Yank, the Army Weekly
Encyclopedia
Yank, the Army Weekly was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II
. The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White
, who had worked on Stars and Stripes
during World War I. He proposed the idea to the Army in early 1942, and accepted a commission as Lieutenant Colonel. White was the overall commander, Major Franklin S. Forsberg
was the business manager and Major Hartzell Spence
was the first editor. White was removed from the Yank staff because of disagreements about articles which had appeared. Soon afterwards, Spence was also assigned to other duties and Joe McCarthy became the editor.
The magazine was written by enlisted rank
soldiers only and was made available to the soldiers, sailors, and airmen serving overseas. It was published at facilities around the world—British, Mediterranean, Continental, and Western Pacific—for a total of 21 editions in 17 countries. Yank was the most widely read magazine in the history of the U.S. military, achieving a worldwide circulation of more than 2.6 million. Each issue was priced from five cents to 10 cents because it was felt that if soldiers paid, they would have a higher regard for the publication. Each issue was edited in New York City
and then shipped for printing around the world where staff editors added local stories. The last issue was published in December 1945. Scott Corbett
(later known as a writer of novels for children) served as the last editor.
Sketch artists such as Robert Greenhalgh and Howard Brodie worked on the magazine which also featured the "G.I. Joe
" cartoons by Dave Breger and the Sad Sack
cartoons by Sgt. George Baker
. Noted artist and author Jack Coggins
spent over two years with Yank, first in New York, then in London; during his time with Yank he produced illustrations and articles featured in more than 24 issues.
One of the most popular "morale boosters" for the men in the armed forces was the inclusion of a pin-up girl
in each issue who was usually clad either in a bathing suit or some form of seductive attire. Many of the pin-up girls featured were the biggest stars of stage and screen of the day.
Yank magazine figures prominently in the plot of "Yank! A WWII Love Story," a musical by Joseph and David Zellnik. The musical had its off-Broadway debut at the York Theatre
in New York in February 2010 with a cast including Bobby Steggert
, Ivan Herndez, Nancy Anderson and Jeffry Denman.
----
Field contributors to Yank included:
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White
Egbert White
During World War II, Egbert White had a major role in establishing newspapers for US soldiers that were written and edited by enlisted men, not by the Army top command...
, who had worked on Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
during World War I. He proposed the idea to the Army in early 1942, and accepted a commission as Lieutenant Colonel. White was the overall commander, Major Franklin S. Forsberg
Franklin S. Forsberg
Franklin S. Forsberg, , was an American publisher and diplomat.-Background:Franklin S. Forsberg was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to parents of Swedish heritage. He received his B.A. from the University of Utah in 1930 and his M.B.A. from New York University in 1931.-Career:Mr...
was the business manager and Major Hartzell Spence
Hartzell Spence
John Hartzell Spence was an American writer and founding editor of Yank, the Army Weekly, a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. He is credited with coining the term "pinup"....
was the first editor. White was removed from the Yank staff because of disagreements about articles which had appeared. Soon afterwards, Spence was also assigned to other duties and Joe McCarthy became the editor.
The magazine was written by enlisted rank
Enlisted rank
An enlisted rank is, in most Militaries, any rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer. The term can also be inclusive of non-commissioned officers...
soldiers only and was made available to the soldiers, sailors, and airmen serving overseas. It was published at facilities around the world—British, Mediterranean, Continental, and Western Pacific—for a total of 21 editions in 17 countries. Yank was the most widely read magazine in the history of the U.S. military, achieving a worldwide circulation of more than 2.6 million. Each issue was priced from five cents to 10 cents because it was felt that if soldiers paid, they would have a higher regard for the publication. Each issue was edited in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and then shipped for printing around the world where staff editors added local stories. The last issue was published in December 1945. Scott Corbett
Scott Corbett
W. Scott Corbett was an American novelist and educator. He wrote a total of 89 books; he began with five adult novels, then began writing books for children, eventually writing sixty-nine such books. His best known book is The Lemonade Trick, a novel for children...
(later known as a writer of novels for children) served as the last editor.
Sketch artists such as Robert Greenhalgh and Howard Brodie worked on the magazine which also featured the "G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe (comics)
G.I. Joe has been the title of comic strips and comic books in every decade since 1942. As a licensed property by Hasbro, comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year . As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I...
" cartoons by Dave Breger and the Sad Sack
Sad Sack
The Sad Sack is an American fictional comic strip and comic book character created by Sgt. George Baker during World War II. Set in the United States Army, Sad Sack depicted an otherwise unnamed, lowly private experiencing some of the absurdities and humiliations of military life. The title was a...
cartoons by Sgt. George Baker
George Baker (cartoonist)
George Baker was a cartoonist who became prominent during World War II as the creator of the popular comic strip, The Sad Sack.-Early life and education:...
. Noted artist and author Jack Coggins
Jack Coggins
Jack Banham Coggins was an artist, author, and illustrator. He is known in the United States for his oil paintings, which focused predominantly on marine subjects. He is also known for his books on space travel, which were both authored and illustrated by Coggins...
spent over two years with Yank, first in New York, then in London; during his time with Yank he produced illustrations and articles featured in more than 24 issues.
One of the most popular "morale boosters" for the men in the armed forces was the inclusion of a pin-up girl
Pin-up girl
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...
in each issue who was usually clad either in a bathing suit or some form of seductive attire. Many of the pin-up girls featured were the biggest stars of stage and screen of the day.
Yank magazine figures prominently in the plot of "Yank! A WWII Love Story," a musical by Joseph and David Zellnik. The musical had its off-Broadway debut at the York Theatre
York Theatre
The York Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre at 619 Lexington Avenue at the corner of 54th Street in the East Midtown section of Manhattan, New York City. It is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each season consists of three or...
in New York in February 2010 with a cast including Bobby Steggert
Bobby Steggert
Bobby Steggert is an American theatre, musical theatre, television, and film actor.-Biography and training:Bobby Steggert was born in Frederick, Maryland...
, Ivan Herndez, Nancy Anderson and Jeffry Denman.
Celebrities who featured in Yank
- Dusty AndersonDusty AndersonRuth "Dusty" Anderson is an American actress and World War II pin-up girl.She began her career as a model and made her motion picture debut in a minor role as one of the cover girls in the 1944 Columbia Pictures production of Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth...
- Gloria Anderson
- Burnu AcquanettaAcquanettaAcquanetta , nicknamed "The Venezuelan Volcano," was a B-movie actress known for her exotic beauty.-Early years:Although accounts differ, Acquanetta claimed she was born Burnu Acquanetta in Ozone, Wyoming...
- Lauren BacallLauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
- Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
- Lynn BariLynn BariLynn Bari , born Margaret Schuyler Fisher, was a movie actress who specialized in playing sultry, statuesque man-killers in over one hundred 20th Century Fox films from the early 1930s through the 1940s.-Career:Bari was born in Roanoke, Virginia...
- Anne BaxterAnne BaxterAnne Baxter was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons , The Razor's Edge , All About Eve and The Ten Commandments .-Early life:...
- Ingrid BergmanIngrid BergmanIngrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
- Vivian BlaineVivian BlaineVivian Blaine was an American actress and singer best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production Guys and Dolls.-Life and career:...
- Marguerite ChapmanMarguerite ChapmanMarguerite Chapman was an American actress.Born in Chatham, New York, she was working as a telephone switchboard operator in White Plains, New York when her good looks brought about the opportunity to pursue a career in modeling...
- Ann CorioAnn CorioAnn Corio was a prominent American burlesque ecdysiast and actress. Unlike others in her profession, Ann Corio did not have a stage name.- Biography :...
- Jeanne CrainJeanne CrainJeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
- Linda DarnellLinda DarnellLinda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
- Yvonne DeCarlo
- Gloria DeHavenGloria DeHavenGloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
- Deanna DurbinDeanna DurbinDeanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
- Carole Gallagher
- Ava GardnerAva GardnerAva Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
- Frances GiffordFrances GiffordMary Frances Gifford was an American actress who played leads and supporting roles in many 1930s and 1940s movies.-Career:...
- Betty GrableBetty GrableElizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
- Anne GwynneAnne GwynneAnne Gwynne was an American film actress of the 1940s. Known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films, the actress-model was also one of the most popular pin-ups of World War II....
- Susan HaywardSusan HaywardSusan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
- Rita HayworthRita HayworthRita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
- Candy JonesCandy JonesCandy Jones, originally known as Jessica Arline Wilcox , was an American fashion model, writer and radio talk show hostess....
- Elyse KnoxElyse Knox-Early life:Born Elsie Lillian Kornbrath to Frederick and Elizabeth Kornbrath in Hartford, Connecticut, she studied at the Traphagen School of Fashion in Manhattan then embarked on a career in fashion design...
- Hedy LamarrHedy LamarrHedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
- Dorothy LamourDorothy LamourDorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
- Carole LandisCarole LandisCarole Landis was an American film and stage actress whose break-through role was as the female lead in the 1940 film One Million B.C.. Landis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1765 Vine Street....
- Virginia MayoVirginia MayoVirginia Mayo was an American film actress.After a short career in vaudeville, Mayo progressed to films and during the 1940s established herself as a supporting player in such films as The Best Years of Our Lives and White Heat .Mayo remained an A-list actress into the mid-'50s, but then went...
- Marie McDonaldMarie McDonaldMarie McDonald was an American singer and actress known as "The Body Beautiful" and later nicknamed "The Body".- Early life :...
- Dorothy MaloneDorothy MaloneDorothy Malone is an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind , for which she won the Academy...
- Ann MillerAnn MillerJohnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...
- Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
- Jane NighJane NighBonnie Lenora "Jane" Nigh was an American actress. She was discovered in 1944 by Arthur Wenzler while working in a defense plant. She later signed a contract with Fox Studios. She appeared in movies such as Give My Regards to Broadway and Sitting Pretty...
- Frances RaffertyFrances RaffertyFrances Rafferty was an American actress, dancer, World War II pin-up girl and MGM contract star.-Early life:Frances Anne Rafferty was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the daughter of Maxwell Lewis Rafftery, Snr...
- Ella RainesElla RainesElla Wallace Raines was an American film and television actress.-Life and career:Born Ella Wallace Raubes near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in a play there when she was seen by Howard Hawks...
- Jane RandolphJane RandolphJane Randolph, born Jane Roemer , was an American film actress. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio and died in Gstaad, Switzerland....
- Donna ReedDonna ReedDonna Reed was an American film and television actress.With appearances in over 40 films, Reed received the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the tramp Lorene in the war drama From Here to Eternity. She is also noted for her role in the perennial Christmas...
- Elaine Riley
- Jane RussellJane RussellJane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
- Ann Savage
- Lizabeth ScottLizabeth ScottLizabeth Scott is an American actress and singer widely known for her film noir roles.-Early life:She was born Emma Matzo in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of six children, to Ruthenian parents who had emigrated from Uzhgorod, in what is now Ukraine...
- Toni SevenToni SevenToni Seven was an American cover girl and actress. She was blonde.-Youth:Born June Elizabeth Millarde on July 6, 1922 in New York City, she was the only child of actress June Caprice and film director Harry F. Millarde....
- Hilda SimmsHilda SimmsHilda Simms was an African-American stage actress, best known for her starring role on Broadway in Anna Lucasta.-Early years:...
- Alexis SmithAlexis SmithAlexis Smith was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in several major Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award in 1972.-Life and career:...
- K. T. StevensK. T. StevensK. T. Stevens , born Gloria Wood in Los Angeles, California, was an American film actress. The daughter of director Sam Wood, Stevens made her first film appearance when she was just two years old in her father's second 1921 silent film, Peck's Bad Boy. As an adult, she changed her name to...
- Gale StormGale StormGale Storm was an American actress and singer who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show.-Early life:...
- Gene TierneyGene TierneyGene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
- Lana TurnerLana TurnerLana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
- Wilde Twins
- Chili Williams
- Esther WilliamsEsther WilliamsEsther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
- Virginia Kavanagh
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Field contributors to Yank included:
- Sgt. Walter BernsteinWalter BernsteinWalter Bernstein is an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s.-Early life:...
- S/Sgt Harry BrownHarry Brown (writer)Harry Peter McNab Brown, Jr. was an American poet, novelist and screenwriter.-Life:Born in Portland, Maine, he was educated at Harvard University, where he was friends with American poet, Robert Lowell...
- Pvt. Justin Gray
- Sgt. Marion HargroveMarion HargroveMarion Hargrove was an American writer noted for the World War II bestselling book See Here, Private Hargrove, a collection of humorous newspaper columns written mostly before the United States entered the war...
- Sgt. Newton H. Fulbright
- Sgt. Milton Lehman
- Sgt. Barrett McGurn
- Sgt.Merle MillerMerle MillerMerle Miller was an American novelist best known for his biographies of Presidents Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson. Three years before his best-selling book Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S...
- Sgt. Mack Morriss
- Sgt. Ira J. Moshier
- Sgt. Walter Peters
- Sgt. Burgess Scott
- Sgt. Harry Sions
- Sgt. Thomas R St George