Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with 1920s

You know that website built in the 1920s?

prophetsearcher — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:39:16 -0800

It's 1925. I own a General Store. The General Store has a website (obviously)... Can you describe what that website might look like? How can a visitor to that site recognize it immediately as owned by a 1925 General Store (visually)? I'm trying to design the web site for a 1925- (or so, the specific year isn't too specific) era general store. What elements can I use, specifically, to help establish the style?

To be clear, I don't want the site to look like you're shopping in a nostalgic memory of a 1925 store (so no b/w photos of storefronts, or sepia tones, etc). Rather, the idea is that you're shopping in a store that would have been designed in 1925... Does that make sense?

Also, because I'm aiming for real 'Americana,' I'm less interested in Bauhaus or other 'avant-garde' 20s styles.

For fonts, I found this link, and other useful ones from this post.

But what about backgrounds? Wallpapers? Colors? Icons? What was the "Web 2.0" style of the 1920s?

Any points of reference would be most appreciated. (I think there could be a whole movement of era-designed web sites, even from the future!).

Emergency medicine in 1920

asockpuppet — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:34:02 -0800

I am a 40 year old man that died of a skull fracture in August, 1920. I was brought to the city hospital of our large metropolitan area by my brother. I died later that night. Cause of my skull trauma is unknown. What was my medical treatment like? What was the education and medical training of my doctors? How sterile was the hospital? What drugs would I have been treated with? What happened to my body and family when I died?

Asking because a former resident of the house I now own many years later died this way.

Help a doll with puttin' on the ritz

messica — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:10:55 -0800

The Jazz Age Lawn Party is coming back to Governor's Island, and this time I want to do more than spectate. For the past couple of years I have enjoyed going to the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor's Island in New York. It's a great event featuring 1920s vintage-attired ladies and gentlemen dancing to a live jazz age orchestra in a beautiful outdoor setting. This time, rather than ogling all the charmingly stylish people and bopping around uncertainly, I'd like to get in on the action. My approach is two-pronged: The Dress and The Moves.

1) Where in NYC might I find a 20s-style dress in the vein of the ones seen here-link launches NYT slideshow with sound- and here? (I've googled and I know there are piles of second-hand and vintage stores all over the city; I'm hoping for personal recommendations to narrow it down. I'll also take suggestions on piecing together a suitable outfit from non-vintage clothes and accesssories.)

2) Where in NYC might I get a quick crash course in the basics of "Jazz Age" dancing? Can anyone recommend a class, either in Manhattan or Brooklyn?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Hard drinking NY cops from the 20s and 30s

Artw — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:29:08 -0800

Are there any accounts of cops in prohibition/depression era New York being drinkers? Would drink be widely available to the point where no one would think much of it, or would it be especially difficult for a public employee?

Fantasy books set during/between the world wars

honeydew — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:34:46 -0800

I'm looking for books and/or movies that have a supernatural/fantasy aspect and are set in the era between the World Wars. Faries, werewolves, sorcery, the living dead. Carnies, hobos, shellshock, Bolsheviks, Nazis. I have no books to offer up as an example because I've never encountered one. Any suggestions?

Cultural history of 1920s-1930s Japan?

Jeanne — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:59:26 -0800

Help me find a book on Japanese life and culture in the early part of the 20th century? I'm in the process of writing/researching a novel; it's fantasy, but I'm using Japan of the 1920s and 1930s as a rough background for flavor and texture, and I would really like to find some books on the period, especially ones that either

a ) Focus more on culture, daily life, aesthetics, social change, than on politics and foreign affairs;
b) Are extensively illustrated; I'm looking in particular for advertising, architecture, and clothing.

Off-the-wall suggestions (for fiction, or movies, or what have you) are welcome; and if there's a book in Japanese that you'd recommend, I do read Japanese and have access to a Japanese bookstore.

Alexandra David-Neel and Georges Bataille

arcadia — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:03:58 -0800

Did Alexandra David-Neel ever meet Georges Bataille? I'm researching connections between Tibetan Buddhism and Surrealism. If you can give me evidence that Alexandra David-Neel and Georges Bataille met one another, I will be forever grateful. If you can lead me to actual evidence, transcripts, whatever, I will explode with gratitude. Also interested in contact between David-Neel and any other Parisian avant-gardists, especially Surrealists.
Thanks!

radio broadcasts of old football games?

fac21 — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:10:51 -0800

Where can I find archives of radio broadcasts of NFL football games from the 1920's? Preferably online, but I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks.

Finding 1920s Style DJ Sets - Big Band Bush Doofer Seeks Similar

mikw — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:10:03 -0800

Help me find some DJ sets / albums that prominently feature music / samples from the 20s and 30s, such as big band, jazz and swing. I'm hosting a 20's themed birthday party for my wife, and am looking for some great music to play. I'm planning on opening with some traditional recordings, such as Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Betty Boop and some other artists I've discovered since starting to research this, but as the night wears on I'd like to put on some more modern takes with the same prohibition-era feel.

Ideally I'd like to find a couple of well put together DJ sets, albums or even single tracks that have a chilled out dance beat with samples or tracks that borrow from music of the eras in question.
I'm not especially picky as to the exact era things come from, as long as the vibe and flow remain fairly consistent. I'd also like to hear suggestions for other original recordings of great artists in the same style if anyone has favorites.

Here's some interesting artists / links I've found just to get things started.

Wax Tailor Interesting mix of samples from old movies with some great production
Wax DJ One of my favorite resources for full DJ sets, and finding excuses to go clubbing here in Seattle
Hybrid Music Interesting question on combining music genres

Thanks!

Rabbi killing a chicken?

Robot Johnny — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:56:24 -0800

What Jewish tradition involves a rabbi killing a chicken? I'm transcribing a conversation with my grandmother that I taped about 15 years ago, and I plan on using our conversation as the basis for a more fleshed-out piece of writing/comics.

But since I was 13 at the time of the interview, I made for a pretty lousy journalist -- she spoke of many things, often glazing over details, and being a dumb kid, I never asked for clarification or elaboaration on anything she said.

The conversation is about her life growing up in the 20s and 30s during the Depression, and she tells a story about how her neighbours were a Jewish family, and that since her back yard was higher than theirs, when all the neighbourhood kids saw the rabbi coming down the street, they'd all rush to her yard where they could stand on the bank overlooking the Jewish family's yard so they could "watch the rabbi kill the chicken".

What was/is this tradition? Any and all details would help!

(FWIW, she grew up in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada which until WWI was named Berlin, and was populated primarily by German immigrants)

The lost art of megaphone awesomeness

evariste — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 00:15:36 -0800

I would like to locate video or audio for sale of those crazy megaphone crooners...the originals, not modern-day imitations. I'm talking about the ones that Mr. Show paid tribute to in a skit (it was something like Monsters of the Megaphone. I'm having a really hard time googling for this because it's hard to figure out the right terms to Google for. Please hope me.

Example lyrics of the genre that my abortive Googling dug up:

automobile
automobile
my baby loves my automibile
she's driving it all over tooooown

Bible verse that justifies confrontation?

pxe2000 — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:35:43 -0800

I'm writing a story (set in the 1920s) about a deeply religious teenage girl who tries to rescue a friend from his abusive guardian. She consults the Bible and finds a verse or parable that she (mis?)interprets as justification for her actions. What is a good verse or story that one could use as justification to confront an abuser? Preferably NT, King James translation preferred.