78 rpm's

one time i had a dream that i found a box of records from the 1920s.

one friday, i was in the cellar digging around for a special attachment to the mustard machines. i kicked a box out of the way. then i thought it might be one of the ones that i was searching for, so i looked in it. when i did, i saw a bunch of old 78 rmp records.

i brought them up to the house and showed them to bubbles. he looked at the labels and said they were from the 1920s. he got some of them stacked up on his turntable. he played one of them. it gave off a scratchy sound with a distant sort of tune. then a lady started singing and followed by a chorus of men. the band played in the background with a heavy emphasis on the brass and percussion.

bubbles and i decided to have a big party that night. we invited everyone to the house for a 1920s style affair. people started to show up with old flapper dresses, cloche hats, and 1920s style suits and old style tennis clothing. a small minority came in king tut style egyptian costumes. bubbles was playing the old records on his sound system. he originally intended to play them as a background behind his own mixes and creations, but decided that people would probably prefer the authentic period music.

people drank bucketfuls of lemonade and we brewed several batches of tea. eventually bubbles suggested that we fill up the big industrial mustard kettle and use that all night to make tea. we had all kinds of batches brewing all night long. people were dancing and laughing and eating peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches. there was confetti and someone started setting off fireworks. one guy in a tuxedo was jumping around on a pogo stick and accidentally bounced into the swimming pool. this upset the floating mah-jong board of the people in the pool. people were shimmying inside and outside the house, going back and forth, dancing foxtrots, cakewalks, and charlestons. bubbles cranked the music even louder and everyone cheered. it was the bees knees.

around 10 o'clock, the state police showed up on motorcycles. they asked to speak to the owner of the house. i walked over and introduced myself. they looked very amused. they were expecting teenagers who were making so much of a kerfluffle. they told me that someone in the neighborhood had complained about fireworks and they had to investigate. i said they were welcome to have a look around. i told them that i had no fireworks, but if i found them,  i would contact these officers and they could confiscate them. i asked if the music had been too loud. the one trooper said that we were fairly isolated so they didn't think it was much of a problem -just no more fireworks tonight. i asked if they wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a glass of lemonade. they said no thank you.

i told them that when they were off duty they were welcome back for the party, but they declined. they told me that they probably would be too tired and this was a party that you needed alot of energy for. they rode off and bubbles turned the music back on. everyone started dancing again.

our party was the cat's pyjamas.