1940's
Valentine's Day 2010 - 20th Century Fertility Goddess - 1940's
For Valentine's Day 2010, the 20th Cenury Vamp takes it off to an early jazz score.
Though popular modern sources link unspecified Greco-Roman February holidays alleged to be devoted to fertility and love to St Valentine's Day, Professor Jack Oruch of the University of Kansas argued that prior to Chaucer, no links between the Saints named Valentinus and romantic love existed. Earlier links as described above were focused on sacrifice rather than romantic love.
In the ancient Athenian calendar the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.
In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia, observed February 13 through 15, was an archaic rite connected to fertility. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia.
It is a common opinion that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to Christianize celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia, and that a commemorative feast was established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, of those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God," among whom was Valentine, was set for the useful day. Alternatively, William M. Green argues that the Catholic Church could not abolish the deeply rooted Lupercalia festival, so the church set aside a day to honor the Virgin Mary.
Black Marketing - 1940's
This film is an American World War Two propaganda film that tackles the black market and racketeering. Like a proto-television courtroom drama, the prosecutor deconstructs a criminal enterprise within the meatpacking industry. The dramatization hints at Hollywood crime films of the day, with shakedowns, oblivious accomplices and bribe money wrapped in paper with a soup bone. Despite the fact that the accused are given no opportunity to defend themselves, this piece of wartime agitprop makes the hard sell at the end, when the prosecution turns to actually address the viewers of the film, his argument does make a point, especially in light of the overall struggle against the Axis during the war.
Happy New Year 2010 with Moonlight Cocktails
Happy New Year 2010 with a round of Moonlight Cocktails for everyone!
Compliments of Weirdo Video.
Alaska: A Modern Frontier - 1948
Although overseen by an associate professor of geography at Indiana University back in 1947, one could easily be forgiven for making the mistake of coming away from Alaska – A Modern Frontier with the message "Drill, baby, drill." Nearly a decade before its annexation as a state, this short film professes the new land rush in post-WW2 Alaska, where if you don’t get a piece now, you’ll be left empty-handed. Much of the film shows very little of the colder, darker winter months. Some of the most interesting footage does not occur until near the end when encountering native Alaskans still practicing their traditional way of life.
