The terms date back to the 18th-century printing trade.
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Applause Records
In its April 1930 issue, the German magazine Uhu reported on a new recording company that recorded and sold the applause from performances, rather than the music. The idea was that performers could use the applause records as proof of their popularity when auditioning for future engagements: May I present my applause to you, Mr. Director? A revolutionary innovation in the field of theatre: applause that doesn’t fade away! The newly founded recording company “Applaudeum” records the applause and shouts of approval, at the request of stage performers, using microphones in the audience. The device is designed to automatically activate at the slightest clap. Curiously, this innovation is used not only by unknown beginners applying for engagements, but also, to a large extent, by celebrities. It was an April Fool’s Day joke, but I’m surprised that no one (to my knowledge) has done it in reality as a weird thing to do. The closest thing to it that I can think of is the ‘Applause for Stalin’ record that we’ve previously posted about.
In its April 1930 issue, the German magazine Uhu reported on a new recording company that recorded and sold the applause from performances, rather than the music. The idea was that performers could use the applause records as proof of their popularity when auditioning for future engagements: May I present my applause to you, Mr. Director? A revolutionary innovation in the field of theatre: applause that doesn’t fade away! The newly founded recording company “Applaudeum” records the applause and shouts of approval, at the request of stage performers, using microphones in the audience. The device is designed to automatically activate at the slightest clap. Curiously, this innovation is used not only by unknown beginners applying for engagements, but also, to a large extent, by celebrities. It was an April Fool’s Day joke, but I’m surprised that no one (to my knowledge) has done it in reality as a weird thing to do. The closest thing to it that I can think of is the ‘Applause for Stalin’ record that we’ve previously posted about.
Books for Newlyweds
In 1972, the French Ministry of Education tried an unusual program to promote reading. It gave every newlywed couple five free books. Couples could choose one of the following two sets: Balzac’s Pere Goriot Stendhal’s The Charterhouse of Parma Chateaubriand’s Memoires D’Outre Tombe Flaubert’s Madame Bovary De Lafayette’s Princess De Cleves Short stories by Voltaire Hugo’s Les Miserables Balzac’s Les Chouans Fromentin’s Dominique Stendhal’s Le Rouge et la Noir I can’t find any follow-up about whether the program was deemed to be a success. I assume any effort to do something similar in the U.S. would get mired down in controversy over what books to pick. Dayton Daily News – Mar 26, 1972
In 1972, the French Ministry of Education tried an unusual program to promote reading. It gave every newlywed couple five free books. Couples could choose one of the following two sets: Balzac’s Pere Goriot Stendhal’s The Charterhouse of Parma Chateaubriand’s Memoires D’Outre Tombe Flaubert’s Madame Bovary De Lafayette’s Princess De Cleves Short stories by Voltaire Hugo’s Les Miserables Balzac’s Les Chouans Fromentin’s Dominique Stendhal’s Le Rouge et la Noir I can’t find any follow-up about whether the program was deemed to be a success. I assume any effort to do something similar in the U.S. would get mired down in controversy over what books to pick. Dayton Daily News – Mar 26, 1972
Trough
The work of artist Ruth Burke focuses on the connection between humans and other species, mainly livestock. In her performance “Trough” (2016) she let cows feed from a cone-shaped trough around her neck. From her website: This performance reverses the typical power structures engaged in by humans and cows. Rather than the human consuming from the body of the cow, my bovine collaborator consumes from an appendage on my body. I am on my knees in a blue costume that features a large cone around my most vulnerable corporeal parts, the neck and the head. The dark blue color is a play on cow’s dichromatic vision and the cone is filled with treats. The relationship between birth, death, and consumption is one perpetually unfinished. Looked dangerous to me. I kept expecting one of the cows to chomp off her nose or ears.
The work of artist Ruth Burke focuses on the connection between humans and other species, mainly livestock. In her performance “Trough” (2016) she let cows feed from a cone-shaped trough around her neck. From her website: This performance reverses the typical power structures engaged in by humans and cows. Rather than the human consuming from the body of the cow, my bovine collaborator consumes from an appendage on my body. I am on my knees in a blue costume that features a large cone around my most vulnerable corporeal parts, the neck and the head. The dark blue color is a play on cow’s dichromatic vision and the cone is filled with treats. The relationship between birth, death, and consumption is one perpetually unfinished. Looked dangerous to me. I kept expecting one of the cows to chomp off her nose or ears.