The Popular Magazine, Vol. 50, No. 3

# Museum Catalog Note

This October 20, 1918 issue of The Popular Magazine features "The Quitters," a complete novel by Francis Lynde about two seemingly disloyal American men whose patriotism comes under suspicion. The central narrative follows Tommy Ormsby, who discovers his family's machine works faces bankruptcy when his ailing father is hospitalized. Called from his job as traveling salesman, Tommy must choose between enlisting for the war effort—his stated patriotic intention—and secretly reorganizing the business to avoid ruin. The story explores whether his staying home to pursue a wartime manufacturing contract constitutes cowardice or legitimate sacrifice. The issue includes editorials on current events, a four-part serial "Silver and Gold" by Charles King Van Riper about mining, a short story "The Eyes of Buddha," and reader correspondence discussing war stories and magazine preferences.