Bøger af Kerry Segrave

This book recalls masking efforts in response to the Spanish flu epidemic. Masking the population as an ineffective response to disease by public health officials and political bureaucrats at various levels of jurisdiction reached its zenith in 2020. However, it began a century earlier during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-1919. In both cases, masking was not the first response made by the officials. In both cases, it was introduced as part of the second round of responses after the first round had failed. During 1918 the imposition of masking was done by legal mandate in some areas, by hectoring and whining on the part of officials in other areas, and by gentle and not so gentle public persuasion involving the use of "good" examples. Military members were mainly forced to don masks. Since there were bases, camps, and cantonments all over America as the war was ongoing, it was hoped an example would be set for the general public. Post office clerks who dealt with the public were often forced to wear masks; it was one of the few areas where the federal government had the power to impose masking. Some areas used masking almost not at all, such as the New England states. Other areas, such as the Pacific, forced masking on much of the population. Some public health officials did not subscribe to any of the imposed measures, such as Dr. Royal Copeland, the New York City Health Commissioner, and Dr. Rupert Blue, the United States Surgeon General.

World War I was a gold mine for the capitalist class. The only problem was that they did not want to pay the entire war cost themselves. The banking plutocrats created the Liberty Loan programs to pass much of that cost along to the underclasses - five in total from 1917 to 1919. An intense campaign was put in motion to sell the bonds, perhaps the most significant public relations campaign to that time. Those who refused to buy any bonds or less than their "fair share" were demonized by the capitalist class as "financial slackers." Such individuals were attacked in the media by all the opinion makers of the day. No excuse for not buying was acceptable. It was a program crafted exclusively by the banking plutocracy, the United States Treasury Department bureaucrats, and administered by the newly created Federal Reserve banking system. The bond program was unnecessary since the ruling class could easily have paid the total cost, with almost enough money in liquid bank deposits alone. In all the discussions about how to raise money for the war, there was never any mention of some wealth tax; it was there the majority of money of the capitalist class was to be found, not from "income" as usually defined. Resistors to buying the bonds were often subject to summary dismissal from their jobs, tarred and feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. Those who declined to purchase bonds were ruthlessly attacked by naming, shaming, force, and coercion. No one had a good word to say about those who declined to purchase bonds; dissent was not allowed.

Between 1887 and 1920, the humble hatpin went from an unremarkable item in every woman's wardrobe, to a fashion necessity, to a dangerous weapon (it was said). Big hair and big hats of the era meant big hatpins, and their weaponized use sparked controversy. There were "good" uses of hatpins, such as fending off an attacker in the street. There were also "bad" uses, such as when a woman being arrested tried to stab a police officer. But seriously: All those protruding pins seemed to threaten people everywhere in the public sphere. It did not sit well with the patriarchy, who responded with hysterical crusades and often ludicrous legislation aimed at curbing the hatpin and disarming American women.

The early 20th century saw the founding of the National Security League, a nationalistic nonprofit organization committed to an expanded military, conscripted service, and meritocracy. This book details its history, from its formation in December 1914 to 1922, at which point it was a spent force in decline.

On a summer day in 1898, a family in Dover, Delaware, shared a box of chocolates they received from an anonymous sender. Within days, two of the seven family members were dead; the other five became ill but recovered. The search for the perpetrator soon moved from Delaware to California, where a suspect was quickly identified: Cordelia Botkin.

Traces the history and development of the American bicycle, observing its critical role in the fight for gender equality. The bicycle radically changed the face of fashion, health, and even morality and propriety in America. This thorough history traces the sweeping social advances made by women in relation to the development of the bicycle.

The electric vehicle seemed poised in 1900 to be a leader, even the dominant force, in the early American car market. They were clean, odorless, noiseless and they were mechanically simple, compared to their rivals. Yet just two decades later the electric car was dead. This book explores this early history of the electric car.

From the first torturous attempts at hair implants early in the 21st century to the faddish, well-hyped drug treatments, this work examines the extremes to which men have gone in an effort to regrow hair or cover their bald scalps.

Looks at women who passed themselves off as men for a variety of reasons. This book is about a large number of women who were engaged in individual revolt against an obscenely unfair economic system that discriminated openly and egregiously against women. For virtually all the women profiled in this book the act of passing as a man was an act of rebellion against patriarcy.

When the need for telephone operators arose in the 1870s, the assumption was that they should all be male. Wages for adult men were too high, so boys were hired. They proved quick to argue with subscribers, so females replaced them. Women were calmer, had reassuring voices and rarely talked back. Within a few years, telephone operators were all female and would remain so.

Police violence is not a new phenomenon. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, police officers in America assaulted or killed many ordinary citizens. Based on newspaper accounts from 1869 to 1920, this history provides a chronological listing of interactions between police and unarmed citizens in which the citizens - some of them minors - were assaulted or killed.

Beginning with the history of walking as a social activity, this book discusses the various issues which have affected walkers, including increased automobile traffic, the attention of the marketing industry and pedestrian regulations. It also examines the contemplative, psychological and observational qualities of walking.

Examines the chewing gum industry in America from 1850 to 1920, the rise and spread of gum chewing and the reactions - almost uniformly negative - to the habit from editorial writers, reformers, religious figures, employers and the courts. The age-old problem of what to do with chewed gum is also covered.

This social history traces the evolution of women's smoking in the US from 1880 to 1950. From 1880 to 1908, women were not allowed to smoke in public places, with strong opposition based on moral concerns. By 1928, advertisers began to target female smokers, and over the next two decades women smokers gradually gained equality with male smokers.

Gives a faithful overview of the history of tapping: it all started in 1910, when the dictograph arrived and made it easier still for people to engage in spying telegraphic communications. It was the first ready-to-use bug that anyone could employ - that is, buy it off the shelf and use it with no prior training required. Politicians dictographed other politicians; corporations dictographed labor unions; stockbrokers bugged other stockbrokers; and the police dictographed everybody.

The use of endorsements and testimonials to sell anything imaginable is a modern development, though the technique is centuries old. This exploration of modern endorsement advertising follows its evolution from a marginalized, mistrusted technique to a multibillion-dollar industry.

A look at film piracy within the motion picture industry. The book begins with some of the earliest cases and then considers how the problem grew due to a lack of legal resources available to performers. Also examined are the practices of American theatre owners who tried to cheat Hollywood.

"Examines the history of sexual harassment in America's public places (public transit vehicles, on streets) 1880-1930, as response to the women's movement as females in America increased their efforts to gain more freedom of movement and greater independence beginning around 1880. Such behavior was referred to as mashing with the harasser commonly being called a masher"--

Pity the ""extras."" Mostly overlooked and forgotten. Especially those in the major Hollywood films during the dream factory's golden era. The struggles of extras to unionize were followed by internal struggles as the extras fought for a voice within that union. It is a story about too few jobs for far too many extras, some of whom were lured to Hollywood by what seemed to be rags-to-riches tales of stardom but were likely little more than industry publicity plants.

Examines the history of policewomen from 1880 to 2012, particularly in the US. It looks at the problems women had being accepted into the male police establishment and at the harassment and discrimination they often suffered from male officers. While women in policing have moved from matrons in 1880 to policewomen in 1910 (with limited duties) to regular officers in the 1970s, they faced harassment and discrimination that only worsened as they drew closer to equality.

This text examines the eyewear industry in America from 1900 to 2008, a period which mirrors an increased demand for eyewear. Eyeglasses, sunglasses and contacts are discussed. Topics covered include the marketing and selling of eyewear with particular attention paid to advertising strategies and the internal structures of the industry and its regulations, which have sometimes helped and sometimes hurt consumers. This critical examination reveals how a relatively simple and functional item such as corrective eyewear could be transformed through marketing into a fashion accessory and a personal statement.

Examining the 20th century suntan as a social and scientific phenomenon, this illustrated book debunks the myth that changing attitudes toward the tan sprang largely from the world of fashion. Initial pro-tanning medical hype, negative opinions of sunbathing, development of sunscreens, debate over its efficacy, and the sunless tan are covered.

This work examines age discrimination as it relates to the employment sector in the US throughout the 20th century: how the issue has been treated by the media, the extent of age bias, how older workers were viewed, the reasons and rationales used by employers and responses of governments.

Perhaps the single medium in which women have been consistently treated as equal to men is the American judicial system. This book profiles the lives and cases of selected women sentenced to capital punishment in America between 1840 and 1899, most of whom were executed by hanging.

The relationship of Hollywood and television, initially turbulent, has ultimately been profitable from the first sally in what was expected to be a war of attrition, up through the soliciting of movies by major networks, independent stations, basic cable networks, premium cable channels, pay-per-view systems and even the corner video store.

With its decentralised urban areas, pollution, and mostly inadequate public transit systems, today's America pays a heavy price for its car dependency. This explores one of the more pressing aspects of the automobile problem - storage - from 1910 to the end of the World War II, contrasting the reality and perception of car parking as found in the pages of the popular newspapers and magazines of that period.

Explores the history of American actors' attempts to unionize in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This book focuses on the two unions of the time, the White Rats Actors' Union of America and the Actors' Equity Association. It chronicles the formation of the unions and outlines the roles of union leaders Harry Mountford and Francis Wilson.