Popular Entertainment Flashcards
Which law caused the introduction of speakeasies?
Prohibition.
Which groups often provided entertainment at speakeasies?
Black Jazz bands.
What did speakeasies permit in term of racial tensions?
They, for the first time, allowed black and white people to mingle freely.
What did speakeasies remove?
Class divides (although they very much emphasised generational rifts).
What were dances like prior to the First World War?
Slow, and pretty formal.
What is often perceived to be the most iconic dance of the 1920s?
The Charleston.
What did other dances of the 1920s include?
The Black Bottom, Vampire, Shimmy, Turkey Trot, Buzzard Lope, Chicken Scratch, Monkey Glide and Bunny Hug.
What were Dance Marathons?
Contests of self-endurance, where dancers were encouraged to dance without stopping until only one couple remained standing.
What was the reward for winners of dance marathons?
Usually money.
When did the craze of dance marathons begin?
With Alma Cummings’ success in 1923, when the 32 year old woman danced for a straight 27 hours, wearing out six different partners.
How long did some dance marathons last for?
Weeks.
Which 1969 film was made regarding dance marathons?
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Which Chinese Game became extremely fashionable in the early 1920s?
Mah Jongg.
Which of today’s popular games format was introduced in the 1920s?
The Crossword.
What were crosswords labelled by the New York Times in the 1924?
A “sinful waste in utterly futile finding of words the letters of which will fit into a prearranged pattern, more or less complex. This is not a game at all.”
