Saturday 22 May 2010

Popular Digest

Here is Vol. 1 No. 1 of Popular Digest, a 96 page Toronto digest from October 1946. It was published by The Popular Digest Publishing Company, one of a number of companies operated by our friends at Fireside Publications. The address of the old Arcade Building provides the link between the two publishers. I don't know if "The ONLY magazine of PERMANENT Merit!" made it to number 2.

The contents are eclectic to say the least. A few  examples -

"Midget Marriages" starts with the questions: "Are midgets step-children of love? Are the experiences of average humans denied to these 'little people' even as nature denied them normal size?" Before answering the reader is told that "you've probably found yourself asking these questions often."

"A Forgotten Communism" is about the Inca Empire which was "the most successful of all known communistic governments [and] the most highly perfected, the most remarkable in its conception and its administration."

In "Einstein's Theory of Relativity For the Layman" the author assures the reader that "it is possible ... to penetrate this vast world-problem relative to the latest and new theory of the construction of the world. With the help of your very kind and sincere attention, I am going to endeavor to explain the principle and thought behind the great theory of 'Relativity'." The article is the most incoherent published writing I've ever read. The "theory of relativity" explained here is largely the general theory with a little flavouring of the special theory. Considering that the general theory is one of gravitation it is takes a special skill not to mention gravitation once in your article.



3 comments:

  1. I'm surprised and intrigued to see Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk mentioned on the cover - twice! Is this an excerpt, or a piece on the hoax. If the latter, is it recognized as a such?

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  2. This is about the story and how it came to be. So the hoax is discussed. I don't know enough about the story to judge the article but it well enough written. The author is Allen Churchill.

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  3. Thanks, bowdler. There's so much to explore when it comes to Maria Monk. I'm afraid I've only scratched the surface. If you're at all interested, almost everything I've written on the subject is found here and here. A subject of further research.

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