Of the Charleston Chew, the Charleston, and Josephine Baker

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Figure 1 - Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston in 1926. From the Wikimediacommons and in the public domain because of expired copyright.

Figure 1 – Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston in 1926. From the Wikimediacommons and in the public domain because of expired copyright.

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about “The Charleston Chew,” the question may be asked why a Boston manufactured candy would be named after Charleston, SC and not Charlestown, MA, where the USS Constitution resides.  Well the answer, perhaps obvious, is that the Charleston Chew is named after the the dance the Charleston, which was so popular at the time it was invented, if candies are invented, or introduced.

The Charleston was indeed. named for the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina. It was popularized by a 1923 tune called “The Charleston” by composer/pianist James P. Johnson from the Broadway show “Runnin’ Wild.” The rest, as they say, was history.  The dance electrified and defined the decade and its generation.

There is some wonderful vintage images to share regarding the Charleston.  The first is the photograph of Figure 1 showing the incomprable Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston at the Folies Bergère, Paris, in 1926.

Figure 2 - Josephine Baker in her world famous banana costume. Photograph by Walery, French, 1863-1935, from the Wikimedia Commons (uploaded by http://www.sheldonconcerthall.org/bakerpress.asp) and in the public domain because of copyright expiration.

Figure 2 – Josephine Baker in her world famous banana costume. Photograph by Walery, French, 1863-1935, from the Wikimedia Commons (uploaded by http://www.sheldonconcerthall.org/bakerpress.asp) and in the public domain because of copyright expiration.

Wonderful image!  Baker, of course, was a the first African American superstar and a heroine of civil rights. After Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, Correta Scott King asked Baker to take on the role as symbolic leader of the movement. I am also including another picture of Miss Baker in her world famous “Banana Costume.” Carmen Miranda eat your heart out!  This is not directly related to the Charleston but is really cool just the same.

I want also to include a vintage video clip with the classic Charleston Music.  But before you click on it, be careful.  It is contagious and you may start dancing.  I offer it as a tribute and remembrance of my mother, who was of that generation, and could still in the late sixties and early seventies dance a mean Charleston without losing her breath.