Country Acres and Cul-de-Sacs
Connecticut Circle Magazine Reimagines the Nutmeg State, 1938–1952
Edited Jay Gitlin
Sales Date: 2018-10-16
Classic magazine captures New England state on the brink of transformation
In 1938, the first year of its publication, Connecticut Circle magazine covered the opening of the Merritt Parkway in June, a devastating hurricane in September, and a transformative election in November that saw Raymond Baldwin replace Governor Wilbur Cross on the brink of WWII. Covering the news, recreation, literary figures, and politicians, and above all—the achievements and products of the state, Connecticut Circle entertained, promoted, and projected the image of a bustling state with more than its share of creative citizens and renowned institutions of higher learning. Its readership included not only proud Nutmeggers, but potential tourists, and more than a few Mr. and Mrs. Blandings contemplating—the state's board of realtors hoped—a potential move from New York City to an ancient colonial homestead made newly accessible via the Merritt Parkway or the New Haven Railroad. The magazine was saturated with ads and articles that presaged the state's residential (and suburban) future, and people and events of this dramatic time come alive in this large collection of articles from Connecticut Circle magazine, as Connecticut defines itself for the modern era. With an illuminating introduction and context-setting headnotes for its thirteen sections, this volume provides a wealth of fascinating articles for anyone seeking to reminisce, and understand the values that pushed Connecticut into the postwar world.
Prologue: Reading Connecticut Circle
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Connecticut Circle: The Life of a State in Transition, 1938 – 52
PART 1. CONNECTICUT GOES TO WAR—J. RONALD SPENCER
"Summary of Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Activities during 1940" (August 1941)
"Bridgeport Brass on War Footing" (January 1942)
"Our Oldest Naval Service: United States Coast Guard Academy Activities at New London" (February 1942)
"Do You Recognize Rank?" (February 1942)
"Connecticut Submarines, L. Y. Spear—Submarine Builder," by Robert Hatfield Barnes (June 1942)
"Connecticut Submarines—the Submarine Base," by Robert Hatfield Barnes (September 1942)
"The University in Wartime," by Charles Seymour, President, Yale University (December 1942)
Florence Duquette [General Electric war worker] (June 1943)
"The Biggest Partner Helps Win the War" [Bridgeport war effort], by John J. Egan, Secretary-Treasurer of the Connecticut Federation of Labor (June 1943)
"Where Bridgeport Men and Women Are Speeding Victory" [ad for Jenkins Valves] (June 1943)
"The Counting House Goes to War: Veeder-Root, Leaders for 76 Years in Development of Computing Devices," by John Donnell (November 1943)
PART 2. POLITICS, POLITICIANS, AND EDITORIALS—WALTER WOODWARD
"Governor Raymond E. Baldwin Says Economic Security Depends upon Productive Effort" (January 1940)
"An Editorial Writer of 'The New London Day' Is Creating Much Attention: A Few Facts about Gordon Bodenwein" (June 1941)
"Connecticut's First Woman Keynote Speaker: A National Figure Enters the Connecticut Congressional Race; Mrs. Clare Booth Luce of Greenwich Clarifies Party's Aims," by Frank Wyman (October 1942)
"Uncle Toby—Connecticut Yankee" [about Wilbur L. Cross], by Samuel Maury (November 1943)
"Are You a Member of the White Collar Class? Then It Is Your Money That Pays for This War" (December 1943)
"Let's Preserve Connecticut for Connecticut People: A Striking Letter, Full of Reason, to State Highway Commissioner William J. Cox, from Herman W. Steinkraus, President of Bridgeport Brass Company" (July 1944)
"Connecticut Should Look Forward to Many Generations of Progress, Says Fuller F. Barnes" (October/November 1945)
"Scenes Not Signs" [editorial regarding the Binney Bill] (November 1946)
PART 3. AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES—GEORGE J. WILLAUER
"Connecticut: The Maritime State," by H. F. Morse (January 1938)
"The Flies Have It: An Episode of Connecticut Trouting," by Edwin Ashley (March 1938)
Pictures of the 1938 flood (November 1938)
"Photo Record, Hurricane and Flood: New England's Greatest Disaster" [ad for book on the hurricane and flood] (December 1938)
"Turkeys Turkeys Turkeys," by Sidney A. Edwards, Managing Director, Connecticut State Development Commission (December 1940)
"Really Talking Turkey: Oldest Family Tree in the United States," by Merrill Crawford (December 1940)
"Franklin Wanted the Turkey for Our National Bird (Maybe It Is Anyway!)" (December 1940)
"Dairying Is an Essential Industry," by E. G. Woodward (March 1942)
"Artificial Breeding of Dairy Cows," by Albert I. Mann, Assistant Extension Dairyman, University of Connecticut (March 1942)
"The Shad Return to the River: Connecticut River's Perennial," by Walter Burke Coll (April 1942)
"Four Million Chicks a Year Prove Pierce Quality," by Bradford Alden (December 1944/January 1945)
"C. F. Woodford and Son: Raisers of Fine Tobacco at Foot of Avon Mountain and in Simsbury" (October 1949)
PART 4. BUSINESS, INDUSTRY, AND TRANSPORTATION—PATRICK L. PINNELL
"Igor I. Sikorsky: The World's Greatest Designer of Flying Boats," by Edward B. Tracy (October 1938)
"Connecticut's Super-Highways of the Future," by William J. Cox, Commissioner, State Highway Department (May 1940)
"Recent Developments in the 'Direct-Lift' Aircraft," by Igor I. Sikorsky (July 1941)
"Connecticut Inventor of Football Dummies" [Marty Gilman], by Martin Sheridan (November 1942)
"Typewriters to Carbines," by James Splaine (January 1943)
"The Story of the Dictaphone: As Told through the Dictaphone," by T. H. Beard (June 1943)
"A Romance in Coconut" [Peter Paul Inc.], by Frank Wyman (April 1944)
"This Is the Home of the Famous Connecticut Made Seth Thomas Clocks" (June 1945)
"Proposed Cure for Hartford Traffic" (December 1945)
"Proposed Location of Norwich – New London Airport at Trumbull Field" (February 1946)
"United Aircraft Motors Span World Airways: From East Hartford Go the Famous 'Wasp' Motors That Furnish Power for Our Greatest Airliner Cruisers and Fighters" (March 1949)
"Moving a Country-Side to Build the Baldwin Bridge Approaches: M. A. Gammino & Sons Move Hillsides in Acquiring 'Borrow' Material for High-Way Fills" (May 1949)
"The First Hundred Years: In Which a Great Organization So Developed Drug Products That Thousands of Lives Were Saved in World War II, and Hundreds of Thousands Are Cured Each Year; Pfizer in Connecticut—The Constitution State Congratulates Chas. Pfizer on Its Third Birthday in the Land of Steady Habits" (September 1949)
"A Business That Grew from New Ideas" [Sponge Rubber Products Company, Naugatuck] (July 1952)
"How Remington Rand Will Greet You at the World's Fair" (May 1939) [Special issue on the World's Fair]
PART 5. MAPPING THE PAST: BITS OF HISTORY—THOMAS M. TRUXES
"'Old Put'" [Israel Putnam of the American Revolution], by Chester Braman (March 1938)
"The Governor's Foot Guards: History of the Second Governor's Foot Guards of Connecticut in 1775," by Major John Lee Gilson (March 1938)
"Justice for the First Lady of New Haven" [Anne Eaton], by Margery Greenleaf (June 1939)
"The Foundations of New England" ["Rock Garden," by Odell Shepard] (July 1939)
"Ghost Towns," by Harry A. Judd (April 1943)
"Connecticut Tradition Made to Live Again" (January 1949)
PART 6. PROJECTING THE FUTURE: IDENTITY, REAL ESTATE, AND COLONIAL REVIVAL—JAY GITLIN
"Draw Your Weekend Winter Dividends from Your Summer Home Investment," by Marguerite Mooers Marshall (January 1938)
"'Connecticut Invites You': The Why What and Who of the Connecticut State Publicity Commission," by Raymond D. Loring (January 1938)
"Greenwich Has Many Residential Advantages" [ad for Greenwich Trust Company] (January 1938)
"Connecticut: An Oasis in the Desert of Taxation," by Eugene G. Blackford, President of Greenwich Trust Company (February 1938)
"Merritt Parkway: Paved with Good Intentions," by Moses Berkman (February 1938)
"I Want to Go Back," by Sylvia Stevenson (February 1938)
"As to the Merritt Parkway" (February 1938)
"New Tax Proposal: An Original Plan for New Taxation That Will Protect and Not Penalize the Home Owner," by Thomas J. Moore (April 1938)
"A Fine Example of Before and After" [Roxbury] (April 1938)
"Tired City People Find Comfort in Connecticut" (April 1938)
"That House in the Country: The Place Everyone Talks About but Too Few Actually Achieve" [New Canaan] (April 1938)
"Yale Farms . . . 1,400 Acres of Beautiful Country" [North Greenwich/Quaker Ridge] (April 1938)
"Whither Westport?" (April 1938)
"Two City People Make Good in a Small Town: This Is the Story of the Patmore Farm at Upper Stepney, Where Famous Friends in the City Will Find Rest and Recreation in Rural Connecticut," by Early Byrd (April 1939)
"World-Famous Schools and Colleges" (July 1939)
"A State of Beautiful Homes" (July 1939)
"The Lure of Connecticut" (July 1939)
"The Connecticut Association of Real Estate Boards" (July 1939)
"Connecticut 'Firsts'" (July 1939)
"Workshop of the World" (July 1939)
"Greenwich and Connecticut Are Always First with the Samuel F. Pryors," by Roger Doulens (September 1946)
PART 7. CONNECTICUT WRITERS, ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, AND ACTORS—HELEN HIGGINS
"Batch: Clarence Daniel Batchelor, Pulitzer Prize Winner, Connecticut Cartoonist" (January 1938)
"Connecticut on the Air" [Lily Pons, Ray Lee Jackson, Morton Downey, Ida Bailey Allen] (January 1938)
"Light . . . on Many Subjects: The Story of Stanley McCandles," by Waleska Bacon Evans (April 1938)
"The La Farges: A Connecticut Family of Distinguished Artists," by Charlotte B. Sills May (1938)
"Heigh Ho" [Rudy Vallee], by Chester Braman (May 1938)
"Connecticut's Literary Gallery" [Lois Lenski, Phil Strong, Janet Camp Troxell, Isabel Wilder, Le Grand Cannon Jr.], by Charlotte B. Sills (July 1938)
"Connecticut Authors and the Christmas Book Shelf" [Odell Shepard, Geraldine Farrar, Neill James], by Charlotte B. Sills (December 1938)
"Marion Stephenson: Fashion Photographer, Connecticut Farmer" (January 1940)
"Edna Ferber's Garden," by H. V. Crass (August 1940)
"Robb Sagendorph: The Yankee Who Makes 'The Yankee' 'Six Smart Yanks' in One" (June 1941)
"Hendrik Willem van Loon: Versatile Internationalist," by Alfred C. Langlois (March 1942)
"Connecticut in Movieland" [Rosalind Russell], by Allen M. Widem (July 1942)
"Connecticut in Movieland" [Katharine Hepburn, Adriana Caselotti], by Pearl M. Widem (June 1944)
"On the Collecting of Old Maps" [C. E. Whitlock], by William J. Prendergast (August 1944)
"Connecticut's Venerable Drummer" [Allan F. Dresser], by Sando Bologna (January 1957)
"Last of the Famous Day Brothers Celebrates 80th Birthday" [George Parmly Day] (January 1957)
PART 8. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS—GEORGE J. WILLAUER
"Dr. Blunt States Her Aims for Connecticut College" (January 1938)
"Wesleyan" (February 1938)
"Connecticut State College" [Storrs], by Walter Stemmons (April 1938)
"Taft and Mr. Taft: A Short History of a Famous School and How It Grew," by John F. Morse (May 1938)
"Rosemary Hall" (May 1938)
"The Yale-Harvard Regatta as Paul Barnett Sees the Race" (July 1938)
"Avon Old Farms: A Successful Achievement in Character Building and Citizenship Training," by Clive Howard (December 1938)
"Theodate Pope Riddle," by Lynne Crider (December 1938)
"Thomas Jefferson and Trinity College," by Richard W. Insley (September 1939)
"Yale and Her Sons: A Pictorial History with Authentic Dates and Incidents" (January 1949)
"Hopkins Grammar School Looks Ahead Approaching Its Tercentenary: Trustees Have Approved Plans for a New Building" (April 1949)
PART 9. HUMOR AND FEATURES—JAY GITLIN
"Bouquets and Brickbats from Everywhere" (February 1938)
"Life in Connecticut," by William R. Everritt (February 1939)
"I Know Nice People: An Interesting Analysis of Handwriting" [Governor and Mrs. Raymond Baldwin], by Florence Ballou (December 1939)
"Do You Know Connecticut History? Statue and Memorial Contest" (February 1942)
"Connecticut Calendar" (February 1946)
"Firsts in Connecticut" (April 1946)
"Yale's Cavalier of the Court" [Tony Lavelli] (April 1946)
PART 10. ACHIEVING WOMEN—CAROLYN WAKEMAN
"How Ladies Must Behave in Connecticut," by Nathaniel M. Terry Jr. (March 1938)
"'The Stooges That Bloom in the Spring—Tra La': (Being an Article on June Brides from the Maid-of-Honor's Point of View)," by Virginia Rooks (July 1938)
"Connecticut Women of Achievement" (August 1938)
"N.B.C. Fashions: Spring Comes to Radio City," by Amelia Umnitz (April 1939)
"Some Well Known Garden Club Presidents" (May 1941)
"Republican Women Meet Clare Booth Luce as Guest of Honor" (June 1944)
PART 11. ADVERTISEMENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS—PATRICK L. PINNELL
"A Friendly Hotel in a Friendly City: Hotel Taft" [New Haven] (June 1940)
"Clinton Casino" (July 1941)
"Dictaphone Keeps Those Mental Production Lines Rolling, Too!" (December 1941)
"Your Forefathers Flourished on 'White' Bread Like This," Pepperidge Farm (January 1942)
"Trace Your New England Ancestry through the Hartford Times" (June 1942)
"Sweets for the Nation!" Peter Paul Inc., Naugatuck (July 1942)
"Telemusic and Good Food Go Together," Telemusic Inc., Hartford [early recorded background music] (July 1946)
"Horton Brasses: Authentic Reproductions of Old Designs" (January 1949)
"Blakeslee's Oxen Plowing on Temple Street, New Haven, about 1900" (March 1949)
"Koffee Kottage on U.S. 10" (December 1949)
"Historic Hartford . . . A Scene That P&W Remembers" [Mark Twain, Pratt & Whitney Company Inc.] (April 1957)
PART 12. CONNECTICUT CIRCLE COVERS—PATRICK L. PINNELL
Older woman gardening with two servants (April 1938)
Splashing in the waves (August 1942)
Two ROTC students and one hockey player at Yale (March 1943)
Young woman with corn stalks, holding a pumpkin (October 1943)
"Connecticut Industry: The Fires of Patriotism" (February 1945)
Chester Bowles and dog (February 1949)
Connecticut lady with antiques (September 1949)
"Connecticut's Leading Actress at Home" [Katharine Hepburn] (August 1957)
PART 13. HARRY FRANKLIN MORSE—LAURIE PASTERYAK LAMARRE
"Connecticut Circle Radio Program" (April 1939)
"The Public Spirited Citizen Who Made Connecticut Circle Magazine Possible" (May 1939)
"Thanks for Inviting Me to Join the Circle," by James Street (July 1939)
"Have You Seen 'Connecticut Homes'" [ad for H. F. Morse Associates Inc.] (April 1943)
"Connecticut" [ad for Connecticut Circle] (August 1945)
Notes
Index
JAY GITLIN teaches history at Yale University. He is the author of The Bourgeois Frontier: French Towns, French Traders & American Expansion and co-author of Under an Open Sky: Rethinking America's Western Past. He lives in North Branford, Connecticut.
"A fascinating account of the branding and selling of CT by a magazine publisher who had a lot more on the line than journalism."
~Diane Smith, producer of CPTV's "Positively Connecticut"
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