Time Magazine and the writers who actually made the cover, 1920s edition.

As should be obvious, Time Magazine is a news source, most famous these days for naming their Person of The Year every late December and...not much else. Ask your grandfather what it was like to read Time back in the 1950s. It was something then.

To be on the cover was almost considered an honor years ago when the magazine started in 1923, only for the most noteworthy, notable, and noted individuals in the world. Politicians, religious figures, scientists, dictators, athletes, business leaders, and celebrities the world over all made the weekly cover. And, occasionally, so did writers. It's true! Writers were once famous and important.

In the coming weeks, we'll note the authors, playwrights, and journalists--writers in general--who made the cover of Time and made writing seem important, briefly, during various decades

Starting with the 1920s:


1.)  It only took until the sixth issue for a writer to appear! Sadly, it was Joseph Conrad, but we'll take what we can get,

Joseph Conrad, April 7, 1923

2.)  Later in the inaugural year, George Bernard Shaw made the cover, giving his typical creepy grandfather stare.

George Bernard Shaw, December 24, 1923

3.)  Eugene O'Neill popped up in 1924, showcasing his usual perturbed faced that looks like he's five seconds away from lashing out at someone innocent.

Eugene O'Neill, March 7, 1924

4.)  Amy Lowell was one of the few women to make the cover in the 1920s, and she's randomly shown reading in what appears to be the world's most uncomfortable chair. Because, why not.

Amy Lowell, March 2, 1925

5.)  Booth Tarkington offers the least intriguing cover ever in 1925.

Booth Tarkington, December 21, 1925

6.)  In 1926, Time gave us a quick answer to a bar trivia question, telling us H.G. Wells was also known as Herbert George Wells.

H.G. Wells, September 20, 1926

7.)  You can tell it was the 1920s simply because it was common to show people casually smoking on the cover, as Rudyard Kipling does in 1926.

Rudyard Kipling, September 27, 1926

8.)  Sinclair Lewis realizes this might be the most famous he'll get and seems despondent in 1927.

Sinclair Lewis, March 14, 1927

9.)  Michael Arlen was widely famous in the 1920s, but commonly referred to as "Whosa who?" these days.

Michael Arlen, May 2, 1927

10.)  Eugene O'Neill was a hot commodity in the 1920s and made a second cover. As we can see, his temperament didn't change. What a charmer!

Eugene O'Neill, February 13, 1928

Everything old is new again: George Orwell and John Steinbeck are hot commodities.

In the past few weeks, George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 has been steadily climbing the bestseller lists, most notably at Amazon, where as of January 26, 2016, it's the bestselling book overall. Not James Patterson, Jodi Piccoult, Stephen King, an Oprah book club selection, Harry Potter novella, or a Twilight spinoff.

No.

George Orwell.

Largely, this is due to a new political climate that is--how shall we say this in a nuanced fashion?--surreal compared to the previous 240-years of American history.

As The Atlantic points out, though, Orwell isn't the only one finding a revival. Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here has risen to #26 on Amazon, while John Steinbeck's 1961 tome The Winter of Our Discontent has seen an abnormal uptick as well.

Then there's political theorist Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, which was published in 1951. While not usually nearly as well known as 1984 or The Winter of Our Discontent, Arendt's book examines the rise of fascist governments in Europe over the previous two centuries. Clearly, if there's anything Americans love doing, it's kicking back with a expansive examinations of political philosophies.

In the end, the misery of the past two years of political campaigning--the yelling, the finger-pointing, the glad-handing, the falsehoods--has had one bright spot: Americans are reading, and they're rediscovering what was once forgotten--in many ways.