Life, 1913-09-11 · page 13 of 44
Life — September 11, 1913 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical letter describes a Japanese visitor's confused observations of American social dancing. The writer attends a dance at Russell Hall where he observes couples performing the "Turkey-Trot"—a contemporary American dance craze of the 1910s characterized by jerky, strutting movements. The humor derives from the fish-out-of-water perspective: the Japanese narrator misinterprets the dance as either a "convulsion" or imitation of Turkish walking. He compares dancers' movements to animals and describes the style as undignified, contrasting it with what he considers proper decorum. The accompanying sketches show couples performing the exaggerated, jerky Turkey-Trot movements. The satire mocks both the dance's awkwardness and contemporary American customs through foreign eyes.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
annw. =< EeleR ES Letters of a Japanese School-boy Are Turkey-Waltzing a Dance or a Convulsion? To Editor “ Life Magazine,” who must have many subscribers be- cause he know that where there is Life there is Blood and where there is Blood there is Circula- tion (free joke) Dear Mr:— The Japanese Patriotic and Edu- cational Suicide Club, of which I are correspondent Secretary last night give a waltzing cotillion and lemonade (25¢ for extra ladies who drunk it) at Rising Sun Banzai Asso- ciation Hall. Considerable fashion of yellow complexion was there with Sadikichi’s Brass Orchestra to play it whenever we danced it. Excitements. Considerable Japanese schoolgirls was fetched there by that nationality and I was deliciously shocked to see how American they looked. They wore crip- pled skirts of considerable thinness and their shoulder blades seemed absolutely destitute. I fetch Miss Ruby Fujimuto, Japanese lady of aggrevated beauty, with me for escort. When she re- moved off her opera-house cloak, I look at her with my expression all braided up. “Ladies should be praised for their economy,” I corrode while observing the cloth that was not there. She curbed up with bridle expres- sion. “You no like the way my neck is cut?” she snagger, showing peevness by her soprano. “Your neck is not cut,” I narrate. “I know because I can see it all.” She seem less engaged to me than formerly and eloped away to make dance-step with J. Haro, Japanese photographer. Hon. Sadakichi’s Brass Orchestra make music resembling roof gardens. At that moment of time I could observe how everybody was dancing. They seemed to be jouncing in couples, making crowd-up walk with occasional slouchy-slouchy motion while their eyes said “How-do!” with Romeo ex- pression peculiar to Shakespeare. “Tt are nice for youngly persons to be affectionate,” I commute. “ But when will dancing begi “They are now Turkey-waltzing,” depose Arthur Kickahajama, mission- ary boy, with Tuxedo eyebrows. My cousin Nogi, who arrive there with Miss Alice Sago (divorced) ap- proach to me and wish I should Tur- key-waltz with her because he was lame from when she kicked him. I told him I was a Methodist heathen, therefore my feet was too religious to dance. “Turk-waltzing are denatured danc- ing,” arrange Miss Sago with alimony smiles. “Come, Mr. Togo, I show you how do it!" So I went and stroggled. Mr Editor, while I made gymnastix with that charmed lady, I wished send you several editorials. What are this Turkey-Waltz, I ask to know? Were it invented by Turks at Adrianople while wrastling with the Vulgarian army? Did Turkish soldiers think up that peculiarostous step while rolling barrels of powder at Greece? Why should persons blame Turks with this ‘ MO wen neds style of trotting if they never did it? Mohammedans has got sifficient bad habits of their own without accusing them of some more! j This Miss Sago shove me here & els~ where with neglectful expression pe- culiar to roustabouts. When music play “All Persons Are Doing Some- thing” she attemp to dissociate my spine by wig-wagging my elbows. “Make your ankles more diagonal!” she declare with sweety schoolteacher face. I wish to ask her marry me, but wondered what might happen if I did. I make slight jiu jitsu to her wrist, but she got more stronger grippe while I jounce alternately like tables in earthquakes. “My feet are filled with clumsies,” I narrate baffably. “That are very valuable in Turk- trotting,” she say for sweetly smiling. “So is?” I holla. “I always sip- posed folks must be graceful to make dance step.” “They ust to, but no more,” she expose. “All fashionable 4oos to day when dancing considers it great ele- gance to appear like drunken sailors wrestling with bears.” I should have responsed to her edu- cational catalogue, but she was showing me new jag-step where I could elevate my knees to music while being choked. “Twill nextly show you how do the Jellyfish Crawl,” she pronounce with Tipsichore expression. “They are now turkey-waltzing” comicbooks.com