©2010 COPYRIGHT FOR THIS WORK IS HELD BY DAVID J. MARCOU AND MATTHEW A. MARCOU CoverAll Picture of the Manuscript Post photos, for 1937: -1957, are derived from the Hulton Collection and are provided courtesy of Getty Images. Other illustrations for this text can be found at the end of this book in the appendix. CREDIT MUST BE GIVEN TO DAVID J. MARCOU AS AUTHOR All the Best Britain’s Picture Post Magazine, Best Mirror and Old Friend to Many, 1938-57. First cover of Picture Post Magazine, Oct. 1, 1938 taken by Kurt Hutton; Photo courtesy of Getty Images #74218345 Researched and Written by David J. Marcou. Original Draft‘s Copyright©1993 David J. Marcou and Matthew A. Marcou. Final Draft‘s Copyright©2010++ David J. Marcou and Matthew A. Marcou. For my parents (David Ambrose and Rose Caroline Marcou), my son (Matthew Ambrose Marcou), the rest of our family, our friends, all my editors, publishers, students, teachers, as well as the diverse and talented people (living or deceased) who made a profound contribution to the art of the photo-essay with Picture Post -- especially Stefan Lorant, Sir Edward Hulton, Sir Tom Hopkinson, Bert and Sheila Hardy, James Cameron, Nachum Tim Gidal, Robert Kee, Matthew Butson (of Getty Images), and Jon Tarrant, former editor of the British Journal of Photography, the staffs of the La Crosse Public Library (the online publisher for this text, with the UW-La Crosse Library), Wisconsin Historical Society, National Portrait Gallery of Britain, the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography, the George Eastman House Library, the British Museum, the national libraries of South Korea, Britain, France, Ireland, the Philippines, Australia, and America, and all those who assist the lives of myself and my extended family. In fact, we couldn‘t have published this book without the assistance of each and every one of you. Thank you all.-DvJM. The first draft of this book-manuscript was first researched (from 1981 forward), then written and typed simultaneously by David J. Marcou in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from June 1 - July 21, 1993. It was updated and revised by David J. Marcou in July-August 2007, and retyped in August 2007, on computers. It was further revised and typed by David J. Marcou in December 2007 and June-October 2010.-djm. Table of Contents for: All the Best Author’s Introduction Part I: The Birth of a Great, New Picture Magazine. Chapter 1: The Early History of the Photo-Essay Chapter 2: The Early Contributions of Stefan Lorant to the Art of the Photo-Essay Chapter 3: The First British Picture Magazines -- What They Did and Didn‘t Reveal Chapter 4: How Stefan Lorant Came To Be Introduced to Edward Hulton of the Hulton Press Chapter 5: Preparations for, and Successful Publication of, Picture Post‘s First Issue (10-1-38) Part II: Stefan Lorant‘s Genius Becomes Widely Known to the British People, and Then He Makes an Abrupt Departure. Chapter 6: Stefan Lorant‘s Background Is More Fully Explained Chapter 7: Picture Post‘s Early Staff and Stefan Lorant‘s Role in Assembling and Using It Chapter 8: The Issues Dealt With First by Picture Post Chapter 9: Stefan Lorant‘s Honest Concern for His Own Safety Versus the Nazis Chapter 10: Stefan Lorant‘s Difficult Decision to Go to America, and the State of Picture Post When He Left Part III: The Emergence of Tom Hopkinson as a Positive Editorial Force in His Own Right on Picture Post. Chapter 11: Tom Hopkinson‘s Background Before and Beyond Picture Post Chapter 12: Tom Hopkinson‘s Editing ―Short-Course‖ Under Stefan Lorant Chapter 13: Tom Hopkinson Takes Over as a ―One-Man Band,‖ and Assembles Some New Talent for Picture Post. Chapter 14: Stefan Lorant‘s Decision to Leave for America Has Few Negative Effects on Picture Post Under Tom Hopkinson Chapter 15: Tom Hopkinson‘s Special Editorial Genius on Picture Post Part IV: The War-Time Contributions of Picture Post. Chapter 16: 1938-41, The ―Phoney War‖ Becomes a Real War in Britain, ―Lest We Forget‖ Chapter 17: 1942 and the Magazine Chapter 18: 1943 and the Magazine Chapter 19: 1944 and the Magazine Chapter 20: 1945, The End of World War II, Picture Post Begins to Find a New Role for Itself Part V: The Labour Government Takes Over for the Rest of the ―Hopkinson Decade.‖ Chapter 21: 1946 and the Magazine Chapter 22: 1947 and the Magazine Chapter 23: 1948 and the Magazine Chapter 24: 1949 and the Magazine Chapter 25: 1950, The Korean War, And the End of an Era at Picture Post Part VI: The Beginning of the End, Intoned Slowly Over Time. Chapter 26: What Tom Hopkinson‘s Dismissal Meant to Picture Post and to the New Editors at the Magazine (1950-57) Chapter 27: The Roles of the Photographers, Photography, Writers and Writing at Picture Post Chapter 28: Women on the Staff of Picture Post, Their Inestimable Contributions Chapter 29: The Crucial Role of Bert Hardy at Picture Post (1938-57) Chapter 30: The Life and Death of a First-Rate Picture Magazine -- Picture Post (October 1, 1938-June 1, 1957) Part VII: Picture Post‘s Lasting Contributions to the Art of the Photo-Essay. Chapter 31: What Stefan Lorant‘s and Tom Hopkinson‘s Editing Did for the Continuity of Character in Picture Post Chapter 32: Picture Post‘s Impact on Other Great News-Feature Picture Magazines, Especially Outside Britain Chapter 33: The Particular Fate of the British Photo-Essay Vis-à-Vis Picture Post Chapter 34: Some Important Lessons in Picture Post‘s Story -- Especially for Americans Chapter 35: Homage to the Men, Women, and Youngsters Who Made Picture Post Work from 1938-57 Author’s Bio Endnotes Appendix -- Illustrations ―[The] purpose of playing… was and is, to hold as „twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.‖ Hamlet, by William Shakespeare (3.2.20-24). ―The best mirror is an old friend.‖ – George Herbert. ―All the Best!‖ – Expression of Best Wishes to People for Arrivals, Departures, and Correspondences of Many Types Author’s Introduction, by David J. Marcou Shakespeare knew how to write, how to play, and how to grieve. His plays held up the mirror to nature as no other playwright‘s ever has. It is sometimes said the best journalism, too, holds up a mirror, to society. Britain‘s Picture Post Magazine was one such mirror – a mirror that not only reflected things as they were, but also things as people hoped them to be. In other words, for British society and people in the 1930s, ‗40s, and ‗50s, to see themselves constructively and critically, they needed a journalistic mirror that provided not only the words they needed to read, but the views of life, then and in the future, they wanted to envision and realize. Take, for instance, the two-fold ability of that magazine to both strongly criticize Hitler, while also critiquing the Allied war effort. Moreoever, even while the magazine was pushing forward to help lead the British war effort to victory, it also took the time to publish ―A Plan for Britain,‖ forward-looking ideas about how to establish social welfare and universal healthcare for the British people after the war. The mirror, which reflected and inspired through words and pictures, could not simply yield an exact transcription of nature or society as they were commonly seen, but also had to dream dreams with and for the people. It needs to also be noted that Picture Post existed within a sharp context of historical, racial, and ethnic forces. For instance, it would not be possible to sustain in a wide sense, such a strongly pro-Jewish magazine in today‘s Britain. Britain is much more diverse in racial and ethnic terms now than it was in the middle of the 20th century. And yet, there was such a strong racist current of anti-semitism in Nazi thought and policy before and during World War II that Picture Post did its readers a truly positive service by suggesting more of a balance should be obtained between minorities of various types (including sexual) and the majority of citizens in British culture then. What separated Picture Post from its peers were the vitality, humor, and pathos of its reflections and dreams, as well as the intelligence of its layouts and interests. To Picture Post‘s staff, the ―common man‖ and the ―modern woman‖ were just as worthy of positive mirroring as the Monarch and the Royal Guard. Both made Britain strong; both needed to see themselves in the magazine to corroborate the full story, archetypal humane photo essays, of and for the British people, Britian‘s friends, and others. To be sure, though, Picture Post wasn‘t always a magazine super-serious in tone, though it could be when it needed to be. Whether readers looked into a page showing a group of penguins appearing to read a newspaper, or an Army chaplain making a cross at a soldier‘s grave, it all represented the world readers felt they knew better after reading Picture Post. And as George Herbert says, ―The best mirror is an old friend.‖ Such was the status of that magazine during its history. Yes, old friends can be hard on us, but they can also see our virtues and our positive potentials, and encourage us to realize them. Old friends know where we came from, and where we still have to go.