Typewriters and the modern woman
The typewriter thing made me think of a musical called “Thoroughly Modern Millie” about a woman from a small town in the 20s who moves to
New York to become a stenographer. Well, Wikipedia summarizes it well:
Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City to marry for money instead of love – a thoroughly modern aim in 1922, when women were just entering the workforce. Millie soon begins to take to delight in the flapper lifestyle, but problems arise when she checks into a hotel owned by the leader of a white slavery ring in China.
She interviews for a man (Trevor Graydon III) who tests her stenog skills by dictating an outrageously complicated letter. She ends up getting the job because she is quick and accurate. In fact, she is so good at her job that Trevor Graydon starts to call her “John,” his implication being that she is as efficient at her job as a man.
As far as the typewriters go, there is one song called “Forget about the Boy” (I KNOW RIGHT?) where all the Typists (a whole chorus of professional women) sing while sitting at their typewriters.
“No canary in a tree for me
This canary’s ready to fly freeCut the cord
Is that a man I once adored?
He’s nothing but an albatross
No great loss
Doublecrosser
Forget about the boy
Pull the plug
Ain’t he the one who pulled the rug
He’s lower than an alley cat
Dirty rat
And I flatter
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boyAnd in the moonlight
Don’t you think about him
Sister, you’re much better off without him
You can blow the blues a kiss goodbye
And put the sun back in the sky
For when he comes crawlin’
I’m not fallin’”
It is a solidarity song, basically. The “modern” women all unite against men while they sit at their typewriters.
And as far as the white slavery thing goes. Talk about fun for hours. Women who have no connections (discerned by whether or not the women are CORRISPONDING with letters to family or friends) are kidnapped by the owner of the hotel and shipped of to the east. Most of the women (unlike Millie who is the exception) are aspiring actresses and deal more with the spoken. So if you don’t write letters it means you are vulnerable to being taken. The symbolic is the only protection.
-Erin
September 30th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
So things that happened in 1922:
February 2 - Ulysses (novel) by James Joyce is published in Paris on his fortieth birthday by Sylvia Beach. (this is an important book right? I don’t know anything about it, save its modernist and crazy. . .)
November 4 - In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. (hello Mr. “the most significant discovery pertaining to one of the places where writing first developed”, how are you doing today?)
November 21 - Rebecca Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first woman United States Senator. (what, a women in the senate? Well I’ll be.)
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Wow, this is magical thinking at it’s finest.
Best,
Dr. B.