Looking Back for a Laugh
In some of the things from my parents' house, I found an April 1946 issue of Leatherneck Magazine: Magazine of the Marines. I presume it is something that belonged to my Dad. Although, he served in the Air Force, not the Marines, and he served in the early fifties, not in the forties. It was interesting to look through and see what kinds of things were written about and advertised and to notice how different a men's magazine from sixty-four years ago is compared to men's magazines of today.
On the upper right-hand corner of the cover of the magazine, one of the first things I noticed was the price of the magazine---fifteen cents!! I can't think of much of anything you can buy for fifteen cents these days. I believe most magazines that you would buy at a news stand or drug store these days would probably cost somewhere between two and five dollars depending on what you are buying.
There were many articles about Marine life and interests, of course, because it was a magazine for Marines, but there were also other articles. Contents in the magazine included articles about baseball, a Marine boogie woogie / swing band, a Broadway star, a football coach, a horse in the Kentucky Derby, and a fictional story about a boxer. Sports, music, and entertainment are all still topics of interest in men's magazines today, of course. Not surprisingly, pretty women, then, like today, were of interest to those reading the magazine too.
This full page picture of a woman named Gwen Currier was labeled:
There was also a pictorial article about what life was like for a female sergeant in the women's reserve when she was discharged from service and returned to her civilian life. The way women were portrayed, stereotyped, objectified, and reported about in the article was obviously a sign of the times before the women's liberation movement. For example, the article showed her learning from her mother how to bake biscuits that would serve as "good husband-bait"
and included pictures of her wrapped in a towel
and wearing a bathing suit.
One article I found quite funny that was not intended to be funny was about an inventor who had come up with a gadget to help parents feed a newborn baby. Supposedly, it was to "eliminate those early-morning feeding watches." According to the inventor, "neither infant nor parents have to leave their sacks when chow is down." Looking at this contraption just made me laugh. I wondered just how the filled bottle was going to be warmed and put into it without someone getting out of bed to fix it.
Also, as I recall from my days as a young mother, those early morning feedings almost always included a diaper change as well as a feeding. That would have been pretty hard to accomplish while remaining in bed. How many babies lie perfectly still on their back in one position while taking a bottle? What about the all-important holding the baby over your shoulder and patting his back to produce a burp act? You can't do that while you are lying in bed. Anyone who has experienced the screams of a colicky baby suffering from gas pains in his belly will tell you that you won't get any sleep if baby hasn't been properly burped either.
Another part of the magazine I found interesting was the advertisements that were included. Apparently, marines in the forties were quite concerned about keeping themselves clean and well groomed so that they would attract women. There were also many references to women as "dames," "lasses," and "pigeons." I don't think I'd like being called a "pigeon."
I can remember my Dad using a hair product called Brylcreem. Do you remember that stuff? They called it a pomade, but I never cared much for that greasy product used to slick down men's hair. "A little dab'll do ya!" was the slogan I remember them using.
Anyway, there were a couple ads in the magazine warning men that they didn't want to get caught with dry hair. This one was for Vaseline Hair Tonic.
I thought this next one for Vitalis was particularly amusing.
A young woman, going for a ride in the tunnel of love with a gentleman, wants nothing to do with him because his dry, flyaway hair is sticking up in the air. Luckily for the young gentleman, there is a cupid in the tunnel who comes to the rescue by providing him with a bottle of Vitalis so he can give his hair and scalp a "60-second workout." The young woman is immediately enamored with him once his hair is properly slicked into place.
On the upper right-hand corner of the cover of the magazine, one of the first things I noticed was the price of the magazine---fifteen cents!! I can't think of much of anything you can buy for fifteen cents these days. I believe most magazines that you would buy at a news stand or drug store these days would probably cost somewhere between two and five dollars depending on what you are buying.
There were many articles about Marine life and interests, of course, because it was a magazine for Marines, but there were also other articles. Contents in the magazine included articles about baseball, a Marine boogie woogie / swing band, a Broadway star, a football coach, a horse in the Kentucky Derby, and a fictional story about a boxer. Sports, music, and entertainment are all still topics of interest in men's magazines today, of course. Not surprisingly, pretty women, then, like today, were of interest to those reading the magazine too.
This full page picture of a woman named Gwen Currier was labeled:
"Gwen Currier Of course, the typical caption here could be 'What a lovely hat,' but in Gwen's case, who notices a hat?"
There was also a pictorial article about what life was like for a female sergeant in the women's reserve when she was discharged from service and returned to her civilian life. The way women were portrayed, stereotyped, objectified, and reported about in the article was obviously a sign of the times before the women's liberation movement. For example, the article showed her learning from her mother how to bake biscuits that would serve as "good husband-bait"
and included pictures of her wrapped in a towel
and wearing a bathing suit.
One article I found quite funny that was not intended to be funny was about an inventor who had come up with a gadget to help parents feed a newborn baby. Supposedly, it was to "eliminate those early-morning feeding watches." According to the inventor, "neither infant nor parents have to leave their sacks when chow is down." Looking at this contraption just made me laugh. I wondered just how the filled bottle was going to be warmed and put into it without someone getting out of bed to fix it.
Also, as I recall from my days as a young mother, those early morning feedings almost always included a diaper change as well as a feeding. That would have been pretty hard to accomplish while remaining in bed. How many babies lie perfectly still on their back in one position while taking a bottle? What about the all-important holding the baby over your shoulder and patting his back to produce a burp act? You can't do that while you are lying in bed. Anyone who has experienced the screams of a colicky baby suffering from gas pains in his belly will tell you that you won't get any sleep if baby hasn't been properly burped either.
I can remember my Dad using a hair product called Brylcreem. Do you remember that stuff? They called it a pomade, but I never cared much for that greasy product used to slick down men's hair. "A little dab'll do ya!" was the slogan I remember them using.
Anyway, there were a couple ads in the magazine warning men that they didn't want to get caught with dry hair. This one was for Vaseline Hair Tonic.
I thought this next one for Vitalis was particularly amusing.
A young woman, going for a ride in the tunnel of love with a gentleman, wants nothing to do with him because his dry, flyaway hair is sticking up in the air. Luckily for the young gentleman, there is a cupid in the tunnel who comes to the rescue by providing him with a bottle of Vitalis so he can give his hair and scalp a "60-second workout." The young woman is immediately enamored with him once his hair is properly slicked into place.
Personally, the idea of a man with an oil slick in his hair would not appeal to me, but the times were different then.
Another thing that didn't surprise me much was that there were also ads for beer and cigarettes.
The way cigarettes were portrayed was interesting to see compared to how they are viewed today. This one promoted smoking as a calming agent when your kids are getting on your nerves.
This one doesn't promote smoking as a health benefit, although at first glance it would appear that way. It claims that this brand was proved less irritating to the smokers' nose and throat according to "authoritative Medical Journals."
Seeing this old magazine makes me wonder what people of the future will think of the magazines and culture of our world today when they look back at them. It is guaranteed that things will be different sixty four years from now and that they will find things that are amusing in today's publications. With this being the age of the internet and electronic media, I wonder if magazines will even still be produced by then. It seems likely that they may become things of the past altogether.
