About Mike Peterson

  • Author and editor Mike Peterson has worked with students and teachers since 1993, creating educational materials that are both engaging and educationally sound. He has given workshops for educators on local, regional, state and national levels, has had articles on educational topics published in a variety of publications, and has won international awards for his youth and community programs. His serial stories have appeared in newspapers throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Bermuda. He has also been a newspaper reporter and editor, radio talk show host, magazine writer and advertising professional.

« Chapter Four - The Pierce Arrow | Main | Chapter Three - The Stupid Law »

Chapter Four - "She was dressed just like the flappers in the magazines"

Kenny is star-struck by the idea of having a flapper in his own front yard, and little wonder.

In the 1920s, independent young women were a novelty, and the flappers symbolized something very new. Just two years after our story takes place, the movie "It" would set a fashion for what "It" was, and the star of that movie, Clara Bow, became known as "The It Girl."

What made the character appealing was that, while she certainly had "It," she was a good girl, a blue-collar, working-class shop girl who helped her unfortunate roommate get by while trying to have a romance with the wealthy son of the owner of a large department store.

In this clip from "It," we see Clara preparing for a dinner at a fancy restaurant, doing her best to keep up with the wealthy, spoiled rich girl who has decided that she should marry the store owner's son.

 

Comments

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Why was the piece arrow a real car back them? If it was why did you not just make up a different name for the fancy car?

Posted by: Dlacs | 02/16/2011 at 09:21 AM

Why would I just make one up? This is historical fiction, and even though Kenny and the other characters are made up, the rest of it is history. The Pierce Arrow was a real car, just like Altona and Plattsburgh are real places.

Posted by: Mike Peterson | 02/16/2011 at 09:32 AM

Is Eddie Uncle Georges rumrunning partner?

Posted by: tlacs | 02/16/2011 at 01:11 PM

Well, considering that Kenny just gave him all the beer, I guess he'd better be, huh?

Posted by: Mike Peterson | 02/16/2011 at 01:55 PM

Hey guys, I'm going to close comments on this post, because it's for watching the video so you can see what a flapper looks like. We'll go talk about the chapter on the next one down -- see??

Posted by: Mike Peterson | 02/16/2011 at 01:56 PM

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