Get out your tap shoes, Francis, we are going dancing tonight....and tomorrow....and for the next five months!

This week we look at the swinging and sadistic world of 1930s Dance Marathons which were ways for Depression Era Americans to make some money dancing for hours on end....while other Americans watched and waited for injuries, blood, and violence!

Rob gives Ray a lesson in the history of dancing in America, how Vernon and Irene Castle made sinful partner dancing wholesome, the Endurance Crazes of the 1920s, the sadistic Emcees and promoters who manipulated dancers and audiences, how audiences could see more blood if they paid more, and how these marathons laid the ground for reality television!

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TEAM:

Ray Hebel

Robert W Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

WEBSITES

HistoryLink

 AtlasObscura

History Daily

LoveToKnow

BOOKS

Dance of the Sleepwalkers

 Dance Marathons

ARTICLES

 Pantagraph Dance Marathons

Renee Camus Dance Marathons

Black Dance Marathons

The Sun: Photos

The Spectator

AUDIO/VISUAL

Dance Marathon 1931

They Shoot Horses Marathon

Dance marathon contestants compete in the 1920s - Daily Mail

Jack "Legs" Diamond - Sound Version (1931)

"Shave 'em Dry" Song by Lucille Bogan (Bessie Jackson) 1935

Harry Roy & His Orchestra "My Girl's Pussy" (1931)

Masculine Women, Feminine Men

Harry Rose - Frankfurter Sandwiches

Billy Murray - Don't Bring Lulu 1925

Music and Sound Effects

“Light Fun Jazz” by Alex Khaskin, licensed from NEO Sounds.com

“Happy Bee” by Kevin McLeod

• Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/