This letter from Mary comes from Fountain Inn, South Carolina. Pictured above is an image of a postcard of a Presbyterian Church in Fountain Inn from the 1930s, giving an idea of what the church mentioned by Mary in the letter might have looked like at the time.
Citation: The Presbyterian Church, Fountain Inn, S.C.. 1930s. Postcard. University of South Carolina Libraries, https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/sclvispc/id/5788/rec/13
Given how groundbreaking the developments in animation were in the late 20s and early 30s, it's very likely that Blanche as well as her friends and family would have heard about characters like Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop making their grand debuts in animated works in newspapers and the like. Do you think they would have had the opportunity to go and see these films for themselves? How likely would it have been to have a theater showing these films in their area?
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
1930 was an extremely eventful year in history, for a number of reasons. The world saw the birth of would-be icons and important individuals like Clint Eastwood and Buzz Aldrin, the beginning of the Great Depression, the protests of Gandhi in India, somewhat more casual events such as the beginning of construction of the Hoover Dam, as well as the debut and growing popularity of iconic animated characters Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse. This article from Historic Newspapers catalogues these events listed, among many others.
Citation: "A Year in History: Timeline of 1930 Events," Historic Newspapers, accessed December 5, 2023. https://www.historic-newspapers.com/blog/1930-timeline/#October%20(will%20fix%20later)
This is a film from Fleischer studios featuring Betty Boop in a rendition of the story of Snow White, featuring Cab Calloway performing as another one of their characters, Koko the Clown, singing St. James Infirmary Blues. Koko's movements are actually those of Calloway himself, as he was rotoscoped. Also included below is an article from Biography.com about the life, career and legacy of Cab Calloway.
Citation: “Snow-White.” Directed by Dave Fleischer and Roland Crandall. 1939. Cartoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOSJ5AAwfc&t=324s
Citation: "Cab Calloway," Biography, accessed December 9, 2023. https://www.biography.com/musicians/cab-calloway
This is a video from 1938 from the Popular Science series focusing on Fleischer studios, responsible for bringing iconic characters like Betty Boop and Popeye the sailor to life through animation, and a primary competitor of Disney. The short film gives a tour of their animation studio and goes over some of what went into creating an animated work at the time.
Citation: “Popular Science.” Directed by Robert Carlisle. 1939. Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy-Nwxugs-8&t=2s
Fleischer Studios were the pioneers of rotoscoping in animation, and one of the Fleischer brothers actually was the one to file the patent for it. Rotoscoping is essentially a process by which animators will take live-action footage and then trace over each frame in order to create an animation in which the subjects have very realistic movement. Included below is a page from Fleischer Studios' website going over the history of rotoscoping from the studio, from its research and development to some of the works it was used in and for.
Citation: "100 Years of Rotoscoping!," Fleischer Studios, accessed December 5, 2023. http://tinyurl.com/fleischerstudios-mrotoscope