Welcome to the Public Domain
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We usually do a post on this every January 1, and have been a bit remiss…
Show tunes and Jazz dominated the year with many standards that we remember today first being published. While best known for the 1952 film of the same name, Singin’ in the Rain was first published in 1929 and serves as the inspiration for our remix contest this year. George Gershwin also officially published (and copyrighted) his suite An American in Paris following a premiere in late 1928.
Below is sheet music for some popular compositions of the time.
- Singin’ in the Rain
- Wedding of the Painted Doll
- You Were Meant For Me
- Am I Blue?
- Ain’t Misbehavin’
- What Is This Thing Called Love?
- Bolero
Literature
Reflections on World War I continued with A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, the first English translation of All Quiet on the Western Front, and Richard Aldington’s Death of a Hero. William Faulkner published his modernist novel The Sound and the Fury. A. A. Milne followed up 1928’s The House at Pooh Corner by adapting The Wind in the Willows into the play Toad of Toad Hall. Detective fiction thrived in 1929, with The Maltese Falcon serialized in Black Mask, Agatha Christie captivating readers with The Seven Dials Mystery, and the first Ellery Queen novel, The Roman Hat Mystery, making its debut. Explore our 1929 periodicals to find more hidden detective gems.
While not a towering work of literature, the first set of comic strips featuring Popeye also are joining the public domain. Popeye first made an appearance in Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929. Initially just a side character for an adventure arc featuring gambling and sailing, Popeye rose quickly to fame. By February 4, 1931 the Thimble Theatre would feature a subtitle, Starring Popeye, before being renamed just Popeye later on.
Below is a further selection of works from the year:
- Rope by Patrick Hamilton
- A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolfe
- A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
- Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do by E. B. White and James Thurber
- Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe