One Hundred Years Ago

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Here's a lttle backstory on that cartoon and others like it. I found a YT audio recording of the "notoriously suggestive" Regine Flory singing the "Tanko" snag, but most the words are unintelligible. Siegfried Sassoon, who was so upset by Flory's routine has an interesting story as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/gallery_tank_03.shtml

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/siegfried-sassoon

[Rix Gins]

Here's a lttle backstory on that cartoon and others like it. I found a YT audio recording of the "notoriously suggestive" Regine Flory singing the "Tanko" snag, but most the words are unintelligible. Siegfried Sassoon, who was so upset by Flory's routine has an interesting story as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/gallery_tank_03.shtml

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/siegfried-sassoon

Thanks for the info, Robert.  You make a good History teacher...I always learn things from your posts.  Here is Regine Flory singing the Tanko song. 

https://youtu.be/tVhdyiVjmtM

I can hear the music and enjoy it very much but unfortunately Regine sings the song in such a shrill voice that the only word I can understand is "Tanko." lol  So I searched for the lyrics and only got two results.  One was from a discontinued website so that didn't get me anywhere.  The other was from some fellow on a forum who said, "The lyric is barely distinguishable and it seems extremely tame nowadays, but it infuriated Siegfried Sassoon, prompting him to write the poem, "Blighters".

I sympathize with Siegfried.  Being in the thick of things, he had every right to be angry.  I remember an old program on PBS that featured poems that were written by poets who were killed in the war.  I believe it was called "The Men Who Marched Away" and it was moderated by Darin McGavin.  I have yet to find that program anywhere but I do have it on tape.  No, not video tape...I sat down in front of the family television set with my small, portable reel to reel tape recorder and taped the show.   

[Rix Gins]

Here's a lttle backstory on that cartoon and others like it. I found a YT audio recording of the "notoriously suggestive" Regine Flory singing the "Tanko" snag, but most the words are unintelligible. Siegfried Sassoon, who was so upset by Flory's routine has an interesting story as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/gallery_tank_03.shtml

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/siegfried-sassoon

Ha, Robert...this is a ps to my earlier comment to you.  I must have had a case of brain fade while replying to you, as you yourself stated that Regine's singing was mostly unintelligible.  Well, it's nice to know that both of us (plus that other poster,) are all in the same boat.  lol

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Ha, Robert...this is a ps to my earlier comment to you.  I must have had a case of brain fade while replying to you, as you yourself stated that Regine's singing was mostly unintelligible.  Well, it's nice to know that both of us (plus that other poster,) are all in the same boat.  lol

I think I found the same sites you did while looking for the lyrics. I can't figure out if the song is supposed to be risque, or if Siegfried Sassoon was just pissed off (and justifiably so considering his experiences) that it makes light of the horrors of war.

[K_Dubb]

Thanks, you guys, that's a new bit of history for me.

Helen Keller gave a speech at Carnegie Hall employing some startlingly modern-sounding rhetoric against the war:

Congress is not preparing to defend the people of the United States. It is planning to protect the capital of American speculators and investors in Mexico, South America, China, and the Philippine Islands. Incidentally this preparation will benefit the manufacturers of munitions and war machines.

Until recently there were uses in the United States for the money taken from the workers. But American labor is exploited almost to the limit now, and our national resources have all been appropriated. Still the profits keep piling up new capital. Our flourishing industry in implements of murder is filling the vaults of New York's banks with gold. And a dollar that is not being used to make a slave of some human being is not fulfilling its purpose in the capitalistic scheme.

For context:

They have had us on the verge of war over the Lusitania, the Gulflight, the Ancona, and now they want the workingmen to become excited over the sinking of the Persia. The workingman has no interest in any of these ships. The Germans might sink every vessel on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and kill Americans with every one--the American workingman would still have no reason to go to war.

And just to make sure we know her political stripes:

Every fundamental industry has been managed better by the governments than by private corporations.

http://gos.sbc.edu/k/keller.html

Apropos of nothing, I was watching Kenneth Clark's Civilization last night and his pronunciation of "capitalism" with the accent on the second syllable sounded very odd.

[SredniVashtar]

Apropos of nothing, I was watching Kenneth Clark's Civilization last night and his pronunciation of "capitalism" with the accent on the second syllable sounded very odd.

I don't remember that one, but lots of people of that vintage pronounced words in a way that sound odd to us these days. Like 'pejorative' with the stress on the first syllable. Also 'hotel' would probably be pronounced by him without the aspirate, in the French style.

[K_Dubb]

I don't remember that one, but lots of people of that vintage pronounced words in a way that sound odd to us these days. Like 'pejorative' with the stress on the first syllable. Also 'hotel' would probably be pronounced by him without the aspirate, in the French style.

PEJorative -- how funny.  Though I see the French original has an acute accent on the first e, so yeah.

Aping your French betters, comme toujours. 

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Thanks, you guys, that's a new bit of history for me.

Helen Keller gave a speech at Carnegie Hall employing some startlingly modern-sounding rhetoric against the war:

Wow! That's some powerful stuff and shows that things haven't changed a whole lot when it comes to saber rattling and deliberately deceiving the public into going to war for dubious purposes.  And lest Helen Keller be dismissed as a deluded commie, it actually touches on many of the same points two-time Medal of Honor winner Marine General Smedley Butler, the most decorated U.S. soldier of his lifetime, enumerated in his "War is a Racket" speech twenty years later.

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

Here's another quote from General Butler that succinctly sums up his cynicism about war.  It's a shame he's not better known today, because the man was a true patriotit in the best sense of the word.

"I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."

[K_Dubb]

Wow! That's some powerful stuff and shows that things haven't changed a whole lot when it comes to saber rattling and deliberately deceiving the public into going to war for dubious purposes.  And lest Helen Keller be dismissed as a deluded commie, it actually touches on many of the same points two-time Medal of Honor winner Marine General Smedley Butler, the most decorated U.S. soldier of his lifetime, enumerated in his "War is a Racket" speech twenty years later.

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

Here's another quote from General Butler that succinctly sums up his cynicism about war.  It's a shame he's not better known today, because the man was a true patriotit in the best sense of the word.

"I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."

Thanks, that's a good one!  I'm always underestimating those jerky black-and-white people; they were often more clear-eyed (and certainly more eloquent) than we.

[Rix Gins]

Recorded exactly 100 years ago, today.

https://youtu.be/0MDbs1hQXvw

http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/date/browse/1916-01-05

[Rix Gins]

http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/clyde1.htm

[albrecht]

Wow! That's some powerful stuff and shows that things haven't changed a whole lot when it comes to saber rattling and deliberately deceiving the public into going to war for dubious purposes.  And lest Helen Keller be dismissed as a deluded commie, it actually touches on many of the same points two-time Medal of Honor winner Marine General Smedley Butler, the most decorated U.S. soldier of his lifetime, enumerated in his "War is a Racket" speech twenty years later.

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

Here's another quote from General Butler that succinctly sums up his cynicism about war.  It's a shame he's not better known today, because the man was a true patriotit in the best sense of the word.

"I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."

He also was present and gave speeches to the Bonus Army encampment right before the Army led by Douglas MacArthur "disposed" of it with fixed bayonets and chemical weapons (adamsite) under orders from Hoover, initially, following a police shooting, but MacArthur decided to continue the attack (against Hoover's message who requested it stopped once they fled across the Anacostia River;) killing a 12 year old boy, causing a veteran's wife to miscarry, and injuring many of the protesters/camper veterans.

[K_Dubb]

Recorded exactly 100 years ago, today.

https://youtu.be/0MDbs1hQXvw

http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/date/browse/1916-01-05

What a delightful reminder of sunshine and warmth!  Would that be a foxtrot, at all?  I understand that hit about this time.  The insistent 4/4 beat sounds impossibly quaint now, but, to judge from the abundance of 78s in my collection with that label, it was the era's dubstep (? I am surely no connoisseur).

[Rix Gins]

What a delightful reminder of sunshine and warmth!  Would that be a foxtrot, at all?  I understand that hit about this time.  The insistent 4/4 beat sounds impossibly quaint now, but, to judge from the abundance of 78s in my collection with that label, it was the era's dubstep (? I am surely no connoisseur).

You have a far better knowledge of music than I do, K. lol  I only know what I like, and I've always liked those booming tubas in the background of those old recordings.  They were used to provide a back beat, bass kind of sound, right?

[K_Dubb]

You have a far better knowledge of music than I do, K. lol  I only know what I like, and I've always liked those booming tubas in the background of those old recordings.  They were used to provide a back beat, bass kind of sound, right?

Yeah, very oom-pah.  As far as I understand, when making mechanical recordings they arranged the music for instruments that recorded well.  A wind band would normally be an unusual accompaniment for a singer.  I'm guessing a live performance would have featured the string bass, which, in retrospect, would diminish the charm somewhat.

[Rix Gins]

January 5, 1916 -  An Austria-Hungary offensive was begun against Montenegro.   

Wikipedia: The VIII. Armeekorps, who pursued the withdrawing Montenegrin Expeditionary army, had two tasks. On the one hand to bind these troops, for this the 62nd and 53rd Infantry Division was used. On the other hand, it had to pass the Montenegrin right wing and converge with the XIX. Korps on Podgorica.

The 62nd and 53rd Infantry Division entered Montenegro on 5 January 1916 from the North-East and advanced along the river towards Pljevlja and Bijelo Polje, where they were stopped by the Montenegrins in the Battle of Mojkovac.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mojkovac


Janko Vukotić.  Chief of Staff of the Montenegrin Army.

[Rix Gins]

[K_Dubb]

Cool!  I nearly bought a Chickering once; saw it in an antique mall near Tacoma for a ridiculously low price.  It was one of those massive square grands, beautifully carved, like the descendant of those square Tudor virginals.  Unfortunately it had about the same tone hahaha.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

I'm always underestimating those jerky black-and-white people; they were often more clear-eyed (and certainly more eloquent) than we.

Great description!  It's a shame that jerky old film footage makes the eminent people of those days look like they're in a Mack Sennett slapstick comedy. It definitely diminishes any dignity and gravitas they may have had.

I remember Billy Crystal had a great routine years ago where he did a perfect imitation of a 1920s baseball player playing catch in newsreel clip.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Cool!  I nearly bought a Chickering once; saw it in an antique mall near Tacoma for a ridiculously low price.  It was one of those massive square grands, beautifully carved, like the descendant of those square Tudor virginals.  Unfortunately it had about the same tone hahaha.

So, the sound was more important to you than the pride and satisfaction of providing deeper love, nobler life, greater happiness and restful peace to those you love?  I see. I've heard about guys like you.

[Rix Gins]

Something tells me that Heaton's Music Store isn't there anymore.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Something tells me that Heaton's Music Store isn't there anymore.

Maybe it became a highly diversified multi-national conglomerate called Heatcorp, while retaining its core music business as a separate division, and that's its corporate HQ. 

They certainly had a lovely parade float in 1916! 

[Rix Gins]

Maybe it became a highly diversified multi-national conglomerate called Heatcorp, while retaining its core music business as a separate division, and that's its corporate HQ. 

They certainly had a lovely parade float in 1916!

LOL  I agree.  I like the added touch with the potted plant.  Shade for the driver?

[Rix Gins]

HMS King Edward VII was sunk on this day in 1916.  Hit a mine.  All aboard but one were pulled off.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_King_Edward_VII

The SMS Möwe.  The ship that set the mine.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_M%C3%B6we

[Rix Gins]

Ball player Phil Masi  was born 100 years ago, today.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Masi

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Ball player Phil Masi  was born 100 years ago, today.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Masi

I like this-- "Upon his death, his will revealed that he really was out on the pick-off play in the 1948 World Series." That's the first post-death bed confession I've ever heard of! 

[Rix Gins]

I like this-- "Upon his death, his will revealed that he really was out on the pick-off play in the 1948 World Series." That's the first post-death bed confession I've ever heard of! 

Yeah, I noticed that too.  lol

[Rix Gins]

Another ad from 1916.



http://www.fairiesworld.com/fairygifts/fairysoap.shtml

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Another ad from 1916.



http://www.fairiesworld.com/fairygifts/fairysoap.shtml

Fairies have to use a very mild soap so they don't damage their delicate wings. 

[pyewacket]

Thank you for starting this thread Rix- it's like a time capsule. Nice picture- have you seen the movie, The World's Fastest Indian? Sir Anthony Hopkins played Burt Munroe who raced his 1920 Indian Scout bike and set a record despite odds being against him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bu9dGRQvJY