Chips on a Sandwich | no. 29 | FIVE DECADES OF FORGOTTEN WORDS: Abyssinia to Zozzled
1910s: WWI, the Spanish flu, ratification of prohibition and the Titanic sank. The first decade of the twentieth century was rough: A friend might have asked you "is everything Jake out here?" meaning "all OK?" And perhaps you'd be thankful for a real duck soup kind of day at the office, which meant the workload was easy.
The Progress Drops | Marko Köppe
1920s: Speakeasies, jazz, the Great Migration and women get the right to vote. The 20s were a roar for sure: One would have dressed in their best glad rags for a night out. Horsefeathers! was the explicative du jour and getting drunk meant you were either ossified, scrooched, splifficated or zozzled.
Vintage 1920's Jazz Age Flapper with White Peacock | Jeanpaul Ferro
1930s: The Great Depression, FDR's New Deal, the Social Security Act and the end of prohibition. This decade ended better than it started: you might tell a friend abyssinia meaning "I'll be seeing you." There were occasions to really blow your wig over something exciting. And sometimes your day was eggs in coffee, which meant it went smoothly.
1940s: WWII, Orwell's 1984, Jackie Robinson and the invention of the bikini. So much of the 40s were shaped by war and repression. You might exclaim cooking with gas! when you did something right. Or be on the lookout for pennies from heaven-- easy money. And maybe you referred to your sweetheart as a ducky shincracker, which meant they were a good dancer.
Big Brother Is Watching You | Evan Criswell
1950s: The post WW boom, I Love Lucy, beat poetry and suburbanization. The 50s were a true dichotomy of a seemingly picture-perfect America and a boiling revolution that would spill over into the 60s: soldiers came home, got factory jobs, bought cookie-cutter homes and helped make a bunch of ankle biters (aka Boomers). While subterraneans (aka hipsters) in cities were sparking the cultural revolution of the next decade.
Howlin' with Ginsberg | aservis
POLL: Last week some of you shared New Year's resolutions of eating more veggies, riding your bike, drinking less booze, trying to stay centered and never eating octopus again (solidarity!).