Plenty of Nothing

1923 Mercury Dime

From 1916 till 1945 the US dime looked like this, with a bust of Liberty on the obverse and Roman fasces on the reverse. Liberty had appeared on earlier dimes, but the addition of wings to her cap led to a popular misconception that it was a portrait of Mercury. The fasces that had once seemed a suitable emblem of republican government, now smelled of Mussolini. In 1945 the Mint replaced Winged Liberty/Mercury with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the fasces with a torch. Source.

Prince Hirohito Visits Taiwan, 1923

Crown Prince Hirohito spent a couple of weeks in Taiwan in April 1923 inspecting things, in this case the Taiwan Grand Shrine, which he trooped around on April 17th. This was the top Shinto shrine in the colony. There's a hotel there now. Source.

Imperial Hotel 1923-1968

Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel, Tokyo. Source.

Bridal Couple

A plate from the State Porcelain Factory, now in the National Gallery of Australia. Source.

Echizenya Dry Goods Store 1923

The Echizenya Dry Goods Store, Yokohama, following the Great Kanto Earthquake, September 1, 1923.

The Covered Wagon (1923)

The biggest-grossing Hollywood movie of 1923, The Covered Wagon, opened on this day ninety-three years ago. It was the first epic Western, and got the epic treatment, with a musical score and a 25-cent program (above). Read about it here and watch it here.

The Charleston

On this day in 1923 the musical comedy Runnin' Wild opened on Broadway. One of the musical numbers was "The Charleston," which launched the dance craze for which the Twenties are famous. 1925 piano roll. Things didn't trend quite so quickly ninety years ago: the Charleston was still going strong in 1927.

Asakusa Before and After

Views of the Twelve Storey Tower, in the Asakusa district outside Tokyo, before and after the Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1, 1923. This post is really just an opportunity to direct you to this excellent website about the quake.

2015 Emperor's Cup, Round One

Wasenda Senior High School team, winners of the National High School Football Tournament, 1923. Source.

The Emperor's Cup returns for a 95th installment. This is Round One, featuring the prefectural champions. Let's watch:

Game No. 8: Mito HollyHock 4 - 2 ReinMeer Aomori

Game No. 14: Consadole Sapporo 5 - 1 Sapporo University

Game No. 16: Blaublitz Akita [3 - 0] Fukushima United

Game No. 20: Montedio Yamagata [7 - 1] Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine

Game No. 25: Grulla Morioka [0 - 3] Machida Zelvia

Game No. 28: Vanraure Hachinohe [0 - 1] Sendai University

Game No. 36: FC Gifu [2 - 1] Kwansei Gakuin University

Das Narren Schiff (1923) by Oskar Laske

Oskar Laske. Source.