We're Doin' The Shimmy!

1919--

BANDIT TAKES ROLL, AND ORDERS SHIMMY

POLICE FIND VICTIM AFTER HE'S EXHAUSTED

Philadelphia, Nov. 26. -- The "shimmy highwayman" is the latest arrival in Philadelphia.

Joseph Gottschalk was standing at Fourth and Pine streets when a man approached him.

"Can you jazz?" asked the stranger. Gottschalk replied that he could.

"Let's see you do a few steps," said the stranger, drawing a revolver. Gottschalk hesitated, but catching a glimpse of the weapon, decided to comply.

"Now," said the footpad, "let's see you do the shimmy. And be sure not to stop jiggling your arms."

Gotschalk proceeded to shake like a bowl of jelly, while the robber went through his clothes and took his watch and chain and wallet containing $27.

"Keep on doing that," said the bandit, as he backed away, still covering Gottschalk with his revolver. "If I see you stop before I get out of sight I'm going to take a shot at you."

It was five minutes later when Gottschalk fell exhausted to the sidewalk. A policeman picked him up and took him to a hospital, where he was revived.

--Ironwood Daily Globe, Ironwood, Michigan, November 26, 1919, page 2.


SEE WHAT SHIMMYING DID TO NEWLYWEDS

ROMANCE STARTS WITH DANCE, AND DANCE NEARLY ENDS IN COURT

Milwaukee, Nov. 24. -- The shimmy as a home destroyer made its appearance in district court Friday.

Daniel Monte, 24, was arraigned on complaint of his bride of a month, Winifred, 20.

She said he beat her in their apartment, 711 Sycamore st. one morning after they had returned from a dance.

"I may have struck her," said Monte. "I don't know. I was mad. Every night for two weeks she made me go with her to a dance. 'If you don't go, I'll go alone,' she told me.

Forgets Wedding Ring

"Most of the time she forgot to wear my wedding ring. I didn't want her going alone. I was dead tired of shimmying every night. I told her it had to stop. We quarrelled. The next day she left me. I haven't seen her since."

It was a dance that ushered in their romance. They met in a dance hall Oct. 8. Two days later they were married in Waukegan. The next day the young wife went to her home in Ludington, Mich. Her husband, against his wishes, remained at home.

Then Begins the Shimmy

After a two-week visit, she came back. Then began the period of nightly dancing, which culminated in the home fight on Armistice day. Since then she has made her home with a sister in Cudahy.

Judge Page lectured them about the undesirable points of a dance hall romance. The young benedict was dismissed without fees.

--Ironwood Daily Globe, Ironwood, Michigan, November 25, 1919, page 8.