Myths & Misconceptions About The 1920s

[@retroguy9494]

Regarding reading the book in high school, like most, I, too, read it. I read the book 40 years ago in 1982. My teacher took the opposite teaching points of yours and DID focus on the themes in the book and NOT the objects. She was born in the 20's and came from a well to do old family. I think she was like 4th or 5th generation in the same town. She was one of those types of ladies that are rare today. I don't know how old you are so you may not remember such women. Went to an all girls college. Always wore a dress; NEVER pants. Was very conservative and matronly. Taught Latin and English. Was very involved in the community and charity work. She very much taught us about the hedonism and the excesses of the lost generation due to the horrors of World War I. Of course, she KNEW many WWI vets. I knew a few myself even though they were very old men by that time and I was a little boy. They were quite the characters. Tough old birds. They loved to have a good time but didn't take any crap! She taught us that money and material possessions can't make you happy when you are suffering inside yourself. And that creating a new life and entirely new personality won't allow you to outrun your own personal demons. Whether they be from memories of the war or lost love or ones upbringing. She also explained the reasons why the generation in general loved to party. The saying back then was 'eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.' It was a carryover expression from the war.

[@simianto9957]

Thank you for this story.

[@joiedevivre2005]

According to historians at the Jazz Museum in New Orleans, & WWOZ (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation's radio station), Louis Armstrong was called "Little Louie" as a child. As an adult, he felt that "Louie" was diminutive and preferred to be called Louis (pronounced LOO-is) as an adult. Kind of like someone who was called "Billy" as a child prefers Bill or William as an adult. Excellent video - I very much enjoyed it & learned something new regarding the radio broadcasts and "talkies".

[@glennso47]

A musician in the 50s was Billy Vaughn. He popularized Sail Along Silvery Moon. So some famous people were called Billy all their lives.

[@potatoegirl31]

Not everyone was a "flapper" or bootlegger in the 1920s, just like not everyone was a hippie in the 1960s! Very true!

[@melissacooper8724]

I agree. None of my grandmothers were flappers. And neither of my parents were hippies.

[@Zebra_3]

but many believe they went to Woodstock.

[@andyc9902]

Aye

[@melissacooper8724]

@@Zebra_3 I know perfectly well that my parents never attended Woodstock.

[@johnreidy2804]

@@melissacooper8724 Yeah but you should not have voted for Joe Biden he is senile

[@chinanolan1529]

My mother, born in 1912, ran a very popular black club on the South Side of Chicago and met a great number of famous people, including Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and yes, Louis Armstrong. I met Louis Armstrong in 1963 and heard him correct people who called him the French pronunciation and announced they should call him the English pronunciation of Louis. You can hear him in Hello Dolly, distinctly say: "Hello Dolly, this is Louis [english pronuciation] Dolly...."

[@tommyg8146]

Wow!!! :-)))

[@miapdx503]

That's awesome! 🌹

[@discerningmind]

Yes, I remember that from, Hello Dolly. And he sounded very dignified when he sang/spoke his name. I'm wondering if the slang for the city, being St. Louie for St. Louis, added to the troubles Mr. Armstong had.

[@voiceofraisin3778]

@@discerningmind For his personnal life he seems to have preferred it pronounced as Lewis and even spelled it that way a few times. However to cause confusion he also used the French style Louis in records like Laughin louis and Mame since it scanned and rhymed better.

[@discerningmind]

@@voiceofraisin3778 Interesting. Thank you.

[@nannettefreeman7331]

It's not just people your age who view The Great Gasby as you describe. I'm 53 years old. I read the novel for Senior English, which I took as a summerschool class in 1982. And I couldn't agree more with your statement about teachers getting hung up on the symbolism of objects in The Great Gasby, & completely neglecting to discuss the broader themes of the story, or the book's significance as a keyhole glimpse at 1920s society, or its commentary on the inescapable hedonic treadmill that IS the human condition, still in 2022, same as 1922, same as always, & forever. It's a complex literary work with many layers of meaning woven into it. To discuss them all would require more than a semester, so I think our English teachers simply had to focus on one thing, that being the novel's liberal use of symbolism. That same English teacher who assigned The Great Gatsby, for the class's section on Poetry, brought her collection of 1960s folk music into class & had us treat the lyrics of Bob Dylan & Joni Mitchell like classical poetry, so it's not like she was in any way conventional or conservative in her teaching style, so I figure The Great Gatsby must be one of the VERY BEST examples of the use of symbolism in modern literature, since that's what teachers spanning generations have consistently globbed onto! I was raised by my maternal grandparents (born 1918 & 1920), & they had MANY stories about what their lives were like, growing up in the 1920s, none of which had a whole lot to do with indulgence or excess. My grandfather's family was fairly well-off, compared to other families living in their sleepy Southern town, but extremely hard-working people too. Farmers. They were the first family in that town to own a car. Just a few years later, my grandfather bought a Model T Ford at a police auction (it had been confiscated from a moonshiner) for $9 when he was 9 years old (so 1929), but he totalled it on the drive home coz, well, he was 9 years old. I can't believe the cops let him drive off in it! I guess driver's licenses weren't a thing yet. He used to go to the movie theater on Saturdays & pay 5 cents to see two full-length movies with over 30min of cartoons or serials in between. There was a live pianist right there in the theater, who accompanied the images on the screen. Grandpa's recollections of the 1920s were 99% Our Gang/Lil Rascals, 1% Great Gatsby. My grandmother's family, very different. Oklahoma, Dust Bowl, migrant oil field workers, 6 daughters & a son (who went on to start Sonic Drive-In with his brother-in-law), just shockingly poor. They listened to Bluegrass, not Jazz! They were NOT flappers! Her mom used to line up all the kids & cut their hair using a bowl as a guide, like Moe from the Three Stooges! She made all their clothes by hand. Imagine six sisters in tattered clothes, with bad bobs & dirty faces, 3 of whom were smoking hot, the other 3 just super slutty, & dad taking potshots at would-be suitors with a shotgun loaded with birdshot from the front porch. He (their dad) actually left the family for a couple of years to go work on the Alaska Pipeline, made good money doing that. In 1936, she & her next oldest sister (named Lolita, 38 years before the book), & their respective husband's loaded up the ol' jalopy & migrated to California in search of work, so yeah, 100% Grapes of Wrath, 0% Great Gatsby! It's all a matter of perspective. I'm sure the World today looks very different, depending on what socio-economic rung you occupy, & whether you're a city-dweller, in the suburbs, or reside in a rural setting. As with all things, in any given time, there are no absolutes. Everything is relative. Maybe they're not "myths" you're debunking, but rather "one man's truth" that does not fully illustrate the overall zeitgeist, but have somehow, over time, come to be overrepresented in our impressions of the era. I think it's human nature, a universal cognitive bias, to retain memories of the positive more than the negative, but when thinking of the future, we give much more weight to possible negative outcomes than positive ones. So it's no surprise that we've gotten the impression that the 1920s were perhaps a little more glamorous than they really were. The bad parts simply aren't passed down with the same frequency as those penultimate defining moments are. I can also say with confidence that each & every one of you are going to, at some point in your life, lose out on getting the GRAND PRIZE out of fear of losing what you already have. I genuinely hope you all prove me wrong about this. Be carefree (not careless). Act fearlessly. None of this matters AT ALL. Nothing you will ever do, say or think, will have any kind of long-lasting impact on the Universe, which is self-balancing. That's not a pessimistic view of reality, it's a LIBERATING one! It means you can do as you please, without worrying about messing anything up! You can't! Don't burn the candle at both ends. Apply a blowtorch directly to the center, & blaze through life like you're gonna live forever. Coz you won't. Don't do what is expected of you. Do what makes you happy & fulfilled & gives you a sense of purpose. Don't put it off. Do it now. Do it often. And don't worry about what anyone thinks of you. The only person whose opinion matters is YOU. There is no higher goal than happiness. Don't EVER sacrifice yours for anyone or anything, coz it can only be a trade down for you, & it will only result in resentment & regret. Own your mistakes (it's the ONLY way we learn, change, grow, improve), be accountable for your choices & your actions. There is great power in accountability. If you got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out. But if you're just some hapless victim of circumstances beyond your control, then you're REALLY screwed! Thanks for the upload. Very thought-provoking.

[@geraldobrien7323]

Wait a second. You’re 53 and you were a senior in 1982? You graduated high school at 13 years old?

[@vickieblakeley4501]

No truer words have ere been spoken, Nanette.

[@ranprince5493]

So….your Grandfather bought a car when he was 9???You are a better storyteller than Fitzgerald!

[@porflimbornapilis2556]

C'mon, OP is old. Likely just forgot the year... Also, no one FORCES anyone onto the hedonic treadmill. Anyone who gets on it WANTS to... So, don't feel sorry for them. They deserve what they get.

[@retroguy9494]

@@geraldobrien7323 Perhaps he was a child prodigy and graduated college at 17! LOL

[@antonnym214]

For me, a talkie is a film with synchronized sound and speech or singing all the way through so that there are no dialog cards to read. There are talkie short films, like Jolson's own 10-minute short from 1926, "A Plantation Act". and feature-length films with all synchronized sound and speech like Lights of New York.

[@southernlight6]

My grandmother was 40 in 1925 and told me a lot about the era, as did my dad who was 16 that same year. People were still very conservative. The short hair and short skirts of the flapper were considered cheap by most people. The lives of the rich and famous were a bit wild because of their reaction to WW1.. which made a horrible impression on them. But the majority of people were not what we see in the movies or in The Great Gatsby.

[@michellebowers8652]

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that “LOO-iss” knew how to pronounce his own name.

[@Tyler_Kent]

I love the Ruby Stevens photo to open. She went on to be one of the greatest actresses of the 20th century. IMO the greatest. A strong, tough human being who lost both her parents bf she turned 5 yrs old. All she did, she did on her own. Navigating a world of predators who promised much, but delivered little if anything at all. Barbara Stanwyck is my all time favorite.

[@Jake.r.reinhart]

The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel. I consider it a tragedy. We watch people who have everything they need destroy themselves. Gatsby destroys himself trying to achieve Monterrey wealth to win the heart of a mere idea of a woman. It’s a cautionary tale about where hustle culture and status worship eventually lead us.

[@kathrynroat9139]

I have often thought that Scarface was a modern version of Gatsby!

[@DovZeev]

That's true. It's also about trying to recapture youth and a simpler sense of the times. The Great War shattered worldwide confidence in peace and amnesty, and the young adults who came out the other side could only recall the gilded age leading up to it; and so they wished to return. But you can never really go home, I guess.

[@redbluebae4397]

Well said!

[@redbluebae4397]

@@DovZeev yes!

[@JudgeJulieLit]

@@kathrynroat9139 Likely you mean the 1983 film, which modernized the characters, plot and context of the 1929 novel and 1931 film Scarface.

[@pamelasimone5084]

My grandmother was a teenage bride during the 1920s and my mother was born in the 1920s. I see these videos as a chance to get a broader understanding of the time rather than just my grandmother’s perspective.

[@Yeoman1346]

Thank you for the insight on the Great Gatsby. It really shows that the generation valued his first two novels far more than The Great Gatsby. Were the people in the 1920’s who read F. Scott Fitzgerald far more insightful than the later generations? I think they were. But I had the advantage of talking with family who lived through the 1920’s. Family from New York and the East coast to the Midwest, Minnesota and Iowa for example. You’re spot on. Thank you your channel is fantastic!

[@roberthill799]

I like Gatsby a lot but I think that "Tender Is The Night" is much better and might be the greatest novel of the 20th c.

[@lindseystein9676]

I agree, tender is the night is far more interesting.

[@timmmahhhh]

Enjoyed this immensely, thanks!! And great discussion on Louis versus Louie.

[@simonf8902]

Hitchcock’s English movie of 1929, Blackmail was said to be the first British talkie. It was also made in a silent version.

[@visionplant]

Have you considered making a video about pirates in the 1920's? I don't mean pirates who lived in the 1920's but pirate media in the 1920's such as art, silent films and magazines. I believe that the 1920's is really when we shaped the modern view of what the pirate looks like with artists such as Howard Pyle and novels like Captain Blood

[@dimthecat9418]

Yes

[@Emiliee]

I'd love to see a video on this topic

[@mistergrandpasbakery9941]

You are right about Armstrong! Also about DuBois as well. I took sociology in college and my teacher was emphatic about that! Excellent job!

[@yelloworangered]

The Great Gatsby is a strange novel because the action is undertaken by the secondary characters and the main character stands like an admirable statue while being admired by the narrator. The message is that rich people can always retire into the safety of their money no matter what mess they create for others (still true). And the less wealthy cannot become a part of that class, no matter how much money they accumulate by scrambling. It is a depressing message and one can see why it didn't sell. Anyone who wants the bubbly Fitzgerald can find it in his short stories and his articles for popular magazines. I don't think The Great Gatsby is all that great a book and can't believe it was imposed on soldiers fighting in WWII. That was an amusing thing to learn. Thank you for this great video.

[@BlackSeranna]

Did you never think that maybe it was forced on soldiers so they would have knowledge of this Americana? German spies were often caught because they didn't know stuff like baseball players or who won what game in the series or season. So, this is probably just one more thing that would give our soldiers something to catch spies with.

[@westzed23]

@@BlackSeranna This is an interesting idea.

[@patriciajrs46]

Those other books were very good. Fitzgerald was good, but it seems many didn't like the Great Gatsby. Writers still have to pander to popular tastes. That really sucks.

[@nicolethomas6586]

I love your original content like this even more than your readings from Photoplay (and I love those a lot!). Keep it coming.

[@louisianagrandma3595]

As a native New Orleanian, I can say that the majority of our people are friendly and "laid back", hence the city's nickname of "The Big Easy". I don't doubt the French influence, but I can also understand calling Mr. Armstrong, "Louie" by many who claim him as a native son. Of course, I would always respect a person's desire to pronounce their names as they wish, but I'm reminded of that old saying, "Call me what you want...just don't call me late for lunch!" Lol Love your videos!

[@michaelshort7472]

As a professional musician who has performed 1920s music for 50 years, I appreciate these videos you have done. Along with the pronunciations you mention, I remember playing the tune "Arab Strut" a tune from just a little later than the 20s. I was told that the way to say that was actually "A-Rab", referring to street urchins rather than Middle Eastern peoples. Also (and this may be more a matter of taste) I found The Great Gatsby rather boring, while I really enjoyed The Beautiful and Damned. Go figure.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@Michael Short.. I left a reply on this page that I would have enjoyed it more if it was more direct... I found this persons way of explaining things too boggled.. and word trippy back and forth.. there arent enough hours in the day.. to watch dribble from speakers stumbling over their dialogue...

[@nicwilson89]

Is that A-rab as in the American pronunciation of Arab (I'm British), or is it like A Rab, or am I completely wrong haha?

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@@nicwilson89 I think the point he was making is it is supposed to be pronounced like the letter A is pronounced at the start... A-rab as opposed to air-rub.......... which is how everyone including me pronounces it..... also my Italian boss once told me that its pronounced ...... it-talian... Not eye-talian.. since Italy is pronounced it-taly and Not eye-taly

[@nicwilson89]

@@jeffcarlson3269 Yea, as I said I'm British, so we'd pronounce Italian in the same way your boss said that it should be pronounced. As for the A-rab thing, I was assuming that was a hard A as in the way you'd say the letter A. The way I/we would say that would be as if you were saying 'a torch' or 'a car', so 'a rab'. Language is fascinating :)

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@@nicwilson89 I alway pronounce it air-rub.....Not A-Rab...but I may be wrong....

[@tricivenola8164]

I watched your Part 2 of the Misconceptions series first. I'm glad you talked about Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. She was the quintessential flapper ideal, "as old as the century" as Scott put it, smart, shining, slim, and above all young. We can read about her in just about all of his stories. Young girls would read them and try to be the same. It's awful that they both died so young: Scott broken by alcoholism and Zelda sad and mad, a shadow of the passionate female ideal she had been. But part of the '20s, and into the rest of their lives, was an absence of things we have: mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics, AA...

[@johnryan3913]

I am definitely interested in the boundary between silent and talking pictures. I have seen some hybrids, but generally it seems as though we have Jazz Singer in 1927, and the real onslaught of talkies in 1929-30. How did the transition work? That is a topic in I would be interested in.

[@RickTBL]

1929 seems to be a pivotal year. I've seen a few movies from '29, some were talkies, some had sound. It seems like everything I've seen from 1930 had sound.

[@The1920sChannel]

It's a fascinating and important (but short) period in film history and I'm already working on a video about it ;)

[@ladyagnes7781]

There are also tge Edison " talkies" from 1915. They were ( 6 surviving) films with sound-on-disc recorded concurrently. Library of Congress has them. I saw some there, & they put tge whole set out on DVD a few years back. There were also the 1923DeForest films( I believe one he has a duck in it). I am NOT trying to be argumentative.....just showing that the " transition to sound" was not a film, but a series of steps.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@John Ryan.. you must remember that many of the films made prior to 1927 have been lost due to fires or erosion.. as the celluloid once used decayed and disintegrated over time.. films were not thought of as something to be preserved and cherished as they are now.. they were just a commodity..like toilet paper.. people looking for an escape.. and it was something new.. a passing craze... many did not know how long it would last.. I dare say if certain things had not come along such as talkies.. technicolor.. or other inventions thru the years to upgrade the viewing quality.. the films we Do have would have gone the way of the penny arcade.. stored in trunks.. and totally forgotten about...

[@lindac6919]

Haven't you ever watched Singing In the Rain? Oh you must! It's about making movies when the silents were transitioning to talkies!

[@TXMEDRGR]

It is good that you point out that not all of New Orleans has a strong French influence. After 1803, many "Americans" poured into New Orleans bringing a more Anglo-American influence. The Garden District was built in large part to house the newly arrived "Americans." In the years before the Civil War, there was a large influx of Irish and Germans, many Italians followed in later years. The number of people claiming a Creole background is very low these days.

[@powellmountainmike8853]

I'm an old man now. My parents were born at the beginning of the 1920s. My grandparents generation fought in the First World War. Of course, in the 1920s nobody thought mankind would be foolish enough to have a SECOND, so people then referred to it as "The Great War" or sometimes as "The World War." The horrors which that generation experienced in that war affected the outlook and psychology of many of the returned veterans and even others, and contributed to their "Live for today" attitude, and the wild behavior of some in that period. As a Vietnam vet myself, I can say that my fellow Vietnam vets had more in common attitude wise toward war with the World War One vets than we did with the World War Two vets. The World War One vets considered war a useless waste of life, a blight on mankind. Remember, after they came home they never got the bonus money the government had promised them. (research the bonus march protests in Washington DC, and the disgraceful behavior of our government and of General Douglas MacArthur) The World War Two vets came home to great accolades and the GI Bill. Their attitudes were quite different. We Vietnam vets came home to a public which had turned against the war, and were called "baby killers" by our peers. We learned that the Gulf of Ton Kin incident was a set up false flag, an excuse to escalate the conflict and sacrifice thousands and thousands of fine young American lives on the altar of Mars to ensure prosperity to the military industrial complex. As a result, we ended up with a much closer feeling to our grandparents generation than to our parents, and the same "Live for today" attitude resurfaced in the 1970s.

[@scottbeaton1519]

Just found your channel.. loving it !!!

[@gustaftheone9279]

LOL! I can’t believe ppl get angsty over pronunciations. We live be in a diverse world. I was shocked when you mentioned it to be honest. Keep doing your thing & ignore them. I thoroughly enjoy your content 😊

[@natomblin]

Well done. I was taught in college in my history of radio course that KDKA was indeed the first commercial radio station, so I was taken aback by this revelation. Again, great research and presentation.

[@yelloworangered]

I think that part-talkies count as a sound movie because the part-talkies were probably studios' experiments with the new technologies. It would make sense to move conservatively and create films that could have the talk-part snipped out if the fad ended, and could be produced without a wholesale investment in equipment.

[@neilcoligan8621]

As to Sheik rhyming with weak... it's a pop song and you can bet license is rampant when playing in that arena, which reminds me of the old "professional" wrestling villain The Sheik. Despite this Frank Zappa did encourage us to Sheik Yerbouti perhaps as a cynical nod to KC and the Sunshine Band's admonishment. Love the channel BTW!

[@geatorella]

Thanks for honoring the importance of Scott Fitzgerald and the tragedy of how he was unappreciated in his time. I also like your clarification about pronunciations at the end. Good stuff.

[@chrisnorman9980]

One thing I have come to understand - any historical “fact” I was taught or learned has turned out not to be exactly “true”. I always hesitate to cite a historical “fact” - lest I get a reply of, “Well, actually…”.

[@GaryJames864]

When it comes to history, especially as taught in schools and general education level college courses, "facts" are consistently oversimplified. Otherwise, how would they fit in so many years of history and leave room for so much indoctrination?

[@Iiwii11]

Also on a personal level, as I get older I realize no one really understands a period of time unless they lived through it, which is sad for everyone.

[@duellingscarguevara]

Watched a good bbc doco from the 80’s here on YT, on the history of television. Good example of what you say.

[@The1920sChannel]

For further reading about the KDKA myth, you can read this article by Dr. Donna Halper, which was one of my sources for this video: www.thebdr.net/when-broadcasting-really-began-refuting-the-kdka-myth-again/

[@ladyagnes7781]

Love your channel. The information & the entertainment.

[@shosmyth1454]

Thank you for meaningful coverage of 1920s and what a great surprise that you covered F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.

[@ianpeddle6818]

I love the various period tunes playing in the background - it staggers me how the music of that era was so upbeat, fun, happy and positive unlike the dirges of our present age.

[@alancranford3398]

My father was a Sachmo fan. Yes, both "Lewis" and "Loowee" are correct--in context, one may be more correct, but there's no real wrong way UNLESS Louis Armstrong objected.

[@tomfrazier1103]

He sounds a pretty chill guy, present celebrities take note!

[@everkief8365]

@@tomfrazier1103 YES! Hahahahahahahahahahahaaa...

[@SandfordSmythe]

. I don't know that given the strong, upper-class, black, French Creole tradition in the City, that there may be some class differences in pronunciations at play because of his poor background. Early New Orleans commercial jazz was dominated by Creole bands who were easily hired because of their "refinement" and their ability to read music. Then the lower class blacks broke into the scene.

[@4Mr.Crowley2]

Anyone who thinks Gtasby is about “happy times” has a serious problem with reading comprehension. Also, it’s quite clearly based on Jay and Zelda themselves - the poor-ish but aspiring WWI soldier who meets his dream girl while training in Alabama. But she’s a rich southern belle and won’t marry him unless he has $$$. Jay literally wrote his first novel to make enough money to marry Zelda. And yes Zelda was hospitalized for severe mental illness but she technically died in a fire when a large section of the hospital burned down. Both of them died quite tragically - Jay died of a massive heart-attack at the age of 40. He was standing by his fireplace, said he felt unwell, then collapsed. Yikes. In general I love your channel!

[@Muirmaiden]

Actually, the primary inspiration for Daisy Buchanan was a Chicago heiress Ginevra King, Fitzgerald's first love, whom he courted when he was a student at Princeton. She ended things with him to marry a man of her own class.

[@bucksdiaryfan]

I loved your vlog on the Dempsey-Carpentier fight. There was an episode that showed what your vlog described on "Boardwalk Empire". I'm very interested in how radio expanded and how it parallels the expansion of social media in our century.

[@draner2482]

Hello great YT post I like the way you put this together, I just subscribed. I was always into the 1920s Flapper, speakeasy, and many more. I like to say your comment on the way people pronounce name and word is SPOT ON. and this is the reason that brings me to your channel is the way they talk among other thing. I still remember the day my uncle told the me story that he went to a rent party and made bathtub gin and Fats Waller playing the piano.

[@jamesniagu274]

KZbin thought I had to learn about the 20’s today and I’m here for it!! You do a good job

[@groth1m]

I loved how you correct people in pronouncing Louis Armstrong’s name and Dubois name. It’s about time. I always hear people mispronounce Chicko Marx’s name as Cheeko rather than Chicko.

[@genebigs1749]

Great video! I've always been fascinated by this era, and I really enjoy your content. Thanks!

[@MegCazalet]

This is such a cool video. I’d love to see more myths and misconceptions! PS - My teachers always pronounced W.E.B. DuBois as du-Boise. I appreciate them so much.

[@stevenskorich7878]

I did enjoy this video! I agree that most Americans have long pronounced sheik as if it were "sheek". My favorite example of the alternate school was a photo of Frank Zappa in Arab headgear, labeled "Sheik Yerbouti".

[@williamkidney6031]

Even in the song Hello Dolly he says himself "this is Louis, Dolly"

[@MiuMiuKoo]

Wow I learned a lot Not just one thing Amazing work and I will definitely remember the pronunciation for Luis Armstrong Thank you so much for sharing this 🤗👍💕

[@loisreese2692]

I'm new to your channel and really enjoying your content. Looking forward to more. Thank you! P.S. If Armstrong himself said his name was pronounced Louis, he would certainly know. I personally shall never again refer to him as Louie.

[@kiasax2]

I liked learning about these topics. Well done, and thank you for clearing up the misconceptions that I and many others have had about the 1920s.

[@everkief8365]

I DID enjoy this video! Thanks! History is the bee's knees!

[@luvnalaska44]

So enjoying watching your videos!

[@robvangessel3766]

I didn't know they had a workable system as early as 1923. It's a shame they didn't apply it to films like Universal's Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame, but maybe that had to do with patent rights at the time for the new technology - not to mention the movie theaters needing time to get the equipment.

[@michaelszczys8316]

In my old neighborhood in Detroit there is an old theater originally set up for silent movies with organ and all. It opened just in time for silent to be outdated and new sound movies. It is still operating being owned by theater organ society and probably played more silent movies in last 30 years than when it was new.

[@Kiddman32]

Re: Louis Armstrong... I used to think it was Louie, too... But I personally know a lot of musicians who play Louis' style of music. They ALL say it's Louis, so I'd say you got it right... I say Louis, too... But when paired together with his last name, it's hard to remember to not say "Louie Armstrong". Dunno, it just seems to roll off the tongue easier that way.

[@juliejensen7370]

Love the part about Louie. I just saw a tour of his Queens, NY home.

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

Awesome kitchen!

[@hippiechick2112]

You are amazing. Your dedication and knowledge is extraordinary. Thank you!

[@queenofno6055]

also.. pretty cool channel you have here.. I also enjoyed your specification about how pretty much everyone missed one of the main points of Gatsby. I grew up with my father's parents who were both born in 1921 and their youth greatly affected by the Great Depression.. 1920s were good and bad.. diverse and all over the place as well

[@Libruhh]

Even though it was mad in 1953, I think Singin’ in the Rain is a major reason why The Jazz Singer is credited as the first talkie, and it also shows the process of transitioning from silent to sound as happening almost over night.

[@seanwelch71]

Reading old newspapers is a great way to learn about the early 20th C.

[@tubularfrog]

Really interesting analysis of that period. My parents were born in the 1920's. Mom in 1926 Alabama, and Dad in 1927 Arkansas. As for Louie Armstrong's name, words can be changed by usage, but a person's name is what they say it is, period. Then again performers often go with the flow.

[@nyyankeesbaby7]

I love your channel and I respect that you take so much time ensuring historical accuracy. One small tip that will help in the future as you have a gift and talent for voice overing your videos..try not to upspeak..as in dont form a sentence with a question tone in it midway through..for example “I made a correction for that video??? (U raise ur voice as a question)…but ill go over in this video for those who havent seen it (finished wonderfully). It just sounds like you arent sure of what youre saying. Hope this helps and keep up the great work :)

[@sifridbassoon]

Great Gatsby, A Separate Peace, Catcher in the Rye. Three of the most beloved (by English teachers) and overvalued novels.

[@jonhelmer8591]

Shhh, you can't say that!

[@brandonbentley5453]

When made to read them they become tedious, but discovered alone they are brilliant, prophetic, tragic masterpieces.

[@teresalacaze9241]

I'm surprised you didn't turn into a serial killer.....or have you?

[@roberthill799]

The Great Gatsby Is probably over your head.

[@richardpodnar5039]

"An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser, published in 1924, was a huge success and deserves mention here.

[@ittonohara5327]

Wynton Marsalis KNEW Louis Armstrong PERSONALLY: His father had all those great jazz musicians from New Orleans coming to their house to play. Wynton was a young chap at the time, and was not all too excited about the trumpet play of Satchmo. Only when his father told him, he should play the Satchmo stuff himself, he realized, what a great trumpeteer Satchmo was. When Satchmo played, everything sounded so ridiculously easy to play. So, Wynton Marsalis must know, how they called LOUIS:

[@Jonathanbegg]

A very good piece of history. Let's have more of this well-researched and well-balanced material.

[@BlackDoveNYC]

Good on you for name checking W.E.B. Dubois. My understanding is that he told people to pronounce his name the way you mentioned here. I actually met someone who knew him when he lived in Ghana. She said he and his wife were very nice people, she was young at the time and sort of took her under their wing. Your clarifying the success of The Great Gatsby reminds me of other works that people assume were popular or well known when they were initially published like Moby Dick, which was plucked from obscurity decades after it was published.

[@wareforcoin5780]

It says something about the progress that we've made in equality since then in that I have to struggle a lot to see "black" features in blackface. When I was a kid, I didn't know it was racist simply because I never identified it as "looking black." Same with the crows in Dumbo, I'd never met anyone that acted that way, so I just thought they were wacky characters. I had to be told that it was racist and why.

[@bessied.5694]

Yeah. It's a good thing we've progressed to the point where we have a media and education system teaching us what we're supposed to be offended by.

[@JudgeJulieLit]

Armstrong himself, in the first verse line of his early 1960s hit cover sing of the title song to the musical "Hello Dolly," sang "... this is Lou-is" (pronouncing it "Loo-is," not "Loo-ee").

[@michaelszczys8316]

Yes, with a LOT of S

[@batman5224]

With regards to the unpopularity of The Great Gatsby, this just goes to demonstrate that literary merit has nothing to do with amount of copies sold. Just recently, I read This Side of Paradise. Although an interesting novel, it’s nowhere near the quality of The Great Gatsby. Nothing really happens in the book. Spoiler alert if you haven’t read it, but the main character dates various socialites throughout the late 1910s. Every romantic partner is always worse than the previous one. By the end, he becomes a homeless socialist. It was very anticlimactic, to say the least.

[@roberthill799]

Tender Is The Night is his best in my opinion.

[@brennocalderan2201]

Another myth: Not every young lady were flappers or considered themselves as such. Some who didn't have money to buy the clothes still wore like the 1910s.

[@yelloworangered]

And flappers did not have a good reputation among everyone. I asked an elderly lady of my acquaintance if she was a flapper and she snapped, "I was not!" Now, she was a bona fide 1920s girl and told me that every Saturday night, her mother would make fudge and she and her friends gathered to eat and play their ukeleles. She said she realized this was an expense for her mother, but it was a means of keeping her safe at home and in good company.

[@brennocalderan2201]

@@yelloworangered That's an interesting story you got there, it's nice taking the perspective of someone who lived at the time, not everyone had the same mindset. Thanks for sharing.

[@murp61]

My grandmothers who came of age in the '20's were not flappers. Especially my dad's mother who was a descendant of German Catholics and I'm sure that would have been frowned upon by her family.

[@The1920sChannel]

I definitely want to include this one in Part 2 (whenever that will be), but I want to read more into the details first

[@brennocalderan2201]

@@The1920sChannel Don't worry, take your time.

[@EmilyTienne]

The biggest myth of the 1920s was that literally everyone was doing cocaine because it was not yet banned.

[@Lou.B]

Love hearing the Annette Hanshaw! I don't know why folks get so worked up about "Tomato/Tomahto" but whatever. Love your work! Thanks!

[@rebeccawhite5128]

I used to work at a recoding studio for audiobooks. We said Loo’is, because, as you say, that’s how he said it. shouldn’t be contentious at all! There is actually a rule, and that is that the right way to say it is how the person said it. Same with Dubois.

[@walshy2116]

Love your info and I love all things old timey. I’m partial to the 40’s-60’s but I’m expanding. Lol. Nice job!

[@phillipbrock6215]

It's Louis. LOUIS. It's how he pronounced it, it's how he liked to have it pronounced. You are correct.

[@kittenfuud]

I think you did a fine job with pronunciations, if anybody is actually still alive from '25 they can debate!!

[@juliejensen7370]

You are correct. Keep up the good work!

[@gregorygarcia7807]

Thank god for research!.

[@rhobot75]

Thanks! Looking forward to an (possible) part 2.

[@MarcusZepeda]

That's the same with the 1800s there's a lot of myths and misconceptions about the Victorian era, especially with the fashion and tight corset Myth. it has been debunked by many fashion Historians. and that's why I want to become a fashion historian so I can debunk myths made up about fashions from the past

[@TedBronson1918]

The rule I learned for names is - No matter how a name is spelled, however its holder pronounces it is correct because names don't necessarily follow common grammatical rules.

[@113dmg9]

I liked the very "light" music in the background. It never became overpowering or annoying. It was just right!

[@brianmorrow5350]

The Great Gatsby caught me totally by surprise the first time I read it. I had never heard of it, not even from school. The county jail where I was residing at the time had what might be called a mobile library, or you could just call it what it was - a beat-up old cart with wheels that carried beat-up old books. I had mostly exhausted the supply of books on that thing. The Great Gatsby was the only title left that sounded remotely interesting. ........mind blown........ One of the best books I ever read. It seems none of the movies made of it have been able to capture the heart of that story. Pure Greatness!!!!

[@mspysu79]

Growing up in Youngstown Ohio, we had the "KDKA was first" mantra taught to us at every level. Amazing how well that Westinghouse/Group-W/CBS/Viacom propaganda worked.

[@johnwillard8311]

Jolson made a Vitaphone short in 1926, "A Plantation Act", in which he sang three songs, and also spoke a few lines to introduce them - including his iconic 'You ain't heard nothin' yet' (which actually can be heard on one of his phonograph records from as early as 1916).

[@retnavybrat]

Now that you mention it, I don't remember any of my high school English teachers ever teaching the historical context of the stuff we read.

[@KidFresh71]

50 year old here. I've always wished I lived in the 1920's.

[@simonf8902]

The original Gatsby movie has much in common with the Bazz Luhrman version. Totally over the top. The Alan Ladd version is probably worth a look. The real story is the hubris and wealth that lead to downfall in love and in life. It’s quite a cynical story.

[@monicawood9942]

And all about the falseness of the so-called American dream and struggle to keep up with the Joneses.

[@valentinius62]

I think another misconception is that movies from this era were always low quality and choppy. The first time I ever saw the movie _It_ I was blown away by how vivid the picture was. This might have been around 30 or more years ago, and I assumed a remastered copy. I read many years ago that the assumption concerning the film speed had to do with local TV stations that would run silent shorts and movies in the 1960s and 1970s at a different speed due to modern film speed defaults that were many frames higher than those of the originals. Film restoration was in its infancy. Fortunately, that seems to have been largely corrected since then. Another reason may be that comedic sequences often were actually sped up to make them funnier. You can see this in some Three Stooges shorts as well as in the much more recent film _The Gods Must Be Crazy_ . The quality of the film itself has, of course, much to do with its age rather than poor technology of the time. Remastered films clearly show this. There are several remastered films from the late 1890s on up that look as though they were filmed not that long ago. Another is that all movies and photos back then were in black and white. I am amused in comments sections here on KZbin concerning color films made in the 1960s and before where the Millennials and X-ers are stunned (shocked even!) that real color movies existed before they were born, and also the high quality (resolution) of the images. Then there's the idea that everyone in the 1920s was a bath tub gin bootlegging dude in a raccoon coat, one of Capone's made men, or a flapper. Most are totally unaware of the huge amount of conservatism in the country at that time. Same with the 1960s. Younger people think that all of us were anti Vietnam war hippie flower children with long hair going all the way down to the tops of our bell bottom jeans burning our draft cards or bras while tripping on LSD grooving to The Byrds. LOL Overall, I get the impression that most Americans in the 1920s were well-grounded, family oriented people who valued education and embraced progress. Also, they weren't mostly against social progress, either. Attitudes towards women's and minorities' rights and freedoms were clearly changing. They generally sought more sophistication and knowledge. They very much wanted others to think positively of them (you can clearly see this in how they dressed on a day to day basis). Of course, they still liked their fair share of amusements and liked to have fun when they could, but most knew where to draw the line which was somewhere short of excess.

[@bystanderbutch3509]

I was 59 in 1921 and this man is speaking the truth.

[@carolannemckenzie3849]

So you were born in 1868? You've been around for a while...😏

[@ardiffley-zipkin9539]

I think the novel reflected youth’s reaction to WW1 and what they had witnessed in the war. I read the book and watched Redford’s portrayal in the 1974 movie. It was a tragedy.

[@jessebowen1879]

I graduated in 1999 and I agree the great Gatsby was never gone into detail in my school either... wasn't until I looked stuff up on my own that I learned details

[@patrickgomes2213]

I was about to say that the argument is over because of Hello, Dolly, but I like your argument that Lou-ee could be seen as a stage name.

[@AlystrZelland]

I love the nuance and descriptivist angle you provide in the Louis Armstrong section. "Corrections" over established conventions of pronunciation are foolish and a waste of everyone's time. They're a practice in baseless elitism. Good on you for dismissing them as such.

[@joseybryant7577]

F. Scott really didn't think highly of making a living, on selling stories to newspapers and journals. But you have to do what you have to do.

[@violenceisfun991]

🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃 next stop, child mole station 👌

[@harrylyme3969]

The first actual commercial on radio was August,22,1922 on WEAF in NYC. It was a 15 minute advertisement for apartments in Jackson Heights, Queens.

[@therogerseses]

Great dealing with historical shades of grey. There is usually not the time to do that in a history class.

[@MichaelNoland-TheBottomLine]

Bravo! Just discovered you! Subbed immediately!

[@Void7.4.14]

With my dental issues, lack of an appendix, addiction struggles, lack of success at the cis-het life, involvement in "radical" politics, and being Sicilian and black, I hold no illusions as to what I'd have been in for and the very real negatives of the time. But it must have been incredible to see how fast technology was booming at that point. It's not the only time and we're seeing technological advancements right now that are hard to believe. But it's just not quite the same because of the overlap between the old way and the new that that era represents like few others, at least recently. One foot in and one foot out of radical transformations that were only starting to take hold. Amazing. Well, if you're familiar with W.E.B. Du Bois' work then you're familiar with why it's important to pronounce Armstrong's name. He was clear on how to pronounce it and even stated that "white" people are the only ones who mispronounced it. People of color have a hard enough time being defined by "white" people, when a man tells you his name you should respect it regardless of skin tone. But especially with someone who saw so much yet acted as a unifier. His name is what it is and if he was the only one who ever said it that'd still be the case, popularity has nothing to do with it, it's not just some word in use.

[@internetcensure5849]

"People of color" meaning African-Black people of America, is a misnomer. The use of "skin tone" doesn't fit in this context, as it usually means, a slight variation of the same color. Black color can have variations, just like white color; in other words, skin tone means a nuance. Using "skin tone" to describe black color is therefore misleading, unless intended as an euphemism. The "anti-racist" ideology has gone so far as to ban the word "race" from common usage, because of its percieved negative connotation, preferring the use of "ethnicity", which again is misleading. Black vs White is not a matter of "ethnicity" but race, as they are anthroplogically on the opposite spectrum of the human species. But one can say an "ethnic German", when contrasting to an "ethnic Pole", because both ethnicities are anthropologically closely related.

[@carolannemckenzie3849]

Very interesting comment. I too have dental issues, so I do sympathise, but I doubt you would have been maligned for your missing appendix...😉

[@optorch131]

Excellent 👍 video. Thank you

[@petsematarykeeper]

The lewie/louis thing reminds me of JIF and GIF

[@riverraisin1]

Well, everyone knows JIF is peanut butter, so...😁

[@calessel3139]

The popularity of The Great Gatsby reminds me of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" which apparently wasn't particularly well known until the early 1980s when TV stations began annual broadcasts of it on Christmas day.

[@michaelszczys8316]

Never saw that movie in my life until about 1981 then suddenly we were watching it twice a year.

[@calessel3139]

@@michaelszczys8316 Same here, I don't even think I'd even heard of it before the early 80s.