Harold finds this hysterical. But then, humor was much simpler in 1930.
Month: March 2017
By any other name
Not to put too fine a spin on it, but, there’s a lot of jargon for illegal alcohol during Prohibition: hooch, horse liniment, coffin varnish, gigglewater (no, JK Rowling did not invent this term), brown plaid, busthead, moonshine, panther piss, skee, rot gut, white lightening… Well, you get the picture.
One thing they have in common, though, is their danger. Continue reading
Too Close to Home
How’s that for a headline? ‘SCARFACE AL’ SURRENDERS
On March 21, 1930, this headline topped most newspapers. After all, Al Capone was “Public Enemy Number 1”.
Not that there weren’t other big name gangsters: Bugsy Siegel (New York), Nucky Johnson (New Jersey), Harry Rosen (Philly)… And the one that worried Rose (and Harold) the most: Tom Dennison.
Poor Harold. He has gotten himself mixed up with Dennison’s minions so you can bet that seeing a headline like this March 21 banner was, to say the least, worrisome.
What? You say you don’t know who this Tom Dennison character is?
Well, it turns out that Omaha, Nebraska was a hotbed of bootleg liquor, illegal gambling, and ladies of questionable virtue. And they all answered to the beck and call of Tom Dennison.
It was this tiny bit of trivia that I stumbled over one day during genealogy research that sparked my imagination.
What if a poor farmer loses everything he has saved when the bank closes after the Stock Crash of 1929?
And what if, in desperation to save his farm, he gets involved with a local bootlegging kingpin who puts him in harm’s way?
And what if, in trying to save his farm, he risks losing everything that is important to him?
Yeah, I’d say this headline was a bit too close to home for Harold’s liking.
B is for…
Rose has been feeling a tad sympathetic with all those on the receiving end of this late winter / early spring snowstorm. She knows just how that feels… Continue reading
Viewer Discretion is Advised
WARNING: The following contains sexual content not suitable for some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
If music came with the disclaimers we’re used to seeing on our television programs, the 1930 hit by Louis Armstrong, Body and Soul, would have come with the above warning. It was, after all, banned from the radio for almost a year¹ Continue reading
On Death
Pardon me while I get maudlin…
Yesterday, I read this in the 1930 diary I have: Had 16 little piglets today, but the old mother laid on 4 and killed them.
This made me sad. Especially if you’ve seen the cute piglet pictures I posted here. But it also got me thinking about how common death is, especially on a farm. And especially in the 1930s.
Well, it’s not a giant leap from cute piggies dying to human mortality… Continue reading
Ha ha. That’s punny!
I have to think the writer of this article was pleased with himself for coming up with the headline. The story has little bearing on Rose, other than being in the news on March 7, 1930. But, I’m certain she and Harold had a good chuckle from it.
A is for…
One of the tools in a writer’s arsenal to develop a fictional character is the Character A-Z exercise, where, beginning with the letter A and working your way through to Z, you write from the character’s POV (point of view) about whatever topic comes to mind for the letter at hand. Because, there comes a time when research has to stop and you just have to get into the character’s head to see what makes them tick.
Rose and I are embarking on just such a journey. Care to come along? Continue reading
Taylor MacDowell 