The main news topic a hundred years ago was “the War.” The US had just declared war on Germany, to the distress of Woodrow Wilson and “America first!” supporters, but much to the relief of especially Great Britain. At the same time, the US was not ready to enter a major conflict, since we did not have a standing army, let alone weapons and support materiel. This led to a question on page 783: “Amerikanische Truppen nach Frankreich?” This seemingly rhetorical question produced what seems like a rhetorical answer: “Zuerst wiesen die franzoesischen und britische Besuchskommionen daraufhin, dass gründliche Ausbildung amerikanischer Truppen vor ihrem aktiven Eingreifen in den Krieg notwendig sei. Das taten die Franzosen sogar, obwohl sie erklärten ‘Leute seien ihnen lieber als Geld.'”
On page 792 there is a humorous anecdote with the Bavarian title “Heier wer’n d’ Baam’ deier.” Try out your “Bayernkenntnisse”!
On page 796 there is an article (“Waterman und seine Füllfeder”) about Lewis Edson Waterman, inventor of the fountain pen and the firm (founded in 1883) that bears his name. Those of us who live in Wisconsin can appreciate the competition between Waterman and George Safford Parker who founded his firm in 1888.
On the next four pages, 797-800, is a lengthy article about Memorial Day. Above the title “Der Memorial-Tag und seine lehrreiche Geschichte” there is a drawing of an elderly gentleman sitting on a bench in what looks like a rural setting. Three young boys are watching the gentleman cleaning his weapon. Next to him is a uniform jacket decorated with medals. On the ground are his canteen and cartridge case. The first three sentences set the tone of the article: “Wie sich der greise Veteran, den unser Zeichner so lebenswahr dargestellt hat, auf den Ehren- und Gedenktag der Nation, den 30. Mai, den Memorial-Tag des Landes, so eifrig rüstet! Bewundern schauen ihn die Nachkbarskinder zu, wie er die alte Muskete putzt. Hut und Rock hat er parat zur Seite, Erinnerungen, viele Erinnerungen tauchen vor seinem Geiste auf, auch morgen wird er wieder mit den noch überlebeneden Kameraden im Festzuge hinaus auf den stillen Friedhof marschieren, …”
Many of the items on this week’s “Buntes Allerlei” (page 801) relate to the war. For example, a “Pfarrer” “in einem Landstaedtchen in Illinois” ordered a barrel of flour from the local mill, only to be told that it was not available since it was needed for the war effort: “Dabei erinnert man uns jeden Tag daran, dass wir die Allierten mit Lebensmitteln zu versorgen verpflichtet seien!”
There is an item about Cuba entering the war against Germany. There is another one with the introduction “America first!” and another one with the introduction “The British Sun is sinking”. Then there is this one, about a gentleman identified as “H.C. Hoover, Direktor der Hilfsaktion für Belgien” which was just casual news then but is prescient to us now.
Finally, here is something to ponder:
“Amerikanische Fahnen sind weit ueber 100 Prozent im Preise gestiegen. ‘Selbstloser’ Patriotismus der Fabrikanten!”