The spirited history of Vaudeville Theater Shows (1900’s)

About Vaudeville Vaudeville, popular from the late 1880’s through the early 1930’s, was a theatrical form of entertainment in the United States and Canada. Vaudeville performances, which often ran around the clock, ran a series of separate, unrelated acts which included musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, male and female impersonators, acrobats, jugglers, and one…

People wearing bell bottom pants at steps of public library on Capitol Street Charleston

Trousers with legs that became wider from the knees downward were immensely popular in the 1970’s. Called “bell bottom pants” because of the bell like flare at the bottom of the pants leg, the bell bottom pants craze began in the late 1960’s but bell bottom pants were worn many years before.

It is sold to children and teenagers labeled as bath salts, fertilizer, or insect repellent under names like Ivory Wave, White Lightning, Red Dove, Vanilla Sky, Cloud 9, or Blue Silk. The label says “not for human consumption” but it is intended to be snorted, swallowed, smoked, or injected.

The advent of Rock and Roll in the 1950’s introduced a profound change in the way men and women danced. One of the first worldwide rock-n-roll dance crazes occurred in the 1960’s when The Twist dance hit the scene and became a worldwide sensation.

Scan of the cover of a en:Tijuana bible featuring Wimpy

Eight-pager comics, also known as Tijuana bibles, bluesies, jo-jo books, gray-backs, blue bibles, and two-by-fours, were pornographic comic books that were very popular in the United States during the 1930’s.

What is Planking? Planking is an activity where the person lies facing downward on the ground or across an object, arms straight at their side with palms flat and facing inward, toes pointed, and body as stiff as a wooden board. It is typically done in a funny or unusual place and a picture is…

The history of Radio – How a 1920’s fad paved the way for modern-day entertainment.

The growth of radio in the 1920’s When KDKA transmitted the first commercial radio broadcast (the election results of the Harding-Cox race) on November 2, 1920, that sound could travel magically through the air to a location many miles away must have seemed magical to the people of that era. Unfortunately, few people heard the…

The history of the Victor Victrola Phonograph (1900’s)

Invention of the Gramophone In 1880, Emile Berliner invented the flat phonograph record and recording/playback device called the Gramophone, the direct forerunner to Victor Talking Machine Company’s Victrola phonograph. Three years earlier, in 1877, Thomas Edison had invented the cylinder phonograph. Two problems kept the cylinder phonograph from succeeding though – the wax recording media…

The complete but concise history of Motion Picture Movies – from fad to modern-day entertainment (1920’s)

Although the principle for moving pictures had existed for decades, the popularity of motions pictures (aka movies or “films”) did not explode until the 1920’s. At this time, most United States film production occurred in Hollywood with some minor movie productions still being made in New Jersey and Long Island (e.g., Paramount). By the mid-1920’s,…

Who says creativity and innovation is in the youth of the 2000’s is dead? These days it’s not enough to just ask your date to the high school prom. No, now you have to create a moment that will become as memorable as the magical night itself. One inventive Cedar Cliff High School student put…