Tuesday, September 14, 2010

"Red Alien Roundup," 1952

M Y   C O L L E C T I O N — A page from Quick magazine, April 1952, saying that the U.S. Immigration Service would begin to "round up aliens" who are "behind the scenes Communist operatives" and deport them. The fact this sad and sinister bit of propaganda is printed on the same page as record peace time steel production and "Annie Get Your Gun" ratings is incredible to me.

This particular example of radical right politics may date back almost sixty years, but it reminds me of the Teaparty/anti Obama rhetoric we're hearing more and more of every day. Do we never learn? 

• More than you ever wanted to know about Senator Joseph McCarthy, here.
• For a little bit of information about the defunct Quick magazine, click here.

11 comments:

  1. Yes, Casey, it is incredible to me as well. Pete Seeger's words are as true today as when he wrote them fifty years ago.

    Where have all the flowers gone?
    Long time passing
    Where have all the flowers gone?
    Long time ago
    Where have all the flowers gone?
    Girls have picked them every one
    When will they ever learn?
    When will they ever learn?

    Where have all the young girls gone?
    Long time passing
    Where have all the young girls gone?
    Long time ago
    Where have all the young girls gone?
    Taken husbands every one
    When will they ever learn?
    When will they ever learn?

    Where have all the young men gone?
    Long time passing
    Where have all the young men gone?
    Long time ago
    Where have all the young men gone?
    Gone for soldiers every one
    When will they ever learn?
    When will they ever learn?

    Where have all the soldiers gone?
    Long time passing
    Where have all the soldiers gone?
    Long time ago
    Where have all the soldiers gone?
    Gone to graveyards every one
    When will they ever learn?
    When will they ever learn?

    Where have all the graveyards gone?
    Long time passing
    Where have all the graveyards gone?
    Long time ago
    Where have all the graveyards gone?
    Covered with flowers every one
    When will we ever learn?
    When will we ever learn?

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  2. thanks for that Annie. I think I remember Peter, Paul, and Mary recorded that song. Hard to believe how long ago that was too.

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  3. Yes, it was a big hit for them. I wish I had a picture of me from my "hippie" days, long blond hair and nothing but madras print outfits and bare feet. Oh, yes and lots and lots of candles...

    I've make a couple of loop-D-loops since then; been part of the problem and part of the solution, so I guess there is HOPE for all of us in the end.

    The only thing I haven't done is go to jail for a 'cause' but there is still time. Do you think they would still let me read my blogs?

    p.s. Marius is MIA!

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  4. Wouldn't it be interesting if they had taken over??
    I was the long blond hair, bell bottoms, t shirt OR the long ( OR MINI) print dress hippie...and, of course, NO shoes. Don't forget the bandannas either!We were sooooo "FAR OUT" weren't we Annie?? oh, and incense for me! :)

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  5. This magazine feature puts "the good old days" in perspective eh? We seem to blot out the bad parts of memory.

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  6. i have a black friend that always laughs ironically when [white] people write or talk about how great the old days were. Her parents moved out of the Bronx in fifties, to a suburb in Connecticut, to give their kids a 'better education' and to live in a Donna Reed neighborhood. A couple of years later, she was shot at the age of 7 waiting for the school bus, by a white man that just wanted to see what it was like to shoot a black person. She was SEVEN! She recovered, of course, but has never been able to have children because of how she was shot.

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  7. BACK THEN I WAS JUST A MOM,TAKING CARE OF MY BABIES AND MAKING SURE SUPPER WAS ON THE TABLE WHEN MY GRAMPS WALKED IN THE DOOR.CHURCH ON SUNDAYS. I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. TODAY I LIVE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT IS LIKE THE UNITED NATIONS.I ALSO LOVE IT. IT'S SO FUN TO BE DIFFERANT.
    ANY FLOWERS TODAY?

    HUGS, GRANNY

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  8. I just walked around the yard, and nothing new is out today! I'll probably walk around town later today and see what I can find. Now I'm working on a book of Florida Curiosities due Friday. I wonder if you're in it, Granny? : )

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  9. YUP YUP THERE IS ONLY ONE GRANNY.

    I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE HAPPY. THE TRUE ME, THE INSIDE ME IS WRITTEN ON A COUPLE OF CHATS. SOMETIMES FRIENDS AND FAMILY ONLY SEE YOUR LIPS MOVE WHEN YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW WHO YOU REALY ARE IN BODY. I WISH A LONG TIME AGO WHEN I STARTED WRITING MY LITTLE STORIES THAT I WOULD'VE MADE COPIES AND PUT THEM TOGETHER INTO ONE BIG STORY. WHEN YOU READ SOMETHINGS IT STAY WITH YOU. WHEN YOUR JUST MOVING YOUR LIPS I FIND SOME DON'T EVEN LISTEN.[IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER]. SOMETIMES I WISH I DID IT MY WAY BUT THEN WITHOUT GRAMPS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NO WAY. BELLY LAUGH OUT LOUD. LOVE ME OR NOT IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE I LIKE ME.

    GRANNY

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  10. Thanks for this Casey. I've never heard of Quick magazine. Was it a rival for Reader's Digest? Anyway, the matter of fact way the red alien is lumped in with movie grosses and steel production is quite chilling on so many levels. I was ages 2 through 11 during the
    50s and they seemed pretty idyllic to me, but I now know that all sorts of awful things were going on. I guess I was fortunate not to know about them then.

    My fear is that with all this commoation about the Tea Party and the crazies that are embracing it, this sort of thing will raise its ugly head, only it won't be Communists now -- it will be us!

    Maybe that's a little over the top, but stranger things have happened. Toronto, anyone?

    Paul, NYC

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