The Jazz Singer in Lodz
1 2015-10-15T21:34:53-07:00 Adam Hochstetter c48f6bcc8795510c546206d51bf07a1dcfaa911f 6068 1 Ad from the Yiddish newspaper Najer Folksblat publicizing a 1930 screening of The Jazz Singer at the movie theater Splendid in Łódź. As the first cinema with a permanent sound-film setup, Splendid was the ideal venue to screen the first full-feature synchronized American talkie. Though not the most financially successful of the early talking movies, The Jazz Singer went on to become the most treasured of them. For Lodzer Jews, the film had the additional significance of presenting the story of the Jewish passage into modernity: the cantor's son leaves the traditional Jewish world to seek good fortune in the world of popular music. plain 2015-10-15T21:34:53-07:00 www.iub.edu/~lodzdsc/omeka-2.3.1 2015-06-02T11:12:12+00:00 1930 T012 The Jazz Singer in Lodz.jpg cinema jazz migrations technology Adam Hochstetter c48f6bcc8795510c546206d51bf07a1dcfaa911fThis page is referenced by:
-
1
2015-10-22T17:25:40-07:00
At the dawn of the 20th century
7
plain
2016-12-04T12:24:46-08:00
In the years leading to World War I, as a prosperous industrial metropolis, Łódź experienced quick pace of technological and social change. The introduction of electricity—at first for lighting in textile factories and few exclusive apartment buildings—led to the opening of the first electric tram lines in 1898 (the first such system to be established in Russian Poland). At the start of the century, an electric power plant for the city was built.
While the economic collapse that followed World War I had a devastating effect on the working poor, social and technological changes continued to impact the world around them. The new water and sewage infrastructure did not extend to homes in the poor districts of Łódź, but by the 1930s, most dwellings, even in Bałuty, had electricity. The magistrate of Łódź, now part of sovereign Poland, renewed the efforts to offer basic education to all children, including Jews. New technologies required trained workers. For instance, a rapid increase in road transport offered new jobs for skilled motor vehicle drivers.
The world that was being transformed not only through new social, economic and political circumstances, but also by latest entertainment technologies: the gramophone, the radio and the newest craze—talking movies. Music delivered through these media came from the Americas and conveyed new values, changing the younger generation’s attitude towards age-old Jewish traditions. In fact, the tale of a musician making a choice between jazz and liturgical synagogue music was retold in various contexts as an allegory for this generational transformation.
