Short story. He had come back to Watertown to spend Christmas with his family. But they were not entirely the reason for wanting to come home. Before he …
Best New Yorker Articles of 1938
Explore 53 featured picks from The New Yorker's 1938 issues.
53 picks · 53 issues · Top author: Meyer Berger (8)
Most featured section: Profiles
Featured Picks
PROFILE of Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, a former prizefighter, who now runs a gymnasium in the Roseland Bldg., 1658 Broadway. He has no patience with …
PROFILE of Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl. In 1904, she left the stage and opened a decorating shop. The future Lady Mendl knew the wealthy, knew the women, …
REPORTER AT LARGE About Nice, tells about swindlers, usually dressed in the garb of priests. Excerpts from local newspaper L'Eclaireur de Nice it du …
Janet Flanner’s 1938 piece on Eugen Weidmann, the kidnapper and murderer who later became the last person to be publicly executed in France.
Before the group of small businessmen who had been invited to confer with the President, left for Washington, Charles Courtney called a "dress rehearsal" …
PROFILE of Hymie Katz, shoe-string night club impressario who at present runs a horse tipping service. Hymie reads out-of-town telephone books for the …
PROFILE of Vincent Astor. History of the family from the founder of the fortune, John Jacob Astor to the present-day generation, including the English …
Reporter at Large about hashish or marijuana, a visit to a hashish den in Harlem. There are hundreds of these joints or tea pads, in Harlem. Some of them …
In the aftermath of the famous, conspiracy-laden Lindbergh trial, a small group fighting for Richard Bruno Hauptmann claims to know the truth, Meyer Berger reported, in 1938.
Tells how Mr. McNab, the organizer, was carried aloft by a toy balloon. Another man was floating around in the air, his name was Hippolyte Smith. Mr. McNab…
REPORTER AT LARGE about a visit to Fulton Fish Market, and about tricks in the fish trade. Tells how fish is disguise and sold under different names by …
Reporter at Large: History of court-tennis, called royal tennis in Australia, jeu de paume in France, and just plain tennis in England. Contraversy over …
PROFILE of Elmer Wheeler, head of the Tested Selling Institute, 521-5th Ave. He works out Tested Selling Sentences or, finds the "sizzle" in a product. Mr.…
REPORTER AT LARGE about Open House, Inc., and a sightseeing trip arranged by them. Open House, Inc., is a nonprofit institution "dedicated to help students…
PROFILE of Hirosi Saito, the Japanese Ambassador tells about his career, his shrewdness as a diplomat, his hobbies, and family life. Long residence in this…
PROFIIE of Brooks Brothers, and history of the clothing firm. The firm was founded in 1818, by Henry Sands Brooks. Winthrop Brooks is president, and his …
PROFILE of Rita Ross, who since 1919, has almost singlehandedly rid the city of half a million homeless cats, turning them over to the SPCA for painless …
PROFILE of John J. Dillon, editor and publisher of the Rural New Yorker, a farm paper which now reaches 270,000 farmers throughout Northeast. The Rural New…
REPORTER AT LARGE about the Broadway Sports Palace, 42nd St. & Broadway, owned by William F. Schork, of Schork & Schaffer, who also operate a similar …
PROFILE of Lorentz Hart and Richard Rodgers, songwriters. They have been collaborating for nineteen years, since Rodgers, then sixteen, met Hart who was …
Profile of Louis Rubin, marriage broker. Rubin has been in the business for 25 years, his ledgers show 7,168 weddings He won't take less than $100 …
Meyer Berger’s 1938 look at the technology, history, and culture of eavesdropping.
REPORTER AT LARGE about the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It occupies historic ground as much of it is literally built on the bones of several thousand Revolutionary…
PROFILE of the four generations of Mills, of William Mills & Son, the oldest and largest firm in the world selling fishing tackle. The house of Mills is …
PROFILE of Gerard B. Lambert who in 1928 sold out his interest in Listerine and began a yachting career. In 1934, at the request of Mr. Sopwith, the …
PROFILE of Sam Schultz, who makes a living by fishing coins out of subway grates. He usually works 12 hours a day, from five at night until daybreak. Tells…
PROFILE of Joseph Medill Patterson, publisher of the Daily News. History of the paper; its policy, personnel, circulation. In its early days the staff …
PROFILE of Joseph Medill Patterson, publisher of the Daily News. History of the paper; its policy, personnel, circulation. In its early days the staff …
PROFILE of Joseph Medill Patterson. Miss Higgins, for whom a Sunday News comic-strip is named, is Mr. Patterson's secretary.
Personal history of Captain Charles Eugene Cassell told in his own words. He is the owner of Captain Charley's Museum for Intelligent People, located …
Pete Bostwick, gentleman rider and polo player hit upon the notion of offering polo exhibitions to all comers at fifty cents a head about four years ago, …
Russell Maloney’s 1938 Profile of the film director Alfred Hitchcock.
REPORTER AT LARGE about the Jackson Whites; history and origin of a primitive race living in the Ramapo Mountains. They are a mixture of three races, the …
Profile of Earl Browder, Communist leader, and history of the movement.
Description of a spreading fire in a small community. The volunteer firemen went to work but despite their efforts several barns burned down.
From 1938: Russell Maloney’s Profile of Orson Welles, then a twenty-three-year-old wunderkind of New York theatre.
REPORTER AT LARGE about the truck driver's strike, which had tied up all freight, with the exception of necessities for two weeks. Tells about Mayor …
"Dear Pal Ted: Well at last I am getting around to knocking off a line or two to let you know how much I appreciate it you sending me that wire opening …
PROFILE of Halsey William Wilson, founder of the H. W. Wilson Co., indexing firm. Every year 25,000 books, 1450 periodicals, and thousands of pamphlets are…
REPORTER AT LARGE about the beatification of Mother Franc ca Saverio Cabrini, who will be the 1st citizen of the U.S to attain beatification. Article tells…
Talk story about Frida Kahlo, Mrs. Diego Rivera, and her exhibition of paintings at the Julien Levy Gallery. Most of the pictures at her exhibition are of …
PROFILE of West Forty-seventh Street Police Station, opened in 1862. Tells about the first mass arrest reported in the blotter. On the 3rd of January, …
Profile of the West Forty-Seventh Street station house. The precinct was commanded by Capt. Killilea from 1870 to 1892. He was a giant with fists like …
PROFILE of Dr. Bruce Blair, veterinarian, who has a flourshing practice of a select small-animal clientele in N.Y. He has treated some 200,000 dogs & cats,…
PROFILE of William Christian Bullitt, American Ambassador to France. He was born in Philadelphia of an old aristocratic family. Tells about his childhood &…
REPORTER AT LARGE about the 1938 hurricane. The anemometer at the Watch Hill Coast Guard Station recorded a velocity of 121 m.p.h. This region saw the most…
Joseph Mitchell on the winter of 1933, when he was a newspaper reporter during the Great Depression and wrote a story about a couple who lived in a cave in Central Park for a year.
Reporter at Large about taxi-dance halls on Broadway and Seventh Avenue. There are eight between Forty-sixth and Fiftieth Streets. Tells about a visit to …