Guard plane, observations, plane, crew, etc. Aside from their main …

The Santa Letter That Made an Eight-Year-Old a Celebrity
James Thurber · Where Are They Now? · December 19

When the eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon asked the New York Sun whether St. Nick exists, the response became an immortal catchphrase, James Thurber writes. Who is she, all grown up?

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
Alexander Woollcott · Profiles · December 26

PROFILE of Elliott Humphrey, founder of the Seeing Eye, a preparatory school at Morristown, N. J., where German shop herd dogs are taught to companion the …

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