In August of 1911 one of Bert’s sketches appeared in the prestigious American ‘Life Magazine’. The full-page sketch titled ‘Moths’, depicted the insect transforming into the newly invented biplanes flying too close to a lit candle, symbolically ‘the flame’, crashing to earth.[1]  In 1911, this sketch had been intended to highlight the potential pitfalls of a life on the stage, those seeking fame, but was eerily prophetic of a tragic personal event to unfold 7 years later.

[1] ‘Moths’ Life Magazine August 17, 1911, Vol LVXII. Courtesy of The New York Public Library.

The link below allows you to take a look at that 1911 edition of ‘Life Magazine’ . The very helpful Meredith Mann, Librarian at The Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room for Rare Books and Manuscripts of the New York Public was happy to share the whole magazine with me.

Step back into 1911 in the United States. Scroll through the pages. fantastic advertisements/ sketches and stories.

Click here –