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Low Man on the Totem Pole: Witty Memoirs, Armed Services Edition No. 673
Smith, one of the preeminent journalistic humorists of the early mid-20th century, weaves wry vignettes of events and people of his time that are both observational and autobiographical.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
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About the author
H. Allen Smith
80 books19 followersHarry Allen Wolfgang Smith was an American journalist and humorist whose books were popular in the 1940s and 1950s, selling millions of copies.
Smith was born in McLeansboro, Illinois, where he lived until the age of six. His family moved to Decatur in 1913 and then to Defiance, Ohio, finally arriving in Huntington, Indiana. It was at this point Smith dropped out of high school and began working odd jobs, eventually finding work as a journalist.
He began in 1922 at the Huntington Press, relocating to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky. In Florida, editing the Sebring American in 1925, he met society editor Nelle Mae Simpson, and they married in 1927. The couple lived in Oklahoma, where Smith worked at the Tulsa Tribune, followed by a position at the Denver Post. In 1929, he became a United Press rewrite man, also handling feature stories and celebrity interviews. He continued as a feature writer with the New York World-Telegram from 1934 to 1939.
He found fame when his humor book Low Man on a Totem Pole (1941) became a bestseller during WWII, popular not only on the homefront but also read on troop trains and at military camps. Featuring an introduction by his friend Fred Allen, it eventually sold over a million copies. Damon Runyon called it, "Rich funny stuff, loaded with laughs." As noted by Eric Partridge in A Dictionary of Catch Phrases, the book's title became a catchphrase for the least successful individual in a group.
With his newfound financial freedom, he left the daily newspaper grind for life as a freelance author, scripting for radio while also writing (for six months) The Totem Pole, a daily column for United Features Syndicate, making personal appearances and working on his next book, Life in a Putty Knife Factory (1943), which became another bestseller. He spent eight months in Hollywood as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures, and wrote about the experience in Lost in the Horse Latitudes (1944). His first three books were widely circulated around the world in Armed Services Editions. The popularity of these titles kept Smith on the New York Herald Tribune's Best Seller List for 100 weeks and prompted a collection of all three in 3 Smiths in the Wind (1946). By the end of World War II, Smith's fame as a humorist was such that he edited Desert Island Decameron (1945), a collection of essays and stories by such leading humorists as Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and James Thurber. Histories of the Manhattan Project mention Desert Island Decameron because it's the book Donald Hornig was reading when he was sitting in the Trinity Test tower babysitting the atomic bomb on July 15, 1945, the stormy night prior to the first nuclear explosion.
His novel, Rhubarb (1946), about a cat that inherits a professional baseball team, led to two sequels and a 1951 film adaptation. Larks in the Popcorn (1948, reprinted in 1974) and Let The Crabgrass Grow (1960) described "rural" life in Westchester County, New York. People Named Smith (1950) offers anecdotes and histories of people named Smith, such as Presidential candidate Al Smith, religious leader Joseph Smith and a man named 5/8 Smith. He collaborated with Ira L. Smith on the baseball anecdotes in Low and Inside (1949) and Three Men on Third (1951). The Compleat Practical Joker (1953, reprinted in 1980) detailed the practical jokes pulled by his friends Hugh Troy, publicist Jim Moran and other pranksters, such as the artist Waldo Peirce. His futuristic fantasy novel, The Age of the Tail (1955), describes a time when people are born with tails. One of his last books was Rude Jokes (1970).
Smith also wrote hundreds of magazine articles for Esquire, Holiday, McCall's, Playboy, Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post, The Saturday Review of Literature, True, Venture, Golf and other publications. Smith made a number of appearances on radio and television. Fred Allen was one of his friends, and he was a guest on The Fred Allen Show on December 7, 1947
Smith was born in McLeansboro, Illinois, where he lived until the age of six. His family moved to Decatur in 1913 and then to Defiance, Ohio, finally arriving in Huntington, Indiana. It was at this point Smith dropped out of high school and began working odd jobs, eventually finding work as a journalist.
He began in 1922 at the Huntington Press, relocating to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky. In Florida, editing the Sebring American in 1925, he met society editor Nelle Mae Simpson, and they married in 1927. The couple lived in Oklahoma, where Smith worked at the Tulsa Tribune, followed by a position at the Denver Post. In 1929, he became a United Press rewrite man, also handling feature stories and celebrity interviews. He continued as a feature writer with the New York World-Telegram from 1934 to 1939.
He found fame when his humor book Low Man on a Totem Pole (1941) became a bestseller during WWII, popular not only on the homefront but also read on troop trains and at military camps. Featuring an introduction by his friend Fred Allen, it eventually sold over a million copies. Damon Runyon called it, "Rich funny stuff, loaded with laughs." As noted by Eric Partridge in A Dictionary of Catch Phrases, the book's title became a catchphrase for the least successful individual in a group.
With his newfound financial freedom, he left the daily newspaper grind for life as a freelance author, scripting for radio while also writing (for six months) The Totem Pole, a daily column for United Features Syndicate, making personal appearances and working on his next book, Life in a Putty Knife Factory (1943), which became another bestseller. He spent eight months in Hollywood as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures, and wrote about the experience in Lost in the Horse Latitudes (1944). His first three books were widely circulated around the world in Armed Services Editions. The popularity of these titles kept Smith on the New York Herald Tribune's Best Seller List for 100 weeks and prompted a collection of all three in 3 Smiths in the Wind (1946). By the end of World War II, Smith's fame as a humorist was such that he edited Desert Island Decameron (1945), a collection of essays and stories by such leading humorists as Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and James Thurber. Histories of the Manhattan Project mention Desert Island Decameron because it's the book Donald Hornig was reading when he was sitting in the Trinity Test tower babysitting the atomic bomb on July 15, 1945, the stormy night prior to the first nuclear explosion.
His novel, Rhubarb (1946), about a cat that inherits a professional baseball team, led to two sequels and a 1951 film adaptation. Larks in the Popcorn (1948, reprinted in 1974) and Let The Crabgrass Grow (1960) described "rural" life in Westchester County, New York. People Named Smith (1950) offers anecdotes and histories of people named Smith, such as Presidential candidate Al Smith, religious leader Joseph Smith and a man named 5/8 Smith. He collaborated with Ira L. Smith on the baseball anecdotes in Low and Inside (1949) and Three Men on Third (1951). The Compleat Practical Joker (1953, reprinted in 1980) detailed the practical jokes pulled by his friends Hugh Troy, publicist Jim Moran and other pranksters, such as the artist Waldo Peirce. His futuristic fantasy novel, The Age of the Tail (1955), describes a time when people are born with tails. One of his last books was Rude Jokes (1970).
Smith also wrote hundreds of magazine articles for Esquire, Holiday, McCall's, Playboy, Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post, The Saturday Review of Literature, True, Venture, Golf and other publications. Smith made a number of appearances on radio and television. Fred Allen was one of his friends, and he was a guest on The Fred Allen Show on December 7, 1947
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 19, 2013
What a discovery! As I mentioned in another review of a H. Allen Smith title, I was at Powell's in Portland and I came across his books. Used of course and i have to presume that all seven titles there was from a person who gave it up. Not for money, but more likely for space, or a mad Uncle left it to a family member or something totally undramatic. Nevertheless I have become a mega-fan of H. Allen Smith.
"Low Man on a Totem Pole is a collection of articles he wrote for the New York World - Telegram sometime in the 1940's. What i have is the first edition hard cover copy, and as far as I know this book is now out-of-print, which I find deeply disturbing. One, because Smith is an excellent writer and for sure one of the best of the old-school Manhattanites of the 30's and 40's. in the same game park of James Thurber or even Dorothy Parker. Extremely witty, and here is a writer at work because he had to turn in a column for his paper probably on a daily or weekly schedule.
My favorite pieces in this book deals with "Hollywood." And it seems at the time a lot of NYC journalists treated Hollywood as the capital of weirdoland. Which may or may not be the case, but one gets the impression that Smith had to cover the Hollywood beat with respect to interviewing the stars, but his heart wasn't really into it. But that didn't stop this talented writer in making hysterical commentary regarding a journalist interviewing a movie star placed in NYC to promote a picture. But saying that he is never mean to his subject matter, he makes fun of himself making fun of his subject matter. But what is interesting is how a New Yorker or someone from that culture looks at Hollywood.
But his observations are spot-on and he lived in an interesting world. It's sad to think that the type of world he wrote about (1940's Manhattan and Hollywood) is now totally gone. Like this book, that is not in print. But mark my words, H. Allen Smith is a brilliant stylist and a very very funny man.
"Low Man on a Totem Pole is a collection of articles he wrote for the New York World - Telegram sometime in the 1940's. What i have is the first edition hard cover copy, and as far as I know this book is now out-of-print, which I find deeply disturbing. One, because Smith is an excellent writer and for sure one of the best of the old-school Manhattanites of the 30's and 40's. in the same game park of James Thurber or even Dorothy Parker. Extremely witty, and here is a writer at work because he had to turn in a column for his paper probably on a daily or weekly schedule.
My favorite pieces in this book deals with "Hollywood." And it seems at the time a lot of NYC journalists treated Hollywood as the capital of weirdoland. Which may or may not be the case, but one gets the impression that Smith had to cover the Hollywood beat with respect to interviewing the stars, but his heart wasn't really into it. But that didn't stop this talented writer in making hysterical commentary regarding a journalist interviewing a movie star placed in NYC to promote a picture. But saying that he is never mean to his subject matter, he makes fun of himself making fun of his subject matter. But what is interesting is how a New Yorker or someone from that culture looks at Hollywood.
But his observations are spot-on and he lived in an interesting world. It's sad to think that the type of world he wrote about (1940's Manhattan and Hollywood) is now totally gone. Like this book, that is not in print. But mark my words, H. Allen Smith is a brilliant stylist and a very very funny man.
June 26, 2021
"There is a mistaken notion that I spend the major portion of my time searching out screwballs."
- pg. 199
Perhaps not, but H. Allen Smith clearly delighted in any newspaper assignment that lead to him trying to keep a straight face while some New Yawk cabbie, barkeep, salesman, crackpot inventor, publicity hound, movie star, or burlesque queen foolishly gassed on about themselves. A wry American humorist in the tradition that stretches from Mark Twain to David Sedaris, Smith's nuggets are as nimble and finely wrought today as during the height of his popularity during WW II.
On a side note, the L.A. Public Library sent me a hardcover edition from 1945, and on four (!) different end pages was the stamped name and contact info of the book's previous owner, one Erwin Fuller of Pasadena. And it occurred to me that tracking down Mr. Fuller would be the most H. Allen Smith thing I could do: "Why the four stamps, Mr. Fuller? Had you just gotten the stamp pad? Was LOW MAN ON A TOTEM POLE a favorite? Did some of your possesions only get one or two stamps?"
Thinking his SYcamore 4-1238 phone number was probably out of date, I Googled the man instead. And I'm sad to report I just missed him: a former actor, Mr. Fuller died in Pasadena in 2017 at the age of 86. This one's for you, sir.
- pg. 199
Perhaps not, but H. Allen Smith clearly delighted in any newspaper assignment that lead to him trying to keep a straight face while some New Yawk cabbie, barkeep, salesman, crackpot inventor, publicity hound, movie star, or burlesque queen foolishly gassed on about themselves. A wry American humorist in the tradition that stretches from Mark Twain to David Sedaris, Smith's nuggets are as nimble and finely wrought today as during the height of his popularity during WW II.
On a side note, the L.A. Public Library sent me a hardcover edition from 1945, and on four (!) different end pages was the stamped name and contact info of the book's previous owner, one Erwin Fuller of Pasadena. And it occurred to me that tracking down Mr. Fuller would be the most H. Allen Smith thing I could do: "Why the four stamps, Mr. Fuller? Had you just gotten the stamp pad? Was LOW MAN ON A TOTEM POLE a favorite? Did some of your possesions only get one or two stamps?"
Thinking his SYcamore 4-1238 phone number was probably out of date, I Googled the man instead. And I'm sad to report I just missed him: a former actor, Mr. Fuller died in Pasadena in 2017 at the age of 86. This one's for you, sir.
January 10, 2012
I randomly picked up this old book on the shelf of a thrift store. I read the first paragraph of the book and was undeniably hooked on Smith's witty and clever prose. I thoroughly enjoyed Smith's musings as he gives the reader a glimpse behind the scenes of being a journalist in New York circa 1930.
August 28, 2019
I absolutely love H. Allen Smith and have a bookshelf full of his books. I love him so much that I created this entry on goodreads! Truly hilarious in that way that only smart, dapper dudes from the 1940s could pull off.
May 21, 2023
a true artist
I started reading h Allen smiths books at an early age and a friend, Ed, did too. In Highschool the teacher assigned Ed and me to do a interview with our favorite author. I was he and Ed would interview me. On that day Ed asked me wildly confusing questions, like “what was the symbolic meaning on page 111 of “SLEEP TIL NOON” and I had to say I didn’t remember that from any particular book. And I thought I knew all that Smith wrote. He bears re-reading he’s so good!
I started reading h Allen smiths books at an early age and a friend, Ed, did too. In Highschool the teacher assigned Ed and me to do a interview with our favorite author. I was he and Ed would interview me. On that day Ed asked me wildly confusing questions, like “what was the symbolic meaning on page 111 of “SLEEP TIL NOON” and I had to say I didn’t remember that from any particular book. And I thought I knew all that Smith wrote. He bears re-reading he’s so good!
July 3, 2021
A newspaper journalist in New York who writes mostly the entertainment news. He has many stories of the notable people he has met and interviewed. Since he began in the late 1920's the notable interviewee's are not known to me. Even the one's I have heard of, the ancedotes we're barely amusing. This book just did not hold up through the years.
March 29, 2019
Saw this in a thrift store and it intrigued me. He was a newspaperman back in the 30’s-40’s and this is a collection of many famous people he interviewed in NYC and his comic insights of how they acted behind the scenes.
June 9, 2020
One of my father's favorites. He read it in the Pacific during World War II. A bit dated, but still funny.
January 3, 2024
Probably considered funny at the time, but didn’t age well. Full of references to celebrities that no one remembers, and language that’s misogynistic and racially insensitive.
May 6, 2012
Nobody really seems to read H Allen Smith any more, but I've enjoyed several of his books, including this one (which might be the most well-known of the anecdotal set). The books all contains some humor, satire. But they seem to also originate in a different era of greater innocence, which is rather pleasant to read.
Want to read
October 29, 201310 cent find at book sale!
February 11, 2014
The stories are kind of rambling and don't always go somewhere, but it's a neat glimpse at the time period it was written in.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews