When I worked at The Herald-Sun I’d often go to the microfilm and pull out years at random. In especially enjoyed the ads. The whisky ads were always entertaining, with brands you just don’t see anymore, like Old Overholt. Entertainment ads also were interesting. With Durham being near the halfway point between New York and Atlanta acts like Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and many other famous black entertainers would play nightclubs in town on their way south, their advance men alerting fans via ads in the paper.
I noticed that no matter how random my choice of microfilm, I’d invariably stumble on some famous event. Today was no different when I clicked on a blogger’s link to an old Los Angeles Times front page. It was dated Oct. 2, 1939, and, as one would expect, there was a lot of Hitler news. As I was reading the lead story, about Russia’s plans with regard to Hitler, there was this paragraph quoting First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill (emphasis added):
The Admiralty chief, in and empire broadcast, declared, “Russia has warned Hitler off his eastern dreams. But he added that he could not forecast Russia’s next move, terming it a “riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma.”
That’s the first time this oft-repeated phrase ever appeared in print. It’s usually said to have been Churchill’s assessment of the nation of Russia itself, but it actually seems to be his assessment of Russia’s intentions toward Hitler. Here’s the full quote from the radio speech:
“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.”
The “it” seems to refer to the “action of Russia” rather than just “Russia,” and clearly it’s Russia’s “action” that has to depend on Russia’s “national interest.”
