It is another important date
on the Shady Dell calendar.
Today we remember and honor
Margaret Brown Schneider,
precious child of the Dell.
Blessed with longevity,
Margaret earned the
nickname The Oldest
Living Dell Rat as she
approached and then
passed the century mark.
Margaret died five years ago
at the age of 105. Last month,
as we celebrated Margaret's
110th birthday, I posted old
songs Margaret might have
known in her youth. Today,
as we remember Margaret
on the date of her death,
I bring you rare, historic
film clips showing what
life was like in America
when Margaret was a
child and a teenager.
1912
Margaret is born.
Here's a glimpse of life in 1912, the year construction started on
The Shady Dell, and Margaret Elizabeth Brown came into the world.
1919
Margaret is age 7.
At Halloween that year, Congress passed the unpopular National
Prohibition Act over the veto of President Woodrow Wilson.
The act prohibited the sale of alcohol, but the federal
government lacked the resources to enforce it.
By 1925, up to 100,000 speakeasy clubs
had opened in New York City alone.
This brief report on the Smithsonian Channel from the series:
America In Color: The 1920s, is introduced as follows:
One of the social side effects of Prohibition was it inspired
many women to break out and challenge the conservative
norms of society. These women were dubbed 'Flappers.'
1920'S
DANCING FLAPPERS
On his YouTube channel filled with historic film clips,
Walter Nelson introduces the next piece as follows:
The Jazz Age saw the birth of a new phenomenon:
young ladies who weren't professional performers,
dancing alone or in groups while the rest of the room
watched. It was a celebration of a new freedom
enjoyed by the "flappers" that would have
been unthinkable in their mothers' time.
1926
Margaret is age 14.
In this next vid, Roaring Twenties flappers are having a beach ball
by the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea. The YouTube
channel glamourdaze posted this description:
A group of affluent college girl flappers travel to the seaside
in Atlantic city in 1926.
Shot on a Cine Kodak Model B 16mm
Camera or similar.
These women clearly have a few bob to
spare as only middle class could afford little luxuries like
cine cameras, let alone automobiles.
Nevertheless, the
1920s saw a seismic shift in women's emancipation
when compared to the previous decade.
1927
Margaret is age 15.
Here's another restored film posted by glamourdaze with the intro:
Captivating AI enhanced 1920's fashion film. Hollywood
Flappers modeling cloche hats and dresses nearly 100
years ago !
Hollywood actresses Corliss Palmer, Rachel
Torres, Laura La Plante, Ruth Elder and Edna Murphy,
it is one of the very few surviving color fashion films
from the 1920's era of The Great Gatsby. A rare
showcase of genuine 1920's dresses and cloche
hats sold by Sibley's department store in New York.
1929
Margaret is age 17.
In 1929, Margaret was around the age of the young women
in this glamourdaze segment. The intro reads as follows:
25 flappers travel to Hollywood to meet Mary Pickford in 1929.
Brought to life with AI deep learning techniques.
AI enhanced
edit from a promotional of the "25 Coquette Girls". Winners
of a contest designed to help promote Pickford's
first sound film Coquette (1929).
A pretty pleasant trip back in time to the final year
of the Roaring Twenties. The 1920's fashions are a
delight. All those bobbed hairstyles and cloche hats !
The girls are filmed on a boat to Catalina and also
heading up the funicular railway at Mount Lowe.
I hope you enjoyed this special Roaring Twenties flapper
edition of my annual tribute to Margaret Schneider
as we mark the 5th anniversary of her death.
Yours was a long life and
a life well lived, Margaret.
We love you... miss you...
and will remember you always.
