“Everyone
has to go to jail
some time
in his life.”

The Holy Barbarians – a documentary book about the beatnik scene of Venice West in Los Angeles – was first published in 1959. Penned by journalist, writer, and beat poet Lawrence Lipton, it put the “hip, cool, frantic generation of new Bohemians” on intriguing display to mainstream USA, and it was a huge commercial success at the time of publication. Although the book contains good chunks of conceited sociology and lengthy theoretical stretches about poetry, it also offers quite a few engaging ethnographic vignettes. As an example of the latter we have picked for you a snippet from the chapter where Lipton, in order to clarify the character of the beats, portrays other outcasts who navigate the same social space.

For all you switchblade Daddy-Os – and for the rest of you, too – here is Lipton’s Juvenile Delinquents.

Burlesque Poster Design

The finest, raunchiest, most teasing poster art from the world of burlesque, from the Folies Bergère to the retro-inspired scene of today. A high-octane, eye-popping collection of visual raunch and bump and grind. Visit the gallery here.

Satan’s Angel Photo Gallery

Don’t miss our gallery of titillating visuals from the life of burlesque star Satan’s Angel.

(We interviewed Satan’s Angel back in 2008. That interview is also worth checking out: A Conversation with a Flaming Beauty.)

Ruth Fulton Benedict 1887-1948

We at American Ethnography think that the obituary pages of the newspaper are curiously delightful – when we read them we don’t read about death, we read about life, and therefore they leave us with high spirits.

With that in mind, here’s Ruth Benedict’s obituary, penned by Margaret Mead in 1949.

Stripping, social class, and the strange carnalities of research

Sociologist Danielle Egan worked as a striptease dancer and wrote about it. Here is an excerpt from her book Dancing for Dollars and Paying for Love.

Read more …