The Public Domain Review

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The Yama Yama Man – Ada Jones (1909)

Thursday 2 August 2012 at 17:53



“The Yama Yama Man” was written by Karl Hoschna (music) and Collin Davis (lyrics) for the Broadway show The Three Twins (1908). Bessie McCoy’s signature performance of the song, in a satin Pierrot clown costume with floppy gloves and a cone hat, was key in establishing the song’s popularity. The July 25, 1908, edition of Billboard magazine reported the following story how the song originated. When The Three Twins was rehearsing in Chicago, prior to first opening, Karl Hoschna, the composer, was asked to furnish a “pajama man song”. He wrote one called The Pajama Man only to learn that it could not be used owing to another pajama number booked at the Whitney Opera House the next day. Gus Sohlke, the stage director, happened to pass a toy store and saw in the window a doll built out of triangles. Realizing that this had never been used in stage work he decided to have a triangular man chorus in place of The Pajama Man. That afternoon as he, Collin Davis and Hoschna sat together wondering what they would call the song, Sohlke kept repeating “Pajama jama yama yama”. Suddenly he brightened up and cried “Did either of you fellows ever hear of a Yama Yama Man?” Of course neither one had and Sohlke confirmed “Neither have I! Lets call the new song Yama Yama Man”. Quickly Davis set to work to write a lyric around the title and that night Sohlke and Hoschna locked themselves in a room with Bessie McCoy and rehearsed the Yama song and dance for five hours. Ada Jones recorded “Yama Yama Man” in 1909 for Victor Light Opera Company. The lyrics for verse two and three were changed, verse two being more bawdy. It spent five weeks at #1 in 1909 and was the most popular song of her career. (Wikipedia)

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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/08/02/the-yama-yama-man-ada-jones-1909/


Photos of a Square Dance in McIntosh County, Oklahoma (1940)

Wednesday 1 August 2012 at 18:44

Photographs taken during a square dance in McIntosh County in Oklahoma by photographers working for the U.S. government’s Farm Security Administration (FSA). The FSA and later the Office of War Information (OWI) between 1939 and 1944 made approximately 1,600 color photographs depicting life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The pictures focused on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working.

(All images from the Library of Congress via Flickr Commons).

























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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/08/01/photos-from-a-square-dance-in-mcintosh-county-oklahoma-1940/


Jack and Jill and old Dame Gill (1806)

Tuesday 31 July 2012 at 17:47


Jack and Jill and old Dame Gill, author/illustrator unknown; 1806; J. Aldis, London.

Extended version of the famous nursery rhyme in which, in addition to fetching some water, Jack and Jill get into various scrapes with animals, swings, see-saws, and the ever-chastising Old Dame Gill. The illustrator goes uncredited in the book, though the back page is dedicated to a special rhyme advertising the booksellers/publishers J.Aldis: “Dame Gill had been to Aldis / To buy them all books / You may see how they are pleased / by the smiles in their looks / Now if you are good and deserving regard / This book full of pictures shall be your reward.”

The book is housed at the Internet Archive, donated by the California Digital Library.










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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/31/jack-and-jill-and-old-dame-gill-1806/


The Flowers Personified (1847)

Monday 30 July 2012 at 17:57

Images by the great Parisian cartoonist J.J Grandville from his Les Fleurs Animées – his last work, originally published posthumously in 1847, the year of his death. With its mix of the satirical and poetic, the book is considered to be one of his most supreme achievements.

(All images taken from Volumes 1 and 2 of an 1867 edition of the book housed at the Internet Archive, and donated by the Joseph Sablé Centre. Thanks to the Old Book Illustration Scrapbook Blog, through which the book was found).













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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/30/the-flowers-personified-1847/


An Exact and Authentic Narrative of the 2nd Baltimore Riot (1812)

Friday 27 July 2012 at 17:18


An exact and authentic narrative, of the events which took place in Baltimore, on the 27th and 28th of July last. Carefully collected from some of the sufferers and eyewitnesses. To which is added a narrative of Mr. John Thomson, one of the unfortunate sufferers; 1812; Printed for the purchasers

A small book giving various eye witness accounts of the “Second Baltimore Riot”, one of the most violent anti-federalists attacks during the War of 1812. The first riot took place just over a month before when the Baltimore based “pro-British” Federalist newspaper The Federal Republican denounced the declaration of war. On the night of June 20th a mob stormed the newspaper’s offices destroying the building and its contents. A truce was eventually negotiated and the owner of the paper, Alexander Hanson, and his employees were taken into protective custody. In July, after spending a few weeks in Georgetown, Hanson brought his newspaper back to a building in Baltimore and continued to write editorials denouncing the war. Once again, a mob lay siege to the building but this time Hanson and his employees fought back with gunfire, reportedly killing two of the mob. A military force intervened and again escorted Hanson and his supporters to jail for their protection. The following night the mob broke into the jail and nine Federalists, including Hanson, were hauled out into the street and given a severe three-hour beating, including being stabbed with penknives and having hot candle wax dropped into their eyes. Eventually the authorities intervened. One of the paper’s employees, a Revolutionary War veteran named James Lingan, had been killed while Hanson was to die only seven years later never having fully recovered. No one ended up being brought to justice for the attacks.

The book is housed at the Internet Archive, donated by The Library of Congress.










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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/27/an-exact-and-authentic-narrative-of-the-2nd-baltimore-riot-1812/


WW2 U.S. Soldier Drag Show (1942)

Thursday 26 July 2012 at 17:00



Universal Newsreel showing WW2 soldiers of Fort Slocum in a “Girlie Show” – an all singing, dancing, and cross-dressing version of “Swing Fever”. According to Internet Archive user Michael A. Cavanaugh:

This show was originally scheduled for before Christmas 1941. According to the post newspaper, The Casual News I(15) 15 Nov 1941 p 1, it “centers around the vicissitudes of an intellectually inhabited Army post once it has been invaded, via the draft, by a group of swing musicians.” The libretto was written by Pfcs Richard Burdick and Horace Sutton; music by Capt. Louis E. Tepp, Miss Marcelle Meyer and Burdick. (Burdick had civilian stage experience, Meyer was with the YMCA which sponsored the production. The film clip seems to be of the YMCA stage, basement of bldg. 82.) It was written specifically for the talent on post, and included Pfc Danny Lapidos (director of the Ft. Slocum Dance Band), S/Sgt Abraham Small (director of the Post Band; that may be him directing the music in the film clip), Kay Sharp (daughter of a Sgt on post), Lt. Samuel Ogden, Capt Eric Anderson & Lt John Steele. The post newspaper completely downplayed the crossdressing aspect (which the newsreel plays up). Before the WAACs arrived in 1943 there were few women on post (only daughters & civilian employees e.g. the YMCA); later stage productions at Slocum would feature more integrated casts, and the WACs would be active participants. As in the Army generally the post band was very important. This is a rare clip of the band as well as of social life at Ft Slocum (1861-1965), “the Ellis Island of the US Army”.


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Note this film is in the public domain in the US, but may not be in other jurisdictions. Please check its status in your jurisdiction before re-using.










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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/26/ww2-us-soldier-drag-show/


Where were the Olympic brand police in 1908?

Wednesday 25 July 2012 at 10:12

In 1908 London hosted its first Olympics. It was a Games of many firsts: the first to use a swimming pool, the first to ensure that competitors had to be representing countries, the first protest, and also the first Olympics to be properly commercialised. The official sponsors were OXO and Indian Foot Powder. As Rebecca Jenkins, author of The First London Olympic 1908, writes:

the 1908 Marathon course was sponsored by OXO. There were booths along the 26 mile and 385 yard course offering hot and cold Oxo for the refreshment of the competitors, who were also proferred the same in handy flasks. Many Edwardian trainers believed drinking water during a race was bad for the runner, though a little brandy or champagne was considered a useful stimulant. The salt in the beef extract that made up OXO may have been of some benefit considering that the day of the 1908 Olympic Marathon was one of the hottest of that summer.




The IOC of 1908 weren’t however quite as draconian about clamping down on unofficial Olympic connections as they have been this summer. One of the most ubiquitous adverts one would have seen in the summer of 1908 would have been for Odol mouthwash – the whole Olympic stadium transformed (without permission) into spelling out the name of “Odol”.



To read more about the 1908 Olympics and how it saw the first Olympic protest, see Rebecca Jenkins’ article for The Public Domain Review.






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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/25/where-were-the-olympic-brand-police-in-1908/


The First Olympic Protest

Wednesday 25 July 2012 at 09:18

With the 2012 Olympics about to get underway in London, Rebecca Jenkins looks back to when the city first hosted the event and how a mix up with flags gave birth to the first Olympic protest.

1908 postcard of the White City Stadium, the main arena built especially for the 1908 Olympics.

Just over 100 years ago London hosted its first Olympic Games – the Fourth Olympiad of 1908. It was a fledgling version of what we have today – only 2023 athletes competed, approximately the same number that will contest the Athletic events in 2012.

Of course, the Olympic Games were rather different then – there was no torch relay, or spectacular opening ceremony with a stadium transformed by pageants of England’s green and pleasant land. In 1908 the tug-of-war was a medal winning contest, as were massed gymnastic displays (very popular with the northern European nations with military conscription) and marathon runners were not encouraged to re-hydrate, so the winning time wouldn’t have even qualified a modern athlete for the Olympic team today.

It is well know that in 1908 the marathon was run for the first time at the modern Olympic distance of 26 miles, 385 yards. But what is often overlooked is that these Edwardian games were the first to have an opening ceremony revolving around a parade of nations; in short, the first London Olympics witnessed the birth of Team GB.

It has been said that whereas the Germans excavated Ancient Olympia and the French reanimated its spirit, the Edwardian sons of the British Empire set out to organise it. In the first Games of the modern Olympics, any one – or perhaps more accurately, any sporting man (Baron de Coubertin, the “father” of the Olympic movement, did not approve of women performing in public sporting contests) – who had the private means to turn up at the venue could put himself down to compete.

Photograph of Team GB in the opening ceremony's 'parade of nations', from the Fourth Olympiad 1908 London Official Report published by the British Olympic Association in 1909.

Engraving of the opening parade from the London Illustrated News, July 1908.

Faced with an increasing interest in the Games, the small group of gentlemen who set out to organise the London Olympics of 1908 decided it would be more efficient only to accept contestants registered through national teams selected through national Olympic associations. This administrative decision was re-enforced by an opening ceremony in which the athletic teams paraded into the stadium dressed in athletic or national costume, four abreast behind “their respective representatives, [bearing] the flag and entablature of their country.”

The eye of the Olympic spectator was moved irrevocably from the individual athelete to the flag they wore on their chest. And flags, as the Edwardian organising committee soon discovered, cause conflict.

In 1908 the US Olympic Committee sent their largest team so far to the Olympic Games: 122 men (no women), in team costume with the stars and stripes on their breast. The managers of Team US 1908 were determined that they were going to sweep England off the athletic map. The ground they chose was track and field and their modern gladiators were dominated by Irish American track and field stars from New York.

Even before the Games began, the press were reporting spats between the American managers and the British Olympic Association over the rules governing pole vaulting. (The British organisers had sent out their rules in advance, assuming no one would complain. After all, as the Daily Mail wrote: “We have carried our dress clothes and our games throughout the world.”)

1908 postcard (cropped) showing King Edward VII at the opening ceremony.

It was, perhaps unfortunate, therefore, that in the rush to prepare the White City stadium for King’s arrival to open the Games on the afternoon of Monday, July 13th, 1908, the national flags run up the poles included those of Japan and China (neither of whom would send representatives to the Olympics games for some years yet), but omitted those of Sweden and the United States of America.

The Crown Prince of Sweden, president of the Swedish Amateur Athletic Association had been a key supporter of the Olympics since their revival. He and the Swedish Government had – unlike the British government – provided substantial subsidies to send the third largest national team to London for the 1908 Games. And, Prince Gustavus, an honoured guest of the British King and Queen, was among the royal party in the royal box.

The Prince was polite in front of his royal hosts about the omission of his national flag. The American Committee however suspected a deliberate insult. They produced their own Stars and Stripes and had it run up the pole. The Swedes had to make do with the single flag carried before their team in the parade.

The parade climaxed with the massed ranks of athletes behind their flagbearers facing the royal box. With a fanfare from the trumpeters of the Life Guards, the flag were dipped to salute King Edward VII; every flag, that is, except the Stars and Stripes held by the Californian law student and shot putter, Ralph Rose.

Photograph of Ralph Rose in shot-putting action, from the Fourth Olympiad 1908 London Official Report published by the British Olympic Association in 1909.

The British press at the time over-looked the incident, but the Irish paper in New York, The Gaelic American, picked up Rose’s gesture and made much of it. When an American sports journalist revived the story in the 1950s, it told of Ralph Rose being “taken aside” the night before the opening ceremony by a core of Irish American athletes determined to make a stand against the British tyrant who oppressed the Irish. ‘This flag dips to no earthly king’, the young democrat was supposed to have said as he held his flag high.

Historians dispute whether the words were actually said by Rose or were a later embellishment to the story, but the fact remains that after 1908 the national Olympic team was here to stay and 1908 US team had made the first Olympic political protest.



Rebecca Jenkins is a cultural historian, lecturer, novelist and biographer. She is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians, the Crime Writers’ Association and the Historical Writers’ Association. See contemporary pictures and more about the 1st London Olympics of 1908 at her website


Links to Works


A Flickr slideshow of photographs from the Fourth Olympiad 1908 London Official Report published by the British Olympic Association in 1909 – via Wikimedia Commons.








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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/25/the-first-olympic-protest/


The life and death of Mr. Badman presented to the world in a familiar dialogue between Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive (1900 edition)

Tuesday 24 July 2012 at 16:31


The life and death of Mr. Badman presented to the world in a familiar dialogue between Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive, by John Bunyan…with twelve compositions by George Woolliscroft Rhead & Louis Rhead designed to portray the deadly sins of the ungodly Mr. Badman’s journey from this world to hell. With an introduction reprinted from the life of Bunyan by J.A.Froude; 1900; Heinemann, London.

Beautifully designed turn-of-the-century edition of John Bunyan’s companion piece to The Pilgrim’s Progress, originally published in 1680, in which two characters have a dialogue about sin and redemption over the course of a long day. In his preface titled “The Author to the Reader,” Bunyan announces that Mr Badman is a pseudonym for a real man who is dead. Mr Badman’s relatives and offspring continue to populate Earth, which “reels and staggereth to and fro like a Drunkard, the transgression thereof is heavy upon it.” In a mock eulogy, Bunyan says Mr Badman did not earn four themes commonly part of a funeral for a great man. First, there is no wrought image that will serve as a memorial, and Bunyan’s work will have to suffice. Second, Mr Badman died without Honour, so he earned no badges and scutcheons. Third, his life did not merit a sermon. Fourth, no one will mourn and lament his death. Bunyan then describes the sort of Hell awaiting Mr Badman, citing biblical scripture. He said he published it to address the wickedness and debauchery that had corrupted England, as was his duty as a Christian, in hopes of delivering himself “from the ruins of them that perish.” (Wikipedia). The stunning illustrations for this 1900 edition published by Heinemann are by Staffordshire born father and son illustrator duo George and Louis Rhead.

The book is housed at the Internet Archive, donated by Princeton Theological Seminary. Found by way of the Old Book Illustrations blog.










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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/24/the-life-and-death-of-mr-badman-1900-edition/


17th century Heraldry Designs (1695)

Monday 23 July 2012 at 15:22

Select images from the book Nouveau Livre de Differens Cartouches, Couronnes, Casques, Supports et Tenans – roughly translated as a New Book of Different Cartouches (the central oval), Crowns, Helmets, and both Animal and Human Supports – engraved by Charles Mavelot and published in 1695 in France. The book’s subtitle announces its practical use for “painters, sculptors, engravers, goldsmiths, weavers, embroiderers and others”.

(All images extracted from the book housed at the Internet Archive and donated by the Getty Research Institute. See the Internet Archive link to view the whole book including a key to what each emblem contains).



















































































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Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/07/23/17th-century-heraldry-designs-1695/