![]() ![]() WJZ’s actions, therefore, set the stage for a century of on-air bleeping and censorship. An engineer stood by during the broadcast, ready to cut a performer’s microphone and play music (something that actually did happen to Petrova on a future show). Although there is no record of Petrova being arrested for what she did, the station ensured that such an event could never happen again. Needless to say, after Petrova’s stunt, the station’s parent company Westinghouse was in a panic. In fact, according to the Comstock Laws, anyone who published, shared, lent, or sold any “obscene book, pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing or other representation, figure, or image on or of paper or other material, or any cast instrument, or other article of an immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any article whatever, for the prevention of conception, or for causing unlawful abortion” could be sentenced to six months hard labor and/or a fine of at least $100 (which would be the equivalent of $1,412.16 in 2019 spending power). So suggesting a woman had many children because she had no other options was a dangerous topic for 1921.Īccording to the 1873 Comstock Law, or the Act for the “Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use,” it was illegal to share information about contraception. But Petrova was a radical who called for women to have the right to use birth control, a topic that a century ago was considered improper and obscene. We all know that as the nursery rhyme “The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” and to modern ears it sounds quite innocent. She had so many children because she didn’t know what to do.” “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. For example, in the middle of her performance, she dared to read the following: On this particular day, according to the Verge article “Curses! The birth of the bleep and modern American censorship,” Petrova was supposed to do nothing but perform nursery rhymes over the air, but she twisted things just a bit. It all dates back to a 1921 performance by Vaudeville actress Olga Petrova on New Jersey radio station WJZ. ![]() History of the Bleeping BleepĪnyone who watches television or listens to the radio in the United States (and many other countries) would be familiar with the ubiquitous “bleep,” the electronic beep that covers vulgar or objectionable words to make the content “family friendly.” So why do we bleep obscenities and use things like in the first place? Let’s look at the history of profanity in America. The intent is to censor the language to make it appropriate reading for all ages, but since everyone’s brain fills in the “bleeped out” letters anyway, it can often be used for lighthearted fun. Every so often, you run into that crazy string of punctuation that’s meant to represent a curse word. ![]()
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