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Post by victoriousscarf on May 18, 2011 9:16:33 GMT -8
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Post by victoriousscarf on May 20, 2011 13:07:45 GMT -8
“Men’s earrings are nothing new, old salts will tell you. Even before the days of pirates, mariners who had sailed the China seas or had done any Asiatic duty took to wearing earrings as a mark of their service in the Orient. It was the campaign ribbon of its day.
The modern gob, after he has sailed in Asiatic waters, gets his ears pierced and a ring inserted, then goes to a tattoo parlor and has various Chinese legends etched on the shank of his left leg.
But not all men who wear earrings are veterans of Asiatic sea service. The custom has been adopted by many who have sailed in the Central, South, or Southwest Pacific without entering the waters of the China Sea .” —Hal J. Kanter, The Saturday Evening Post, December 8, 1945, page 119.
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Post by victoriousscarf on May 31, 2011 23:24:29 GMT -8
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Post by victoriousscarf on Sept 25, 2011 23:04:46 GMT -8
Tonight, let's talk about Burlesque.
I watched the documentary "Behind the Burly Q" directed by Leslie Zemeckis, which is quite excellent if, well, you're mature enough/not bothered by a lot of boobs running around screen for a while, but considering the subject matter it really should be no surprise.
So, a few basics:
Burlesque acts tended to be hour and half long shows, with opening numbers, strips, teases, story sequences, and a male comedy act. Not to mention of course the live band. ((the term "strip tease" didn't come in until the late 20s/30s. Before they were different acts, one being the tease and the other being more of a no-nonsense strip.)) Most of the girls that got into it did it because they had few other options, and it tended to pay very well. Beyond which, very rarely were burlesque dancers actually whores--in fact they mentioned usually needing to be in rehearsal. However, they did sometimes mingle with men in the club, and try to get them to buy drinks and the like, the sort of which they would get commissions off.
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Post by littlesongbird on Sept 27, 2011 19:22:49 GMT -8
All right, all you upper crust personas, time to introduce to the lovely world of *opera* (all right, I see you back there, cringing. I'm only touching on a few of the basics) - the list, if you want to see them all is over here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_important_operasSome of the most important operas you'd be seeing from 1900 to 1926 (and do not expect many happy endings. Opera is famous for tragic endings. [Bugs Bunny himself lampshades this at the end of "What's Opera, Doc?"]) ~Tosca (premiered in 1900) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosca~Madama Butterfly (premiered in 1904) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madama_Butterfly (you can spell it Madame, but it's correctly spelt Madama) ~La Fanciulla del West (The girl of the west; premiered in 1910) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_fanciulla_del_West (this is one of the rare happy ending operas) ~Il trittico (Gianni Schicchi - you might have noticed this one already appeared - happy ending, Il tabarro - tragedy, Suor Angelica - bittersweet ending. All premiered in 1918) They're supposed to be preformed together, but some companies tend to omit Suor Angelica (which is noted to be sung only by female opera singers) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Schicchi en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_tabarro en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suor_Angelica~Turandot (which premieres in 1926) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurandotChances are, anything by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Bizet is deemed fair game to be in a season An edit: Under no circumstances will "La forza del destino" ever be seen in season. That is one opera that is forbidden. (Not that it's a horrible opera, it's more that there's an apparent curse on it. One opera singer literally died during a performance of it.) - you can read about that here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_forza_del_destino#The_so-called_.22curse.22Edit part deux: Rigoletto will most likely not be seen during this season. (I really don't think Mac, Grids or Tiger really want to hear "La donna e mobile" for a very long time...) |
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Post by littlesongbird on Oct 5, 2011 4:04:56 GMT -8
So, on a whim, I started to look up 1920s weddings ((mild case of boredom)), when I spotted this site: www.antiquedress.com/gallery.htmgo marvel at the pretty clothing ((my wallet is glad it's too damn expensive)) |
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Post by littlesongbird on Oct 7, 2011 5:45:00 GMT -8
I know for most people when they think ballet "The Nutcracker" pops up as one of the more well known pieces. Unfortunately, the only person on this board that would have been able to see it is Doc Cohen, since the first preformance was in 1892 ...in Russia. The Nutcracker did not appear on American soil until 1940 in an abridged form, 1944 for the complete ballet (and even then, that was on the West Coast, the East Coast got the abridged four years prior). However! That being said, you can hear the music - just please, no going to the ballet and expecting The Nutcracker at Christmas. Does. Not. Work. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker |
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Post by victoriousscarf on Oct 7, 2011 9:38:23 GMT -8
On Enforcing Prohibition:
For the record? No cop character on this board is actually likely to be going around and enforcing Prohibition. Usually by this time period, and especially in larger cities, that's the realm of Prohibition Agents that are part of the Federal Bureau. They're employed by Washington directly, and they tend to be very corrupt (Their salary is not quite comfortable to live on).
Some of the most famous of these agents would disguise themselves, go into a speakeasy, and get a drink offered to them before arresting the person offering them the drink.
There were actually a great deal of female Prohibition Agents as well, one of which would faint and arrest whoever offered her whiskey.
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Post by victoriousscarf on Oct 7, 2011 9:47:01 GMT -8
Let's talk a moment about Mabel Willebrandt.
Before we talk about her, I've found several different examples of female lawyers in the 1920s. It was a profession women were a part of, though of course it was a high difficult world to get into.
But Mabel Willebrandt was the assistant attorney general of the United States government and was often called "The Most Powerful Woman in America." She was in this position from 1920 to 1929, which meant surviving more than one president. She rarely wore make-up, dressing very professionally, though of course women's magazines would still talk about her suitability to invite to tea, and the idea that at home she preferred dresses with flowers on them.
Mabel Willebrandt was actually one of the few/only people in the administration that actually tried to enforce Prohibition. Many of her fellows either didn't care or obviously flaunted the law.
She became assistant attorney general I believe around 32. When she was in her early twenties she was a teacher in California and put herself through law school at night.
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Post by littlesongbird on Oct 7, 2011 10:33:14 GMT -8
Guess what was a popular vacation spot during this time? If you said "Coney Island", give yourself a gold star! ((Granted, we are set in a theoratical version of Boston, and there are beaches within that state, but work with me here. Besides, people travelled to go to Coney Island to go to the amusement parks)) Coney Island is home to Luna Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_Park,_Coney_Island), Dreamland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamland_(amusement_park) - although at this point in history, it's been closed for a number of years (read this as destroyed in a fire)), and finally, Steeplechase Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steeplechase_Park). Ladies, I'd avoid going to Dreamland if you are faint of heart - that's where the sideshow is. ((If we decide to bend history in this case and still have it open. And I'm being very polite when I say "sideshow". A sideshow in this time would probably be showing off, well, to quote a well known movie from the '30s... "Gooble, gobble.." Go google that quote and you'll figure it out.)) You can read more about Coney Island over here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_island((Admin edit: We won't be bending history, so assume it's still closed.)) |
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Post by littlesongbird on Oct 8, 2011 15:27:04 GMT -8
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Post by victoriousscarf on Oct 11, 2011 20:46:18 GMT -8
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Post by victoriousscarf on Oct 13, 2011 17:34:20 GMT -8
Penthouses were an invention out of the Roaring Twenties:
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Post by littlesongbird on Oct 26, 2011 7:10:58 GMT -8
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Post by victoriousscarf on Nov 7, 2011 19:03:29 GMT -8
For an early tidbit on Christmas:
The Candy Cane was first manufactured in the 1920’s when Bob McCormack in Albany, Georgia first started making them as Christmas treat, giving them out to children, family, friends, and co-workers. Cany Cane production was a labor intensive process, done only by hand, until the candy cane machine was invented in the 1950’s by Bob McCormack’s brother in-law, Gregory Keller, who was also a Catholic priest. This machine made it possible to ship candy canes and it made the production of the traditional Christmas treat a lot easier.
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