The Year Was 1948: Fort Worth Press Columnists

In 1948 Democratic incumbent President Harry Truman defeated Republican Thomas E. Dewey. The last Russian soldiers withdrew from North Korea. The first Kinsey report, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, was published. Jackson Browne was born.

And readers of the Fort Worth Press were reading these columnists:

humphreyWalter Humphrey was editor of the Press. Midway Airport in Arlington was going to be expanded and renamed “Greater Fort Worth International Airport” (and then “Amon G. Carter Field” and then “Greater Southwest International Airport”). Note that Humphrey said “we don’t like to be kicked around.” He was looking due east when he said that. Echoes of B. B. Paddock! Intercity squabbling between Fort Worth and Dallas perhaps reached its zenith (nadir?) during the evolution of that airport. (According to aviation historian Paul Freeman no international carrier ever served Greater Fort Worth International Airport.)

gordon columnJack Gordon was the newspaper’s entertainment columnist. In this column Gordon pointed out a historical error in the movie Man From Texas.

jack gordon eatingGordon also wrote a restaurant and nightclub guide featuring such eateries as Bomber Grill, Clover Grill, and Pirates Cave.

today in hollywoodErskine Johnson wrote a syndicated Hollywood gossip column. Note the “filler” at the end of the column. Such fillers were inserted to fill “holes” in the composition of a newspaper page. The Tivoli Theater was showing Call Northside 777.

teen timesThe Press published “Teen Times” for bobby soxers. Column co-editor Elston Brooks (1930-1991) was himself still a teenager. Brooks, of course, would become a longtime entertainment columnist of the Star-Telegram. Note the filler about poultry.

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