Yes Greg, you're absolutely right. I have that title in a little subset of records reserved for this genre, one in which almost no ethnic group or foreign nationality was safe from being parodied. Not to mention sexism.
If I recall, it was much the same with Don Rickles, and other more modern comedians, whose stock in trade was insult humor (not always funny, but it seemed to enjoy a popular revival for a while there). Andrew Baron On Jan 27, 2013, at 5:48 PM, Greg Bogantz wrote: > The fact that Americans were more obsessed with immigrants and > nationalities 100 years ago than we are today is well illustrated in the > Edison BA record #4083 "The Argentines, the Portuguese, and the Greeks" by Ed > Meeker. This is a fun song and one of my favorite BAs, but it also > illustrates the popular preoccupation that people had with ethnic and > national stereotypes back then. > > Greg Bogantz > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael F. Khanchalian" > <[email protected]> > To: "Antique Phonograph List" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 6:54 PM > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Edison and anti-semitism > > >> You mean you look down on everyone except the Armenians. >> >> Come on now George :-) >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Jan 27, 2013, at 8:33 AM, "George Glastris" <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Be that as it may, we Greeks look down on everyone else since we are the >>> creators of Western Civilization. As the father in "My Big Fat Greek >>> Wedding" said......"Every thing comes from the Greek." >>> >>> Or as my late father would say to his best friends (Mr. Kelley, Mr. >>> Germeroth, and Mr. Freed) "When my people were writing the great >>> philosophical books of the ancient world, your people were swinging from >>> trees." Then again, he would remind my mother that HIS family were >>> Corinthian but that HER family were only Thessalian. >>> >>> -----Original Message----- From: Vinyl Visions >>> Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 10:12 AM >>> To: [email protected] >>> Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Edison and anti-semitism >>> >>> Honestly, growing up in western Michigan, even as a white male I felt >>> somewhat oppressed by the very nature of the clannish ethnic groups. It >>> didn't matter if you were white, what mattered was whether you were Polish >>> or Dutch. For example, the Dutch had bumper stickers that said "If you're >>> not Dutch, you're not much." Talk about discrimination... you couldn't buy >>> a house in Zeeland, Michigan without going through an "interview" with a >>> Dutch realtor - there were no "For Sale/Rent" signs in Zeeland, even though >>> houses were obviously available. If your last name didn't end with a "ski" >>> or other Polish ending you weren't accepted on the west side of Grand >>> Rapids and the blacks were all located in their own section of town, >>> because to avoid the busing and integration laws each small community that >>> made up the total of Grand Rapids proper, incorporated into their own small >>> towns. Benton Harbor, Michigan is a prime example: in the 1950's it was >>> predominately white, but in the 60 's >> a >>> nd 70's as blacks moved in - whites moved out across the river to St >>> Joseph... the last time I was there, Benton Harbor was referred to as >>> Benton Harlem and St Joseph was almost totally white. >>> >>>> From: [email protected] >>>> Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:44:50 -0500 >>>> To: [email protected] >>>> Subject: [Phono-L] Edison and anti-semitism >>>> >>>> Given when he was born, where he lived, and his own ethnic and cultural >>>> group, I would be surprised if he were either more or less "anti-semitic" >>>> than others in the United States who weren't themselves Jewish. >>>> >>>> It wasn't remarkable for a Christian home owner to want to sell his home >>>> to another Christian; for a Christian employer to want a Christian >>>> employee. >>>> What we have here, I think, is a kind of "social distance" felt by one >>>> social and cultural group from another. >>>> >>>> In my own lifetime, newspaper advertisements for houses for sale or >>>> apartments to rent in New York City included clues in their texts about >>>> who they >>>> wanted, e.g. --- "churches nearby" --- carrying with it an implication of >>>> who they *did not* want. >>>> >>>> Edison was a man of his time, place, and background. >>>> >>>> paul charosh >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Phono-L mailing list >>>> http://phono-l.org >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Phono-L mailing list >>> http://phono-l.org >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Phono-L mailing list >>> http://phono-l.org >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Phono-L mailing list >> http://phono-l.org > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org > _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
