uncleblogsy

Beery Ballads

At this point in my career, I suppose it is unlikely that I shall ever be invited to give my lecture on Victorian Adaptations of New Communications technologies, in which I discuss, briefly, Thomas Edison’s career in pornographic phonograph records. It is not the best known of his inventions, but Thomas Edison was theContinue reading “Beery Ballads”

Fifty Years Agone

I was trundling through the Interwebs, considering things to blog about, and reflected that although I had glanced at 1921 in search of things to commemorate, I had not looked to 1971. I do things like this. I decide on the research, figuring “What’s the worst that could happen?” The worst that couldContinue reading “Fifty Years Agone”

Selling the Fizz

So it went from a mild over-the-counter medication to something people wanted banned. Well, yes, that happened to cocaine, too, but I was thinking of another product, which took longer to make the transition. And along the way, it slid its way into our culture in many ways, SOME of which can be illustratedContinue reading “Selling the Fizz”

You Tell Me

Pop culture is cotemporary, evoking some facet of its time. Much of it quickly becomes a cliché, and grows tired. It disappears for a while and then, just as everyone has thrown away their copies of that hot comic book and photographs of that singing sensation, they are rediscovered, becoming Nostalgia and/or Collectibles. Continue reading “You Tell Me”

The Romance of Science

As you no doubt recall from our last thrilling episode, we were looking at some of the ways postcard makers showed the comic possibilities of new technologies. The automobile, the telephone, the phonograph: all were used for gags ranging from the merely cheerful to the rollicking. (If you were not, personally, rollicked by anyContinue reading “The Romance of Science”

Oldfangled

I am sure that the first Stone Age citizen who watched his neighbor cooking his dinner over this newfangled thing called fire shook his head and said, “Society’s getting too involved with these new inventions.” I say this as one who is sitting here writing this column on a machine which I once wouldContinue reading “Oldfangled”

Once and Future Lingo

I knew “23 skidoo” basically just as a jocular reference to days gone by, a slightly raffish expression now passe. (Looking back, I think I got this impression from Bugs Bunny in one of his cartoons mocking the Gay Nineties.) I picked up later on the fact that when it was in use, theContinue reading “Once and Future Lingo”

Unsung Heroes

I cannot offer any explanation for WHY you sometimes find yourself humming certain songs. A phrase or a word may trigger the memory, or that background music at the grocery store, hardly noticed while you’re picking up an emergency supply of potato chips, may resurface later. Nor can I explain why certain songs areContinue reading “Unsung Heroes”

Dutch Love

If you are in the business of selling short sentiments on a regular basis, as postcard publishers once were, the problem quickly arises of how to say exactly what you said last time around, only in a new and interesting way. (This tendency is why a lot of great writers started out on theContinue reading “Dutch Love”

Accenting the Positive

Once upon a time, these United States were a polyglot nation. In the big cities, sometimes, people who live four blocks from each other couldn’t make out each other’s version of English, while in rural areas, people knew immediately if you had crossed the Mississippi to come to market. Before the radio networks decidedContinue reading “Accenting the Positive”