Tag: Twentieth Century

An Ice Cream Truck Song From 1916 Is Incredibly Racist

Image: "People posing in front of a Dreyer's Ice Cream truck." simpleinsomnia, flickr (CC_BY_2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Image: “People posing in front of a Dreyer’s Ice Cream truck.” simpleinsomnia, flickr (CC_BY_2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

In my opinion, popular culture (as in everyday culture) is often a good indicator of a cultural mainstream at a given time. Therefore, if we look at a seemingly banal or innocent artifacts, that may give us clues about the zeitgeist of a period. Theodore R. Johnson, III over at NPR thought so, too, and examined the origins of a famous ice cream truck song going back to the minstrel shows of the nineteenth century (go and read the article, it is great!). And he found a 1916 record by a Harry C. Browne, courtesy of Columbia records, that contains lyrics like this (warning: incredibly racist):

Browne: “You niggers quit throwin’ them bones and come down and get your ice cream!”

Black men (incredulously): “Ice Cream?!?”

Browne: “Yes, ice cream! Colored man’s ice cream: WATERMELON!!”

Almost a century later, such open forms of racism are quite shocking and thankfully would be unacceptable in mainstream advertising. That is not to say that popular culture today is free of racism. But I would argue that these days, for the most part, racism manifests itself in subtler forms. I am not talking about the realm of politics. There, as a regular observer, I note a lot of dogwhistling, especially since 2008 and the election of Barack Obama for POTUS. But that discussion is for another time.

 

New Documentary Covers Infiltration of Civil Rights Movement By Mississippi State Government

A new documentary covers the infiltration of the Civil Rights Movement by the Mississippi state government in the 1950s and 1960s

The new documentary Spies of Mississippi, which airs on PBS, covers the clandestine activities of the little-known Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. During the 1950s and 60s, the group sought to subvert and destroy the Civil Rights Movement and efforts at desegregation by using espionage tactics, including employing black informants and agents provocateurs to discredit Civil Rights activism.

Here is a clip from DemocracyNow! featuring an interview with producer/director Dawn Porter and investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell:

Read more:

http://www.spiesofmississippithefilm.com/

 

Thrills of History: 1969’s Worst Case Scenario: If The Moon Landing Had Failed

 If The Moon Landing Had Failed

The Apollo 11 lunar module, the Moon, and the Earth.
A view of the Apollo 11 lunar module “Eagle” as it returned from the surface of the moon to dock with the command module “Columbia”. A smooth mare area is visible on the Moon below and a half-illuminated Earth hangs over the horizon. The lunar module ascent stage was about 4 meters across. Command module pilot Michael Collins took this picture just before docking at 21:34:00 UT (5:34 p.m. EDT) 21 July 1969. (Apollo 11, AS11-44-6642)
This image by NASA is in the public domain
Source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_11_lunar_module.jpg

On July 18 of 1969, the world held its breath. The Apollo 11 space mission was reaching the moon, preparing for the first human descent onto its surface. As Neil Armstrong, astronaut and first man on the moon, who recently passed away, famously said, the moon landing was “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind!”

But what if the endeavor had gone awry? If the Apollo 11 crew could not have returned to Earth? How would the public have reacted to such a disaster, especially at the height of the Cold War? The Nixon White House certainly did not want to leave anything to chance, and so it prepared for the worst case scenario, which fortunately never materialized.

At Letters of Note, a very recommendable blog presenting historical documents in context, you can read the prepared statement that would have been disseminated through the mass media in case of a catastrophe. It is a fascinating read, in my opinion. It ends with these words:

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

Read more:

“IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER.” (Letters of Note, 2012/11/05)

“The Moon Disaster That Wasn’t: Nixon’s Speech In Case Apollo 11 Failed to Return.” (Josh Jones, Open Culture, 2012/11/23)

Listen more:

[Podcast] “A Tribute to Neil Armstrong.” (StarTalk Radio Cosmic Queries, 2012/09/09) – Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson‘s podcast on Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission.

 

Pop Culture Potpourri: The Library of Congress Has A Collection Of Interviews With Rock’n’Roll Legends

Bo Diddley in Prague (Lucerna Bar), 2005. picture by Stefan Reicheneder, used under permission under the GFDL, Cc-by-sa-3.0 licence. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bo_Diddley_Prag_2005_02.jpg
Bo Diddley, one of the Rock’n’Roll legends interviewed for the Joe Smith Collection at the Library of Congress. Original caption: Bo Diddley in Prague (Lucerna Bar) in 2005, picture by Stefan Reicheneder, used by permission under the GFDL, Cc-by-sa-3.0 licence. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bo_Diddley_Prag_2005_02.jpg

While glancing over the Open Culture blog, a resource that I highly recommend, by the way, I once again found a little gem for everyone interested in American popular culture of the twentieth century. The Library of Congress now hosts the digitized audio tapes of Joe Smith, a former record industry executive and DJ who in the late 1980s interviewed many of the then most famous stars of Rock’n’Roll and other genres in American popular music. His collection of interview tapes encompasses “238 hours of interviews over two years.” At the time, excerpts of these were made into his book Off the Record (Warner Books, 1988).

Highlights from these interviews, according to the LoC, include:

  • Bo Diddley talking about his own death
  • Mickey Hart’s revealing story about his father
  • Steven Tyler’s problems with drug addiction
  • Peter Frampton’s short-lived popularity
  • Bob Dylan’s surprising assessment of the turbulent ‘60s
  • David Bowie’s description of Mick Jagger as conservative
  • Paul McCartney’s frank admission of professional superiority
  • Les Paul’s creation of an electric guitar in 1929
  • Motown’s restrictive work environment
  • Herb Jeffries’ and Dave Brubeck’s recollections of working in a racially segregated society

Read more:

“Library of Congress Releases Audio Archive of Interviews with Rock ‘n’ Roll Icons.” (Kate Rix, Open Culture, 11/30/2012) – The article also goes into more detail about the musicians interviewed.