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Best New Yorker Articles of 1956

Explore 52 featured picks from The New Yorker's 1956 issues.

52 picks · 52 issues · Top author: E. J. Kahn (5)

Most featured section: Profiles

Featured Picks

THE HIT'S THE THING.
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · January 7

PROFILE of Ernest H. Martin & Cy Feuer, the producers of five successive musical hits. The producers' most memorable tussle was one they engaged in a …

The Hit's The Thing ~II
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · January 14

PROFILE of Cy Feuer & Ernest H. Martin, the theatrical producers who "pushed their way into the theatre with elbows & teeth," & produced five successive …

Myself as Sportsman
Doris Lessing · Fiction · January 21

Writer tells about shooting for sport at her home in Southern Rhodesia, when she was a girl. Her brother was a good shot and observed all sorts of …

FOR GOD, COUNTRY, YALE, AND GARDEN.
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · January 28

PROFILE of John Reed Kilpatrick, former president & now chairman of the board of Madison Square Garden. He was succeeded as president by James D. Norris, …

PLEASE, DARLING, BRING THREE TO SEVEN.
Winthrop Sargeant · Profiles · February 4

PROFILE of Jean Rosenthal, stage lighting expert, whose artistry has been seen in productions of the N.Y.C. Ballet, in those of the N. Y. C. Opera; in …

THIS WAY TO SIGN UP FOR FORD BOYS!
John Brooks · A Reporter at Large · February 11

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Ford Foundation sale of 10,200, 000 shares of Ford Motor Co. stock. Charles R. Blyth, chairman of the board of Blyth & Co., the…

A Spray Gun for the Varnish,
Joseph Wechsberg · A Reporter at Large · February 18

REPORTER AT LARGE about a visit to Mittenwald, in Bavaria, a famous old violin-making town whose business is now nearly dead. Gives history of the town. …

Yrs. Truly, A Lincoln
John Kobler · Profiles · February 25

PROFILE of Martin Coneely, who under the name of Joseph Cosey, forged and sold not only signatures but whole letters and other manuscripts in the …

EAR-DRIVEN
Daniel Lang · Profiles · March 3

PROFILE of Emory Cook, sound engineer, founder & president of Sounds of Our Times, or Cook Laboratories, Inc., a small hi-fi recording firm in Stamford, …

EAR-DRIVEN
Daniel Lang · Profiles · March 10

PROFILE of Emory Cook, sound engineer, founder & president of Sounds or Our Times, or Cook Laboratories, Inc., a small hi-fi-recording firm in Stamford, …

A Meeting in Atlanta
Bernard Taper · A Reporter at Large · March 17

In 1956, Bernard Taper joined Thurgood Marshall, the legendary lawyer for the N.A.A.C.P., for a meeting in Georgia about ending racial segregation in Southern schools.

HOLY SMOKESTACKS, WHAT A MESS
Thomas Whiteside · Profiles · March 24

PROFILE of Daniel Fraad, Jr., president of Allied Maintenance Corp., a housekeeping enterprise with a staff or nearly 5000. It's troops of moppers, …

Ever Let The Fancy
Nancy Hale · Fiction · March 31

When the writer was a child in Boston, her father would come upstairs after she was in bed for the night and tell stories about his activities. These fell …

DIAMOND I-The Rush.
Emily Hahn · A Reporter at Large · April 7

REPORTER AT LARGE about the history of diamond mining in and around Kimberley, South Africa. The first diamond was found by a child in 1866 or 1867, and …

The Housebreaker of Shady Hill
John Cheever · Fiction · April 14

Fiction, from 1956: I have yearned for some women—turned green, in fact—but it seemed to me that I had never yearned for anyone the way I yearned that night for money.

STAR
Robert Lewis Taylor · Profiles · April 21

PROFILE of Lillian Leitzel, the great circus star, tells about Con Colleano, a young Spanish wire walker of flashing genius, and his perfoemance at the …

STAR
Robert Lewis Taylor · Profiles · April 28

PROFILE of Lillian Leitzel, circus aerealist. She married Clyde Ingalls, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey's sideshow manager, who also made all …

WE DARNED NEAR KILLED LUELIA
Katharine T. Kinkead · A Reporter at Large · May 5

REPORTER AT LARGE about attending the League of Women Voters' Legislative Conference held once a year at Albany. Visit to the League's …

Young Mr. Know-It-All
Glen Haley · Fiction · May 12

Story about how Sidney, a 13 year old boy visits his next door neighbors, the Roberts to watch them build a patio. The boy is full of unvelcome advice and …

DIAMOND IV Old Digger, Old Fool.
Emily Hahn · A Reporter at Large · May 19

REPORTER AT LARGE about private, surface digging for diamonds that goes on in certain areas of South Africa. Much of the land is owned by De Beers …

DIAMOND V-The Shade of J. Ballantine Hannay.
Emily Hahn · A Reporter at Large · May 26

REPORTER AT LARGE about industrial diamonds, which account for 80% of the diamond trade in terms of bulk and 25% in terms of profit. In Feb., 1955, General…

THE LANDLORD, THE TENANT, AND MRS. DOTTS
Bernard Taper · A Reporter at Large · June 2

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Lower Manhattan rent-control office, a local branch of the Temporary State Housing Rent Commission. This office, on 12th fl. of…

Further Fables Four Our Time
James Thurber · Fiction · June 9

A female hare, who had been born with a foot in everybody's affairs, became known in her community, as "that big Belgian busybody". She reproached a …

I'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU FOR A MINUTE
Richard Harris · A Reporter at Large · June 16

Lengthy discussion in REPORTER AT LARGE about Jehovah's Witnesses. Although Witnesses claim that the first Witness was Abel, a possibly more defensible…

I Left My Haine in Arcachon Beside La Mer
Fred Packard · Fiction · June 23

The author, after referring briefly to writers' habit of adding foreign words to English text, writes a letter to a friend about his trip to Arcachon, …

Zula, Watch the Snakes
Wolcott Gibbs · Fiction · June 30

Zula, an 18-year-old Texas girl is lying in the spring sun talking to her brother and watching two copper heads come to life. She is in her last year in a …

The Revel of the Earth—I
Mary McCarthy · Profiles · July 7

PROFILE of Venice. The Venetian Jew was greatly favored compared to other Jews, in the medieval period. He was allowed to set up loan banks, to trade with …

The Revel of the Earth
Mary McCarthy · Profiles · July 14

The second in a three-part series of articles, by Mary McCarthy, about Venice.

I KNEW EXACTLY WHY.
Daniel Lang · A Reporter at Large · July 21

REPORTER AT LARGE about a radiation accident which injured the eyesight of physicist, Dr. Lloyd Smith. It took place when he was working on a cyclotron at …

The Man of the World
Frank O'Connor · Fiction · July 28

The author as a boy goes to visit his friend, Jimmy Leary, whom he admires mainly for his general air of self-confidence and sophistication. Jimmy suggests…

The Poodle, The Supernatural, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Tatos, And My Mother
Sylvia Townsend Warner · Fiction · August 4

When the writer was 7 she was taken to visit Cousin Ursula's Castle Pink in Ireland. The place was haunted, and everyone except the owner feared unseen…

NAGELMACKERS' WAY
Joseph Wechsberg · Profiles · August 11

PROFILE of Leo Cesoli, senior conducteur of the Austrian Division of the Compagnie Grands Express Europeen, which operates most of Europe's, …

MY GRANDFATHER WOULD BE ALL FOR IT,
Joseph Wechsberg · A Reporter at Large · August 18

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Bayreuth Festival--the Wagner music festival in Bavaria. History of the festival, founded by Wagner in 1876. From the beginning…

How I Made My Money
Richard Lemon · Fiction · August 25

Writer sees an article in the "Times" about a college boy who earns money in the summer by operating a lift. He conducts an imaginary interview between …

A House for the Summer
Millicent Osborn · Fiction · September 1

Peter Dent generously offers his house to the rather hard-up Fuller family for the summery, as he and his wife are going to Europe. The Fullers arrive the …

WHY CASH THE CLUB WHEN YOU CAN'T GET TO DUMMY WITH A CROWBAR?
John Brooks · A Reporter at Large · September 8

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Summer Nationals of the American Contract Bridge League, the World Series of bridge which took place a few weeks ago at the …

DIRECTOR'S DIRECTOR.
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · September 15

PROFILE of Sidney James Weinberg, senior partner in the investment-banking firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co., & a director "of a number of large corporations. …

Mr. Hunter’s Grave
Joseph Mitchell · Profiles · September 22

Joseph Mitchell’s 1956 Profile of George H. Hunter, the chairman of the board of the African Methodist church in Sandy Ground, Staten Island.

DIAMOND VII - The Oppenheimers.
Emily Hahn · A Reporter at Large · September 29

REPORTER AT LARGE about Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, head of the De Beers group of corporation, that control practically all of the world's diamond …

MASTER.
Janet Flanner · Profiles · October 6

PROFILE of Georges Braque, the French painter. In 1907, Braque was hunter up by Kahnweiler, a brilliant, intellectual German from a well-do-do family of …

THE CAMPAIGN: NIXON
Richard H. Rovere · A Reporter at Large · October 13

REPORTER AT LARGE about Vice-President Nixon's campaign tour of 32 states from Sept. 18 to Oct. 3. Nixon & his wife were accompanied by the largest …

Lifts and Carries.
Robert Rice · A Reporter at Large · October 20

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Nyack Community Ambulance Corps. The Corps, which is supported entirely by contributions and manned entirely by unpaid …

Porgy and Bess in Russia
Truman Capote · Onward and Upward with the Arts · October 27

Truman Capote on the Leningrad première of the opera “Porgy and Bess.”

Transatlantic Phone Call
Sandor Voros · Fiction · November 3

In 1928, a few years after the writer emigrated to the U.S. from Hungary, he read that telephone calls could be made between N.Y. & Paris. Meeting some of …

WHISTLING IN THE DARKROOM
Joseph Wechsberg · Profiles · November 10

PROFILE of Leopold Godwsky, violinist & son of pianist Leopold Godowsky, tells how he & his friend Leopold Mannes invented the Kodachrome color process. …

THE THIRD MOST IMPORTANT DAY.
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · November 17

PROFILE of John Colquhoun Tysen, president of Previews, Inc., a real-estate firm, tells about the beginning of the unique enterprise. Henderson Talbot, an …

The History Of The Russian Revolution
S. N. Behrman · Fiction · November 24

Mr. Weintraub was very lonely one spring evening in 1940. His wife had died a year or so before, and his son, Willard, was drifting away from him because …

A Quaker Concern
Mary Louise Aswell · Fiction · December 1

The writer reminisces about her grandmother, who was an ardent Quaker, and possessed many fine qualities. She died 20 years ago, after living a full life. …

Open Entry For A "Time & Tide" Competition
Patricia Collinge · Fiction · December 8

Writer submits her entry for a competition sponsored by "Time & Tide", an English magazine. They offered a prize for an imaginary interview between any two…

Innocence Descending
Calvin Kentfield · Fiction · December 15

The writer left Sicily in the middle of December as it was getting cold. He decided to go to London at the invitation of his friends Chris & Mary, and …

The House of Mirth
Peter De Vries · Fiction · December 22

The writer practices repartee with his wife before a party but she feeds him the wrong lines and his wit fails. For the next gathering he tells her what …

Go Be Insulted When A Fella Hands You A Compliment!
Arthur Kober · Fiction · December 29

Helen telephones her friend, Mil, to tell her about a heavy date which ended abruptly. During her coffee break, at the restaurant in her office building …

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