1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio, 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 1: show that proves there's more than one way to make history. 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're looking at 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,240 Speaker 1: one of the sillier moral panics of the early twentieth century, 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: the one surrounding a turkey themed dance staff that was 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,319 Speaker 1: deemed too riskay both for the dance hall and for 8 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: the workplace. The day was May twenty eighth, nineteen twelve. 9 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: Sixteen women were dismissed from the Curtis Publishing Company for 10 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,599 Speaker 1: dancing the Turkey Trot on their lunch break. Nowadays, the 11 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: phrase turkey trot is synonymous with Thanksgiving fun runs, but 12 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: back in the early nineteen hundreds, the term referred to 13 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: a popular new dance craze believed to have originated in 14 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: California around nineteen oh nine. The vigorous the dance step 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: was usually paired with fast paced ragtime music and was 16 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: widely popularized by its appearance in the Broadway show The 17 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: Sunshine Girl. Descriptions of the Turkey Trot are somewhat inconsistent, 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: so it's hard to say exactly how it was danced. Still, 19 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: most sources agree that partners would face one another and 20 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: then slide and step sideways across the floor, flicking their 21 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: feet and stopping abruptly to imitate the movements of the 22 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: dance's namesake. Some dancers would even lift and lower their 23 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: elbows as they went to mimic a turkey flapping its wings. 24 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: It all may sound a little silly, which it no 25 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: doubt was, but the dance still sparked some serious outrage 26 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: among moralists of the era. Many believe that turkey trotters 27 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: held their bodies a bit too close while dancing, and 28 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: if that weren't bad enough, the rising hemlines of women's 29 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: dresses tended to show a lot of skin during those 30 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: signatures leg lifts. These mild exhibitions were deemed shocking enough 31 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: to warrant newspaper coverage. For instance, on Valentine's Day nineteen twelve, 32 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: the Bennington Banner took a snarky shot at the dance, saying, quote, 33 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: the turkey trot dance is one in which the turkey 34 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: displays a good deal of white meat and only a 35 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: little dressing. Believe it or not, the turkey trot wasn't 36 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: the only animal inspired dance to earn disapproval. In the 37 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: early twentieth century, the growing popularity of ragtime music led 38 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: to the creation of new energetic dances to pair with it, 39 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: and for whatever reason, many of them were based on 40 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: and named after animals like the bunny hug, the grizzly bear, 41 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: and the duck waddle. It was really just a way 42 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: for young people to have some dumb fun on the 43 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: dance floor, but to the older generation and to members 44 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: of polite society, the animal like movements bordered on obscenity. 45 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: It's it's worth noting, though, that while moral impropriety may 46 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 1: have been the chief concern for some critics, racial prejudice 47 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: likely played a role as well. That's because ragtime music 48 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: and ragtime dances had originated in black communities, and plenty 49 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: of racists were made uncomfortable when white society began to 50 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: embrace them as well. Whatever the true motivation behind the backlash, 51 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: the turkey trot was eventually banned in many communities. Some 52 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: venues posted signs that read no turkey trotting Aloud, while 53 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: others went as far as stationing a uniformed employee in 54 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: the center of the dance floor to keep watch for 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: renegade trotters. These prohibitions even extended to the workplace, as 56 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: sixteen Philadelphia women found out the hard way when they 57 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: were fired for daring to dance it on company grounds. 58 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: The women all worked for The Ladies Home Journal, a 59 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: monthly women's magazine published by the influential Curtis Publishing Company. 60 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: The journal's staff liked to gather in the Ladies Wreck 61 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: Room during their lunch hour, and sometimes they would gear 62 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: up for the coming weekend by teaching each other the 63 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: latest dance steps. Unfortunately, on May twenty eighth, nineteen twelve, 64 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: they weren't the only ones watching. The magazine's chief editor, 65 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,840 Speaker 1: Edward Bach, happened to be passing by just as the 66 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: women were demonstrating the turkey trot. Needless to say, he 67 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: did not like what he saw. The mass firing was 68 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: reported nationwide, with most newspapers running the same lyrical headline. 69 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: Girls danced the turkey trot, and Edward Bach saw them 70 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: and was fearfully shocked. The tone of the accompanying article 71 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: suggests that most outlets agreed with Box reaction. For instance, 72 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: the Indianapolis News reported that quote the Curtis Publishing Company 73 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: is without the services of sixteen young women who sow 74 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: so far forgot the proprieties and rules of that corporation 75 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: as to indulge in the Turkey trot on the third 76 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: floor of the Ladies Home Journal building. The article went 77 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: on to say that the women viewed Bach's intrusion as 78 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: a violation of their personal privileges, since they were, after all, 79 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: on their lunch break. Several of the women were said 80 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: to have appealed directly to mister Curtis asking to be reinstated, 81 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: but since a follow up article was never published, it's 82 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: probably safe to assume the request was denied. The incident 83 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: at Curtis Publishing wasn't the only high profile condemnation of 84 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 1: the Turkey trot. Eight months later, President elect Woodrow Wilson 85 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,679 Speaker 1: went so far as to cancel the traditional inaugural ball 86 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: for fear that his guests might dance the Turkey trot 87 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: and cause a national scandal in the process. The offensive 88 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: dance was also banned at the US Naval Academy, denounced 89 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: by the Vatican, and preaching against by religious leaders all 90 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: over America. For example, New Jersey clergyman William Brothers took 91 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: a particularly hard line stance, telling his congregation that quote, 92 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: indulgence in the turkey trot, the tango, and other objectionable 93 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: modern dances is as much a violation of the Seventh 94 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: Commandment as adultery. Even within the dance community, there were 95 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: those who thought the turkey trot was too sexually suggestive. 96 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: Numerous dance manuals and magazines dismissed ragtime dances as immoral, lewde, 97 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: or shameful. But perhaps the most famous and the most 98 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: over the top response is the crotchety critique offered by 99 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: one doctor R. A. Adams in his nineteen twenty four 100 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: book The Social Dance. Adams raves that quote, it is 101 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: a sad reflection on the people of this nation that 102 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: they should run out of dance steps and dance names 103 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: and come down to the level of the brutes whose 104 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: section actions they imitate in what are called animal dances. 105 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: It is well known that these animal dances are imitations 106 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: of the animals in their sex relations and sex exercise, 107 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: and that they are intended to arouse sexual desire and 108 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: result in sex satisfaction. The turkey trot, bunny hug, horse trot, fish, walk, 109 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: dog walk, tiger dance, and the buzzard lope are all 110 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: imitative of the lower animals in their sex life, and 111 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: these things are in the minds of the dancers who 112 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: understand the meaning of the animal dances. Luckily, for Doctor 113 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: Adams and the rest of the morality police, the turkey 114 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: trot craze didn't last long. In nineteen fourteen, it gave 115 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: way to the fox trot, the much smoother, more elegant 116 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: dance that's still widely popular today. But no, Doctor Adams 117 00:07:54,000 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: didn't approve of that one either, Gay and hopefully you 118 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 119 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with the show, 120 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 121 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: TDI HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 122 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: feel free to send them my way by writing to 123 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to kazb Bias 124 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 125 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 126 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: in History class.