One Hundred Years Ago

[Rix Gins]

The Chicago Day Book, August 26, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 26, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Bismarck Daily Tribune, August 26, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Evening Star, August 26, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Sunday Star, August 27, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, August 28, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Chicago Day Book, August 28, 1916,

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 28, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Rock Island Argus, August 28, 1916.

[pate]

The Chicago Day Book, August 28, 1916,

The third story out of New York caught my histronical eye.

I am clutching the pearls as I read...

[pate]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 28, 1916.

Thought this might be a nice accompaniment to some of the above stories, apologies for being off topic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rve03u7oEvI

[K_Dubb]

The Chicago Day Book, August 28, 1916,

Goodness, I never thought I'd read of orgies in here!  The titillation is only slightly tempered by the idea these women might be slaves in some way, but how this differs from the usual prostitute/pimp relationship is unclear.

Laughed at the poor man's fear of his mother-in-law!  She must have been what used to be called a battle-axe.

The coverage of the Deutschland story and the Romania cartoon shows more sympathy for that side and awareness of developments in the east than I ever thought, too.  This is really eye-opening.

Interesting, no mention of the molasses or raisins in today's canned bread.  Great toasted with cream cheese, btw.

[K_Dubb]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 28, 1916.

It is still the old west!  And I feel refreshed after reading the beautifully written article on the rainstorm.  Thanks, Rix!

[Rix Gins]

It is still the old west!  And I feel refreshed after reading the beautifully written article on the rainstorm.  Thanks, Rix!

Glad you liked it K.  Oh yes, that had to be the most poetic coverage of a rainstorm that I have ever read.  haha  I almost wonder if a reporter's wife or girlfriend was hanging out at the Bonanza office.  I can see the reporter turn towards her and say,  "Tell you what dear.  I'm going to step out and buy some cigars.  Why don't you write up a piece on that rainstorm we had this morning.  You're so good at writing those little poems and all.  Just do the best you can and if you finish up before I get back, then I'll take you out to the Tonopah Club for dinner."  (Not, I hasten to add, that a man couldn't write up such a beautiful piece.) 

[K_Dubb]

Glad you liked it K.  Oh yes, that had to be the most poetic coverage of a rainstorm that I have ever read.  haha  I almost wonder if a reporter's wife or girlfriend was hanging out at the Bonanza office.  I can see the reporter turn towards her and say,  "Tell you what dear.  I'm going to step out and buy some cigars.  Why don't you write up a piece on that rainstorm we had this morning.  You're so good at writing those little poems and all.  Just do the best you can and if you finish up before I get back, then I'll take you out to the Tonopah Club for dinner."  (Not, I hasten to add, that a man couldn't write up such a beautiful piece.)

Haha someday I aspire to pen a line as purple as old King Sol shattering the dewy mass!  But your version is wonderful, and she sure earned her dinner.

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, August 29, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Chicago Day Book, August 29, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 29, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Bee, August 29, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Webster City Freeman, August 29, 1916.

[K_Dubb]

The Chicago Day Book, August 29, 1916.

I looked in vain for a photograph of Gypsy King Joe Adams, but found this portrait in print in the Chicago Sunday Tribune of 8/27/16, which gives some idea:

[K_Dubb]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 29, 1916.

Hahaha coulda written good Peter Fabbi's ad myself!  Maybe I am a time traveler!

Love the bank heist story, too.  That was some operation.

[albrecht]

I looked in vain for a photograph of Gypsy King Joe Adams, but found this portrait in print in the Chicago Sunday Tribune of 8/27/16, which gives some idea:

The Gypsy thing is still around. I've heard that the influx of Hispanics actually makes it easier for them. There are different  clans and groups
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/may/23/celebrating-a-gypsys-life-romani-hold-traditional/
http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-curse-of-romeo-and-juliet/

Forgiving or ignoring the crimes sometimes committed I find interesting that a community can exist sub-rosa, I will include the 'Irish Gypsy' travelers in this.

[K_Dubb]

The Gypsy thing is still around. I've heard that the influx of Hispanics actually makes it easier for them. There are different  clans and groups
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/may/23/celebrating-a-gypsys-life-romani-hold-traditional/
http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-curse-of-romeo-and-juliet/

Forgiving or ignoring the crimes sometimes committed I find interesting that a community can exist sub-rosa, I will include the 'Irish Gypsy' travelers in this.

Utterly fascinating.  Many of the customs described in the second article remind me of orthodox Jews, maybe the only group that has surpassed their achievement in preserving their culture.

[albrecht]

Utterly fascinating.  Many of the customs described in the second article remind me of orthodox Jews, maybe the only group that has surpassed their achievement in preserving their culture.

What I find most interesting is that, for the most part (the 'Irish' ones do have a town, I think in NC?) they are amongst the population or maintain an almost migratory life (esp in UK etc) but still persevere their culture, language, etc and often 'off the grid' in terms of government rules and  so forth (for good or bad, some outreach and programs to try to get kids in school and healthcare and whatnot.) And like Jews have been, even today, traditionally punished and not liked. Unlike the various Anabaptist or Orthodox Jewish sects who separate from society and often live in their own farms or areas.

[K_Dubb]

What I find most interesting is that, for the most part (the 'Irish' ones do have a town, I think in NC?) they are amongst the population or maintain an almost migratory life (esp in UK etc) but still persevere their culture, language, etc and often 'off the grid' in terms of government rules and  so forth (for good or bad, some outreach and programs to try to get kids in school and healthcare and whatnot.) And like Jews have been, even today, traditionally punished and not liked. Unlike the various Anabaptist or Orthodox Jewish sects who separate from society and often live in their own farms or areas.

Hm we can see how the Jews have remained distinct by preserving the laws around uncleanliness in our own Bible; perhaps the Gypsies inherited a similar, unwritten code with a basis in the old Indian caste system?

Intermarriage is probably the biggest threat to a culture, and damn do they have some strong beliefs against that.  So different from, say, the Indian tribes here, many of whom encouraged it, and adoption, as a way to grow and strengthen the tribe.  You wonder who came up with those prohibitions initially.  You'd have to really think about generations long after you're dead and worry about their culture in a way we just don't do.

[albrecht]

Hm we can see how the Jews have remained distinct by preserving the laws around uncleanliness in our own Bible; perhaps the Gypsies inherited a similar, unwritten code with a basis in the old Indian caste system?

In some perverse way oppression and laws/people against them 'helped' keep the traditions/religion together in both cases.
I suspect you are correct though there are different branches of 'gypsies' and many have lost the ethnic look (but still might maintain the culture.)
http://www.texashighways.com/history/item/4372-gypsies-rom-in-texas
'Romani music influenced 19th-Century European composers, particularly Franz Liszt. In this century, Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt influenced such American musicians as blues great B.B. King, guitarist Chet Atkins, and Texas fiddle legend Johnny Gimble. Well-known modern actors of Romani descent include Charlie Chaplin, Rita Hayworth, Yul Brynner, Michael Caine, and Bob Hoskins. '  (WHAT?!) According to some sources Chaplin's mockery of Hitler was actually based on the NAZI's treatment of gypsies even.

[K_Dubb]

In some perverse way oppression and laws/people against them 'helped' keep the traditions/religion together in both cases.
I suspect you are correct though there are different branches of 'gypsies' and many have lost the ethnic look (but still might maintain the culture.)
http://www.texashighways.com/history/item/4372-gypsies-rom-in-texas
'Romani music influenced 19th-Century European composers, particularly Franz Liszt. In this century, Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt influenced such American musicians as blues great B.B. King, guitarist Chet Atkins, and Texas fiddle legend Johnny Gimble. Well-known modern actors of Romani descent include Charlie Chaplin, Rita Hayworth, Yul Brynner, Michael Caine, and Bob Hoskins. '  (WHAT?!) According to some sources Chaplin's mockery of Hitler was actually based on the NAZI's treatment of gypsies even.

Haha yeah Liszt kind of jumbled all that Eastern European stuff -- Bohemian, Hungarian -- in with Gypsy music.  Who knows how much of it is authentically Gypsy.  I am guessing, because the association between Gypsies and popular folk music in Eastern Europe that goes back at least to Telemann, that Gypsies filled an economic niche as musicians there, hired out for weddings and stuff like mariachi, so everything became Gypsified.

Interesting that they are still sustained by an economic niche, fortune-telling, kind of like how the Jews were by banking in Europe until the usury laws for Christians were relaxed.

[albrecht]

Haha yeah Liszt kind of jumbled all that Eastern European stuff -- Bohemian, Hungarian -- in with Gypsy music.  Who knows how much of it is authentically Gypsy.  I am guessing, because the association between Gypsies and popular folk music in Eastern Europe that goes back at least to Telemann, that Gypsies filled an economic niche as musicians there, hired out for weddings and stuff like mariachi, so everything became Gypsified.

Interesting that they are still sustained by an economic niche, fortune-telling, kind of like how the Jews were by banking in Europe until the usury laws for Christians were relaxed.

Not sure if she had any Gypsy heritage but the great actress Maria Ouspenskaya (who played a great Gypsy in some Universal horror movies, like The Wolf Man) apparently was addicted to astrology and would cause problems on the set because she needed to consult when it was 'right' to appear!

ps: several years ago a fortune telling place opened up near me. Still open so I guess doing good business. They build a new house but a sort of connected out-building with the palm and other signs for the trade.

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, August 30, 1916.