Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee!

Indianapolis - 1929 and 2010

2010-08-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I've been silent a long time! Hopefully you all still remember me! :D I've had a very nasty case of writer's block, but that seems to have passed so I should be able to get back to blogging again! To get the ball rolling, I'm going to repost something that I had posted on my other blog, but what the heck, it's better off here what with the spacious layout and the silent film theme and all! So if you read this when I posted it the first time, just ignore and I will have some shiny new posts soon! :)

A few months ago, my mother and I were watching "Speedway" together (my mom is a William Haines fan too - how cool is that?) Well, we only got a few minutes into the movie before we realized that the film was not only set in Indianapolis, but was actually FILMED in Indianapolis too! We got a little too excited at the revelation and spent a minute or two screeching "THE CHURCH! THE CHURCH!" *

So now I can say that I have stood where William Haines AND Karl Dane once stood! To explain - last April we spent a night in Indianapolis in a hotel that is literally RIGHT where the opening scene was film! I have walked all around the road they drive down and what's more I have photographic evidence! Feast your eyes on screencaps of Indianapolis in 1929 and compare them to Indianapolis in 2010!

The elevated now...

...and the street view then.

The intersection now...

...and the intersection then.

(*This is the church we were screaming at*) The roundabout and church in front of the WWI Memorial now...

...and the church and roundabout then...

...and again here. You can see all the ivy on the church face is gone now - what a pity.

The WWI Memorial now (this was taken out of out hotel room window)...

...and Karl Dane driving in front of the WWI Memorial then.

The steps of the memorial behind the post office (1st photo) now...

...and Will Haines on the steps then!

If you want to see more on "Speedway", check out Raquelle of "Out of the Past" Flickr account where she has some really great screencaps of Anita Page!

I Don't Have Asthma, But I Do Have Hay Fever

2010-04-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

It's true. I don't have asthma, but my allergies have been acting up lately. So for me it's more sneeze sneeze than cough cough. Not that that bit of info is relevant in any way. I just felt like mentioning it. ;)

Well, two of my all-time favorite classic film bloggers, Millie & Kate have started up a fantastic survey and it's so super that I wanted to be a part of it!

1. Which actors do you always (or did you always) mix-up? Promise not to laugh? I always (and I mean ALWAYS) confuse Tom Mix and William S. Hart. I've had this problem for about 2 years, and I don't know if I'll ever get over it. Every time I see a picture of one or the other there is a 100% chance that I will name them incorrectly. This is a massive social handicap. I can hardly leave the house for shame of it.

No WONDER I can't tell them apart!!! I've never SEEN two men look more alike, nor have such SIMILAR film stlyes!!!

2. Gidget or Beach Party? Well, of the two I've only seen "Gidget" so "Gidget"!

3. Favorite Movie Outfit? Now I'm not entirely sure how to answer this one: do you mean an outfit that I would want to own, or something so over the top that it becomes cool? Because if you meant the latter, oh, what a wealth of choices the silent era has to offer! Of course, there is Rudy Valentino's pearl undergarments, Theda Bara dressed up as Spider Woman, & Alla Nazimova with bubbles in her hair all spring instantly to mind. But if you meant the former, I would kill for Ann Christy's Coney Island outfit in "Speedy". I honestly am drooling every time I see it. And no, it may not be the most exciting outfit in the history of humanity, but I think it's really cute.

Does the outfit also come with a day at Coney Island with Harold Lloyd?

4. If you could be ANY character in ANY movie...who would you choose? I think the answer is in the caption for the above photo.

5. If you could marry ANY character in ANY movie...who would you choose? (Excluding any Dana Andrews' characters. Seriously. ;-D) Hmm. That's a tough one. Will Haines in "Show People" maybe? Harold Lloyd in "Speedy"? (did that suddenly become my favorite movie without me realizing it?) I like most of Karl Dane's characters (the ones where's he all sweet and friendly, and NOT a super-intelligent villian, for example), but it seems like he always dies at the end of his good-guy movies and I'm not in the mood to be a fictional character's widow.

Sorry.

6. If you could live in ANY movie...which would you choose? I don't know, maybe a Fred & Ginger movie when I could have oodles of cash from who knows where, dress in all the latest styles, travel to exotic locations, and dance whenever I so pleased.

7. Black & White movies you wish were in Technicolor, or vice-versa? I wish every single Georges Melies film ever made was in glorious Technicolor. I know, some of them were hand tinted, but I think they would be stunning all in color.

8. Favorite Movie Soundtrack? Depending on my mood, either "Amelie" or "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Two very much different styles of music, but I like them both anyway!

9. Favorite Movie Dance Sequence? Hard to say, but really any time Fred Astaire starts dancing, I can't help but smile.

♥

10. Coolest Movie Star? (Cough, cough, BOBBY DARIN, cough, cough) Hoagy Carmichael. (Duh!)

Who cares if he's not in the movie for very long? He's still radiates cool!

11. Sophia or Gina (Oh, how Kate enjoys replaying Gina's sad defeat OVER AND OVER!) Honestly, neither. *Runs for cover*

12. "Isn't It Romantic" in most Billy Wilder films, or "Red River" in most John Ford films? Um...

13. If you could re-cast ANY role in ANY movie, what would it be? Well, Buster Keaton was supposed to get Lionel Barrymore's part in "Grand Hotel", so I'll go with that. Not because Lionel was bad in that part, but I'll take any excuse to watch Buster's movies. :)

14. Favorite movie character with your first name? Are there any characters named Elizabeth? I don't think I've seen any apart from "Pride & Prejudice".

I guess you win by default.

15. One movie that should NEVER be remade? (under THE THREAT OF A SLOW, PAINFUL DEATH!) Anything directed by King Vidor. Or any of the German Expressionist films.

King by name, king (of movies!) by nature.

16. Actor or Actress who you would love to be best friends with? Probably Charley Chase, but all of the Roach lot sounds fun to be around!

17. Are you an Oscar or a Felix? I'm ALL Oscar.

18. Actor/Actress you originally hated and now love? Marion Davies.

19. Actor/Actress you originally loved and now don't like? I never LOVED him, but I just can't tolerate Clark Gable any more.

20. Favorite performance that was looked over by Oscar? (Not to be confused with the aforementioned Oscar of Felix fame.) That would have to be "He Who Gets Slapped", I think Lon Chaney should have won an Oscar for ALL of his movies.

21. Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie? I'm going to have to go with "I Dream of Jeannie" on this one, because I don't like the second Darren.

22. Hannibal Heyes or Kid Curry? (Hint for those who don't know who they are: pick Kid Curry.) I won't rock the boat, so Kid.

23. Favorite Style Icon: Fred Astaire or Cary Grant? Carey Grant.

Stud.

24. Single most favorite movie scene EVER? Laurel & Hardy dancing in front of fake wild west backdrop in "Way Out West".

25. Movie you really "should" see, but have subconsciously been avoiding for who knows what reason? That would probably be "M". Everybody is always raving about how good it is and I do really like Peter Lorre, but I HATE gruesome movies.

26. Movie quote you find yourself most often repeating in real life? "He's bonafide!"

27. 50's Westerns or 60's Spies? (I can't even answer this myself...but you have to! MWAHAHAHA!) That's a tricky one. I might have to go with 60s spies, because Emma Peel is awesome.

28. Favorite splashy, colorful, obnoxious 50's musical? I would probably have to go with "Silk Stockings" because Peter Lorre dances and sings in it.

29. Favorite film setting (example: Rome, Paris, Seattle, Siberia, Chile, Sahara Desert, etc) I generally seem to like films set in Paris, but that's not a very original answer. :(

30. If you could own the entire wardrobe of any film, which would it be? "It". I thought the movie itself was okay, but I LOVED her clothes.

31. Carol Burnette or Lucille Ball? Technicolor Tessie.

32. Favorite Voice. Ever. Period? Cliff Edwards of course!

33. Favorite movie that takes place in your home-state? I can't think of any films that are set in Kansas. :/

34. Which actors would you want for relatives? (Mother, Father, Grandma, Crazy Aunt, annoying cousin, older brother, etc...) I'd love Lionel Barrymore for a Grandpa, like in "You Can't Take It With You".

See the Homes of the Silent Stars! - Pt. 3

2010-01-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

Here's the final part of our series! See part 1 or part 2. As usual, click on the picture to view it larger.

Enjoy!

I'm a Guest Blogger Again!

2010-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

I've been a busy one! Lolita of Lolita's Classics (a simply super blog that all of you should be following!) asked me to be her first guest blogger, so I wrote up a little review on Harold Lloyd's masterpiece "The Kid Brother", 1927. I hope I did the movie proper justice!

Read it here!

See the Homes of the Silent Stars! - Pt. 2

2010-01-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

First of all - how does everyone like the new header? :)

And now to business. I was very pleased with the response all of you gave for part 1 of the silent star's homes, and I hope you like this second part of the series just as much! Again, if you click on the photograph you can view a slightly larger version, as these are really best when viewed as large as possible.

Norma Talmadge

King and Florence Vidor

Charles Ray

Helen Chadwick

Jack Holt

Enjoy, and look out for part 3!

See the Homes of the Silent Stars! - Pt. 1

2010-01-10T21:10:00.001-08:00

Hello readers! I hope you all had a happy New Year! I took a bit of a break from blogging over December, (I actually forgot about my one year bloggiversary - it was December 26) but I am back again! So today I'm doing a post about something I got for Christmas last year - a set of souvenir color views of movie stars' homes c.1922!

The set came in it's original little paper envelope with room for address and stamp (unused), but the envelope is in kind of rough condition (somebody at some point got a little too excited when opening and tore it), and five cards from the set are missing, but the remaining 15 are in gorgeous condition! Not torn, not yellowed, not faded, and the paper is still stiff. I thought you all might like to take a look! (Click on the photo to view the image a little bit larger - they really look best as big as you can get them!)

Enjoy, and look out for parts 2 and 3!

I'm a Guest Blogger!

2010-01-03T20:04:00.001-08:00

My first guest post was published today!! It's a short history of one of my most favorite subjects, Cliff Edwards, for Kate Gabrielle's utterly wonderful blog, "Silents and Talkies", and she made a gorgeous sketch to match!

Read it here!

"The Big Parade", 1925

2009-12-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

I'm as pleased as punch to tell you all that I just realized that my most favorite movie,* "The Big Parade", is available for viewing on YouTube! I suppose I should have been more vigilant in checking for this as it isn't available on DVD (except for *cough cough* bootleg editions *cough cough*) But since I just finished reading "Forgotten Voices of the Great War" by Max Arthur (which was a really excellent read, and I highly recommend it) I was in the mood to rewatch the "Big Parade" and voila! there it was!

I'm not very good at describing King Vidor films. They really go beyond words, so I'm just going to have to insist that you watch it for yourselves!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

*My top 5 movies are, in order, "The Big Parade", "The Crowd", "Metropolis", "Sunset Boulevard", and "The Phantom of the Opera". As you can see, King Vidor is my most favorite director. :)

Edit:: Thanks to the advice of Matthew, I now own a copy of "The Big Parade", and I'm very glad that I just went ahead and ordered it, seeing as it is my most favorite movie. Thank you Matthew! :)

Vintage Christmas Music

2009-12-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

Taken from Anja Louise Verdugo's Flickr photostream.

(This post is specifically dedicated to Kate, who asked me where to find some vintage Christmas songs.)

Here follows some of the Christmas carols that I have had the great fortune to stumble upon while paroozing the Internet Archive! Just follow the links to download them!

1. "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" by the Westbrook Conservatory Entertainers, recorded 1929.

2. "Silent Night" by the Westbrook Conservatory Entertainers, recorded 1929.

3. A random assortment of Edison records of carol singers from the 1910s.

4. "The Awakening Of Scrooge" by Bransby Williams, recorded 1913.

5. "Silent Night" by Elizabeth Spencer, Harry Anthony, and James F. Harrison, recorded 1912 (this is the first song on the list.)

6. A collection of Christmas songs from 1898-1922 (I would specifically recommend this link!)

7. "The Only Thing I Want For Christmas" by Eddie Cantor, recorded 1939 (this is the fourth from the bottom.)

8. "I Want You For Christmas" by Mae Questral (the voice of Betty Boop) recorded 1937 (this is the ninth song on the list.)

9. "Christmas Morning At Flannigan's" by Steve Porter with the Columbia Orchestra, recorded 1906.

10. "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" by the Elektra Symphonie Orchester, recorded 1906.

And there you are! A nice little collection of carols so everyone can celebrate a vintage-y Christmas! And if you all like, I can provide links to Christmas radio shows. Just let me know if that would interest you! :)

"Imma let you finish, but Noah Young was the best heavy of all time!!"

2009-11-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Pardon the disgusting pop-culture reference. I promise it won't happen again. Also pardon the fact that I watch far too many 2-reelers and feel the need to dissect them.

As I've mentioned before, in my humble opinion, Noah Young is the greatest silent film heavy ever. I am utterly convinced of this, and cannot be persuaded to think otherwise (perhaps that opinion wasn't so humble as previously thought...) In our poll of Greatest Heavy Ever, the public reached an agreement that Oliver Hardy is the greatest villian while Noah only came in second place. Quite rude, and quite incorrect, really (my apologies to Matthew, who is convinced that the only heavy is Eric Campbell, who actually tied with Noah in 2nd.) I shall now give a list of reasons why Noah is so much better.

Let's start with the obvious, shall we? Mr. Young is very tall. Tall-ness isn't exactly necessary, (Vernon Dent being a good example) but it does help a great deal in the general intimidation factor. I'm not sure how tall he actually is, but he is taller than Charley Chase. I would guess he is probably 6'2"-6'3" which makes him taller than everyone he's ever bossed or bullied (unless at some point he's harrassed Roy Brooks, but I'm not aware of that happening.)

Second, he has played the heavy to other heavies. In other words, he has been the villain to Snub Pollard, Oliver Hardy, and James Finlayson, all of whom were heavies. I think that counts for something.

Third, in the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair he was declared the World's Strongest Man. Take that, Campbell!

Fourth, the somewhat fabulous rumor that once for a film he lay face down in the middle of the road and a car with four passengers in addition to the driver ran right over him but that he just got up and walked away perfectly fine. This seems maybe a little much, but in the days of early motion pictures anything goes. Buster Keaton breaking his neck, Peter Lorre being pushed down flights of stairs, and all the horror stories about the Keystone Cops all spring to mind.

Fifth, he is startlingly normal when compared to other villians. He leans towards the Al St. John-ish end of the scale with less makeup, little-to-no facial hair (with the exception of the occasional moustache on Noah's part), no opera capes, and no silken top hats. If you'll remember, this lack of ornamentation causes my sister to believe that they aren't truly heavies. I disagree, and I digress. Al St. John makes up for the lack of bizarre war-paint with his diabolical plottings and over-the-top stunting. Even if you should happen to agree with my sister about Al St. John being a "baby heavy" there really shouldn't be any doubt about Noah being a heavy. This lack of bizarreness really gives him an advantage on his acting too - he can play almost any character. For example, Snub Pollard is just so strange that he is very much limited to what he can play other than weirdo.

Poor Snub. We still love you.

Sixth, he is a surprisingly good actor. He does lean a great deal more towards pantomime, but he is fairly good in the talkies too. He looks an awful lot thinner in the late 20s, so I think the directors assumed he lost a lot of his power in the angry villian department because he starts to play good guys around this time. Still dummies, but good guys nonetheless. His last "big" role is probably "Welcome Danger" in 1929, which contrary to general opinion, I didn't think was that bad apart from the near-hellish dubbing (I really can't put enough emphasis on the term "near-hellish".) I haven't seen the silent version though so I can't really compare which is better, though I hear the silent version is twice as good as the talkie. Concerning talkies I really think he was at his best in "Feet First" from 1930. Even though he doesn't actually have any lines he was still hysterically funny as the confused sailor (but as I mentioned he is really best at pantomime, so silently taking bizarre scoldings from Harold Lloyd is a pretty good situation for him.)

(A scene from "Welcome Danger")

Seventh, he has the good title card introductions. Of course, Hal Roach is generally pretty good for funny title card introductions, but this is a luxury the other villians of the other studios did not get to enjoy. My personal favorites:

"Rough House O'Rafferty - so tough he could swim the English Channel with a sea lion under each arm and never miss a stroke" (From "A Sailor-Made Man").

Or a really bizarre one:

"Bull Brindle was so tough he wouldn't eat lady fingers unless they had brass knuckles." (From "For Heaven's Sake".)

If you say so. Roach has some pretty good ones for Snub Pollard and Oliver Hardy, so amusing introductions of villians aren't such a novelty, but that bit about brass knuckles is really something else.

Eighth, if IMdB is to be trusted (which it isn't, really) he appeared in 172 films. Quite a respectable number by anybody's standards.

Nineth, he had really wonderful chemistry with all of his foils. I know Harold Lloyd is generally the most popular, but I actually think he was really at his best with Charley Chase or Snub Pollard. Something about them really seems to click. Perhaps it's because Harold has a lot more good-natured vim and verve to him that perhaps doesn't fit quite so well with oversized Noah. Charley Chase is a little more dark-humored, and the surrealism of Snub Pollard really seem to suit a steadier, dumber villain. At least that's how I feel about it.

(A scene from "Do Detectives Think?")

Anyway, enough with the endless gab! I now leave you all to draw your own conclusions about Noah Young with some of his film appearances. I'm afraid there's naught but poor pickings for internet viewing, but I'll do the best I can!

First up, Noah as a mean boss with a penchant for pushing and strangling in "A Jazzed Honeymoon" from 1919.

Second, the really wonderfully good "For Heaven's Sake" from 1925. This one has Noah as a pickpocket-type who Harold converts with the help of his missionary girlfriend. (The scene when Noah and his cronies get drunk and try to bring Harold to his own wedding was particularly funny!) Click here to see part 1.

This is all I could find on the internet where he is on screen for more than a few seconds, but if you want to see more, look for DVD sets of Charley Chase, Laurel & Hardy, and Harold Lloyd. I would particularly recommend the DVD set "Becoming Charley Chase". On second thought, my recommendation is get BCC whether or not Noah Young has impressed you. I would also add, run, don't walk to get it if you know what's good for you.

Enjoy!

Minta Durfee Shrug Free Pattern

2009-11-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make the Minta Durfee Shrug available as a free pattern for all you knitters out there!

This started as a pattern from 1912 that I have given a gauge, changed the needles, changed the yarn, given it a size, and brought the terminology up to date. Please respect my copyrights, and remember that I do search for violators.

Anyway, on to the pattern!

Materials:
Size 7 knitting needles
2 balls Patons Classic Wool Merino

Size: One size fits all, but if want to change the sizing, all you have to do it adjust the gauge!

Gauge: 4 sts x 8 rows = 1" in garter stitch

CO 19 sts. K 1 row.
Row 2: K2, yo, k15, yo, k2. K 3 rows.
Row 6: K3, yo, k15, yo, k3. K 3 rows.
Continue in this manner, adding 1 stitch before and after the yo every 4th row and remembering to work the 3 plain rows in between. Continue in this manner until there are 79 sts on the row.
Next row: K 32, slip these sts to a stitch holder. Bind off the next 15 sts for the back of the neck. *On the remaining 32 sts k for 80 rows, ending with the last row facing the neck edge.
Next row: K 31, turn, k back.
Next row: K 30, turn, k back.
Continue in this manner leaving one more stitch each row until there are no more stitches left. Bind off all 32 sts. Sew the lower part of the corresponding side of the back, thus forming the armhole.
Repeat from * with the sts on the stitch holder.

And voila! The Minta Durfee shrug!

Better in the Talkies

2009-11-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

Educational Pictures. "The Spice of the Program" my right eyeball. Half-soused has-been silent comedians rehashing old gags that simply do not work in the talkies, more like it. All right, so they did release "The Iron Mule", but the vast majority of the shorts I've seen are as rotten as a month old egg. The only reason that you would dare watch one of those atrocites is because you are particularly fond of that actor and for historical reasons wish to see them in their twilight years. HOWEVER - there is one actor who managed to make the rehashed Educational gag actually funnier than the original. This magician of a man - Harry Langdon with the cold routine. It's almost twice as funny when you can actually hear him coughing and sneezing away. Besides, Vernon Dent much a much nastier (thus funnier) "villian" in the talking version.

In both the silent and the talkie version, the routine runs about 10 minutes and consists almost entirely of closeups of Harry taking cold medicine. Honestly, he is the only man I've ever known who can have a close-up of one action for 10 minutes and still make it funny. He first used the routine in "The Strong Man" from 1926, and used in again in "The Hitchhiker" in 1933. The routine is the main feature of the "Hitchhiker", whereas the "Strong Man" has a plot and the routine makes up just a small part of the film.

The original silent version (it starts at 5:30 on the first video and continues into the second):

The later, talking version:

So tell me, do you also believe the talkie version to be funnier?

I'm A Member Of Spiffy!

2009-11-08T08:41:00.001-08:00

I'm very pleased to tell you all that I am now an official co-editor of the lovely blog Spiffy! Thank you so much Casey and Kate for letting me be a part of this!

You can read my first post here!

Charlie Chaplin with Abe Lyman and His Orchestra

2009-11-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know. I'm a terrible Chaplin fan. However, as much as I admire him, he is not my most favorite character in history for several reasons, which I intend to use as my excuse for the following statements:

Today I found out that in 1925, Charlie Chaplin wrote two songs for Abe Lyman and His Orchestra, and actually conducted the band for the recording of those songs. I did not know this up until today, even though I have been watching Chaplin since I was 13 and listening to Abe Lyman for about a year now. I'm really quite surprised that I only heard about this today, seeing as this sort of thing should be right up my alley.

Anyway, here are those two songs compiled nicely into one video. The first is "Sing A Song", and the second is entitled "With You Dear, In Bombay".

If you liked those two songs, here is a link to them on the Internet Archive, so you can download to your iPod and listen to your heart's content! (Notice the gross errors on the spelling? "Charley Chaplan"? "Abe Lymon"? Oy vey!)

Free Crochet Pattern From 1925

2009-10-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

I have another free pattern from my collection for everyone! This was one taken from the May 1925 issue of Needlecraft Magazine, and is for a filet crochet camisole top. It would have been used on the top of camisoles or slips, but would have been going out of style by the this point in the decade, so I've never seen a pattern for a camisole top after 1925. I'm making this myself using a 1.25 mm hook, and size 30 crochet cotton, same as the pattern suggests.

The finished project:

Part 1:

Part 2:

And remember, antique crochet terms are the same as modern British terms. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask!

The Woes of Larry Semon

2009-09-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

I watch a lot of silent movies (and I can't possibly put enough emphasis on "a lot".) Of all those silent films I watch, about 75% are 2-reel comedies (I'm a high class dame, I is!) I've come to appreciate even the most unappreciated comedians. I've seen hours of Lloyd Hamilton, Gale Henry, Lupino Lane, Johnny Arthur, Clyde Cook, Snub Pollard, Billy West, "A Ton of Fun", Fred Evans and Charley Bowers, even though they are generally pushed aside by film historians in order to get a closer look at the better remembered "Big Three", and (to a degree) the lesser remembered Harry Langdon and Charley Chase. But there is one (and only one, actually) of the un-remembered comedians that I simply cannot wrap my head around, try as I like. The poor sap - Larry Semon.

Let me try and explain why I dislike him. He looks strange, but admittedly no stranger than Snub Pollard. He's very slapstick-y, same as Al St. John. He conducts his stunts on a grand scale, just like Buster Keaton. His titlecards contain a lot of word play, much like Harold Lloyd. If you go along these lines, he should be right up my alley, but he isn't. Snub Pollard, Al St. John, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd are going places. They are somebody, and they are doing something. Snub Pollard will have a healthy dose of surrealism and camera trickery. Al St. John (ever the cowboy) will undoubtedly do some stunting while riding a horse. Buster Keaton will have some sort of wry observation on modern life. Harold Lloyd will show the beauty of the human spirit. But Larry Semon just falls down, goes boom, and makes a big mess. Perhaps that is all that he is meant to do, but just making a big mess does not a very appealing persona make, and there isn't anything human involved. By the time the short is over, all that's happened is he's wrecked a few homes and torn his trousers. And don't you dare say "That was all Sennett did!" No - Sennett is mocking social standards and poking fun at the Victorian melodrama (and since the Victorian melodrama was the most popular silent film plot, he is essentially thumbing his nose at the movies themselves.)

(Neither Stanley Laurel nor Oliver Hardy can make me like Larry Semon. Sorry fellows!)

Because Semon isn't really anybody, it then puts him on the awkward spot of not being able to make that emotional connection with the audience. The other girls who I work with on 502movies (which we are over halfway done with and should be public fairly soon) have heard me rant about how silent films are better than talkies because they make that all-important emotional connection with the audience. To sum up the speech: Silent films are not whole because they do not have sound or color, so they need someone to see them to really come to life. A talkie doesn't actually need anybody, because they make their own noises, they show their own faces, and the music sets the mood. They are their own little world, and you (the viewer) are excluded from it, and must be content with peeking in the window. But silents, all black and white and mute, need a person to come alive, thus they become intensely personal. But Larry Semon is dangerously close to becoming a talkie, what with the way everything just goes flying by at a million miles an hour. There is one difference between Semon and a talkie - with a talkie they give us a reaction that we are just supposed to accept. In a Semon we don't get time to have a reaction to the massive damage he's made, so how can we possibly come to like him? No connection can be made, because neither Larry nor the audience can possibly have a reaction to the destruction before something else over-the-top happens. (Straying slightly off-topic, this is why I often find Buster Keaton and Harry Langdon the easiest to make that emotional connection with - they have such wonderful reactions to the chaos that we can share their surprise and horror and still have our own independent ideas about the situation.)

If you have had the patience to hear me become philsophical about slapstick, I would love for you all to watch some Larry Semon and share your opinions!

Random Assortment of 1920s Songs V

2009-09-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ain't that the sweetest picture? Found on D*R*C's Flickr photostream.

It's been awhile since I last did a "Random Assortment" post, and since they seem to be the general favorites around here, I thought it was high time I did another!

1. "Let Me Linger Longer In Your Arms" by Henry Burr and the Peerless Quartet, recorded 1926. I've come to realize that Henry Burr's songs are very good for quiet, rainy days!

2. "It Seems To Be Spring" by the Sunshine Boys, recorded 1929. I think I might put this on the player on the bottom of the page...

3. "Queen Of Egypt" by Abe Lyman's California Ambassador Hotel Orchestra, recorded 1923.

4. "Out O'Town Gal" by Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, recorded 1928.

5. "How Am I To Know?" by Gene Austin, recorded 1929.

6. "He's a Good Man To Have Around" by Billy Murray with Dick Sherwin and His Orchestra, recorded 1929. I like this song a lot. Just the way everything is phrased reminds me a lot of my own slang and how I word my sentences.

7. "Just You, Just Me" by Cliff Edwards, recorded 1929. I specially dedicate this number to Nicole of "Classic Hollywood Nerd" who just discovered Ukulele Ike for herself! To anyone else who isn't familiar with Cliff Edwards - if you don't like this song, then you just can't like music! ;)

8. "How I'll Miss You" by Hal Kemp and His Orchestra, recorded 1929.

9. "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" by Al Jolson, recorded 1928.

10. "I Used to Love Her in the Moonlight" by the Ipana Troubadours, recorded 1929. This is another song that I just really like the lyrics.

Enjoy!

The Best "Heavy" Results!

2009-08-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

Here our the winners of our Best "Heavy" Poll! I found the results to be rather interesting...

Sharing last place without having received a single vote are Vernon Dent (Harry Langdon's heavy) and "Snub" Pollard (Harold Lloyd's heavy)! I was rooting for Pollard, poor fellow!

In fourth place with one vote each is James Finlayson (Laurel & Hardy's heavy) and Mack Sennett (back-up Keystone heavy)!

The three men holding third place with each getting two votes are Al St. John (Roscoe Arbuckle's heavy), Joe Roberts (Buster Keaton's heavy), and Mack Swain (Keystone heavy).

Sharing second place with four votes apiece is Eric Campbell (Charlie Chaplin's heavy) and Noah Young (Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, Harold Lloyd, "Snub" Pollard, and James Finlayson's heavy)! I voted for Noah Young, and I'll tell you why: besides heavying other heavys, he was also declared the World's Strongest Man at the 1915 World's Fair. He earned the title by (among other things) picking up a 250 pound weight off the ground and lifting it over his head with only one arm. He was also a staunch pacifist, which I thought was rather interesting.

And finally, our winner and the Greatest Heavy Ever is Oliver Hardy (heavy to Stanley Laurel, Billy West, and Charley Chase)!

Hurrah for Ollie, and look for the next poll, the Alternate Triumvirate!

Edit:: I forgot to mention, I think Ford Sterling deserves honorable mention, because of all the silent heavies, he's the only one I know of who actually tied a girl to the railroad tracks!

Two Sisters Tag

2009-08-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

My sister and I may not have a lot of things in common, but we are both crazy over classic film. That being said, what we look for in a movie is different, and can often inspire lengthy debates. I thought it might be interesting to start a tag on the things we argue over most to see what the rest of you think!

1. Do you like Greta Garbo?
My answer in this matter is a resounding "Yes!" In my opinion her silents are much better than her talkies - her height, dramatic facial features, and strong gestures are perfectly suited for pantomime. My sister on the other hand doesn't care for Greta Garbo. My sister explains that it isn't so much her acting, but her rather disastrous personal life that irks her.

2. In Buster Keaton's MGM films, do his gestures and his plots resemble those of Harry Langdon?
This particular question has inspired hours and hours of hearty debates. My sister is utterly convinced that Buster never at any point was inspired even slightly by Harry Langdon. She says that it is just the change of directing that makes him act differently, but that he isn't actually imitating Harry Langdon. In my opinion, when Buster had to find a different character, and he (perhaps only subconciously) picked up a lot of Langdon. His gestures become less free and loping, and instead become more tight and jumpy, like Harry Langdon. He also loses his tenacity and becomes more docile, more pathos-laden, like Harry Langdon.

3. Who is your favorite director of silent dramas?
My sister prefers the Victorian melodramas of D. W. Griffith. I prefer the more modern tales of King Vidor or Erich Von Stroheim.

4. Do Harold Lloyd's movies (movies, not shorts) drag along?
I'm of the opinion that they do not, but my sister insists that the chase scenes go nowhere, the stories take too long to finish, and the plots aren't interesting enough. She does like his shorts though, she just doesn't care for his movies.

5. Who made better silent shorts, Mack Sennett or Hal Roach?
My sister prefers the wild slapstick of Mack Sennett, but I prefer the nice mix of slapstick and word-play that comes with a Hal Roach short. Of course, I do enjoy Sennett (KEYSTONE Sennett), and she does like Hal Roach, but I generally prefer Hal Roach, and she generally prefers Sennett.

6. Is Al St. John a genuine heavy, or a baby heavy? (This is based on the idea of the "Baby Vamp", which was the character of the girl who was vampish, but not a vamp.)
My sister doesn't really quite believe Al St. John is a genuine heavy because he doesn't have the crazy facial hair, and because he isn't quite so muscular as some of the other heavies (such as Noah Young or Eric Campbell). However, I'm firmly convinced that Al St. John is actually a heavy, moustache or no. He's too diabolical to not be one.

7. Do you like 1920s musicals?
My sister doesn't really care for musicals at all, in particuar the early ones. I like the 1920s musicals - no real plots, just a lot of fun music and interesting costumes, and probably a 2-strip technicolor ending!

8. Do you like Al Jolson's movies?
My sister hates his music, and even has a nasty impression of him. I'm not really sure what's she got against him because I'm a HUGE Jolson fan.

9. Who is your favorite animal star?
She says Asta from "The Thin Man" movies, but I like the monkey in "The Cameraman".

Now you list three other people to tag so:
Lolita
Kate Gabrielle
Matthew Coniam

Enjoy!

Help the Forgotten Shorts!

2009-08-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

As these things so often happen, I find something wildly obscure, decide that it is the best thing that ever happened to society, and take it upon myself to bring it to the public eye (this explains the book I'm researching, every piece of music I listen to, and pretty much every movie I watch. In fact, this desire to make un-popular things popular is one of the reasons why I started this blog in the first place.)

In my opinion (and I'm sure that there are some of you who have opposing feelings) TCM's main purpose is really to play pre-code films, both silents and talkies. There really isn't any call for TCM to play "Annie Hall" twice a month. Pre-codes never play on any other channels, and are rarely on DVD. Also, there is no call to play "Annie Hall" twice a month. TCM has of late become rather carried away with post-50s movies, SUCH AS "ANNIE HALL" PLAYING TWICE A MONTH. It's become quite a joke in my family that I'm always harrasing TCM for something. I'm constantly voting to get those pre-codes on DVD, or to at least play them. Well, today I have a particular mission to aid certain obscure films that TCM has pushed aside so that they can, oh, I don't know, PLAY "ANNIE HALL" TWICE A MONTH.

Anyway, it has come to my attention that only one of the Dane & Arthur shorts are available on DVD ("A Put Up Job" from 1931.) Nothing makes me sadder than to think of all those shorts mouldering away somewhere. I hate to think of any film being unloved, but as you all know, I have a particular fondness for Mr. Karl Dane and Mr. George K. Arthur. So today I ask you all to lend a helping hand to get these films some attention and release them on DVD! All I ask of you is to very simply vote for them OR suggest them (or perhaps both if you are so inclined.) It's not a lot, but if enough of us vote for a few rather obscure films, TCM should sit up and take notice!

I was rather disappointed to find that so few shorts even had a TCM page. For those that do, please click on the VOTE button to get them out on DVD. Here are those lucky ones:
"Baby Mine", 1928
"Brotherly Love", 1928
"China Bound", 1929

Most do not have an TCM page, but are listed on IMDB. To help the following, click here and recommend some of them to be played. Here they are:
"All At Sea", 1929
"Broken Wedding Bells", 1930
"Circus Rookies", 1928
"Detectives", 1928
"Dizzy Dates", 1930
"Dumbbells in Derbies", 1931
"Knights Before Christmas", 1930
"Lime Juice Nights", 1931
"Men Without Skirts", 1930
"Rookies", 1927

I'm not forcing anyone to participate, but I'd love to see these out on DVD, and I would really appreciate if you at least cast a vote for the three shorts that have TCM pages!

Thank you for reading my angry little rant, but TCM has been rather disappointing as of late, and I do get so fired up about forgotten films!

The All-Star Trio

2009-08-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

One of my current favorite acoustic novelty bands is the All-Star Trio, consisting of Wheeler Wadsworth on saxophone, Victor Arden (of Arden-Ohman's Orchestra!) on piano, and George Hamilton Green on xylophone. Some of their recordings are made with a backing orchestra, but I personally prefer the songs done with just the three of them. I don't really know that much about the band, but I'll share my top three favorites with you!

First up (naturally!) is "Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee! (You're the Only One For Me)" from 1920. (My favorite version is still the one by Frank Crumit, but this one is probably my second favorite!)

Next, we have "Rosie, Make It Rosie for Me", also from 1920.

Third is "Afghanistan", recorded 1920. I love this song - it seems the epitome of the early 20s (at least that's how I feel!)

I decided only to share three because they recorded a lot of music from the late teens to the early twenties, and if I didn't give myself a limit I'd never stop! So if they interested you, the Red Hot Jazz website has a lot more of their songs, so click here to hear more!

Enjoy!

I've Been Tagged!

2009-08-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Matthew of Movietone News came up with a really excellent tag that he has demanded we all partake in, so how can I refuse?

1. Your favourite Humphrey Bogart film in which he doesn't play a gangster or a private eye. (Oh, and not including Casablanca either.)
"To Have or Have Not", 1944.

2. Your favourite appearance by a star in drag (boy-girl or girl-boy).
Roscoe Arbuckle in "Coney Island", 1917. (How could it be anything else?)

3. Your favourite Laurel & Hardy film; short or feature, or one of each. (This will sort out the men from the boys - or perhaps the men from the girls.)
The short "Tit For Tat" from 1935, and the movie "Bonnie Scotland", also from 1935.

4. Your favourite appearance by one star in a role strongly associated with another star. (Eg: Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, Grace Kelly as Tracy Lord, Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates...)
Freddy Bartholomew in "Little Lord Fauntleroy", 1936.

5. The thirties or forties star or stars you most think you'd like, but have yet to really get to know.
Kate Gabrielle has me really interested in Ruthelma Stevens...

6. Your favourite pre-Petrified Forest Bette Davis film.
I don't like Bette Davis.

7. Your favourite post-Mildred Pierce Joan Crawford film.
I tend to avoid post-Mildred Pierce Joan Crawford. She got a little too weird for me.

8. Your favourite film that ends with the main character's death.
"Grand Hotel", 1933.

9. Your favourite Chaplin talkie.
I don't like his talkies, but if pushed I'd say "The Great Dictator" from 1940.

10. Your favourite British actor and actress.
George K. Arthur. Love that Gussie Fink-Nottle Lisp!

11. Your favourite post-1960 appearance by a 1930's star.
Buster Keaton in that episode of "The Twilight Zone" from 1961. He still had it!

12. Dietrich or Garbo?
Garbo! My family is a society of Dietrich-despisers.

13. Karloff or Lugosi?
Lugosi.

14. Chaplin or Keaton? (I know some of you will want to say both for all of the above. Me too. But you can't.)
Keaton. I got my start in silent film with Charlie Chaplin, but I really love a good Buster short.

15. Your favourite star associated predominantly with the 1950's.
Lucille Ball.

16. Your favourite Melvyn Douglas movie.
"Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse", 1948.

17. The box-office failure you most think should have been a success.
"A Christmas Story", 1983. How could this film not have made money in the theaters?

18. Your favourite performance by an actor or actress playing drunk.
Tom Ewell in "Seven Year Itch" when he attacks Marilyn Monroe on the piano bench.

19. Your favourite last scene of any thirties movie.
"City Lights" from 1931.

20. Your favourite American non-comedy silent movie.
"The Big Parade", 1925. The scene in the trenches when John Gilbert is forced to hear Slim dying and he can't do anything to help him - heartbreaking.

21. Your favourite Jean Harlow performance.
"Dinner at Eight", 1933. I love when she says she must keep her skin out the sun, but she's got on this skimpy little number.

22. Your favourite remake. (Quizmaster's definition: second or later version of a work written as a movie, not a later adaptation of the same novel or play.)
I can't come up with anything that didn't have it's start as a book. Grr.

23. Your favourite Orson Welles performance in a film he did not direct, not including The Third Man.
I can't come up with anything that he didn't directed! I'm having a hard time with these questions!

24. Your favourite non-gangster or musical James Cagney film or performance.
We are also a society of Cagney-haters. His dancing...it hurts to watch.

25. Your favourite Lubitsch movie.
"Ninotchka", 1939. But really all of his films are good.

26. Who would win in a fight: Miriam Hopkins or Barbara Stanwyck? (Both in their prime; say in 1934 or so.)
Miriam Hopkins. She looks meaner.

27. Name the two stars you most regret never having co-starred with each other, and - if you want - choose your dream scenario for them. (Quizmaster's qualification: they have to be sufficiently contemporary to make it possible. So, yes to Cary Grant and Lon Chaney Jr as two conmen in a Howard Hawks screwball; no to Clara Bow and Kirsten Dunst as twin sisters on the run from prohibition agents in twenties Chicago, much though that may entice.)
Upon reading this question to my mother, she suggest Buster Keaton and Lillian Gish together in which they do nothing but blink their great big cow eyes at each other. I'm all for it.

28. Your favourite Lionel Barrymore performance.
"You Can't Take it With You", 1938.

29. Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard or Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour? (See note on question 14.)
Dorothy Lamour. I've got an issue with Paulette Goddard (apparantly I have an issue with everyone!)

30. You won't want to answer this, but: there's been a terrible fire raging in the film libraries of all the major studios. It's far too late to save everything. All you can do is save as much as you can. You've been assigned the thirties. All you'll have time to drag from the obliterating inferno is one 1930's film each from Paramount, MGM, RKO, Columbia, Universal and Warners. Do you stomp around in a film buff's huff saying 'it's too hard, I can't choose just one' and watch them all go up in smoke? Or do you roll your sleeves up and start saving movies? But if the latter: which ones...?
What a dreadful scenerio. I imagine me somewhere along the lines of the first suggestion, but I'd probably "go down with the ship."

I'm sure you all hate me now.

The Best "Heavy" Awards

2009-08-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

(Just to clear up any potential confusion, the "heavy" was the nickname for the comedic villians in silent films because the amount of makeup and false facial hair they wore.)

As promised, here is the list of the nominees for the Best "Heavy" Award!

1. Mack Swain, partly for bullying Roscoe Arbuckle, partly for kidnapping Mabel Normand, but mostly for trying to eat Charlie Chaplin in "The Gold Rush".

2. Noah Young, because by my count he has bullied, bossed, and beaten with nightsticks Stanley Laurel, James Finlayson, Harold Lloyd, Oliver Hardy, Snub Pollard, and Charley Chase. Also because my mother is says Noah looks like "a monster" (to be fair, when she first saw him he did just chuck someone down a flight of stairs in a drunken rage).

3. "Snub" Pollard, because he looks so very strange when he stands next to Harold Lloyd, which makes him somewhere between criminal genius and weirdo.

4. Joe Roberts, because of his generally dastardly behavior as the captain in "The Love Nest", which included throwing perfectly good crew members overboard just because they irritated him. His work as the bad tempered jail bird in "Convict 13" should also be mentioned.

5. Vernon Dent, because it isn't nice to pick on someone as defenseless as Harry Langdon, and that alone earns him a place here.

6. Oliver Hardy, because in his first film with Stanley Laurel he robs Stan at gunpoint.

7. Al St. John, because he sends Mabel Normand out to sea, because of the absolute NIGHTMARE of a short "Curses!" (whacking the man over the head with a flapjack three or four times while the fellow screams "No more of the flapjacks! Not the flapjacks!" is extremely bizarre and for the last three years has been the center of an inside joke in our family), and because he steals Roscoe Arbuckle's girl on a regular basis.

8. Eric Campbell, because he has 10 times more facial hair than any other silent star in all of history (and I'm accepting challenges for the title of Hairiest Heavy!)

9. James Finlayson, because it is he, not Homer Simpson who coined the phrase "D'oh!"
10. Mack Sennett, because he may not appear in many of his own shorts, but when he does he is stranger, uglier, and meaner than anything else he managed to conjure up at Keystone Studios.

Well there you have it folks! I was aiming for 5 villians, but there are so many good ones that couldn't afford to be forgotten. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone - you'll have to remind me if I did!

Enjoy, and don't forget to vote!

1928 Studio Cards

2009-08-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Since you all seemed to enjoy the post about my lastest antique findings, I thought I should share one of my older finds - a set of three studio cards from 1928. There were about a dozen packs of cards in the antique store, with each pack holding three cards. They have no identification as to how old they are or where they came from (i.e., cigarette cards, studio autographs, movie theaters) but I recognize Buster suit as the one he wears in "The Cameraman" (1928) and Harold Lloyd's suit as the one he wears in "Speedy" (1928) so I've just assumed that the entire set is from 1928. (I didn't recognize Adolphe Menjou's suit - anybody know what movie it's from?)

You'll notice that the "K" in "Keaton" backwards. I've only seen that on one other autograph - the rest are all fine.

Adolphe is looking pretty dapper (as usual!)

Don't forget, the 5th is Harold Lloyd day on TCM's Summer Under the Stars!

They are all actually black and white, but they rather insistently scan sephia.

Enjoy!

Karl Dane

2009-07-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

I (like many others in the silent film community) have a terrific fondness for Karl Dane. He had so much talent, a terribly tragic life story, and was such an old sweetheart that you can't help but sit up and notice him.

I think the first role that I would have seen him in was his part in the Rudolph Valentino movie "The Son Of the Sheik", and again in "The Mysterious Island" (the 1929 version) but I really started to notice him when I saw the Arthur & Dane short "A Put Up Job" from 1931, which is found on this DVD. I liked his character - a sort of gentle, goofy, good-hearted giant was perfect with George K. Arthur's little British persona. When I saw the short I could understand Karl perfectly, so the rumors about talkies ruining him are all wet as far as I'm concerned (and I should point out, I often have trouble understanding accents in the early talkies.) I'm afraid that none of their shorts are available to view online, and I'm not aware of any others being on DVD, but I'll tell you should they ever be.

Of course, if he is going to be remembered for anything, it will be "The Big Parade" with John Gilbert. Anytime I see it, I really feel that Gilbert, for all of his good looks and acting ability, seems more of a second banana when Karl Dane steps into the scene. (By the way, when is that going to be on DVD? It has over 300 votes on TCM!) If you have the opportunity to see it, be sure to take a look, and you'll see what I mean. I suppose that's the mark of a good actor - when they can dominate the screen even with a small part.

Now, Hala Pickford of "Forget the Talkies" did a post on Karl Dane a little while ago in which she edited the bits of the serial "The Whispering Shadow" to give a demonstration of his acting ability while in the talkies. I should warn you - the clips have a lot of spoilers and if you're anything like me, when you hear the phrase "radio-operated death ray" you'll want to see the movie in full! If that's the case, all 12 parts are available on YouTube.

Finally, the very first biography on Karl Dane is due to be released soon (I don't know when, but I'm eagerly waiting!) If you are interested in it too, here's a link to the author's website. The stories I've heard about him sound so sweet (where have all the nice people gone in this world?) so I'm really itching to get my hands on the book and learn more about him.

Enjoy!

Antique Store Finds

2009-07-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my Mother and I went poking around some local antique stores. We weren't really there to do any major shopping, but I did pick up three photographs and a book, and I thought the rest of you might like to take a peek.

I've wanted to read "Scaramouche" for a long time (I loved 1923 silent with Ramon Navarro) and lo and behold, I found the movie copy of the book! It has some old photographs of scenes from the movie inside, much like my copy of "The Freshman". I think I might have to start collecting silent movie books.

Here are the three photos that I picked up as well. I don't know who any of these people are, and there isn't any identification on them, but I would guess they are all late 1920s.

I showed this to my father and he guessed that he might have been a logger, or something along those lines.

It looks like they're standing near a bridge?

They look like a nice, happy family.

Enjoy!

1925 Golf Sweater

2009-07-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

I've promised more posts on my vintage knitting projects, so here's a sports vest from 1925 that I finished last night. (I don't have the buttons for it yet, but as soon as I do I'll get a picture of me wearing it.)

That's my skirt in the way, but this also happened to be the best picture of the vest!

If you want to make one too, here's a link to the free pattern.

For once I actually used the colors suggested by the pattern! Of course, I used a tweed yarn instead of a plain wool, but this is still the closest to the suggestion I've ever gotten! I used Cascade 220 Tweed and size 7 American needles for the body and size 1 1/2 for the trim. I know that seems like a pretty outrageous size difference, but if you use too large of a needle the trim will flare and ruffle unattractively. It is far, far better to err on the small side.

The pattern is made for a size 36 and it fit me perfectly without making a single adjustment. I rarely have to adjust 1920s patterns, but still it is a good feeling to just use a vintage pattern instead of spending all that extra time to figure out how to make it fit. I would really recommend it to someone not familiar with vintage, just so long as you're willing to pick up hundreds of stitches to make the trim. On the other hand, there isn't any seams which can make a pattern a lot easier.

I don't suppose any of my readers has made this vest too?

"Egged On", 1926

2009-07-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Remember good old Charley Bowers? Well, someone posted an excerpt from another one of his shorts on YouTube! This one is from the 1926 short, "Egged On". Unfortunately it's only 4 mintues, and perhaps even more unfortunately it's in French, but fans of the obscure (much like beggers) cannot be choosers.

As I've mentioned, there is no place to view an entire Charley Bowers short on the internet, but there is a compilation of Charley Bowers shorts on DVD, and there is another short on the "More Treasures From the American Film Archives" if you're interested to see more.

Enjoy!

Random Assortment of 1920s Songs IV

2009-07-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Time for some more random music!

1. "After I Say I'm Sorry" by Josephine Baker, recorded 1927.

2. "The Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side)" by Vernon Dalhart, recorded 1925.

3. "I Wonder Where My Baby is Tonight" by Henry Burr, Billy Murray, Carl Mathieu, and Frank Banta (piano), recorded 1926. (I love this song! Their voices blend together so well!)

4. "Little Pal" by Al Jolson, recorded 1929. (Heartbreaking!)

5. "I Can't Sleep in the Movies Anymore" by Arthur Fields and the Broadway Merry Makers, recorded 1929.

6. "My Blue Heaven" by Vaughn DeLeath, recorded 1928.

7. "Half Way to Heaven" by Cliff Edwards, recorded 1928.

8. "Alma Mammy" by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, recorded 1929. (Mocking poor Jolson!)

9. "A Little Music in the Moonlight" by Johnny Marvin, recorded 1927. (Cliff Edwards impersonator!!!)

10. "T'ain't So, Honey, T'ain't So" by Bing Crosby with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, recorded 1928.

Enjoy!

Hawaii

2009-07-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hawaii was not officially a state until the 1950s, but it had been part of US territory since 1900. Much like today, the Hawaiian islands were a very popular tourist destination during the 1920s. The traditional music was absorbed into jazz and the blues, and even some touches of the exotic styles were adopted into our popular fashions (for example, the classic Hawaiian shirt, while mostly thought of being part of the 1950s fashion, actually originated from the 1920s!) I love the idea of the Hawaiian flapper, and today I'll help you back to the 1920s and onto exotic islands!

Here's a link to two maps from the 1920s of Hawaii, the first from Niihau, and the second of Kahoolawe.

Here are some photographs (mostly of airfields) of some very pretty scenery of Hawaii from the 1920s.

This cruise ad is beautiful and all in color, but it a little too large to fit on here.

Naturally, some of my favorite jazzy-Hawaiian songs are the ones made by Cliff Edwards with Andy Iona and His Islanders, but they wouldn't belong here as they were all made during the 1930s, but I do have plenty of other goodies!

1. "Aloha Oe (Farewell to Thee)" by the Kalama's Quartette from 1928.

2. "Don't Say Aloha Oe When I Go" by the Royal Hawaiians from 1927.

3. "Honolulu Blues" by Cole McElroy's Spanish Ballroom Orchestra from 1927.

4. "The Hula Blues" by the Royal Hawaiians from 1927.

5. "I'll Fly to Hawaii" by Gus Edwards and His Orchestra from 1926.

6. "My Little Grass Shack" by du Luau from 1928.

7. "On the Beach at Waikiki" by Kalama's Quartette from 1928.

8. "Tropical Hula" by the South Sea Islanders from 1927.

There are so many more good Hawaiian inspired bands from the 1920s, that I really recommend looking around yourself for more!

And finally, he's a little documentary from the 1920s on world travel (but the first minute is on Hawaii, including some rather interesting footage of surfing!)

Enjoy, and I'll see you in Hawaii!

One Lovely Blog Award!

2009-07-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

I received the One Lovely Blog Award from Nean the Bean of Mumble Jumble2! I really recommend looking up her knitting patterns, especially the Doll Baby pattern! Thank you very much Nean!

The rules: Accept the award and post it on your blog with the name of the person that gave it to you. Pass on the award to as many bloggers as you wish and let them know you chose them for the award.

So I hereby pass on the Lovely Blog Award to:

Elena-Lu of Elena-Lu

Krystle of Krystle's Deco World

Kate Gabrielle of Silents and Talkies

Lolita of Lolita's Classics

and Noah Price of the International Silver String Submarine Blog

Thank you again, Nean!

"His First Flame", 1927

2009-07-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

I think it's time for more Langdon, don't you?

Now I say this, knowing full well that I will probably be mauled by an angry mob of Chaplin-lovers, but I really believe that Harry Langdon is the vastly superior pantomimist. I will admit, Charlie is more talented all around: he wrote music, directed, wrote screenplays, acted, and taught himself to play three instruments. BUT Harry is the better artist and the better pantomimist. Also in Charlie's defense, Harry writing for himself isn't very funny, but then again, Harry writing for Laurel & Hardy is much better.

So today's movie is the 1927 "His First Flame". It's a really good demonstration of his pantomime prowess. Watch his reactions, and you'll see what I mean.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Enjoy!

Winner of the Bertie Wooster Awards

2009-06-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the polls have closed and the readers have spoken! Now we shall see the results of the "Bertie Wooster Awards!"

In last place, with only one vote (which I find rather sad, as I was really rooting for him!) is Johnny Arthur!

Tied in second place with 3 votes apiece is Lupino Lane and Charley Chase!

And finally, in a tie for first place with 4 votes each, is "Bad" Harold Lloyd and George K. Arthur!

Thanks to everyone who voted, and look forward to our next poll, the greatest silent villian!

Adventurers and Adventuresses

2009-06-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an archaeologist and dash off to Egypt to uncover mummies and explore pyramids. Today I don't have plans to be an archaeologist, but I still study ancient Egyptian history, and I love the stories of the old adventurers, such as Carter and Maspero. I'm now going to show you some of my findings on adventurers and adventuresses of the 1920s!

First up, here are some photographs I've found on Flickr:

From Striderv's Flickr.

Even more from Striderv.

If you click here, you can see a picture of a very cool fellow adventurer (who looks a little like Peter Lorre?)

And here is a photo of a group of travellers going down the Nile.

These fellows are probably soldiers, but they look so cool in their pith helmets! This also came from Striderv's Flickr.

Here's another lady adventuress, looking very cool beside her car.

Now here is a link to some latern slides, many in color, of Egypt taken at the turn of the century.

And here are some more photos from the turn of the century, this time from the New York Public Library.

The picture is too big to fit here, but it is such a great photo that it needs to be mentioned!

Now here are some images from a 1927 issue of National Geographic from my own collection.

(You'll have to click here to see the first - it's too big.)

(There's more on my Flickr.)

Now that you're ready to go exploring yourself, here's a book called "How to Observe in Archaeology" from 1920, all about what to look for on your travels to Egypt. What I wouldn't give to be able to go to pre-1945 Egypt!

If you're interested in more about archaeology during the 1920s, I would suggest "Come, Tell Me How You Live" by Agatha Christie. It's really about archaeology in Syria during the 1930s, but close enough! Besides that, it's a nice little read. I also liked "Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert" by Georgina Howell. The books by Charles Dudley Warner are also interesting (I have two of his books from 1894!)

Just for fun, here's a game where you play a reporter from 1929, called Death in Sakkara. I don't usually play games on the computer, but I like this one!

Enjoy!

Eyeglasses

2009-06-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

While messing about on the internet the other day, I stumbled across a rather fascinating book from 1920 called "Perfect Sight Without Glasses" by W. H. Bates, M. D. If you'd like to take a look at it yourself, click here. I found it rather interesting that he claims he could correct vision problems and eliminate the need for eyeglasses. I wear eyeglasses, and no amount of mental exercises is going to fix my problems. I'm slightly farsighted in one eye, and a great deal more farsighted in the other. Because of the difference, I get headaches and dizziness if I don't wear them. My doctor also says that if I don't wear them all the time, I'll have vision problems (lazy eye) in a few years. Besides all that, I think I look better with eyeglasses on than off, but apparently Dr. Bates has other ideas. Read this lovely little excerpt from "Perfect Sight".

"The fact that glasses are very disfiguring may seem a matter unworthy of consideration in a medical publication; but mental discomfort does not improve either the general health or the vision, and while we have gone so far toward making a virtue of what we conceive to be necessity that some of us have actually come to consider glasses becoming, huge round lenses in ugly tortoiseshell frames being positively fashionable at the present time, there are still some unperverted minds to which the wearing of glasses is mental torture and the sight of them upon others far from agreeable. Most human beings are, unfortunately, ugly enough without- putting glasses upon them, and to disfigure any of the really beautiful faces that we have with such contrivances is surely as bad as putting an import tax upon art. As for putting glasses upon a child it is enough to make the angels weep."

So, according to Dr. Bates, I have a perverted mind, and I'm ugly. Oh dear.

Fashion historians say that Harold Lloyd was the first person to make the wearing of eyeglasses acceptable. It makes you wonder, if he hadn't come up with the idea to wear glasses, would we still be wearing them today?

I picked my glasses out to look more conservative styles popular during the 1910s, rather than the thicker 1920s styles. Maybe soon I'll find a nice pair of 1920s style glasses to wear on special occasions, but the gold wire frames are a little more practical for day to day wear.

So now that you've heard my rant, here are some cute pictures from the 1920s of eyeglass wearers.

From bloomfield and george's Flickr.

From kevin63's Flickr.

Also from kevin63's Flickr. Her eyeglasses are a little closer to mine.

Here's a link to a picture of a chappie and his glasses (the user doesn't allow embedding.)

This one came from gedtee's Flickr. If you view it very large, you can see there are two eyeglass wearers, and that my pair of glasses looks an awful lot like the man's.

Enjoy!

10 Random Facts About Me

2009-06-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged again, this time by Sarah of Cinema Splendor!

1. My favorite flower is the fuchsia. Especially the pale pink and red ones, like these.

2. I knit like Ernest Hemingway writes, and I drink tea like Samuel Johnson. Meaning I always stop knitting in the middle of a row, and I'm always drinking tea!

3. Last week, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed.

4. I think a pet's name is made instantly better if it has "Mr" or "Miss" added. Even better, "Mrs". Best of all, "Esquire".

5. My favorite soda is root beer. But I like Moxie too.

6. I still don't like Larry Semon.

7. My favorite musical is "Mack & Mabel". How could it be anything else?

8. I listen to very little modern music. The only exceptions would be Radiohead, Tin Hat Trio, and Penguin Cafe Orchestra, with the occasional Bjork. Everything else is pre-1940.

9. Breakfast food is the best food in the world. I could have scrambled eggs, or pancakes, or French toast for every meal and never get tired of it!

10. My middle name is Jayne. It was my grandmother's middle name. We spell it the same way, with the extra "y".

I hereby tag
Elena-Lu
Kate Gabrielle

Oh dear, I think everyone else has been tagged! If you haven't been tagged yet, feel free to play along!

Photo of the Day

2009-06-25T22:56:00.001-07:00

I found this photo today on FuzzyLizzie's Flickr and was really impressed with the young golfer's crossword accesories. Judging by the ripple brim cloche, I'd say that this was taken anywhere between 1927-1929 (it was a style only worn for a short time.) Using the crossword as a clothing design is something that's always really fascinated me, and I love to see 1920s girls wearing them!

Random Assortment of 1920s Songs III

2009-06-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to ThisBrenda on Flickr for the lovely image!

I thought I'd take some time off of my busy schedule (i.e. knitting, drinking tea, and thinking about turning on some Charlie Chaplin) to share some more 1920s songs with all of you!

1. "Lover, Come Back to Me" by Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut Yankees, recorded 1929.

2. "Kitten on the Keys" by Zez Confrey and his Orchestra, recorded 1922.

3. "California Blues" by Abe Lyman's California Ambassador Hotel Orchestra, recorded 1923.

4. "Wabash Blues" by the Charleston Chasers, recorded 1927.

5. "Ain't Misbehavin' " by Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra, recorded 1929. (I love to sing along with this one. Yes, we make quite a duet, Satchmo and me.)

6. "Deep Night" by Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut Yankees, recorded 1929. (You don't generally think of 1920s jazz being moody and haunting, but this song certainly is!)

7. "Lazy Weather" by Goofus Five, recorded 1927. (What a name for a band!)

8. "That's My Weakness Now" by Cliff 'Ukulele Ike' Edwards, recorded 1928.

9. "You Took Advantage of Me" by Bing Crosby with Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, recorded 1928.

10. "Tropical Hulas" by the South Sea Islanders, recorded 1927.

Wow. I think this is the first "random assortment" without a single novelty song. What a shocker! I'm going to have to fix that with number 11, "Da D'n Da" by Fred Douglas with Percival Mackey and his Orchestra, recorded 1929.
Enjoy!

My Favorite Post-1970 Movies

2009-06-22T20:34:00.001-07:00

Kate of "Silents and Talkies" seems to have started a new tag for what modern movies you enjoy. She defined "modern" as being post-1970, but I rarely watch movies made after 1950. To appease the tag rules, I'll keep this post-1970s. She managed to think of 12, so lets see how many I can get. This follows in no particular order:

1. "The Wind in the Willows", made 2006. I absolutely love this movie! It's so much fun and the acting is terrific.

2. "Amelie", made 2001. Does anyone in the classic film community not like this movie?

3. "Paper Moon", made 1974. A movie about a smoking, swearing, Jack Benny-loving 10 year old con girl and her father? I'm in!

4. "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", made 2000. Terribly funny! I love George Clooney's obsession with his hair and Dapper Dan hair wax!

5. "Chaplin", made 1992. Well, it's a movie about Charlie Chaplin, so...

6. "Spirited Away", made 2001. I actually like all of the Miyazaki movies, but this one is my favorite.

7. "The Darjeeling Limited", made 2007. Love the soundtrack, love the dialogue, love the colors.

8. "Marie Antoinette", made 2006. SO pretty.

9. "A Christmas Story", made 1983. "You'll shoot your eye out!"

I'm stumped. There are a few other comedy movies that I think are cute (such as "The Princess Bride" or "Better Off Dead"), but no more movies that I would count as favorites.

So what post-1970s movies do the rest of you like?

Singin' in the Color!

2009-06-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting as often as I would like, so I will now attempt to make you forget the missing days by distracting you with COLOR videos of my favorite singers!

First, Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys from 1930 (isn't this the greatest song you ever heard? Who needs modern music?!):

Second, Cliff Edwards in 1935:

Third, Eddie Cantor in 1930:

Fourth...everybody...in 1929:

Enjoy!

The Bertie Wooster Awards

2009-06-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

As if my family couldn't get any weirder, one of our favorite games to play when watching silent movies is to guess who would be most likely to be one of Bertie Wooster's chums. We judge this off of screen personality and appearance, but having a weird name significantly helps their chances. I'll show you our personal favorites, and then I'll put up a poll so you can help us decide who is most Wodehouse-like.

1. Personally, I think Johnny Arthur is a pretty good contender.

2. Charley Chase (his real name is Charles Parrott - bonus points!)

*I say, Mr. Parrott!*

3. Harold Lloyd ("Bad" Harold, not "Good" Harold)

4. George K. Arthur (he's got the accent!)

5. Lupino Lane (need I say more?)

If you have any other silent stars who you believe is very Wodehouse, tell me so and I'll add him or her to the poll!

Eddie Cantor

2009-06-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

In another example of my extreme poor taste, comes the statement that I'm a huge fan of Eddie Cantor. Despite what the rest of you may think, he was terrifically talented. He was such a great person, wrote so many of his own songs, did so much charity work, and had such a likeable persona that it's hard not to enjoy him. So like him or dislike him (just don't call him homely!), I'm making a post for the best of Cantor!

First up, I have one of the songs that he wrote and performed in 1931, "There's Nothing Too Good For My Baby." It's so peppy and catchy it's hard not to like it!

Second we have another number from 1931 (and one that is perhaps rather relevant for today), "Cheer Up! Smile! Nertz!"

Third up we have a clip of Eddie in a fabulous beret singing "The Girlfriend of a Boyfriend of Mine" from the movie "Whoopee!"

And here he is again from the same movie performing his trademark "Making Whoopee."

And here are some other people who like Eddie:

Another one of the reasons why I like Eddie Cantor is his ability to be both bouncy, peppy Banjo Eyes and a really incredible serenader. When you remember what the world was going through in 1941 and then listen to "The Only Thing I Want For Christmas", and it's hard not to get a little emotional.

Eddie Cantor also co-wrote one of the most iconic theme songs, the Merry Melodies theme!

And here he is on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. (I would kill to see this in person!)

To wrap this all up, here's a link to Eddie Cantor Appreciation Society.

Enjoy!

"Wrong Again", 1929

2009-05-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

Before any movie is watched, there is one little matter that we should get out the way first. It's Al Bowlly singing by the way.

Today I have the 1929 silent short "Wrong Again" starring Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It's very funny, and it really shows how early Stan and Ollie had their personas perfected. Of course, Stan is missing his trademark mixed up sentences ("You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead!"), but the basics of their characters are all there.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Enjoy!

Song of the Day

2009-05-29T21:10:00.001-07:00

Today's song is "Let's Misbehave" by Irving Aaronson and his Commanders, recorded in 1928. It's one of my favorites at the moment, and I thought the rest of you might enjoy it!

To be absolutely honest, I first heard this on an episode of (no kidding!) "The Simpsons." They play a fair amount of jazz on the show, but most of it's big band, so it's fun to hear them play 1920s songs!

(By the way, like the new header? I wanted to do Helen Kane, but I'm a computer dunce and couldn't find a photo that I could work with. I think Buster's a good substitute, though!)

Being Silly

2009-05-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone else is playing online MASH, so I feel that I should join in (with all 1920s entries!) The HTML coding isn't working for me, so I'll just type out my answers.

You will marry Rudolph Valentino

After a wild honeymoon you will settle down in Vienna in your fabulous apartment

You will have 7 kids together

The family will zoom around in a blue Stutz Bearcat

You will spend your days as a professional book collector, and live happily ever after

I had fun, even though that's probably the last thing that will ever happen to me (and not just because Valentino is involved!) I'll take a 1930s bungalow somewhere in Kansas, with a nice fellow and a Model T I can tinker around with on the weekends (believe it or not, I'm a car girl. I even watch Top Gear AND read the magazine!) Being a professional book collector would be nice, and I suppose writing biographies sort of turns you into a professional book collector in it's own right!

Song of the Day

2009-05-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today's song is probably one of the silliest ever made - "The Kinkajou" by Billy Murray with Nat Shilkret and his Orchestra from 1927.

Of all Billy Murray's electronic recordings, I'd say that the ones he did with Nat Shilkret are the best, if not the oddest.

Jeeves and Wooster

2009-05-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

First, I must thank you all for you lovely compliments and wonderful suggestions to better my blog. I've decided (thanks to your ideas) that on days that I can't think of anything to say, I should at the very least post an inspiring photograph or perhaps a single song that I'm particularly fond of.

Now it's nice to cut out the niceities. It has come to my attention that some of you have not yet seen the Jeeves and Wooster series. That is absolutely unforgivable, and MUST be remedied right this second!!

My whole family quotes the show to eachother at least once a day. Our favorites include, "I say! It's about time somebody came up with something better than a foxtrot!", or "But the newts, Bertie!" or "Is it in code?" or "I want you to go sneer at a cow creamer!" or "I say! Steady on!" or (my Mother's favorite) "What bad articles did I do when I was small?!" We use a great deal more, but I must move on.

In addition to being one of the funniest shows ever to grace television, it was one of the reasons that I became attracted to the 1920s in the first place. The clothes, the music, the slang...what's not to love? I'm now officially a P. G. Wodehouse addict, and if ever I need a new name, I want it to be something like "Balmy" Fotheringay Phipps, or Stilton Cheesewright. Besides the Wodehouse goodness, we are all of us rather fond of Stephen Fry. We (my family and I) are not quite so fond of Hugh Laurie since he came to America and went Hollywood. :(

Another thing that my family and I have picked up from "Jeeves and Wooster" is the term, "The Gussie Lisp" (as in Gussie Fink-Nottle.) You know the one, that 'uppercwass Bwitish' way of talking that George K. Arthur, Lupino Lane, and Winston Churchill all had.

I'm afraid that the user doesn't allow embedding, so you'll have to follow the links. This is episode 4 of season 1, entitled "The Hunger Strike."

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

By the way, "Forty Seven Ginger Headed Sailors" is a real song. Here it is performed by Tommy Handley in 1928 (this is my favorite version of it!)

And I know that you're all burning to play it yourselves, so here's the sheet music!

Enjoy!

180 Tag

2009-05-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today I was tagged by Kate Gabrielle of Silent and Talkies to give one actor that I used to hate but like now, or hate now but used to like. For me it's Marion Davies.

For a long time I really HATED her and defintely was of the Susan Alexander opinion. I didn't like the stories I had heard about her, and when I saw "Show People" for the first time, I didn't like it at all (even when I saw it again more recently with a better attitude towards her I still felt like it dragged on a bit.) The second time I saw her in a movie was in the "Hollywood Revue Of 1929". I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the movie (I was mostly looking for Buster Keaton) and when she came on I didn't recognize her, but I was very impressed with her dancing skills. It was actually a couple of days before I realized who she was, and that perhaps she wasn't just the no-talent mistress of William Hearst. When I saw "Show People" for the second time, the movie looked a little better (I think it's all the cameo appearances that made it feel so long.) When I saw her a little while later in "The Patsy" I liked her a great deal more. She was cute, funny, and a fairly good at pantomime (but as with "Show People", I didn't really care for the plot of the movie.) So now I'm offically now a Marion Davies fan!

(Speaking of people changing their minds, I've officially coaxed my mother out of the Al-St.-John-looks-like-a-leprechaun vote and into the Al-St.-John-looks-like-Gary-Cooper vote with one photograph! Hooray! You can see it here.)

Non-Flapper Fashions

2009-05-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

It is officially time to chuck the awful theory that everyone in the 1920s was stick thin out the window! I read somewhere that the average woman of the 1920s was about 5'3" and her measurements were 34"-28"-36", but I don't quite believe that. Nearly all of the sewing, knitting, and crochet patterns I've come across are intended for a 36"-38" bust. In my opinion it is actually the 1930s that got smaller, as most of the pattern are supposed to fit a 32"-34" bust with 34"-36" hips. I'm only slightly larger than the supposed average woman of the 1920s at 5'4" and 36"-29"-38", and I have little trouble with 1920s fashions. Remember, all women of all sizes could be found anywhere, same as today. In 100 years people will look at our socialites and runway photographs and assume that everyone was stick thin, but we know that that's not true, same as it was back then.

First of all, readers should note that there is a difference between "flapper" fashion, and the everyday fashions worn by the girls of the 1920s. The everyday girls were definetly curvier than the flapper, and still wore girdles, corsets, etc. Besides all this, people ate less protein so even thin people still looked heavier than a person who weighs the same today would look.

Second, look at Clara Bow. She was actually very curvy and yet often refused to wear restrictive underclothing to make her look more flapper-y. Compare her to Louise Brooks, and you can see the difference. Helen Kane is another one of the curvier flappers as you can see here and here. To state the obvious, Betty Boop was popular during the late 1920s and she wasn't stick thin.

To sum up, if you look at a fashion plate from a magazine, then nobody would suit the fashions of the 1920s. But if you look at photographs of real women from the 20s, you can see that with a little adjustment, you could look good with any body shape or size.

For example:

So if you want to dress 1920s but feel intimadated by the flapper styles, I say COMPLETELY ignore the fashion plates where women are made to look like rectangles, and instead to original photographs and you'll see the styles aren't as severe as you might have thought!

Random Assortment of 1920s Songs II

2009-05-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

(More silly 1920s sheet music from my collection!)

1. "Liza" by Al Jolson, recorded 1929. (This is one is particularly good loud!)

2. "You Tell Her, I Stutter" by Billy Murray, recorded 1922. (It seems that Billy Murray recorded a lot of stuttering songs. I know they were popular during the 1920s, but I've only heard the ones that he's recorded.)

3. "Then I'll Be Reminded Of You" by Rudy Vallee, recorded 1929.

4. "I Don't Want Nobody But You" by Cliff Edwards, recorded 1926. (Get out your ukuleles people!)

5. "When Buddha Smiles" by Rudy Wiedoeft Californians, recorded 1921. (Fascinating name!)

6. "She's Crying For Me Blues" by the Original New Orleans Rhythm Kings, recorded 1925.

7. "Is There Anything Wrong In That?" by Helen Kane, recorded 1928.

8. "Shreveport Stomps" from a piano roll made by Jelly Roll Morton in 1924.

9. "Muggles" by Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra, recorded 1928.

10. "Sensation" recorded by Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, recorded 1927.

Enjoy!

1923 Fashion Photos

2009-05-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

I really must apologize for my lack of posts on fashion. It is mostly because people who put fashion images on the internet tend to be very uptight with their copyrights, and they intimidate me. (This always confuses me. I mean, unless you put some sort of effort into it, or spent hundreds of dollars then you might need a copyright, but if you just scanned an image out of a magazine and didn't design the fashion plate or write the catalog is having a copyright absolutely necessary?) But I have been trying to get some pictures from my magazines so that I can post them here without guilt!

I don't have as many images as I'd like to have yet, but since images take up so much of the page perhaps only a couple of pictures at a time would be best!

First up, here are some illustrations for sewing patterns:

(If you'd like to see it larger, click here.)

Anything Irene Castle endorses, I'll take!

And here is a very pretty dress from an advertisement:

I'll post more later! Until then, enjoy!

I Was Tagged!

2009-05-15T11:27:00.001-07:00

I got tagged by Kate of Silents and Talkies!

8 things I look forward to:
1.) Seeing my dogs first thing in the morning
2.) Getting a ukulele (Christmas!)
3.) Going to the library on Saturday afternoons
4.) Washing my face in the morning. It's not morning until I'm all cleaned up.
5.) Climbing into bed, turning on my lamp, and reading a good book
6.) In the evenings, turning down the lights, having a nice mug of tea and watching a movie
7.) Becoming a published author (but actually finishing a book comes first!)
8.) Going to see my great-grandma Eunice (I've been thinking a lot about her lately)

8 things I did yesterday:
1.) Knit (a lot)
2.) Read books on early television, Buster Keaton, Columbia Records, and early jazz (not as random as you might think, they were all for specific research!)
3.) Started watching a Peter Lorre/Sidney Greenstreet movie, and then decided that it looked so good I should wait to watch it until I was more awake
4.) Opened a new blog
5.) Complained for half an hour to anyone who'd listen about the miserable fact that "Sidewalks of New York" and "Doughboys" aren't on DVD, and then voted for them on the TCM website to be released to the public
6.) Downloaded a whole bunch of OTR podcasts
7.) Learned a new way to style pincurls and tried it (I think it turned out well!)
8.) Practised piano

8 things I wish I could do:
1.) Sing
2.) Tat
3.) Swing dance (two left feet)
4.) Go see a silent movie in a theater with live music
5.) Like Larry Semon (I just don't get it!)
6.) Hop on a train and see America (I don't mean that in the Depression-era hobo sense, I mean buy a ticket and sit inside the train!)
7.) Find shoes and hats in my size (I'm short but I've got a BIG head and BIG feet and nothing comes in my sizes!)
8.) Have a P. G. Wodehouse quote for every situation

8 TV shows I watch:
1. "The Jack Benny Program" (movies, radio, television - I'll take him in any form!)
2. "Pushing Daisies"
3. "The Simpsons" (love all the references! For example, Chief Wiggum is a parody of Edward G. Robinson!)
4. "All Creatures Great and Small"
5. "Jeeves and Wooster"
6. "Wodehouse Playhouse"
7. "Doctor Who"
8. "Blackadder"

8 people to tag:

Gosh, everyone I know have been tagged! I can't see anyone who hasn't! If you are a reader of my blog and haven't been tagged yet, considered yourself tagged!

Friendly Blogger Award

2009-05-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today I got the Friendly Blogger Award from the wonderful Kate of "Flapper Doodle" (which is a great blog, you should all check it out!)

I'm not sure what the premise of the award is, so I'll just give it to best blogs I know who don't all ready have one!

I hereby nomiate:

Elena-Lu of Elena-Lu

Dizzy Dame of The Dizzy Dame

Krystle of Krystle's Deco World

Joanna of Sonnett Stitches

and finally Pink Dahlia of The 1920s Addiction

Free Knitting Pattern from 1925

2009-05-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

I've got another free knitting pattern for you all! This one is from the March 1925 issue of Needlecraft Magazine and it's called the "Knitted Roman-Stripe Scarf." It's a very basic pattern, so it shouldn't present too much trouble to the modern knitter.

Enjoy!

Al Bowlly

2009-05-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't done nearly enough posts on one of my most favorite singers, the immensely talented Al Bowlly. I'm afraid that I don't know much of his life story, so I'll just share some of my favorite songs.

First up, "One Morning In May" from 1933 (I don't really understand the cowboy video, but you can ignore it and just listen to the song!):

Second we have "My Melancholy Baby" (which I have the sheet music for and I will play someday!)

Third we have one of the best songs of the 30s, "Blue Moon":

Fourth and finally we have "Guilty" which is a really sweet little number which was used on the soundtrack for "Amelie" (which is why there's all of the scenes from the movie on the video.)

Now, my absolute favorite Al Bowlly song is "You Oughta Be in Pictures" but I couldn't find it on the internet (I seem to be really having trouble finding songs lately!) It is on a couple of his CDs, so I would really suggest looking if you aren't all ready familiar with it.

Free Knitting Pattern from 1924

2009-05-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

I recently received 5 issues of Needlecraft from 1923-1924 and they are full of all sorts of lovely fashion plates and patterns. Hopefully I'll get more images from the magazines onto here, but it makes me nervous to put them in a scanner so I'm trying to photograph the interesting pages, but it is a slow process so please be patient with me!

For my knitter-readers, I give you a free pattern from the May 1924 issue of Needlecraft. It is very sweet, isn't it?

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

No gauge or measurements are given, but that sort of math is pretty easily figured out. The size 4 knitting needles that they are referring to are probably size 4 today, but as you know gauge is more important than needle size. If anyone needs any help with adjusting the pattern to modern sizes I should be able to point you in the right direction, so feel free to ask!

Also, "artifical silk" is what we now call "rayon" if that had you confused.

Enjoy!

My Favorite Female Vocalists

2009-05-06T19:16:00.001-07:00

Generally I listen to male vocalists (I don't know why, but I prefer them!), so I thought I should do a little bit on some of my favorite songstresses. I'm not doing ANY restrictions on the age of the recordings, so this ought to mix it up a bit!

1. Ada Jones

My favorite of her songs is "Come in Out of the Rain", but I was unable to find it on the Internet, so I picked my second favorite of her songs, "Arab Love Song" from 1909. This isn't the cleanest version of it, but it was all that I could find. Sorry!

2. The Andrews Sisters

I had a hard time deciding which of their songs I liked best, but I decided on "I'll Be With You (In Apple Blossom Time)" from 1940.

3. Peggy Lee

For her I picked "My Old Flame", from 1941.

4. Boswell Sisters

"We've Got To Put That Sun Back in the Sky" from 1932 is my favorite:

5. Doris Day

For her I've picked "Sentimental Journey" from 1944. I love the video - it has such cute pictures of her!

There are a lot more that I'd like to do, so I'll be sure to add more parts soon, so enjoy these for now!

Bratislava Hot Seranders

2009-05-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce to you all what is (in my opinion) the very best modern jazz band, the Bratislava Hot Serenaders. The reason why they are the best is that they are so historically accurate. They don't sound like a modern band playing 1920s jazz. Most modern jazz bands have a singer that sounds modern, they don't use historically accurate arrangements, and they wear modern clothing when performing so any effect of early jazz is dead and gone. But the Hot Serenaders sound like the real deal, which is quite the compliment from me! Their singers sound like 1920s-1930s singers, they dress historically accurate, and when you listen to them you feel like you are back in the 20s hearing a band play! The difference is, is that they listen to an old record and copy the arrangement exactly, so it sounds genuine. So today I'm sharing with you some of my favorites.

My most favorite of all their songs is "Herr Ober, Zwei Mocca":

I love the singer! He looks so dapper (I think the monocle helps!)

Another goody is the band performing "Cotton Club":

And here's the lovely monocle-d singer performing "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' the Moonlight":

And one of my favorite songs, a little novelty number called "Broken Record":

(I'm used to the Helen Kane version, it surprised me to hear a man singing it!)

Aren't they the best modern jazz band you've ever heard? If you want to see more of them, here a link to their website.

Enjoy!

"Silent Traces"

2009-04-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

One of my all-time favorite books on Charlie Chaplin's films is "Silent Traces" by John Bengtson. Any time I watch a Chaplin short (which is often, since I own almost all of his shorts) I suddenly feel an urge to pull this out and see where and when it was filmed.

The book is really very useful for anyone interested in Californian history, not just those interested in silent movies or Charlie Chaplin. This is the premise of the book: There is a page or two dedicated to each short that was filmed on location (as opposed to being filmed in a studio.) The author shows a screenshot from the film, and then shows a photograph of the same location from about the time that the short was filmed. Then those two vintage photographs will be compared to a modern photograph of the same location. If multiple silent comedians filmed in the same spot, he'll compare their screenshots to Chaplin's. (For example, he shows how Ben Turpin, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Larry Semon, and Harry Langdon all filmed on the same side of the same building in Los Angeles.) Along with the photographs, he'll give the date that the film was released and maybe a little trivia about the making of it.

I really recommend this book to anybody who is looking for a book on old Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin, or just the 1920s in general. It is really a fantastic book to use for cross referencing.

You can view the book's website here if you want more information on it.

Enjoy!

You Know You're Old-Fashioned When...

2009-04-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

You know you're old-fashioned when you walk into the public library with your hair done like this, and you're wearing white nylons, black loafers, and a long woolen coat with a nice brooch in the lapel and you check out a book on vintage knitting, a Mr Moto movie, a book on sewing, a big band CD, and two books on learning shorthand from the 1960s and you realize that people are looking at you as if you came bouncing in looking like a crazed Ben Turpin.

Oh well. I've come to learn that people staring at you like you're mad is just part of life!

Silent Stars Voices

2009-04-28T08:33:00.001-07:00

Do you ever find yourself watching a silent movie and realize that you're imagining what the silent stars sound like? Well, you can stop imagining and hear them now! (That sounded like an old movie advertisment!)

First up we have Harry Langdon in "Goodness, A Ghost!" from 1940:

I think that his voice fits his face! Here's part 2 if you want to see the rest.

Next up we have Roscoe Arbuckle:

Again, the voice fits the face. This isn't the longest clip of his voice, but when you hear him talking continuously you can hear that he is definitely from Kansas (I should know, I have a Kansan accent too!)

Third up we have Rudolph Valentino. I have posted this video before, but it seems appropriate to post it again!

This won't be the best determiner of what his voice actually sounds like. Its an acoustic era recording and he is singing, and he isn't the best singer but something is better than nothing!

Fourth is Buster Keaton, though all of you have probably heard his voice before. This is part 2 of "Parlour, Bedroom and Bath" from 1931 (this was Buster's first talkie!) It's probably my favorite of his talking movies. You can see all of the movie on YouTube if you want to see the rest:

Buster's voice completely caught me off guard when I heard it. But what do you expect from a man who has been smoking since he was 12 years old?

Fifth is Al St. John. I could only find a full movie, but his is the first person to talk so just watch a few seconds and you should get the idea!

Sixth is Mary Pickford in an excerpt from "Coquette", though again you've all probably heard her talking:

I rather like her squeaky little voice! Again, it suits her.

Now we have Harold Lloyd and if you follow the link on this page you can listen to an episode of his radio show from the 1940s. His voice suprised me a little too. It was a little squeakier than I thought it would be.

Eighth up is a very funny segment of "The Great Dictator". I love the "gas" joke. Charlie Chaplin is British after all!

Ninth is Harpo Marx. I bet none of you have heard him talking before!

Finally we have Jacques Tati. He sort of half belongs in here. He made talkies, but he rarely says more than a word or two in each of them. You also get a closeup of him in this clip, which is something you never get in his movies.

As a word of warning to my readers: I am a HUGE fan of Tati. I could rant on and on and on about his films for HOURS. I am warning you - watch one of his movies or I will type a three page rant about his excellent films! You can spare yourself the rant by watching my absolute favorite Tati movie, "Mon Oncle" from 1958. I must have seen this movie 50 times and it never gets old!

Enjoy!

Who Wants to Suggest the Header?

2009-04-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

(Helen Kane, my favorite flapper)

I've been trying my best to spiff up the blog a bit. I've added dozens of new links to fantastic blogs and websites for you all to check out, changed the profile picture from Mabel Normand to my own mug, and tried to add one of those playlist.com playlists, but that didn't end out so well. None of the songs I wanted to use (even the modern ones!) were available. But one thing I just cannot decide on is what the header should be. Everybody else's blog has a cool photograph of themselves, or a scene from their favorite movie, or one image that sums up their blog content perfectly. I've been thinking about what to do with mine since I opened it (back in December!) and still haven't come to any conclusions. So I decided that because I'm taking so long, perhaps I'm not the best person to decide. So I thought who is better to ask than my very creative readers? So, what do all of you think I should I do with my blog header? I'd love to hear any and all ideas, and would be honored to use the best suggestion!

Thank you all very much in advance!

"The Campus Vamp", 1928

2009-04-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Carole Lombard was an amazingly talented actress. She made both silents and talkies (though she was more famous in the talkies in the screwball romantic comedies of the early 1930s.) She worked with some Hollywood's best talent during her short life, and while it was only for a short time, she did work with Mack Sennett. Her time with Sennett is generally forgotten, so here is she in 1928 in the Sennett short, "The Campus Vamp". The short also includes a scene in SennettColor (not Technicolor!) but most of it is missing now, so only a short segment still remains. I'm sorry about the visual quality and the music, but it is still interesting to see Miss Lombard in a silent!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Enjoy!

Mr. Moto

2009-04-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

I have to admit this to you all: one of my guiltiest pleasures is Mr. Moto (in books, movie, radio, etc.) I know, it is corny and campy. But you have to admit that Mr. Moto is very cool! He speaks multiple languages, he works with foreign governments, he a master of martial arts - what's not to love?

Naturally, I found Mr. Moto through Peter Lorre. A couple of years ago they played one of the movies on TCM, and being a big fan of Mr. Lorre, I decided to at least watch a couple of minutes, and wouldn't you know it, I was hooked! I dashed off the the local library and to my joy, they had FOUR of the books! (They were written by John P Marquand if you want to look them up yourself.) Looking over some of my old radio shows I was delighted to find the odd episode. So I offer up to my readers what little bits of Mr. Moto can be found on the internet.

First we have all that is left of the Mr. Moto radio series from the 1950s,

Secondly there is "Mr Moto's Last Warning" from 1939,

Finally, "Thank You Mr. Moto" from 1937 (this was the first movie that I saw),

Just for fun, here is a parody of Mr. Moto on the Fred Allen show with guest Peter Lorre.

Now, there isn't anywhere that you can view the books for free. Actually, they are out of print and not in the public domain. I don't know what the reason for that is, but that's how it is. I should warn you that the book situation is...complicated. To explain:

There are two omnibuses, "Mr. Moto's Three Aces" (which I have a 1938 copy of. You would not BELIEVE how yellow it is!) and "Mr. Moto: Four Complete Novels". Whoever came up with the idea to put what book in what omnibus must have been confused. "Three Aces" has "Thank You Mr. Moto (which is different from the "Thank You Mr. Moto" movie), "Think Fast Mr. Moto", and "Mr. Moto is So Sorry." The "Four Complete Novels" has "Your Turn Mr. Moto", "Think Fast Mr. Moto", "Mr. Moto is So Sorry", and "Right You Are Mr. Moto". See the overlap? Worst of all, if you want to have all the Mr. Moto books you'll also have to buy "Stopover Tokyo"! Because the books are only available to read if you buy an antique copy, they are EXPENSIVE. And when I say expensive, I mean running into THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. And not a signed version, or anything special like that. Occasionally something will pop onto eBay (most likely "Three Aces". I got mine from a used book dealer for $10 dollars!) So my recommendation is look in your library, or get on eBay and cross your fingers!

Well, enjoy your two movies, and 10 radio shows! That ought to keep you busy for a while!

"It's A Bird", 1930

2009-04-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

While attempting to decide what my next post should be, I realized that I had a terrific itching to do a post on something forgotten. Of course, ALL of my posts deal with something forgotten, just in various degrees. Charlie Chaplin is remembered in his own way, but I don't think the average person could name five of his films. Cliff Edwards is just about forgotten (I'll have a rant on that soon - I've been dealing with some frustrating antique dealers!) But I'd bet that maybe only one of my readers knows who Charley Bowers was, maybe even none at all!

I'm afraid that this excerpt of some of his stop motion work is all I could find. I first saw one of his shorts (with a little stop motion!) in "More Treasures From the American Film Archives 1894-1931". I was utterly fascinated by him when I saw it. His style of humor is very Buster Keaton-esque (in the little booklet that came with the DVD set mentioned that most viewers during the 1920s actually thought that he WAS Buster Keaton.) It is a lot of bizarre objects doing bizarre things (think Buster Keaton in "The Electric House"), but with less stunting. But what Charley lacks in stunting he makes up for with plain bizarre-ness and sequences of stop motion! It is like Buster's nightmares after too big of a meal! Chaos! I had to watch it twice in a row to figure out what exactly was going on! I wasn't sure if I should laugh or scratch my head! I'm afraid you'll have to see it for yourself to see what I mean. It was called "There It Is", and as far as I can tell you can only view on the "American Treasures" DVD.

Anyway, I give you a stop-motion excerpt from "It's a Bird", 1930. It should give you a good idea of what his shorts are like!

Enjoy!

Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions

2009-04-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

Beware! This is a boring post about knitting!

I love vintage knitting patterns. The older, vaguer, and more impossible the better (and if you've ever worked from a vintage pattern, you know that those three criteras are practically guaranteed!) I particularly like a pattern if it is something absolutely absurd that would look dreadful in modern times, much like the hat on the upper right. (I own the book that it is from - maybe one day I'll work up the nerve to make it!)

Even if you don't knit or crochet, you can appreciate the effort that one must go through to make something from a pre-1950s pattern. The suggested yarn is usually discontinued, so you must go on blind luck as to what kind of yarn and what kind of fiber (wool, wool/cotton, silk, etc.) Most of the time a pattern won't even suggest what kind of yarn to use, so the entire project suddenly becomes a shot in the dark. Needle sizes and hook sizes have changed over the years, so a size 5 crochet hook in 1915 is most certainly not a size 5 modern! Now in knitting, this isn't too big of a deal. I've been knitting with vintage patterns since I was 12 years old, and have gotten rather good at adjust sizes (although this isn't usually necessary as I'm the weight and height of the average pre-1950s woman.)

No, the biggest nightmare of them all is crochet. Until 1965-ish, the names of the different crochet stitches were not the same ANYWHERE. Nowadays in America there is the slip stitch, the single crochet, the half double crochet, the double crochet, the treble crochet, and the double treble crochet. Each one is a little taller than the next (generally about twice as tall.) Now, these stitches are regular. A half double crochet in Lion Brand pattern is a half double crochet in an Bernat pattern. No such luck with vintage! It is chaos! One single brand might have three designers and they all call the stitches by different names! When you add on that vintage patterns NEVER give gauge (which tells you how many stitches are in one inch. This is very important as 100 stitches at 3 stitches to the inch is going to be very different than 100 stitches at 8 stitches to the inch!) This means that before I can so much as start a crochet project, I have to make a swatch in every single stitch (the single crochet, the half double crochet, the double crochet etc.) and then do the match to find out which is going to fit when I'm working with, say, 50 stitches. I'm very bad with math, and finding out what stitch I'm supposed to work it can take me as long as 3 hours crunching numbers and finding exactly WHAT yarn to use with WHAT hook for WHAT stitch. Add on that I taught myself how to crochet (and did very poorly at that)...and that is why I prefer knitting to crochet.

To get on the real topic - my favorite place to shop for vintage pattern is Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions. She sells entire books from 1850-1940, and they come in spiral bound reprints. Most other people who sell knitting or crochet patterns generally give them to you in a PDF, and printing out 50 pages can get pricey when it comes to ink and paper! It is much cheaper (quicker, and more pleasant) to just order it from Iva Rose. She has a terrific selection and gets new books every month. I have four of her books at the minute, and have worked with most of them (three I just got at Christmas, so they're relatively new). I have:

1930s Weldon's Glove and Scarf Sets
1911 Bear Brand Manual of Handiwork
1912 Fleisher's Knitting and Crochet
1914 Fleisher's Knitting and Crochet

(No 1920s books? How irregular of me!)

As a side note, I am on Ravelry if you want to see some of my knitting. If you want to add me as a friend, my username is Paddington (as in Paddington bear!) You cannot view any pages on Ravelry unless you are a user. If you are a knitter or a crocheter and not on Ravelry (I mean you Elena-Lu!) you really should join, as it is terrifically helpful to read other peoples notes on a difficult pattern or to view a yarn you are interested in purchasing.

Enjoy!

Old Time Radio and Where to Find It

2009-04-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

(That's Jack Benny and Fred Allen if you aren't in the know. If so - listen to their shows! Their little "feud" is hysterical!)

This post is really for the benefit of Lolita, who asked where to find old radio shows.

I love old time radio (OTR for us hepcats!) Personally I'd rather listen to radio than watch television. Television makes me feel lazy, but if I listen to radio I can knit, crochet, or neaten up the place a bit. In my area there is only one station that plays ANY old shows, and the ONLY one they play is "Twilight Zone" from the 60s, and it's on on some absurd hour at some absurd time so I never get to hear it. I get most of my listening from podcasts so that I can plug in my iPod in the mornings, and have something new to listen to in the evenings. I subscribe to quite a few, but only one updates daily - the others maybe once a week. So for podcasts I have:

Boxcars 711 Old Time Radio Pod. (This one updates with maybe 4 shows every day! Its a general sort of show with all genres from all years, but it really specializes in detective shows from the mid to late 40s.)

Old Time Radio Comedy.

Old Time Radio Drama (No website.)

Old Time Radio Mysteries (No website.)

Old Time Radio Suspense (No website.)

Old Time Radio Thrillers (No website.)

And finally, Radio Journeys, which specializes in late 20s-early 30s. This is a really good one for research, as the narrator gives a little history of the show and its circumstances. If you are interested in 1920s radio, this is seriously the only place you are going to find it.

For those of you who don't have iTunes, I would suggest RadioLovers.com. This has a whole bunch of good stuff (but the only 1920s is Amos 'n' Andy and I know that some people find it offensive.)

Finally (and probably most helpful) is what the Internet Archive has. I LOVE the Internet Archive, so look around for other stuff when you're done listening to radio shows (might I suggest Buster Keaton's television show? or perhaps all 5000 Billy Murray recordings?)

As a side note, here is a link to a website that shows the radio schedule for an entire week in 1928! You can't listen to anything, but it's interesting to just look at.

Enjoy!

Dave Douglas and Keystone, "Moonshine"

2009-04-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I heard about Dave Douglas. He's a leader of a modern jazz band who apparantly loves Roscoe Arbuckle (who can blame him?) I heard first about his album "Moonshine", which is a CD of music inspired by the mostly missing Roscoe Arbuckle/Buster Keaton/Al St. John short of the same name (they found the rest of it in 2005 I believe, and I have seen the complete version.) I was intrigued by the idea of an entire CD based on what was left of a two-reeler. Of course, the Fatty (Arbuckle)/Fuzzy (St. John)/Buster (Keaton) shorts are, in my opinion, some of the funniest films ever made. Ask anybody who has ever come in contact with me. I quickly checked to see if it was available at my library (which it was), and refused to look them up on iTunes or YouTube until I had the CD in the player, so as to have an absolutely open mind to it.

Now, don't get me wrong, its a lovely idea. I love anybody who loves Roscoe Arbuckle. But I, to be quite frank, didn't care for the music. I hate to have to admit it, but I didn't. As I've mentioned, I absolutely love the Fatty/Fuzzy/Buster shorts, and as you've probably guessed, I really like jazz, but it didn't work for me. It happens to be the only kind of jazz I don't like - fusion/electronic.

Here is the damaged version of "Moonshine" to the song of the same name:

They did another CD called "Keystone" (which I haven't heard), which is made to be a soundtrack for some Roscoe Arbuckle shorts made at Keystone and comes with a DVD of those shorts and the Dave Douglas soundtrack. I love the idea, but the music just isn't for me. If it had been any other style of jazz I would have been doing cartwheels. If you do like fusion jazz I would really suggest looking them up more though, since they put so much care and attention into a forgotten comedian.

Any opinions?

There Ain't No Such Animal!!

2009-04-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the more unusual things I've found in my history-capades:

1. Buster Keaton smiling:

Who can blame him, what with Roscoe's costume!

2. Harry Langdon looking decidedly masculine:

Weird, huh? I think he might be trying to look like this photograph of Lon Chaney.

3. Jimmy Stewart singing:

Perhaps not the oddest thing ever, but a bit of a novelty!

4. Rudolph Valentino with an awful lot of facial hair:

It almost doesn't even look like him!

5. Peter Lorre faking a Southern accent, and saying "pickle" only about 500 times. Listen here!

Enjoy!

Splash Award

2009-04-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Lolita of "Lolita's Classics" has given me a second award! Thank you Lolita for your lovely words about my blog!

"The Splash award is given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs. When you receive this award, you must:

1. Put the logo on your blog/post.

2. Nominate up to 9 blogs which allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you.

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.

5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your Splash award."
I hereby nominate:

1. Elena-Lu of "Elena-Lu"
For her lovely posts about beautiful art and the joy in everyday things.

2. Matthew Coniam of "Movietone News"
For his fascinating and well-written posts about classic movies.

3. CrazyHaberdasher of "Knittingbee"

For free knitting patterns and the lovely images of antique knitting parapernalia.

4. Hala Pickford of "Forget the Talkies"

For great stories about her escapades with silent movies, well-remembered and forgotten.

5. And finally "Wearing History"

For beautiful images of her collections of vintage clothing, and for recreating those fantastic styles with her own hands.

Random Assortment of 1920s Songs

2009-04-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

(This is a piece of sheet music from my own collection by the way!)

I like to use my iTunes to make playlists of different styles of songs, my favorite one being of all my 1920s songs. I thought for fun I could shuffle it up and give you the first 10 songs on the list!

1. "When Day is Done" by Jesse Crawford, recorded 1927. (This is actually a silent movie soundtrack, from the silent era!)

2. "How Can You Look So Good?" by Cliff Edwards and his Hot Combination, recorded 1925. (Of course there had to be Cliff Edwards!)

3. "Midnight Mama" from a piano roll made by Jelly Roll Morton in 1926.

4. "Copenhagen" by Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra, recorded 1924.

5. "Someday Sweetheart" by Jelly Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers, recorded 1926.

6. "Walking Through Mockingbird Lane" by Al Bowlly, recorded 1929. (A nice, chipper little number!)

7. "Childhood Days" by Billy Murray with the American Quartet, recorded 1922. (Also love Billy Murray!)

8. "King Porter Stomp" from a piano roll made by Jelly Roll Morton in 1924.

9. "Boneyard Shuffle" by Hitch's Happy Harmonists, recorded 1925.

10. "Cornet Chop Suey" by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, recorded 1926. (My little sister says that Bertie Wooster would like this song.)

I might try to make a regular feature of just shuffling some of my songs (seeing as I currently have 332 songs recording during the 1920s and that number is always growing!) so enjoy, and look for more!

"Everything Stops for Tea", 1935

2009-03-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

I love to drink tea. I have probably too many cups of it every day, but they say its good for you so I'm not about to change. And I don't like de-caffinated herbal tea. I drink REAL TEA, with one lump of sugar and nothing else - no lemon wedges or milk for me! My mother is just about the biggest Anglo-phile you're ever going to meet, so there has always been tea (with the occasional official 4 o'clock tea time if the mood strikes). So when she played me this song yesterday it seemed appropriate and I think it might very well be my new favorite song! It's "Everything Stops for Tea" sung by a 6'2" strapping Scottish, Jack Buchanan.

Enjoy!

"Edison's Conquest of Mars"

2009-03-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Thomas Edison is one of my personal heroes. He patented over 1000 inventions in America alone, including the kinetoscope, the light bulb, and the phonograph. But who knew that he invented a way to defeat gravity, heat rays, and pulverized the threatening Martian force and their vastly superior knowledge? Well he did!

"Edison's Conquest of Mars" was an unauthorized sequel to the unauthorized sequal of H. G. Wells's masterpiece, "The War of the Worlds." Apparantly the book was endorsed by Thomas Edison, but not actually by H. G. Wells. The book was published in 1898, but I just had to post it. I was messing around on the Internet Archive when I stumbled across it and could hardly believe it. I mean, Edison on Mars?? Of course, I'm a big fan of Victorian science-fiction with the occasional dabble in steampunk, so I was instantly drawn. I seriously advise reading it, and dare you to keep a straight face.

You can read it for free here.

Sentiments That Apparently No One Else Shares

2009-03-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Either I view things differently than everybody else does, or I have no taste at all, as many things that I find to be good, everybody else finds to be bad or vice versa. Won't somebody back me up the following statements??

Sentiment 1:

Hoagy Carmichael WAS a good singer.

Okay, so he's not Caruso. Or Bing Crosby. Or even a Fred Astaire, but I like his voice. It has a nice tone, and you can tell he really KNOWS music. He just doesn't have the greatest vocal range, that's all. (I was hoping to have a recording of his singing "Snowball", but all the online versions weren't clear enough to hear properly, so I would suggest listening to the preview on iTunes, sorry!)

Sentiment 2:

Eddie Cantor was not "unfortunately homely".

I know that in most of his pictures he is sort of pulling a face, but come on people! "Homely?" That's a bit harsh!

Sentiment 3:

"Sidewalks of New York" was actually very funny.

I thought there was some very good bits in it. I know that it was Buster Keaton's least favorite movie and he attempted to sabatoge the filming at every chance, but I still liked it. You can tell that Buster and Cliff Edwards got along well, and there were some positively hysterical one liners. I especially like Buster's first scene where his massive St. Bernard is with him on the bed and he condescendingly tuts, "Oh Poggle!"

Sentiment 4:

Eddie Cantor was funny.

You've got to agree, that was pretty funny.

Sentiment 5:

Al St. John does not look like a leprechaun.

I have my mother to thank for that particular theory.

So, there are five of my unpopular beliefs. Can anybody else back me up?

"5 Minute Guaranteed Ukulele Course"

2009-03-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Ukuleles (sometimes spelled "ukeleles" in the old days, but not anymore) became popular during the 1920s because of (who else!) Cliff Edwards. You'll notice that most sheet music from the 1920s had "ukulele accompaniment". I can't play but I'd like to, just for the sake of being able to play some of the songs in my sheet music collection! When I get around to learning, I'll probably use this very cute 1920s instruction manual, 5 Minute Guaranteed Ukulele Course. Five minutes is a little dubious, but the idea of learning any instrument in under half an hour sounds good to me!

You can the book for free here.

Enjoy!

"A Fool There Was", 1915

2009-03-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a post on a drama yet. What can I say, I'm a comedy nerd!

Even if you don't know much about silent movies you probably know who Theda Bara is. She's classic; iconic. She was hugely popular in her own day, but actually made very few movies when you compare her to the other silent greats. Sadly, all but five of her movies were destroyed. So I've provided a link to one of her surviving movies, "A Fool There Was" from 1915. The entire movie is an hour long and separated into 7 parts.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Part 7:

Enjoy!

Premio Dardos Award

2009-03-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up and found that Lolita of Lolita's Classics has awarded me with the Premio Dardos Award!

"The Dardos Awards is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web.  

The Rules are: 1) Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person that has granted the award and a link to his/her blog. 2) Pass the award to another five blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment, remembering to contact each of them to let them know they have been selected for this award."

Thank you Lolita! I've become a big fan of your blog!

My five choices are (and this was tricky, mind):

1. Jonas Nordin of "All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!"

2. SydneyFlapper of "Jazz, Gin, and the Cat's Meow"

3. Hala Pickford of "Perpetual Flapper"

4. Johanna of "18th Century Blog"

5. Lauren of "Marie Antoinette's Gossip Guide to the 18th Century"

Enjoy!

Flapper Magazine

2009-02-27T21:36:00.000-08:00

A rather interesting magazine that was published during the 1920s (for only a short while I believe...perhaps it was only in 1922?) was the Flapper Magazine, which, according to the cover, was "Not for Old Fogies!" I've never had the good fortune to see one, even on eBay, and they apparently fetch a pretty penny, so I don't plan on ever owning an issue! I was a little disappointed, as I had hoped to get the chance to just flip through one and see what sort of articles are inside. Recently I found that somebody had posted an ENTIRE issue (August 1922) on their blog and a few others had some scans on Flickr.

Flapper magazine seems to be mostly a humorous magazine. I'm afraid you won't find much on fashion (at least as far as I can tell.) It does have some rather interesting insight into the humor of the day. The thing to keep in mind, however, is that the number of girls who were really truly wild and flapperish were a very small percent of the population! I imagine this magazine was printed so that teenage girls could shock their parents more than as a handbook to life.

Here is the complete issue:
August 1922 issue of Flapper

A large selection of random issues, but mostly covers

A smaller selection, also mostly covers

Enjoy!

"Mud and Sand", 1922

2009-02-26T20:41:00.000-08:00

Guess what? More pre-Hardy Stanley Laurel!

"Mud and Sand" made in 1922 was a parody of Rudolph Valentino's epic "Blood and Sand" also made in 1922. Stanley Laurel made a lot of parody movies in the 1920s, particularly of Rudolph Valentino. I love this short - but it was one of the first silent movies I saw so I'm partial!

There are a few things that I should clarify. Stanley Laurel's character name, Rhubarb Vaselino, is obviously a parody of Rudolph Valentino's name, but I should also mention that "Vaselino" was a nickname given to men who slicked their hair back, Valentino-style. Of course, "Vaselino" is a parody on Valentino's name, but it also refers to the shiny look that slicked hair has, as if it had been doused in vaseline.

View the movie here!

*Yay! Look who figured out how to make clickable links!*

Enjoy!

"Bangville Police", 1913

2009-02-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

And now I think it is high time to introduce the Keystone Cops ("Kops" started in an Abbott and Costello movie, they were known as the "Keystone Cops" in their own day).

This little short, "Bangville Police" was the first film to popularize the Keystone Cops, who had been introduced one year earlier in the short "Hoffmeyer's Legacy". There were a few more regular Cops (let's see...Slim Summerville, Roscoe Arbuckle, Hank Mann, Ford Sterling, Chester Conklin, Edgar Kennedy, Al St John, and Charley Chase I think), but the rest were extras, many of whom are unknown, and only made one short. Good luck trying to identify any of the Cops though! They tend to dash by the camera too quickly to really be seen and most have fake facial hair, but some of them are more identifable by their height, weight, etc (for example, I think Slim Summerville might be 6'6").

The leading lady in this short is Mabel Normand, who is my favorite Keystone actress. She got into movies because she was dating Mack Sennett, the owner of Keystone Studios, and turned out to be a really fantastic comedienne. The thing that I find hard to believe was that she was a glamourous Gibson Girl when she was a teenager and spent the rest of her life getting pies thrown in her face!

Enjoy!

Edit:: I noticed right after having posted this, that in the list of Keystone Cops I forgot to mention Charlie Murray! Ooops!

"Skinner's Dress Suit", 1916

2009-02-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

(From the 1926 movie "Skinner's Dress Suit".)

"Skinner's Dress Suit" was published by Henry Irving Dodge in 1916 and made into a movie twice; the first time in 1917 (but this one is missing) and the second time in 1926. Here is the link to read the book for free:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/26080

It isn't a great epic, but its sweet and funny and I enjoyed it. The illustrations are very nice (lots of good suits - I'll admit, I'm a sucker for the late 1910s-early 1920s high waisted men's suits!) Its a nice little read, and not very long so I would suggest reading it!

If you would like to see the 1926 version, here is a link to purchase a newly restored version:

http://www.sunrisesilents.com/SDSL_des.html

Enjoy!

Al Hirschfeld on Movies

2009-02-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Two Sides of Billy Murray

2009-02-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

Billy Murray seems to mention some very specific products and people in his songs, even blatantly endorsing some of them. So the question I put to you is: Is Billy Murray a harmless novelty singer or a ruthless advertiser??

First we have Billy Murray telling us what beer to drink in the 1905 song "Under the Anheuser Bush"
http://www.archive.org/download/BillyMurray_part5/BillyMurray-UndertheAnheuserBushOrchbacking.mp3

Now we have him telling us where to travel in "I'll See You in C-U-B-A" recorded 1920:

Now we have him telling which President to vote for in "We Want Teddy for Four Years More" just in time for the 1904 election:
http://www.archive.org/download/BillyMurray_part5/BillyMurray-WeWantTeddyForFourYearsMore.mp3

Billy Murray also tells us what phonograph to purchase in "They Start the Victrola (And Go Dancing Around the Floor)" from 1914:
http://www.archive.org/download/BillyMurray_part5/BillyMurray-TheyStarttheVictrolaandGoDancingAroundtheFloor1914a.mp3

Finally, Billy Murray tells us about the reliability of Fords in "The Little Ford Rambled Right Along" recorded in 1914:
http://turtleservices.com/littlefrd.mp3

On a more...historical...note, I recently came across this website dedicated entirely to Billy Murray and if you are interested in Billy Murray at all, PLEASE PLEASE look at this website! This has really incredible information on the forgotten singer, and I really appreciate the efforts that the creator has gone to:
http://www.denvernightingale.com/

Also, if you are anything like me, you probably searched high and low for a place to hear all 5000 Billy Murray recordings. Well, here you can hear (most) of his music for free:

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=billy%20murray%20collected

Enjoy!

Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards

2009-02-07T22:00:00.001-08:00

Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, like Buster Keaton, is a performer that I've been trying to hold out on because I know I'll never be able to stop.

You probably know Cliff Edwards (even if you don't know him) as the performer of "When You Wish Upon A Star" from the 1940 animated film "Pinocchio". You can hear it here:
http://redhotjazz.com/songs/edwards/WhenYouWishUponaStar.ram

Cliff Edwards is also (probably) the first singer to record scat singing (nonsense syllables in place of words) in 1922. His style of scat was a little different than most. His was sung in a style that he called "Effin". I'm not actually sure what that means, but that's what he called it! He also was the first singer to perform "Toot Toot Tootsie", "Fascinating Rhythm", "I'm Singing in the Rain", and "It's Only A Paper Moon".

Now he performed a lot of my favorite songs (back in December 2008 I gave a link for "Its Only a Paper Moon") so I'm including some of my other favorites. Here is "That's My Weakness Now" from 1928:
http://www.archive.org/download/CliffEdwards-41-50/CliffEdwards-ThatsMyWeaknessNow_64kb.mp3

I also like "Feelin' the Way I Do" from 1923:
http://www.archive.org/download/CliffEdwards-11-20/CliffEdwards-FeelinTheWayIDo1923_64kb.mp3

And here he is scat-singing with Buster Keaton (!!!) from the 1930 movie "Doughboys": (the owner of the video doesn't allow embedding). I love the end when Buster appears to be sucking on the ukulele? Apparently he and Buster would hang around the set, playing their ukuleles togther, but this was the only performance that was caught on camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4uffTO-68I

Next is the 1937 "Sweet Leilani". This is such a sweet song, it has to be one of my all time favorites:
http://www.archive.org/download/CliffEdwards-41-50/CliffEdwards-SweetLeilani_64kb.mp3

And finally here he is performing "I Feel Pessimistic" in from the 1930 film "Good News" (Thank you Mr. Nordin and Raquelle!)

Enjoy!

"Vive la Vie de Garcon", 1908

2009-02-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm cheating. The next short is from 1908, but since it is my favorite Max Linder short you'll just have to excuse me.

Max Linder is hardly known nowadays. I didn't even know about him until rather recently. There's no reason why we shouldn't know of him. He was the first film actor to earn one million francs (Roscoe Arbuckle was the first actor to earn a million dollars, Mary Pickford was the first actress to earn a million dollars to clear up any confusion). Max performed in the French music halls, but his career was cut short (ahem, pardon the pun) because of his height. He was only 4'11", so he was difficult to see on stage. Undaunted by this setback, he ventured forth into movies in 1908, when they were still a relatively new medium, where he rapidly rose to fame.

In 1917 Mr. Linder came to America to work at Essenay (yes, while Charlie Chaplin was working there!) and made a movie introducing the broken mirror gag, which most people probably know as having been performed by Groucho and Harpo Marx in "Duck Soup". Charlie Chaplin considered Max Linder his hero, even dedicating one of his movies to him after his death in 1922 saying "To Max, the teacher, from Charlie, the student".

Here is my favorite Max Linder short, "Vive la Vie de Garcon", which translates to "Hooray for the Life of the Bachelor". In America it was released under the name of "Troubles of a Grasswidower". I like Max Linder's humor style. It wasn't bizarre like Harry Langdon, nor was it flashy and stunt filled like Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton. I think of it more along the lines of Charley Chase - a normal man in normal situations.

Enjoy!

"Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton"

2009-02-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading "Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton", and I thought I should give a little review.

First off, I like biographies where most of the information is taken from letters or diaries etc. Those always seem more reliable and the personality of the subject is more apparent. I wasn't disappointed - this book is full of quotes from his letters and his interviews from the Library of Congress recordings. The book really set out to clear up most of the lies and stretched truths surrounding his name, so they took a very unbiased view of his personality.

The main focus of the book seems to be on his music and the battle with the Melrose brothers and the ASCAP (neither would pay him his due royalties). There are quite a few lengthy descriptions of his songs and the style of music they were played in. I liked that, but I don't have an enormous grasp of musical terms, so a lot of it was over my head.

There is a nice little selection of photographs in the middle (which is always nice), and the book itself is long enough to give good information, but not so long that it's boring. The only thing that I'd say I didn't like was the rather heavy use of slang. Of course, that might not bother anybody else, but I don't like to see too much slang in non-fiction.

All in all, I'd say it was a good read, and would recommend it to anybody interested in Jelly Roll Morton and his music.

Here's a link to purchase it from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Jellys-Blues-Music-Redemption-Morton/dp/0306813505/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233870260&sr=8-1

Enjoy!

"The Playhouse", 1921

2009-01-30T10:44:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to hold out on Buster Keaton for as long as possible because I know that once I bring a Buster short in I'll never be able to stop. In my opinion Buster Keaton was the funniest of the three major silent comedians (the three are Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin.) His character and humor style was a little different that the other comedians. Buster's character never displayed emotion, no matter what is going on. His shorts were filled with often violent stunts that he performed himself, using a stunt double only once in his entire career (in one movie you can actually see Buster BREAK HIS NECK. That's right, footage of Buster Keaton breaking his neck made it into the movie and is still seen today!) Buster also loved magic and optical illusions (what else would you like if you were Harry Houdini's godchild?) During his career Buster worked with some of Hollywood's greatest talent including Roscoe Arbuckle (the only person keeping Buster from title of my favorite comedian), Cliff Edwards, and Jimmie Durante (though the Jimmie Durante movies aren't funny.)

Today I'm showing you one of my favorite Buster Keaton shorts, "The Playhouse" from 1921. This one isn't filled with the wild stunts that usually mark a Buster short, because he had recently broken his ankle filming "The Electric House". He had been wearing his floppy clown shoes and they got caught in an elevator and broke his ankle. To compensate for lack of stunting, he pulled off one of the most complication film tricks ever devised to open "The Playhouse". If you watch the opening you'll know what I'm talking about. The scene was filmed a little differently than other double images were made. Normally two reels of films would be made and then joined together in a lab. This was complicated and made an ugly seam down the middle of the film. So Buster instead covered off 7/8th of the lens and filmed himself, say, dancing. Then they would rewind the film and make another exposure right next to the first and so on. This was a very complicated scene to make. If Buster was off time in his movements, if the cameraman cranked at a slightly different speed, or if the camera moved half an inch, all of their efforts would be ruined and they would have to start again from the beginning. To make sure that didn't happen, Buster danced to a banjo that played to a metronome. The cameraman was one of the best in Hollywood, Buster having nicknamed him "The Human Metronome". They didn't make a single mistake and we are left with one of the most fascinating shorts in silent history, so enjoy!

Also, the twins in this short are the same girl, but not as much attention is drawn to that as the 20 dancing Busters.

I like this version of the short with the Wurlitzer organ playing, so please be patient through the introduction:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

I should add, the only person who isn't Buster in the opening scene, is the man selling tickets, and we don't even see his face!

Two Free Crochet Patterns from 1927

2009-01-27T13:46:00.001-08:00

Spring is coming, so I thought I should upload the two toy patterns from my April 1927 issue of Needlecraft Magazine, "Chicken Little" and "Ducky Lucky". Needlecraft is a very good magazine for reference - they are full of knitting and crochet patterns, recipes, fashion plates, household tips, and all other sorts of goodies. Its all that sort of information that you don't find in the average history books. I really suggest owning a couple of issues as most of the ones available on eBay are under $10.

The patterns are written in vintage terminology, which is different from modern terms. I haven't made these yet, but I am very experienced with the old patterns so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. For example: one thing that I immediately noticed is that the stitch they call "double crochet" is actually the modern "SINGLE CROCHET". So be careful to work all the "dc" stitches in SINGLE CROCHET.

Enjoy and don't forget to ask if you need help!

Podcasts

2009-01-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

(An early iPod perhaps? I can't image the sound quality was very good.)

I thought I might just make a quick little post to tell you what podcasts I listen to, then I promise we'll get back to 1910-1940.

First up, we have Boxcars 711 Old Time Radio. This is my favorite old time radio podcast. There update with 3-5 new radio shows EVERY DAY. This is the most regular podcast I've ever seen. I also really like that they don't edit out the original commericals. I like to know what food people ate, what soap they used etc. Here is a link to their website:
http://boxcars711.podomatic.com/

Next we have Dawn of Sound. This one plays lots of old music. They aren't particularly regular, but they do have a "Recording of the Month." Their first podcast was very interesting and informative, and I really enjoyed their Christmas show. Its just a good place to find new artists.
http://www.dawnofsound.com/

Third up The Shellac Stack. He hasn't had an update in a long time, but he did make 24 podcasts in total. This one specializes in 78 rpms. Again its just a good place to find new artists.
http://www.claxtonola.com/78rpm/shellacstack.html

Fourth is Stolen Moments. Its mostly about Rudolph Valentino, but it does also delves into silent movies in general. I really like it, and particularly enjoyed her short films.
http://www.rudyfan.libsyn.com/

The fifth and final podcast is the BBC History Magazine. I get the magazine every month and read it cover to cover. The podcast discusses some of the articles in the magazine in more depth, so you can get some really interesting information. The magazine doesn't really specialize in any particular era (which I like) but most of the articles are about British history.
http://www.bbchistorymagazine.com/podcast.asp

Enjoy!

"Jelly Roll" Morton

2009-01-25T12:39:00.001-08:00

(I love that eccentric conductor pose he's pulling.)

If you like ragtime or jazz music, a name that will (eventually) come up is that of "Jelly Roll" Morton. He was a major contributor to the transition from piano ragtime to jazz, and he even claims to have outright invented jazz in 1902 (which is probably not true - that would mean that he invented jazz when he was only 12 years old.) Either way, he is my favorite jazz pianist (he claimed to be the best jazz pianist in the world) and his Red Hot Peppers made some of the best jazz recording in the 1920s. I've even seen their recordings called one of the best pieces of music in history! He fell out of general favor in the 1930s when the popular style of music went to Big Band, and he spent the rest of his life playing piano in various shady bars - no one else wanted to hire him. He finally died in 1941 when he was stabbed multiple times when he got caught up in a bar brawl. Before he died he made dozens of recordings and interviews with the Library of Congress, so you can hear almost all of the songs he wrote himself.

This my favorite solo piano recordings. Its a piano roll of the "London Blues" made in 1923. Mr. Morton was the composer of this song:
http://redhotjazz.com/songs/morton/london.ram

My favorite of his recordings with the Red Hot Peppers is "The Chant" recorded in 1926. (The first Charlie Chaplin shorts I saw had this song as a soundtrack, so I suppose this was also an early introduction to 1920s jazz.)
http://redhotjazz.com/songs/morton/redhot/thechant.ram

And finally, a recording of Mr. Morton singing "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say" recorded in 1939 with another of his bands, Jelly Roll Morton's New Orleans Jazz Men:
http://redhotjazz.com/songs/morton/buddybolden.ram

I should mention what exactly the nickname "Jelly Roll" means. Its slang for "lover boy", so essentially he was "Lover Boy" Morton. His real name was actually Ferdinand.

For Heavens Sake, Mind Your Manners!

2009-01-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

(The picture above is from the 1953 film "Mr. Hulot's Holiday". The rude diner is French actor and director Jacques Tati and since he did most of his movie-making post 1940s I'm afraid I won't be able to do a bit on him. But if you are a fan of Laurel and Hardy, Mr. Bean, silent comedies in general, Dior's New Look, futuristic buildings, or artistic filmmaking I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend him! Actually, I would recommend him to anybody who likes movies at all! By the way, my favorite of his movies is "Mon Oncle".)

Many modern people (myself included) bemoan the horrible disease sweeping this nation - namely, BAD MANNERS. I won't go into detail, but I really believe that a good percentage of the country should remember their manners, or at least know better than to slam doors in other peoples' faces. So I thought I should share my favorite manners book. It's "Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home" written by Mrs. Price Post in 1922. It is a very long book, but it is very helpful and covers all the important things that you need to know. Many of the parts are specialized (i.e., for men, women, or children) so if you really need to shorten your reading you can just read the parts attended for your gender and age group.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14314/14314-h/14314-h.htm

I found the book at Project Gutenberg, which gives you free access to books that are out of print. Since most of my interests come from an era, of which is almost entirely in the public domain, I suggest looking over for any out of print books. I keep a link to the website on my blog's sidebar, but if you haven't noticed it, here is a link to the home page:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Enjoy, and remember to mind your manners!