1920s hodge podge.

January 25, 2008 5:28 AM

Let's pay a little visit, shall we, to everyone's favorite lasso twirlin', geetar strummin' stars of the Vaudeville stage, Otto Gray's Oklahoma Cowboys Then let's head for the South Pacific, for the "Hawaiian" sounds of Witt and Berg. And from the early days of the "talkie", Max Fleischer explains the new-fangled technology for us in the 1929 cartoon, Finding His Voice.
posted by flapjax at midnite (10 comments total)

um, hawaii is actually in the NORTH pacific.
posted by kitchenrat at 5:41 AM on January 25, 2008

Shoulda consulted the trusty atlas... oh well.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:44 AM on January 25, 2008

A little further research (nothing exhaustive, you understand*) would indicate that it's the CENTRAL Pacific... Anyway, South, Central, North: it's all closer than Witt and Berg ever actually got to Hawaii, more than likely...

*In fact, just a Wikipedia page...

Oh, and there's a little more on that clip here.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:03 AM on January 25, 2008

Loved the Fleischer!
Fun post, flap!
posted by Dizzy at 6:17 AM on January 25, 2008

there is no central pacific. the equator separates the oceans into north and south. one could be in the central north pacific or central south pacific, but "central" pacific would take you back to the equator.
posted by kitchenrat at 10:43 AM on January 25, 2008

Thanks so much, kitchenrat, for clearing up this very important issue for me.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:20 PM on January 25, 2008

hey, no pouting. i did enjoy your post.
posted by kitchenrat at 2:38 PM on January 25, 2008

HELLO TALKIE, SORRY TO BUTT IN BUT WHERE IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET YOUR VOICE?

Awesome little gems.

Just a few minutes into the second link, watching them playing the notes on the others' violins, hopping around, playing under their legs, reminded me of the antics of 80's power metal bands. Plus la change...and the other part of that french saying...

So then, in another area of their act, four of them Sooners are playing each other's instruments for, like 15 seconds--a really quick ditty--and if you blink, you miss it. It's pretty surreal.

Thanks, flapjax!
posted by not_on_display at 4:51 PM on January 25, 2008

First country string band I ever saw with a cello. And hot, too.
posted by Faze at 6:46 AM on January 26, 2008

Cool, Faze! I was wondering if anyone was gonna notice the cello!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:09 AM on January 26, 2008