title: Interwar Britain

text: In response to the breakdown of the Disarmament Conference and accelerated German rearmament under Adolf Hitler, the National government launched its own rearmament programme in 1934. However, pacifist sentiment was widespread at this time, which found expression in the King and Country debate of February 1933, when the Oxford Union passed the motion "This House will under no circumstances fight for its King and country". The October 1933 Fulham East by-election saw the Conservative candidate, who advocated rearmament, defeated by the Labour candidate, who called his opponent a warmonger. The Peace Ballot, completed in June 1935, demonstrated overwhelming support for the League of Nations and disarmament, and less emphatic support for military measures to stop an aggressor state. The Labour and Liberal parties opposed rearmament and instead advocated disarmament combined with collective security through the League of Nations. Winston Churchill, who was left out of the National government, was almost a lone voice in his campaign for increased armaments.


title: Interwar Britain

text: On 4 March 1935 the government published a white paper on defence which announced increased spending on the armed forces. On 7 June Baldwin succeeded MacDonald as prime minister and called a general election in October, with polling day on 14 November. The National government sought a mandate for rearmament to fill the gaps in Britain's defences and Baldwin told the Peace Society on 31 October that there would "no great armaments". The government won the election with a large though reduced majority and Labour gained around 100 seats.


title: Interwar Britain

text: In late 1936 there was a constitutional crisis when king Edward VIII wanted to marry a divorcée, Wallis Simpson. The king was head of the Church of England but the Church disapproved of divorce and the Cabinet opposed the marriage. Edward was determined to marry Mrs Simpson and agreed to abdicate, which was announced by Baldwin in the House of Commons on 10 December and enacted by an Act of Parliament the next day.


title: Interwar Britain

text: On 28 May 1937 Neville Chamberlain replaced Baldwin as prime minister and embarked on a series of social reforms. The Special Areas (Amendment) Act 1937 introduced concessions on taxes and rents to encourage businesses to set up works in the "special areas", which suffered the highest unemployment. The government nationalised coal mining royalties through the Coal Act 1938, which was an important step towards nationalisation of the coal mines, achieved in 1946. Whereas in the 1920s only 1½ million workers were entitled to an annual paid holiday, this increased to 3 million in 1938 and to 11 million after the enactment of the Holidays with Pay Act 1938. The school leaving age was raised to 15 on 1 September 1939.


title: Interwar Britain

text: However, Chamberlain's premiership was dominated by the challenge of Hitler, which Chamberlain attempted to resolve through appeasement of Germany's grievances combined with continued British rearmament. The policy of appeasement culminated in the 1938 Munich Agreement, which conceded to Germany the German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland. On 15 March 1939 the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, despite Hitler's promise that the Sudetenland was his "last territorial demand in Europe". British opinion was shocked and on 31 March Chamberlain pledged Britain to protect Poland and the British military resumed military conversations with France. The government also introduced peacetime conscription for the first time with the Military Training Act 1939. After Germany entered into a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, the government signed an alliance with Poland on 25 August and passed the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939. On 1 September Germany invaded Poland and two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Two major programmes dealing with unemployment and housing that permanently expanded the welfare state passed in 1919 and 1920 with surprisingly little debate, even as the Conservatives dominated parliament.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The Unemployment Insurance Act 1920 expanded the provisions of the National Insurance Act 1911. It set up the dole system that provided 39 weeks of unemployment benefits to practically the entire civilian working population except domestic servants, farm workers, and civil servants. Funded in part by weekly contributions from both employers and employed, it provided weekly payments of 15s for unemployed men and 12s for unemployed women. It passed at a time of very low unemployment. Historian C. L. Mowat called these laws "Socialism by the back door," and notes how surprised politicians were when the costs to the Treasury soared during the high unemployment of 1921. The Baldwin and Chamberlain governments also expanded unemployment assistance: the number of workers included in the scheme increased from 11 million in 1920 to 15.4 million in 1938. For the unemployed who had exceeded their entitlement to assistance, the Unemployment Assistance Board (enacted by the Unemployment Act 1934) required them to undergo the means test to ensure that they were still eligible.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Neville Chamberlain abolished poor law unions and the board of guardians by the Local Government Act 1929, which also transferred poor-law hospitals to local authorities. The number of workers included in the health insurance scheme, which gave them sickness benefit and funded their medical treatment, increased from 15 million in 1921 to 20 million in 1938. According to Paul Addison, Britain's social services were "the most advanced in the world in 1939".


title: Interwar Britain

text: The rapid expansion of housing was a major success story of the interwar years, standing in sharp contrast to the United States, where new housing construction practically collapsed after 1929. The total housing stock In England and Wales was 7.6 million in 1911; 8.0 million in 1921; 9.4 million in 1931; and 11.3 million in 1939.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The influential Tudor Walters Report of 1918 set the standards for council house design and location for the next 90 years. It recommended housing in short terraces, spaced at at a density of 12 to the acre. With the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 Lloyd George set up a system of government housing that followed his 1918 campaign promises of "homes fit for heroes." Also known as the "Addison Act," it required local authorities to survey their housing needs, and start building houses to replace slums. The treasury subsidised the low rents. Older women could then vote. Local politicians consulted with them and in response put more emphasis on such amenities as communal laundries, extra bedrooms, indoor lavatories, running hot water, separate parlours to demonstrate their respectability, and practical vegetable gardens rather than manicured lawns. Progress was not automatic, as shown by the troubles of rural Norfolk. Many dreams were shattered as local authorities had to renege on promises they could not fulfill due to undue haste, impossible national deadlines, debilitating bureaucracy, lack of lumber, rising costs, and the non-affordability of rents by the rural poor.


title: Interwar Britain

text: In England and Wales 214,000 multi-unit council buildings were built by 1939; the Ministry of Health became largely a ministry of housing. Council housing accounted for 10 percent of the housing stock in Britain by 1938, peaking at 32 percent in 1980, and dropping to 18 percent by 1996, where it held steady for the next two decades.


title: Interwar Britain

text: During the interwar years England experienced an unprecedented growth of the suburbs, which historians have called the "suburban revolution". By 1939 over 4 million new suburban homes had been built and England went from being the most urbanised country in the world at the end of the First World War into the most suburbanised by the beginning of the Second World War.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Increasingly the British ideal was home ownership, even among the working class. Rates of home ownership rose steadily from 15 percent before 1914, to 32 percent by 1938, and 67 percent by 1996. The construction industry sold the idea of home ownership to upscale renters. The mortgage lost its old stigma of a millstone round your neck to instead be seen as a smart long-term investment in suburbanised Britain. It appealed to aspirations of upward mobility and made possible the fastest rate of growth in working-class owner-occupation during the 20th century. The boom was largely financed by the savings ordinary Britons put into their building societies. Starting in the 1920s favourable tax policies encouraged substantial investment in the societies, creating huge reserves for lending. Beginning in 1927, the societies encouraged borrowing through gradual liberalisation of mortgage terms.


title: Interwar Britain

text: King George V (reigned 1910–1936) was scandal free. He appeared hard working and became widely admired by the people of Britain and the Empire, as well as "The Establishment". It was George V who established the modern norm of conduct for British royalty, reflecting middle-class values and virtues rather than upper-class lifestyles or vices. Anti-intellectual and lacking the sophistication of his two royal predecessors, as well as their cosmopolitan experiences, he nevertheless understood the British Empire better than most of his ministers; indeed he explained, "it has always been my dream to identify myself with the great idea of Empire." He used his exceptional memory for details and faces to good effect in small talk with commoners and officials. He invariably wielded his influence as a force of neutrality and moderation, seeing his role as mediator rather than final decision maker. For example, in 1921 he had General Jan Smuts draft a speech calling for a compromise truce to end the and secured cabinet approval; the Irish also agreed and the war ended. Historian A. J. P. Taylor praises the king's initiative as, "perhaps the greatest service performed by a British monarch in modern times." His transparent sense of duty, his loyalty, his impartiality, and his unfailing example of good taste inspired the people and discouraged politicians from manipulating him to their own advantage. King George V was by temperament a cautious and conservative man who never fully appreciated or approved the revolutionary changes underway in British society. Nevertheless, everyone understood that he was earnestly devoted to Britain and the British Commonwealth.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The king's popularity was enhanced during the World War when he made more than a thousand visits to hospitals, factories, and military and naval installations. He thereby gave highly visible support to the morale of ordinary workers and servicemen. In 1932, George delivered his Royal Christmas speech on the radio, an event that became a popular across the British Empire every year. His Silver Jubilee in 1935 became a national festival of fervent rejoicing, tinged with a few complaints. His funeral and following commemorations were elaborately staged, very well attended ceremonies that redefined the role of royalty in a newly democratic nation. The people had new ways to affirm their loyalties, such as close attention to live radio broadcasts and follow-up newsreels. New ceremonies born of the commemoration of death in the Great War included the two-minute silence. Britain set up living memorials to honour and expand the king's lifelong belief in the physical, moral and social benefits of recreation and sports. The royal death thereby acted to enhance a shared Britishness. The funeral of King George VI in 1952 followed the same formula. Thereby the monarchy grew stronger and, more importantly, national cohesion was built up in the era of total war.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The king was the most active monarch in many ways since George III (reigned 1760–1820). Biographer H. C. G. Matthew concludes:


title: Interwar Britain

text: After taking over the League of Nations mandates on certain German and Ottoman territories in 1919, the British Empire reached its territorial peak. The interwar years saw extensive efforts for economic and educational development of the colonies. The Dominions were prosperous and largely took care of themselves. By far the most troublesome areas for London were India and Palestine.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The Dominions (Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand) achieved virtual independence in foreign policy in the Statute of Westminster 1931, though each depended heavily upon British naval protection. After 1931 trade policy favoured Imperial Preference with higher tariffs against the U.S. and all others outside the Commonwealth.


title: Interwar Britain

text: In India, the forces of nationalism were being organised by the Indian National Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. India contributed significantly to victory in the World War, and was bitterly disappointed by the very limited benefits conferred in the Government of India Act 1919. British fears of German wartime plots or postwar Communism following the Ghadar Mutiny ensured that war-time structures were renewed by the Rowlatt Act of 1919 that suppressed dissent. Tensions escalated particularly in the Punjab region, where repressive measures culminated in the Amritsar Massacre. In Britain public opinion was divided over the morality of the massacre, between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy, and those who viewed it with revulsion. Gandhi developed the technique of nonviolent resistance, claiming moral superiority over the British use of violence. Multiple negotiations were held in the 1930s, but a strong reactionary movement in Britain, led by Winston Churchill, blocked the adoption of reforms that would satisfy Indian nationalists. Historian Lawrence James states:


title: Interwar Britain

text: Egypt was nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, although under British rule, until 1914, when London declared it a protectorate. Independence was formally granted in 1922, though it continued to be a British client state until 1954. British troops remained stationed to guard the Suez Canal. Egypt joined the League of Nations. Iraq, a British mandate since 1920, also gained membership of the League in its own right after achieving independence from Britain in 1932. Iraq remained under firm British guidance regarding foreign affairs, defence policy, and oil policy.


title: Interwar Britain

text: In Palestine, Britain was presented with the problem of mediating between the Arabs and increasing numbers of Jews. The Balfour Declaration, which had been incorporated into the terms of the mandate, stated that a national home for the Jewish people would be established in Palestine. Tens of thousands of Jews immigrated from Europe. The Arab population revolted in 1936. As the prospect of war with Germany loomed larger, Britain judged the support of Arabs as more important than the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and shifted to a pro-Arab stance, limiting Jewish immigration and in turn triggering a Jewish insurgency.


title: Interwar Britain

text: As Britain's Prime Minister, Lloyd George requested military assistance from the Dominions at the outbreak of the Chanak Crisis in Turkey in 1922. He was rejected. The World War had greatly strengthened the sense of nationalism and self-confidence in the dominions. They were by then independent members of the League of Nations, and refused to automatically follow requests from Britain's leaders. The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy, independent of Britain, was recognised at the 1923 Imperial Conference. The 1926 Imperial Conference issued the Balfour Declaration of 1926, declaring the Dominions to be "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another" within a "British Commonwealth of Nations". This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931 Statute of Westminster. India, however, was denied dominion status and its foreign policy was set by London.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Newfoundland was overwhelmed by the economic disasters of the Great depression and voluntarily gave up its dominion status. It reverted to a crown colony under direct British control until it voted to join Canada in 1948. The Irish Free State broke its ties with London with a new constitution in 1937, making it a republic in all but name.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Britain had suffered little physical devastation during the war but the cost in death and disability and money were very high. In the Khaki Election of 1918, coming a month after the Allied victory over Germany, Lloyd George promised to impose a harsh treaty on Germany. At the Paris Peace Conference in early 1919, however, he took a much more moderate approach. France and Italy demanded and achieved harsh terms, including German admission of guilt for starting the war (which humiliated Germany), and a demand that Germany pay the entire Allied cost of the war, including veterans' benefits and interest. Britain reluctantly supported the Treaty of Versailles, although many experts, most famously John Maynard Keynes, thought it too harsh on Germany


title: Interwar Britain

text: Britain began to look on a restored Germany as an important trading partner and worried about the effect of reparations on the British economy. In the end the United States financed German debt payments to Britain, France and the other Allies through the Dawes Plan, and Britain used this income to repay the loans it borrowed from the U.S. during the war.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Vivid memories of the horrors and deaths of the World War made Britain and its leaders strongly inclined to pacifism in the interwar era.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Britain maintained close relationships with France and the United States, rejected isolationism, and sought world peace through naval arms limitation treaties, and peace with Germany through the Locarno treaties of 1925. A main goal was to restore Germany to a peaceful, prosperous state.


title: Interwar Britain

text: With disarmament high on the agenda, Britain played a major role following the United States in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921 in working toward naval disarmament of the major powers. By 1933 disarmament had collapsed and the issue became rearming for a war against Germany.


title: Interwar Britain

text: At the Washington Conference Britain abandoned the Two power standard - her long-time policy of paramount naval strength equal to or greater than the next two naval powers combined. Instead it accepted equality with United States, and weakness in Asian waters relative to Japan. It promised to not strengthen the fortifications of Hong Kong, which were within range of Japan. The treaty with Japan was not renewed, But Japan at the time was not engaged in expansion activities of the sort that grew momentous from 1931 onward. London cut loose from Tokyo but moved much closer to Washington.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Politically the coalition government of Prime Minister David Lloyd George depended primarily on Conservative Party support. He increasingly antagonised his supporters with foreign policy miscues. The Chanak Crisis of 1922 brought Britain to the brink of war with Turkey, but the Dominions were opposed and the British military was hesitant, so peace was preserved. This was one of the factors causing Conservative MPs to vote, at the Carlton Club meeting, to fight the next election as a separate party; Lloyd George then resigned as Prime Minister, ending the coalition government.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The success at Locarno in handling the German question impelled Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain, working with France and Italy, to find a master solution to the diplomatic problems of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. It proved impossible to overcome mutual antagonisms, because Chamberlain's programme was flawed by his misperceptions and fallacious judgments.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The great challenge came from dictators, first Benito Mussolini of Italy from 1923, then from 1933 Adolf Hitler of a much more powerful Nazi Germany. Britain and France led the policy of non-interference in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). The League of Nations proved disappointing to its supporters; it was unable to resolve any of the threats posed by the dictators. British policy was to "appease" them in the hopes they would be satiated. League-authorised sanctions against Italy for its invasion of Ethiopia had support in Britain but proved a failure and were dropped in 1936.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Germany was the difficult case. By 1930 British leaders and intellectuals largely agreed that all major powers shared the blame for war in 1914, and not Germany alone as the Treaty of Versailles specified. Therefore, they believed the punitive harshness of the Treaty of Versailles was unwarranted, and this view, adopted by politicians and the public, was largely responsible for supporting appeasement policies down to 1938. That is, German rejections of treaty provisions seemed justified.


title: Interwar Britain

text: By late 1938 it was clear that war was looming, and that Germany had the world's most powerful military. British military leaders warned that Germany would win a war, and Britain needed another year or two to catch up in terms of aviation and air defence. Appeasement of Germany—giving in to its demands—was the government's policy until early 1939. The final act of appeasement came when Britain and France sacrificed Czechoslovakia to Hitler's demands at the Munich Agreement of 1938. Instead of satiation Hitler then seized the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and menaced Poland. In response Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rejected further appeasement and stood firm in promising to defend Poland. Hitler unexpectedly cut a deal with Joseph Stalin to divide Eastern Europe; when Germany did invade Poland in September 1939, Britain and France declared war; the British Commonwealth followed London's lead.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Taxes rose sharply during the war and never returned to their old levels. A rich man paid 8% of his income in taxes before the war, and about a third afterward. Much of the money went on unemployment benefits. About 5% of the national income every year was transferred from the rich to the poor. A. J. P. Taylor argues most people "were enjoying a richer life than any previously known in the history of the world: longer holidays, shorter hours, higher real wages."


title: Interwar Britain

text: The British economy was lacklustre in the 1920s, with sharp declines and high unemployment in heavy industry and coal, especially in Scotland and Wales. Exports of coal and steel halved by 1939 and the business community was slow to adopt the new labour and management principles coming from the US, such as Fordism, consumer credit, eliminating surplus capacity, designing more structured management, and using greater economies of scale. For over a century the shipping industry had dominated world trade, but it remained in the doldrums despite various stimulus efforts by the government. With the very sharp decline in world trade after 1929, its condition became critical.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill put Britain back on the gold standard in 1925, which many economists blame for the mediocre performance of the economy. Others point to a variety of factors, including the inflationary effects of the World War and supply-side shocks caused by reduced working hours after the war.


title: Interwar Britain

text: By the late 1920s, economic performance had stabilised, but the overall situation was disappointing, for Britain had fallen behind the United States as the leading industrial power. There also remained a strong economic divide between the north and south of England during this period, with the south of England and the Midlands fairly prosperous by the Thirties, while parts of South Wales and the industrial north of England became known as "distressed areas" due to particularly high rates of unemployment and poverty. Despite this, the standard of living continued to improve as local councils built new houses to let to families rehoused from outdated slums, with up to date facilities including indoor toilets, bathrooms, and electric lighting being included in the new properties. The private sector enjoyed a housebuilding boom during the 1930s.


title: Interwar Britain

text: During the war, trade unions were encouraged and their membership grew from 4.1 million in 1914 to 6.5 million in 1918. They peaked at 8.3 million in 1920 before relapsing to 5.4 million in 1923. During the early 1920s strikes became less common: in 1921 over 85 million working days had been lost to strikes, in 1922 the figure declined to 19 million and in 1923 to 10 million.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Coal was a sick industry; the best seams were being exhausted, raising the cost. Demand fell as oil began replacing coal for fuel. The 1926 general strike was a nine-day nationwide walkout of 1.3 million railwaymen, transport workers, printers, dockers, iron workers and steelworkers supporting the 1.2 million coal miners who had been locked out by the owners. The miners had rejected the owners' demands for longer hours and reduced pay in the face of falling prices. The Conservative government had provided a nine-month subsidy in 1925 but that was not enough to turn around a sick industry. To support the miners the Trades Union Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation of all trades unions, called out certain critical unions. The hope was the government would intervene to reorganise and rationalise the industry and raise the subsidy. The Conservative government had stockpiled supplies and essential services continued in operation using students and middle-class volunteers. All three major parties opposed the strike. The Labour Party leaders did not approve and feared it would tar the party with the image of radicalism, for the Comintern in Moscow had sent instructions for Communists to aggressively promote the strike. The general strike itself was largely non-violent, but the miners' lock-out continued and there was violence in Scotland. It was the only general strike in British history, for TUC leaders such as Ernest Bevin considered it a mistake. Most historians treat it as a singular event with few long-term consequences, but Martin Pugh says it accelerated the movement of working-class voters to the Labour Party, which led to future gains. The Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 made general strikes illegal and ended the automatic payment of union dues to the Labour Party. That act was largely repealed in 1946. The coal industry used up the more accessible coal. As costs rose, output fell from 267 million tons in 1924 to 183 million in 1945. The Labour government nationalised the mines in 1947.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Starting in 1909, Liberals, led especially by Lloyd George, promoted the idea of a minimum wage for farm workers. Resistance from landowners was strong, but success was achieved by 1924. According to Robin Gowers and Timothy J. Hatton, the impact in England and Wales was significant. They estimate that it raised wages for farm labourers by 15 percent by 1929, and by more than 20 per cent in the 1930s. It reduced the employment of such labourers by 54,000 (6.5 per cent) in 1929 and 97,000 (13.3 per cent) in 1937. They argue, "The minimum wage lifted out of poverty many families of farm labourers who remained employed, but it significantly lowered the incomes of farmers, particularly during the 1930s."


title: Interwar Britain

text: After the War many new food products became available to the typical household, with branded foods advertised for their convenience. The shortage of servants was felt in the kitchen, but instead of an experienced cook spending hours on difficult custards and puddings the housewife could purchase instant foods in jars, or powders that could be quickly mixed. Breakfast porridge from branded, more finely milled, oats could be cooked in two minutes, not 20. American-style dry cereals began to challenge the porridge and bacon and eggs of the middle classes, and the bread and margarine of the poor. Shops carried more bottled and canned goods and fresher meat, fish and vegetables. While wartime shipping shortages had sharply narrowed choices, the 1920s saw many new kinds of foods—especially fruits—imported from around the world, along with better quality packaging and hygiene. Middle-class households often had ice boxes or electric refrigerators, which made for better storage and the convenience of buying in larger quantities.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Numerous studies in the Depression years documented that the average consumer ate better than before. Seebohm Rowntree reported that the "standard to workers in 1936 was about 30 percent higher than it was in 1899." The dairy industry was producing too much, and profits were too low. So the government used the Milk Marketing Board to give a guaranteed price to dairy farmers – a policy ridiculed by "The Economist" as the "economics of Bedlam." Food prices were low, but the advantage went overwhelmingly to the middle and upper classes, with the poorest third of the population suffering from sustained poor nutrition. Starvation was not a factor, but widespread hunger was. The deleterious effects on poor children were obvious to teachers. In 1934, the government began a program of charging school children a halfpenny a day for a third of a pint of milk. This dramatically improved their nutrition, and the new demand kept up the wholesale price of milk paid to farmers. About half the nation's school children participated by 1936. Milk was distributed for free in the Second World War, and participation rose to 90 percent. Indeed, the rationing system of the wartime years sharply improved the nutrition of poorest third, together with their capacity for manual labour.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The Great Depression originated on Wall Street in the United States in late 1929, and quickly spread to the rest of the world. The main impact of the economic slump was felt in 1931. Unlike Germany, Canada and Australia, Britain had not experienced a boom in the 1920s, so the downturn was less severe and ended sooner.


title: Interwar Britain

text: By summer 1931 the world financial crisis began to overwhelm Britain; investors across the world started withdrawing their gold from London at the rate of £2½ million a day. Credits of £25 million each from the Bank of France and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and an issue of £15 million in fiduciary notes slowed, but did not reverse the British crisis. The financial crisis caused a major political crisis in Britain in August 1931. With deficits mounting, the bankers demanded a balanced budget; the divided cabinet of Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government agreed; it proposed to raise taxes, cut spending and most controversially, to cut unemployment benefits by 20%. The attack on welfare was totally unacceptable to the Labour movement. MacDonald wanted to resign, but the King insisted he remain and form an all-party coalition "National government." The Conservative and Liberal parties signed on, along with a small cadre of Labour, but the vast majority of Labour leaders denounced MacDonald as a traitor for leading the new government. Britain went off the gold standard, and suffered relatively less than other major countries in the Great Depression. In the 1931 British election the Labour Party was virtually destroyed, leaving MacDonald as Prime Minister of a largely Conservative coalition.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The flight of gold continued, however, and the Treasury finally was forced to abandon the gold standard in September 1931. Until then the government had religiously followed orthodox policies, which demanded balanced-budgets and the gold standard. Instead of the predicted disaster, cutting loose from gold proved a major advantage. Immediately the exchange rate of the pound fell by 25%, from $4.86 for one pound to $3.40. British exports were then much more competitive, which laid the ground for a gradual economic recovery. The worst was over.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Britain's world trade fell in half (1929–33); the output of heavy industry fell by a third. Employment and profits plunged in nearly all sectors. At the depth in summer 1932, registered unemployed numbered 3.5 million, and many more had only part-time employment. The government tried to work inside the Commonwealth, raising tariffs for products from the United States, France and Germany, while giving preference to Commonwealth members.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The north of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales suffered particularly severe economic problems, especially if they depended on coal, steel or shipbuilding. Unemployment reached 70% in some mining localities at the start of the 1930s (with more than 3 million out of work nationally). The government was cautious and conservative, rejecting the Keynesian proposal for large-scale public works projects.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Doomsayers on the left such as Sidney and Beatrice Webb, J. A. Hobson, and G. D. H. Cole repeated the dire warnings they had been making for years about the imminent death of capitalism, only this time far more people paid attention. Starting in 1935 the Left Book Club provided a new warning every month, and built up the credibility of Soviet-style socialism as an alternative.


title: Interwar Britain

text: In 1936, by which time unemployment was lower, 200 unemployed men made a highly publicised march from Jarrow to London in a bid to show the plight of the industrial poor. Although much romanticised by the Left, the Jarrow Crusade marked a deep split in the Labour Party and resulted in no government action. Unemployment remained high until the war absorbed all the job seekers. George Orwell's book "The Road to Wigan Pier" gives a bleak overview of the hardships of the time.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The economic crisis of the early 1930s, and the response of the Labour and National governments to the depression, have generated much historical controversy. Apart from the major pockets of long-term high unemployment, Britain was generally prosperous. Historian Piers Brendon writes: "Historians, however, have long since revised this grim picture, presenting the devil's decade as the cradle of the affluent society. Prices fell sharply between the wars and average incomes rose by about a third. The term "property-owning democracy" was coined in the 1920s, and three million houses were built during the 1930s. Land, labour and materials were cheap: a bungalow could be purchased for £225 and a semi for £450. The middle class also bought radiograms, telephones, three-piece suites, electric cookers, vacuum cleaners and golf clubs. They ate Kellogg's Corn Flakes ("never miss a day"), drove to Odeon cinemas in Austin Sevens (costing £135 by 1930) and smoked Craven A cigarettes, cork-tipped "to prevent sore throats". The depression spawned a consumer boom."


title: Interwar Britain

text: In the decades immediately following the Second World War, most historical opinion was critical of the governments of the period. Some historians, such as Robert Skidelsky in his "Politicians and the Slump", compared the orthodox policies of the Labour and National governments unfavourably with the more radical proto-Keynesian measures advocated by David Lloyd George and Oswald Mosley, and the more interventionist and Keynesian responses in other economies: Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the United States, the Labour government in New Zealand, and the Social Democratic government in Sweden. Since the 1970s opinion has become less uniformly hostile. In the preface to the 1994 edition, Skidelsky argues that recent experience of currency crises and capital flight make it hard to be so critical of the politicians who wanted to achieve stability by cutting labour costs and defending the value of the currency.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The English people were largely ethnically homogeneous during the interwar era, except for the Chinese communities in Liverpool, Swansea and the East End of London. Although regional accents continued to be spoken they were on the decline and full dialects became extinct outside of literature. The 1921 census revealed that there were more women than men in the population by the margin of one million and three quarters, which was largely caused by a higher infant mortality rate amongst males (with wartime losses a contributory factor). The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 enabled women to join the professions and professional bodies, although the majority of women remained dependent on their husbands, especially in working class households. In most jobs women were paid less than men.


title: Interwar Britain

text: While the Church of England was historically identified with the upper classes, and with the rural gentry, William Temple (1881–1944) was both a prolific theologian and a social activist, preaching Christian socialism. He served as bishop of Manchester and York, and in 1942 became Archbishop of Canterbury. He advocated a broad and inclusive membership in the Church of England as a means of continuing and expanding the church's position as the established church. Temple was troubled by the high degree of animosity inside, and between the leading religious groups in Britain. In the 1930s he promoted ecumenicism, working to establish better relationships with the Nonconformists, Jews and Catholics, managing in the process to overcome his anti-Catholic bias.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Although the overall population was growing steadily, and the Catholic membership was keeping pace, the Protestants were slipping behind. Out of 30–50 million adults, they dropped slowly from 5.7 million members in 1920, and 5.4 million in 1940, to 4.3 million in 1970. The Church of England decline was parallel. Methodism, the largest of the Nonconformist churches reached a peak of 841,000 members in Great Britain in 1910, slipped to 802,000 in 1920, 792,000 in 1940, 729,000 in 1960, and 488,000 in 1980. The Nonconformists had built a strong base in industrial districts that specialised in mining textiles, agriculture and fishing; those were declining industries, whose share of the total male workforce was in steady decline, from 21 percent in 1921 to 13 percent in 1951. As the families migrated to southern England, or to the suburbs, they often lost contact with their childhood religion. The political reverberations were most serious for the Liberal Party, which was largely based in the nonconformist community, and which rapidly lost membership in the 1920s as its leadership quarrelled, the Irish Catholics and many from the working-class moved to the Labour Party, and part of the middle class moved to the Conservative party. Hoping to stem the membership decline, the three major Methodist groups merged in 1932. In Scotland the two major Presbyterian groups, the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church, merged in 1929 for the same reason. Nonetheless the steady declension continued. The nonconformist churches showed not just a decline in membership but a dramatic fall in enthusiasm. Sunday school attendance plummeted; there were far fewer new ministers. Antagonism towards the Anglican church sharply declined, and many prominent nonconformists became Anglicans, including some leading ministers. There was a falling away in the size and fervour of congregations, less interest in funding missionaries, a decline in intellectualism, and persistent complaints about the lack of money. Commentator D. W. Brogan reported in 1943:


title: Interwar Britain

text: One aspect of the long-term decline in religiosity was that Protestants showed less and less interest in sending their children to religious schools. In localities across England, fierce battles were fought between the Nonconformists, Anglicans, and Catholics, each with their own school systems supported by taxes, and secular schools, and taxpayers. The Nonconformists had long taken the lead in fighting the Anglicans, who a century before had practically monopolised education. The Anglican share of the elementary school population fell from 57% in 1918 to 39% in 1939. With the sustained decline in Nonconformist enthusiasm their schools closed one after another. In 1902 the Methodist Church operated 738 schools; only 28 remained in 1996.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Britain continued to think of itself as a Christian country; there were few atheists or nonbelievers, and unlike the continent, there was no anti-clericalism worthy of note. A third or more prayed every day. Large majorities used formal church services to mark birth, marriage and death. The great majority believed in God and heaven, although belief in hell fell off after all the deaths of the World War. After 1918, Church of England services stopped practically all discussion of hell.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Parliament had governed the Church of England since 1688, but was increasingly eager to turn control over to the church itself. It passed the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 to establish the Church Assembly, with three houses for bishops, clergy, and laity, and permitted it to legislate regulations for the Church, subject to formal approval of Parliament.


title: Interwar Britain

text: A crisis suddenly emerged in 1927 over the Church's proposal to revise the classic "Book of Common Prayer," which had been in daily use since 1662. The goal was to better incorporate moderate Anglo-Catholicism into the life of the Church. The bishops sought a more tolerant, comprehensive established Church. After internal debate the Church Assembly gave its approval. Evangelicals inside the Church, and Nonconformists outside, were outraged because they understood England's religious national identity to be emphatically Protestant and anti-Catholic. They denounced the revisions as a concession to ritualism and tolerance of Roman Catholicism. They mobilised support in parliament, which twice rejected the revisions after intensely heated debates. The Anglican hierarchy compromised in 1929, while strictly prohibiting extreme and Anglo-Catholic practices.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Standards of morality in Britain changed dramatically after the world wars, in the direction of more personal freedom, especially in sexual matters. The Church tried to hold the line, and was especially concerned to stop the rapid trend toward divorce. In 1935 it reaffirmed that, "in no circumstances can Christian men or women re-marry during the lifetime of a wife or a husband." The Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang, held that the King, as the head of the Church of England, could not marry a divorcée. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin objected vigorously, noting that "although it is true that standards are lower since the war it only leads people to expect a higher standard from their King." Baldwin was supported by his Conservative Party (except Churchill), as well as the Labour Party, and the prime ministers of the Commonwealth. King Edward VIII therefore was forced to abdicate the throne in 1936 when he insisted on marrying an American divorcée. Although public opinion gave him considerable support, elite opinion was hostile, and he was practically forced into exile. Archbishop Lang in a radio broadcast lashed out, blaming the upper-class social circles that Edward frequented:


title: Interwar Britain

text: Edward's biographer Philip Ziegler argues that Edward was poorly prepared to be King, because of deep personal weaknesses; he was inconsistent, superficial and incapable of resisting distractions, and handled the constitutional issues poorly. Frank Mort argues that cultural historians have read the abdication story not so much as a constitutional crisis, but as an indicator of:


title: Interwar Britain

text: John Charmley argues in the history of the Conservative Party that Baldwin was pushing for more democracy, and less of an old aristocratic upper-class tone. Monarchy was to be a national foundation, whereby the head of the Church. the State, and the Empire, by drawing upon 1000 years of tradition, could unify the nation. George V was an ideal fit: "an ordinary little man with the philistine tastes of most of his subjects, he could be presented as the archetypical English paterfamilias getting on with his duties without fuss." Charmley finds that George V and Baldwin, “made a formidable conservative team, with their ordinary, honest, English decency proving the first (and most effective) bulwark against revolution.” Edward VIII, flaunting his upper-class playboy style, suffered from an unstable neurotic character. He needed a strong stabilising partner—a role Mrs. Simpson was unable to provide. Baldwin's final achievement was to smooth the way for Edward to abdicate in favour of his younger brother who became George VI. Father and son both demonstrated the value of a democratic king during the severe physical and psychological hardships of the world wars, and their tradition was carried on by Elizabeth II.


title: Interwar Britain

text: After the war, the major newspapers engaged in a large-scale circulation race. The political parties, which long had sponsored their own papers, could not keep up, and one after another their outlets were sold or closed down. Sales in the millions depended on popular stories, with a strong human interesting theme, as well as detailed sports reports with the latest scores. Serious news was a niche market and added very little to the circulation base. The niche was dominated by "The Times" and, to a lesser extent, "The Daily Telegraph." Consolidation was rampant, as local dailies were bought up and added to chains based in London. James Curran and Jean Seaton report:


title: Interwar Britain

text: Just over half of homes purchased a daily newspaper in 1939. "The Times" of London was long the most influential prestige newspaper, although far from having the largest circulation. It gave far more attention to serious political and cultural news. In 1922, John Jacob Astor (1886–1971), son of the 1st Viscount Astor (1849–1919), bought "The Times" from the Northcliffe estate. The paper advocated appeasement of Hitler's demands. Its editor Geoffrey Dawson was closely allied with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and pushed hard for the Munich Agreement in 1938. Candid news reports by Norman Ebbutt from Berlin that warned of warmongering were rewritten in London to support the appeasement policy. In March 1939, however, it reversed course and called for urgent war preparations.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The daily newspaper most respected abroad was the Liberal "Manchester Guardian". The Conservative "Morning Post" generally took a diehard position and its typical reader was portrayed as a retired senior officer and his family. "The Daily Telegraph" was a businessman's newspaper and had the largest advertising space of any paper, while "The Daily Mail" appealed predominantly to middle class and lower middle class readers, and was the first paper to cater for women and children. The only newspaper intended specifically for working class readers was the Labour "Daily Herald", which had a circulation of 100,000. The most important literary periodical during the interwar years was "The Times Literary Supplement".


title: Interwar Britain

text: As leisure, literacy, wealth, ease of travel, and a broadened sense of community grew in Britain from the late 19th century onward, there was more time and interest in leisure activities of all sorts, on the part of all classes. Drinking was differentiated by class, with upper-class clubs and working-class and middle-class pubs. However, drinking as a way of spending leisure time and spare cash declined during the Depression and pub attendance never returned to 1930 levels; it fell far below prewar levels. The majority of pubs were divided into public bars and saloon bars. The saloon bars catered for those who paid an extra halfpenny a pint on beer in exchange for more select company and slightly better furniture. Public bars were often spare of ornamentation except for advertisements and a dart-board, which was not found in the saloons.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Taxes were raised on beer, but there were more alternatives at hand, such as cigarettes (which attracted 8/10 men, and 4/10 women), the talkies, the dance halls, and Greyhound racing. Football pools offered the excitement of betting on a range of results. New estates with small, inexpensive houses offered gardening as an outdoor recreation. Church attendance declined to half the level of 1901.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The annual holiday became common. Tourists flocked to seaside resorts; Blackpool hosted 7 million visitors a year in the 1930s. Organised leisure was primarily a male activity, with middle-class women allowed in at the margins. Participation in sports and all sorts of leisure activities increased for the average Englishman, and his interest in spectator sports increased dramatically. By the 1920s the cinema and radio attracted all classes, ages and genders in very large numbers, with young women taking the lead. Working-class men were boisterous football spectators. They sang along at the music hall, fancied their pigeons, gambled on horse racing, and took the family to seaside resorts in summer. Political activists complained that working-class leisure diverted men away from revolutionary agitation.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The British film industry emerged in the 1890s, and built heavily on the strong reputation of the London legitimate theatre for actors, directors, and producers. The problem was that the American market was so much larger and richer. It bought up the top talent, especially when Hollywood came to the fore in the 1920s and produced over 80 percent of the total world output. Efforts to fight back were futile — the government set a quota for British made films, but it failed. Hollywood furthermore dominated the lucrative Canadian and Australian markets. Bollywood (based in Bombay) dominated the huge Indian market. The most prominent directors remaining in London were Alexander Korda, an expatriate Hungarian, and Alfred Hitchcock. There was a revival of creativity in the 1933–45 era, especially with the arrival of Jewish filmmakers and actors fleeing the Nazis. Meanwhile, giant palaces were built for the huge audiences that wanted to see Hollywood films. In Liverpool 40 percent of the population attended one of the 69 cinemas once a week; 25 percent went twice. Traditionalists grumbled about the American cultural invasion, but the permanent impact was minor.


title: Interwar Britain

text: In radio British audiences had no choice apart from the highbrow programming of the BBC, which had a monopoly on broadcasting. John Reith (1889 – 1971), an intensely moralistic engineer, was in full charge. His goal was to broadcast, "All that is best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement... The preservation of a high moral tone is obviously of paramount importance." Reith succeeded in building a high wall against an American-style free-for-all in radio in which the goal was to attract the largest audiences and thereby secure the greatest advertising revenue. There was no paid advertising on the BBC; all the revenue came from a licence fee charged for the possession of receivers. Highbrow audiences, however, greatly enjoyed it. At a time when American, Australian and Canadian stations were drawing huge audiences cheering for their local teams with the broadcast of baseball, rugby and ice-hockey, the BBC emphasised service for a national, rather than a regional audience. Boat races were well covered along with tennis and horse racing, but the BBC was reluctant to spend its severely limited air time on long football or cricket games, regardless of their popularity.


title: Interwar Britain

text: The British showed a more profound interest in sports, and in greater variety, than any rival. They gave pride of place to such moral issues as sportsmanship and fair play. Cricket became symbolic of the Imperial spirit throughout the Empire. Football proved highly attractive to the urban working classes, which introduced the rowdy spectator to the sports world. In some sports there was significant controversy in the fight for amateur purity especially in rugby and rowing. New games became popular almost overnight, including golf, lawn tennis, cycling and hockey. Women were much more likely to enter these sports than the old established ones. The aristocracy and landed gentry, with their ironclad control over land rights, dominated hunting, shooting, fishing and horse racing.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Cricket had become well-established among the English upper class in the 18th century, and was a major factor in sports competition among the public schools. Army units around the Empire had time on their hands, and encouraged the locals to learn cricket so they could have some entertaining competition. Most of the Dominions of the Empire embraced cricket as a major sport, with the exception of Canada. Cricket test matches (international) began by the 1870s; the most famous are those between Australia and England for The Ashes.


title: Interwar Britain

text: For sports to become fully professionalised, coaching had to come first. It gradually professionalised in the Victorian era and the role was well established by 1914. In the First World War, military units sought out the coaches to supervise physical conditioning and develop morale-building teams.


title: Interwar Britain

text: As literacy and leisure time expanded after 1900 reading became a popular pastime. New additions to adult fiction doubled during the 1920s, reaching 2800 new books a year by 1935. Libraries tripled their stock, and saw heavy demand for new fiction. A dramatic innovation was the inexpensive paperback, pioneered by Allen Lane (1902–70) at Penguin Books in 1935. The first titles included novels by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie. They were sold cheaply (usually sixpence) in a wide variety of inexpensive stores such as Woolworth's. Penguin aimed at an educated middle class "middlebrow" audience. It avoided the downscale image of American paperbacks. The line signalled cultural self-improvement and political education. The more polemical Penguin Specials, typically with a leftist orientation for Labour readers, were widely distributed during the Second World War. However the war years caused a shortage of staff for publishers and book stores, and a severe shortage of rationed paper, worsened by the air raid on Paternoster Row in 1940 that burned 5 million books in warehouses.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Romantic fiction was especially popular, with Mills and Boon the leading publisher. Romantic encounters were embodied in a principle of sexual purity that demonstrated not only social conservatism, but also how heroines could control their personal autonomy. Adventure magazines became quite popular, especially those published by DC Thomson; the publisher sent observers around the country to talk to boys and learn what they wanted to read about. The story line in magazines, comic books and cinema that most appealed to boys was the glamorous heroism of British soldiers fighting wars that were exciting and just. D.C. Thomson issued the first "The Dandy Comic" in December 1937. It had a revolutionary design that broke away from the usual children's comics that were published broadsheet in size and not very colourful. Thomson capitalised on its success with a similar product "The Beano" in 1938.


title: Interwar Britain

text: Books about the First World War peaked in popularity during the war book revival of 1928–1931. The revival originated in Germany with Arnold Zweig's "The Case of Sergeant Grischa" (1927) and Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1928), which were serialised in British newspapers. Other best-selling war books included Siegfried Sassoon's "Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man" (1928), Edmund Blunden's "Undertones of War" (1928), Richard Aldington's "Death of a Hero" (1929) and Robert Graves's "Good-Bye to All That" (1929). The most successful play in 1929 was R. C. Sherriff's "Journey's End". The war books revived memories of the horrors of the First World War and increased antiwar feeling.


title: Interwar Britain

text: It would also be during this time and stretching into the 1950s and 1960s that the Inklings would start to meet. J. R. R. Tolkien would publish The Hobbit in 1937 and C. S. Lewis would publish The Allegory of Love in 1937. Lewis of course would go on to publish Out of the Silent Planet in 1938 to start his famous Space Trilogy, and would publish The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1950 to start his The Chronicles of Narnia series. Tolkien would go on to publish On Fairy-Stories in 1939, and would publish The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954 to start his The Lord of the Rings series. See the article on The Inklings for more information.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: "Carrot and Stick" is the second episode of the sixth season of "Better Call Saul", the spin-off television series of "Breaking Bad". Vince Gilligan directed the episode written by Thomas Schnauz and Ariel Levine. The episode aired back-to-back with "Wine and Roses" on April 18, 2022, on AMC and AMC+. In several countries outside the United States and Canada, the episode premiered on Netflix the following day.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: In the episode, Nacho Varga comes face-to-face with the cartel while Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler involve Betsy and Craig Kettleman in their plan to ruin Howard Hamlin's life. "Carrot and Stick" features the return of Julie Ann Emery and Jeremy Shamos as the Kettlemans, who reprise their roles from the first season, along with the first chronological appearance of an inflatable prop from "Breaking Bad". Gilligan's approach as director to minimizing the dialogue and conveying information visually proved difficult to achieve. The scenes in the motel where Nacho is hiding required several stunts, a majority of which actor Michael Mando performed himself.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: "Carrot and Stick" was met with critical acclaim for Gilligan's direction and Mando's performance as well as its tension, cinematography, and action sequence. An estimated 1.16 million viewers saw the episode during its first broadcast on AMC.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: Mike Ehrmantraut and Gus Fring's men enter Nacho Varga's home and pay his girlfriends to leave town. They break into Nacho's safe and remove the cash and the fake Canadian IDs Nacho had made for himself and his father Manuel. Victor delivers a duplicate safe, into which Mike places the cash, Nacho's fake ID, and an envelope. Juan Bolsa and Gus meet with Hector Salamanca at the nursing home and promise to avenge Lalo Salamanca's death, but Hector's demeanor convinces Gus that Lalo is alive. Juan and his men break into the duplicate safe and find the envelope, which contains the phone number of Nacho's motel and details of an offshore bank account.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: Nacho becomes restless while hiding at the motel, realizes he is being surveilled, and sneaks out of his room to confront the watcher. Nacho confirms the watchman is reporting to Gus and realizes Gus has betrayed him to the cartel. A cartel hit team including the Cousins arrives and a gunfight breaks out. One assassin nearly shoots Nacho, but the Cousins kill him and indicate that Nacho should be taken alive. Nacho escapes in a stolen truck. A day later, Mike proposes to lead a team to Mexico to track Nacho down but Gus wants to force Nacho to reveal himself by holding Manuel hostage. Mike and Tyrus engage in a brief standoff that ends when Mike receives a call from Nacho.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: Jimmy McGill meets with the Kettlemans, now proprietors of a shady tax preparation service, and cons them into believing they have grounds to sue Howard Hamlin. As Jimmy and Kim Wexler intended, the Kettlemans ask Clifford Main to represent them in a lawsuit claiming ineffective counsel because Howard supposedly used cocaine when representing Craig during his embezzlement case. Cliff refuses because his firm's work with Howard on the Sandpiper case poses a conflict of interest, so the Kettlemans offer the case to several other attorneys. The other lawyers all decline, but Jimmy and Kim succeed in perpetuating the rumor that Howard is using cocaine. Jimmy later attempts to bribe the Kettlemans to keep silent about their role in smearing Howard. They refuse the cash, but Kim coerces them by threatening to reveal their scam to the IRS. Jimmy disappoints Kim by giving the Kettlemans the cash before he leaves. A car with an unknown driver follows Jimmy and Kim as they drive away.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: Series co-creator Vince Gilligan directed the episode written by Thomas Schnauz and Ariel Levine. Schnauz wrote the cold open and scenes that took place after Gus learns that Lalo is alive while Levine wrote everything in between. "Carrot and Stick" features the return of Julie Ann Emery and Jeremy Shamos as Betsy and Craig Kettleman, who made their debut in the first season. Though "Bingo" marked their last series appearance, the two characters appeared in several pieces of promotional material, including two short films and a podcast. The idea to bring the characters back was discussed for a long time; Emery said co-creator Peter Gould told them several times they were working on a sensible way to have them return. Gould said the Kettlemans would be the first of several characters to return to "Better Call Saul" in the sixth season.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: The tax preparation scam in the episode was inspired by Gould's wife, who was the victim of fraud when someone filed a tax return in her name to claim a refund. The episode marks the first chronological appearance of the inflatable Statue of Liberty that is eventually shown atop Saul's office in "Breaking Bad"; it is first used to advertise the Kettlemans's tax preparation business. One risk during filming was the possibility that the strong winds would destroy the inflatable, which Gilligan said was the only one available in the entire United States. As a result, balloon handlers were hired to maintain it on set. "Carrot and Stick" also features the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing inside the Kettlemans's office; the patriotic song is played in Saul's office in "Blood Money", an episode from the fifth season of "Breaking Bad".


title: Carrot and Stick

text: Actor Michael Mando performed the majority of the stunts for his character, Nacho, except for jumping out of the motel window and driving the truck when it collided with another vehicle. The window jump was performed by stuntman Victor Lopez. It required two takes, something Gilligan rarely does to minimize the risk of injury. Gilligan thought the first take was too perfect and looked like a "superhero landing", so he asked Lopez to do it again and "make it look not so good". Lopez agreed and even suggested adding a limp to his run after the landing, which Gilligan thought was a nice touch. Mando called the work "incredibly physical. It's excruciatingly emotional, and psychologically, you're just hitting every note on the piano. It was just such an amazing rollercoaster ride." The motel sequences were shot in two locations. The scenes in the interior of Nacho's room were shot in a studio while the exterior scenes were filmed on location. While filming Nacho's escape from the motel room, Mando and Gilligan would take turns bashing the air conditioning unit. A shot during the shootout, where the camera seemingly goes through the windshield of Nacho's truck, was the idea of cinematographer Paul Donachie. Gilligan was initially hesitant in shooting it but accepted the fact that the sequence needed a lot of shots from various angles. The shot was done practically; the crew spent some time figuring out the logistics and used a windshield that was sawed in half. The shootout took two to three days to film.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: Gilligan said it was difficult to convey information visually when trying to minimize the dialogue, especially during Nacho's scenes. He wanted the watchman to be smart in concealing his location. One moment in the episode has Nacho looking out of his room window and catching a glint of light and a small amount of movement from the watchman. A young production assistant was hired to double as the watchman and create the subtle movement. Since he was not able to see what the camera was recording, the shot was difficult to film. At one point, due to frustration, Gilligan replaced the young man and tried to do it himself with the help of a wireless "Lollipop" screen that allowed him to see the camera's point of view. He, however, was not able to get it right either. The shot ultimately took over 200 takes to capture.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of six reviews are positive, with an average rating of 9.7/10. Gilligan's direction and Mando's performance as Nacho were praised by critics. "The A.V. Club"s Kimberly Potts graded the episode with an "A" and said it featured the "most hold-your-breath action sequence" of all time since the shootout in "Breaking Bad"s "One Minute". Steve Greene from "IndieWire" was less positive of other parts of the episode. He saw Lalo's absence and the episode's focus on Gus, Jimmy, and Kim as "Better Call Saul" "shrewdly muddying the waters a little bit." Nonetheless, Greene praised the scenes with Nacho for their tension, atmosphere, editing, direction, and cinematography. David Segal of "The New York Times" described the episode as "superb and stressful" and said it was a "study in damage control, overseen by a man [Gus] who seems uncharacteristically ruffled and uncertain about what to do." Segal also said the shootout scene was "expertly staged" by Gilligan and that Rhea Seehorn's performance as Kim provided an opportunity for her to "demonstrate an almost thuggish toughness." Scott Tobias, writing for "Vulture", compared the motel sequences to the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone, including "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968). He also gave positive notes to the level of detail in the episode's opening scene, calling it "one big reason "Better Call Saul" stands apart from other shows."


title: Carrot and Stick

text: An estimated 1.16 million viewers watched "Carrot and Stick" during its first broadcast on AMC on April 18, 2022. According to AMC, the two-episode premiere generated over half a million engagements across social platforms including Twitter and Facebook, an increase of more than 60% compared to "Magic Man", the premiere of the show's fifth season. Social analytics tracker ListenFirst said a 10-hour national trend on Twitter made the show the "#1 television drama in social engagement, organic search, conversation, and content shares." The two-episode premiere also resulted in the biggest day of new subscriber sign-ups for AMC+.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: The episode received two nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sound Editing and Outstanding Sound Mixing.


title: Carrot and Stick

text: Liberty Tax filed a lawsuit against AMC and the production of "Better Call Saul" in August 2022 due to the appearance of the Kettleman's tax service. The lawsuit states that Liberty's trademarks were violated and that the episode gave the appearance that their services were fraudulent.


title: Val Valentino

text: Val Valentino (born Leonard Montano, June 14, 1956) is an American magician. Valentino starred in exposing the methods behind numerous classic magic tricks and illusions on the Fox network. In the specials, he used the stage name the Masked Magician and concealed his true identity by wearing a mask with a squid like design, being aware of the stigma amongst the magic community with publicly exposing tricks. As the finale to the final special, Valentino revealed his identity as the Masked Magician, garnering some notoriety amongst the magic community, and instigating several lawsuits.


title: Val Valentino

text: Valentino became well known in Brazil after his sketches were broadcast in Rede Globo's Sunday newsmagazine show "Fantástico" from 1999 to 2000, in which he was referred to by the alias Mister M.


title: Val Valentino

text: Valentino's first foray into magic was at the age of five with a trick called "the ball and vase" that his father gave him. In his teens, Valentino performed with the "International Cultural Awareness Program" for over a million students throughout the Unified School Systems. The performances also included revealing magic secrets to encourage others to become magicians.


title: Val Valentino

text: By the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, Valentino had moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and was performing in casino shows including "Viva Las Vegas" and "Splash", in addition to having appeared on programs such as "The Merv Griffin Show" and "PM Magazine", as well as in the music video for Herb Alpert's "Magic Man". He also appeared in his own production, "Valentino's Magical Extravaganza".


title: Val Valentino

text: In October 2017, Valentino announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, and was given one year to live from the time of the diagnosis. Valentino refused conventional treatment. In June 2020 in an interview with the Brazilian show Domingo Espetacular of RecordTV, he said he was cured and that he is in Brazil preparing a project. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he is quarantined in the country, hosted at the Clown Rogério house.


title: Val Valentino

text: For a span of two years (1997–1999), Valentino performed, unbilled and disguised, as the "Masked Magician" in four Fox Network specials called "" which exposed long-guarded trade secrets. The Masked Magician was also shown in the UK on the ITV network during the late 1990s and is still occasionally repeated on ITV4. In the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, the show was made available on Netflix.


title: Val Valentino

text: Valentino had been approached by Fox while he was performing in Las Vegas showrooms. After some negotiation, Valentino signed to do the program, promising that he would reveal the secrets behind old illusions only. At the end of the fourth and final special, Valentino revealed his true identity, although some in the magic community had already deduced it from the previous specials after recognizing certain traits of his performance. After revealing himself, Valentino emphasized that he felt that revealing the secrets would encourage children into trying magic instead of discouraging them, and that the entertainment of magic shows was more in the magician's showmanship instead of the wonder of how the trick was pulled off.


title: Val Valentino

text: Criticism was levelled at Valentino by magicians for adversely affecting their acts. Kevin Spencer, a touring magician based in Lynchburg, Virginia who performs with his wife, Cindy, says the specials forced the duo to scrap two of their tricks. Spencer stated: "We're disappointed that someone who made his living performing the art of magic for over 25 years would be so quick to betray their community." Since those illusions each cost as much as $50,000 (), the Spencers brought a lawsuit against Valentino, one of several that resulted from the program. Another lawsuit was brought by magician Andre Kole, who unsuccessfully tried to prevent Fox from airing a special featuring the secret behind the Table of Death, an illusion Kole says he perfected. According to Kole, he licensed the trick to seven of the top 10 magicians in the world and estimated his financial damages as a result of the special at more than $500,000 (). Kole's attorney conceded the inherent difficulty in suing over the loss of a magic trick, since illusions are not among the intellectual properties covered by copyright law, but stated: "Magicians and designers of magic tricks haven't had to take those steps. A handshake has worked for several centuries."


title: Val Valentino

text: Other magicians criticized Valentino's explanations for being sloppy or inaccurate, arguing that he gives a mistaken impression that the methods he's exposing are regularly used by professional magicians. Magician Mark Wilson, who hosted the 1960s Saturday morning children's TV series "The Magic Land of Allakazam", says some of Valentino's reveals were dangerous and not generally used by fellow magicians.


title: Val Valentino

text: New episodes of the show later returned to broadcast on MyNetworkTV. Episodes were also made available on Netflix and the Fox Reality Channel with Valentino reprising the role. Valentino also appeared in the Masked Magician persona on a 1999 episode of "".


title: Val Valentino

text: In October 2007, a graphic novel starring the character of the Masked Magician was released by Heavy Ink.


title: Val Valentino

text: In 2012, the website of Nash Entertainment—the producers of the ""—listed a movie called "Masked Magician", about a magician who uses illusions to fight crime, was "in development".


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The nineteenth season of the reality show singing competition "American Idol" premiered on February 14, 2021 on the ABC television network. It is the fourth season to air on ABC since the series' revival. Ryan Seacrest returned as host. Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie returned as judges and Bobby Bones returned as mentor.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: Chayce Beckham from Apple Valley, California, won the season on May 23, 2021, while Willie Spence was the runner-up, and Grace Kinstler finished in third place.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the show offered its first ever live virtual auditions to aspiring contestants through its "Idol Across America" program using custom-built Zoom technology to mirror the way the audition was done in previous season but in a home environment. The remote auditions took place from August 10 to October 28, 2020, in 50 states plus Washington, D.C., as well as a number of open-call auditions, and from these the producers selected the contestants who can then audition in front of the judges.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: Also due to the pandemic that limited travel for the judges, the judges' auditions were held in only three locations across California: Los Angeles, San Diego, and Ojai. The judges' auditions started on October 5, 2020, with a number of health and safety protocols in place, such as separate tables for the judges and regular COVID-19 testing for cast and crew.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: Hollywood Week was filmed December 7–10, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The Genre and Duet Challenges return from last season. The genres for this season were Indie folk, Pop, Rock, R&B, Soul, and Country. After all the contestants in their respective groups performed, the judges brought them to the stage and made their decisions. The ones who have made it advanced to the Duet Challenge. Unlike last season where the contestants picked their duet partners, the judges picked them. The duets were given twenty-four hours to rehearse, including advice from one of the judges. The remaining contestants who have passed the Duet Challenge advanced to the Showstopper Round.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The Showstopper Round aired on March 28 and 29, featuring the top sixty-four (thirty-seven aired) performing for the judges at the Dolby Theatre. The following day, the judges narrowed the number of contestants down to twenty-four in the Final Judgment. The following is a list of the contestants who performed, the song they performed at the Showstopper, and if they advanced or not.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The Top 24 contestants were split into two groups of twelve. Pre-recorded performances of the first group aired on April 4 and the second group on April 5. After each contestant's solo, pre-recorded performances of their duets aired. "Idol" contestants were paired with celebrity singers as their duet partners. The artists who duetted with the first group included Jimmie Allen, Ryan Tedder, Katharine McPhee, Ben Rector, Brian McKnight, and Joss Stone. The artists who duetted with the second group included PJ Morton, Tori Kelly, Josh Groban, Jason Aldean, Jewel, and Brandon Boyd.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The Top 16 performances were taped on April 8, 2021, and aired on Sunday, April 11, followed by the live results on Monday, April 12.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The Top 12 performed Oscar nominated songs on Sunday, April 18, 2021. Ten select contestants from last season came back to compete for a second chance since last season's production was forced to go entirely remote because of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The Top 7 performed songs by Coldplay and songs dedicated to their mothers. Chris Martin served as a guest mentor.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The Top 4 performed songs from their personal idols, their winner's singles, a reprise of their favorite performance of the season and duets of two songs from guest mentor FINNEAS.


title: American Idol (season 19)

text: The Top 3 performed songs chosen by the judges, songs dedicated to their hometowns and a reprise of their favorite performance of the season. Bobby Bones returned as mentor this week.


title: Mallampati score

text: In anesthesia, the Mallampati score or Mallampati classification, named after the Indian anaesthesiologist Seshagiri Mallampati, is used to predict the ease of endotracheal intubation. The test comprises a visual assessment of the distance from the tongue base to the roof of the mouth, and therefore the amount of space in which there is to work. It is an indirect way of assessing how difficult an intubation will be; this is more definitively scored using the Cormack-Lehane classification system, which describes what is actually seen using direct laryngoscopy during the intubation process itself. A high Mallampati score (class 3 or 4) is associated with more difficult intubation as well as a higher incidence of sleep apnea.


title: Mallampati score

text: The score is assessed by asking the patient, in a sitting posture, to open their mouth and to protrude the tongue as much as possible. The anatomy of the oral cavity is visualized; specifically, the assessor notes whether the base of the uvula, faucial pillars (the arches in front of and behind the tonsils) and soft palate are visible. Scoring is generally done without phonation. Depending on whether the tongue is maximally protruded and/or the patient asked to phonate, the scoring may vary.


title: Mallampati score

text: Further research may be needed to determine the most effective consistent and predictive approach on which to standardize Mallampati Scoring.


title: Mallampati score

text: While Mallampati classes I and II are associated with relatively easy intubation, classes III and IV are associated with increased difficulty.


title: Mallampati score

text: A systematic review of 42 studies, with 34,513 participants, found that the modified Mallampati score is a good predictor of difficult direct laryngoscopy and intubation, but poor at predicting difficult bag mask ventilation. Therefore, the study concluded that while useful in combination with other tests to predict the difficulty of an airway, it is not sufficiently accurate alone.


title: See for Me

text: See for Me (alternative title: "Mira por mí") is a 2021 Canadian thriller film directed by Randall Okita. It stars Skyler Davenport as Sophie, a visually impaired teenager who is housesitting for a wealthy client when three criminals break into the house to rob it; Sophie's only defense is a smartphone app called See for Me which connects her to Kelly (Jessica Parker Kennedy), a gamer who has to use the app to see Sophie's surroundings and guide her actions. Laura Vandervoort, Matthew Gouveia, Emily Piggford, Joe Pingue and Kim Coates also star.


title: See for Me

text: The film was shot in 2020, with production temporarily interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. It was screened for distributors at the 2020 American Film Market, before having its public premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.


title: See for Me

text: Downhill skier Sophie Scott has her Olympic dreams dashed when she is diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease causing blindness. Although her friend Cam offers to help her train for the Paralympics by working as her seeing guide, she refuses and gives up on her skiing dreams. To make money, she cat sits for wealthy homeowners and steals expensive wine from them to resell, with help from Cam. Sophie answers an ad for a cat sitter placed by Debra, a rich woman in upstate New York leaving for a vacation after just divorcing her husband. After locking herself outside of the house, Sophie uses See For Me, a phone app to allow blind people to connect with a seeing helper via a video call. She is connected to Kelly, a gamer in Florida who helps her get back inside.


title: See for Me

text: That night, Sophie is awoken by three men breaking into the house. She calls 911 and reports the break-in, but the 911 operator tells her it will be a long response time due to the house's remote location. She hangs up and uses her See For Me app to contact Kelly again, but is caught by the men, who disconnect the video call. Kelly, desperate to help Sophie, contacts the police to have them cross reference 911 calls in an attempt to locate the house that Sophie is in. Sophie learns that the men have broken into the house to steal $7 million hidden in a safe in the wall. After checking Sophie's phone and seeing that she called 911, the men contemplate giving up the score and killing her. They call their boss, Rico, who tells them to let Sophie live as she has not seen anyone. Rico also instructs them to pack up their gear and come back later. Sophie convinces them to give her a share of the take in exchange for sending the police away. Sophie calls 911 a second time to cancel her initial report, but is told that the police have to respond even after a false alarm is reported.


title: See for Me

text: When the deputy arrives to investigate, Sophie lies and says there was no emergency. As the deputy is about to leave, Kelly's alert is radioed out and Sophie's lie is revealed. The deputy calls for backup and attempts to arrest the intruders but is killed by one of the men. Sophie escapes with the deputy's gun and calls Kelly for help. Kelly helps her shoot two of the men, while the third man finishes breaking into the safe. Kelly guides Sophie to the final robber, who opens the safe to take the money. Before Sophie can shoot him, her phone dies and her call with Kelly ends. Although the thief tells Sophie that he is about to leave, she shoots him when he reaches for the dead police officer’s taser. She waits for the police to arrive, but is surprised by the appearance of Rico. Rico reveals that he is Debra's ex-husband and he hired all three of the robbers to break into the safe to steal his money back from his wife. He tells her that Debra did not know the safe or the money was in the house, and tries to convince her to let him take the money. Sophie refuses and cuts off the lights in the house, baiting Rico to pursue her. After running out of ammunition in her gun, she is caught by Rico and almost dies as he strangles her but gains the upper hand and bludgeons him to death.


title: See for Me

text: After recovering in the hospital, Sophie tells her mom that she has decided to try out for the Paralympics and plans to ski again. Her mom tells her that they will need money to buy all new gear, and Sophie clutches her backpack and smiles, implying that she took some of the money with her from the house. Shortly after, Sophie video calls Kelly to give her an update on her skiing progress, while Cam acts as Sophie's guide.


title: See for Me

text: In the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $23,070 in its opening weekend, $8,314 in its second, $3,391 in its third, $787 in its fourth, and $351 in its fifth.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: ? and the Mysterians (or Question Mark and the Mysterians) are an American garage rock band from Bay City and Saginaw in Michigan, initially active between 1962 and 1969. Much of the band's music consisted of electric organ-driven garage rock and an enigmatic image inspired by the 1957 Japanese science fiction film "The Mysterians". In addition, the band's sound was also marked by raw-resonating lead vocals of "?" (Question Mark, the stage name of Rudy Martínez), making Question Mark and the Mysterians one of the earliest groups whose musical style is described as punk rock. Their music and imagery were highly influential on later bands.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: The band signed to Pa-Go-Go Records (based in San Antonio, Texas and run by Rudy "Tee" Gonzales) in 1966 and released its first and most acclaimed single, "96 Tears", in the early part of that year. "96 Tears" became a number one hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and propelled the group to a 15-month period of national prominence. Their debut album, "96 Tears", followed. Though Question Mark and the Mysterians were unable to replicate their success with their later recordings, and are thus deemed a "one-hit wonder", they did manage to reach the singles charts on five occasions.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 1968, their label, Cameo-Parkway, was shut down for stock manipulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, taking the band's money and contract with them. Though they disbanded in 1969, the band has regrouped and released additional material over the years. "96 Tears" was listed at number 210 on the 2004 "Rolling Stone" list The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: The band members were children of migrant farmers who settled in Michigan. The original trio, consisting of Larry Borjas (guitar), Robert Martinez (drums), and Bobby Balderrama (lead guitar), encountered one another and were motivated by surf rock bands and instrumentalists like Link Wray and Duane Eddy to form a group in 1962. The band played locally with the same line-up until the influence of the British Invasion with groups stressing lead vocals and dynamic stage performances. Rudy Martinez, aka Question Mark, was known for his dancing ability and was suggested to the band as he was Robert Martinez's brother. Question Mark was an eccentric figure, publicly stating that his soul had originated from Mars and that he once walked on Earth with the dinosaurs. "?" quickly cemented himself as the group's creative force, and they began to develop a blend of gritty rock and roll and pop rock with a repertoire that encompassed compositions penned by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. To correspond with the new line-up, the band took the name ? and The Mysterians, which was inspired by the 1957 science fiction film "The Mysterians". When the band recruited keyboard player Frank Rodriguez, who was a part of another local group, the Trespassers, it was pivotal in Question Mark and the Mysterians' overall sound, especially in their song "96 Tears".


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In February 1966, the band auditioned for an independent record label, resulting in the demos "Are You For Real?" and "I'll Be Back", which were only released later and boasted for their very good sound quality in the 1999 album "More Action". Afterwards, Larry Borjas and Robert Martinez received draft notices and opted to enlist to avoid being sent to Vietnam. The remaining band members continued while Rodriguez improvised an organ riff, and "?" introduced a composition he had been developing for a while in his head. Auditioning for a replacement drummer resulted in Eddie Serrato, originally trained in traditional Mexican music, joining the group. On March 13, 1966, Question Mark and the Mysterians recorded "96 Tears" along with "Midnight Hour" for the small Pa-Go-Go label with Fernando Aguilar, a bassist who was soon replaced by Frank Lugo.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: When released in April 1966, "Midnight Hour" was originally the A-side for the band's debut single; however, "?" promoted the record across Michigan, encouraging radio stations to play "96 Tears" instead. CKLW, a major station in Windsor, Ontario, extensively played the song, thus generating a number one regional hit. The song drew the attention of Neil Bogart, president of Cameo-Parkway Records. The success of the song was attributed to the Vox Continental riff, and, as critic Greg Shaw explained, the simplicity and precise execution. Bogart purchased the rights to "96 Tears", distributed it on a national scale, and promoted the band by booking television appearances on "American Bandstand" and "Where the Action Is". On October 29, 1966, after a steady climb up the charts, the single peaked at number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 for a week before being overtaken by The Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: The next two singles for "Question Mark and the Mysterians", "I Need Somebody" and "Can't Get Enough of You Baby", also charted, but were nowhere near as successful as "96 Tears". These were compiled on the album "96 Tears" along with a handful of other songs.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: Question Mark and the Mysterians' second album, "Action", featured the band at the peak of its musicianship, but the album was not a commercial success. The band then briefly recorded with Capitol Records, Tangerine Records and Super K. The band lineup changed as the original members left for other projects. Mel Schacher, future bass player for Grand Funk Railroad, briefly became the bass guitarist along with Frank Montoya on guitar and Jeff McDonald on drums until Richard Schultz took over on bass and co-wrote several songs with Question Mark; including "She Goes to Church on Sunday", which was licensed to Paul McCartney's publishing company.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In the early 1970s, Question Mark and the Mysterians reformed with a different lineup consisting of two guitars and no keyboards. The band attracted the attention of rock critic Dave Marsh, who coined the term "punk rock" in a 1971 "Creem Magazine" article about Question Mark.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 1984, the original lineup of Question Mark and the Mysterians held a reunion concert in Dallas, Texas. Original drummer Robert Martinez returned and replaced Eddie Serrato on drums after Serrato became ill with multiple sclerosis. The Dallas concert did not lead to a full revival for the band, but the concert was recorded and released by the New York record label ROIR, "96 Tears Forever: The Dallas ReUnion Tapes".


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 1992, Question Mark collaborated with rap artist Saltine aka The Mad Rapper on a hip hop remake of "96 Tears". The single was released on Pandisc Records following a huge industry buzz on radio. "Billboard" magazine gave the single a thumbs up.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 1997, Question Mark and the Mysterians reformed again. They collaborated with New York promoter Jon Weiss, who made the band headliners at CaveStomp garage rock festivals. The festivals featured many revived 1960s garage and psychedelic acts. In 1998, the cover version of "Can't Get Enough of You, Baby" by Smash Mouth reached number 14 on the US record chart.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: During the 1990s, Question Mark and the Mysterians wanted to re-release their now out-of-print albums "96 Tears" and "Action", but were unable to because the song rights now belonged to record executive Allen Klein. In 1997, the band re-recorded their original 1966 album and released it on the Collectables Records label.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 1998, Frank Rodriguez rejoined the band on keyboards and Question Mark and the Mysterians released the new live album "Do You Feel It, Baby?" on Norton Records and achieved moderate sales. In 1999, the band released a new studio album, "More Action", produced and recorded in New York City, with the album design by Michael Calleia at Industrial Strength Design. This design caused controversy as it was not approved by Question Mark prior to the release. Coinciding with the album release, Question Mark dissolved his business relationship with Weiss, allegedly due to dissatisfaction with the record and other business issues.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 2000, Question Mark began a collaboration with New York guitarist and rock promoter Gary Fury. This collaboration led to a series of live concerts featuring Question Mark with a backing band led by Fury, featuring musicians from other garage bands in the New York area. The first backing band lineup included Jim "Royale" Baglino of The Casino Royales and later Monster Magnet on bass, Sam Steinig of the Philadelphia band Mondo Topless on keyboards and original Mysterians drummer Robert Martinez. The new group billed itself as "Question Mark and the Mysterymen" and played the Limelight in New York and the Black Cat in Washington, D.C.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 2002, Question Mark returned to New York to headline a two-night garage rock festival at the CBGB club. The lineup included Question Mark, Fury, Robert Martinez, Keith Hartel on bass and former Pat Benatar/David Johansen band and current E Street Band keyboardist Charlie Giordano. This new band was billed as "Question Mark and The New Mysterians". The new band created a multi-track recording in CBGB's studio, which is still unreleased.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: On January 10, 2007, a fire destroyed Question Mark's house in Clio, Michigan, destroying all of his memorabilia and killing the Yorkshire Terrier dogs he was breeding as his business. To help Question Mark, his friends held several benefit shows for him, with Question Mark and the Mysterians performing at some of these events. In May 2007, he and Gary Fury played a benefit show at New York's Highline Ballroom. The backup group, known as The Playthings, featured Fury on guitar, Jim Baglino on bass, Jimi Black of Cheetah Chrome and Sylvain Sylvain on drums, and Brian Leonard on keyboards.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: Guitarist Dennis Dean Lack joined the band in 1985, and was Question Mark's main guitarist and music director, and still collaborates on new songs with Question Mark into 2017. Lack has been active in the band off and on for over 13 years; he now resides in Northern Michigan.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In between these shows, Question Mark was still occasionally active with the original Mysterians. In 2001, Question Mark and the original Mysterians returned to New York City to play guitarist Steven Van Zandt's Underground Garage live event, selling out the Village Underground venue.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: In 2006, the original members of ? and the Mysterians were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: Many 1960s garage bands played "96 Tears" in their live performances. Cover versions of "96 Tears" have been recorded by a number of bands and musicians, including Big Maybelle, Aretha Franklin, Thelma Houston, Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop, The Texas Tornados, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Inspiral Carpets, the Stranglers, and Garland Jeffreys. Cerebral serial comedy host Stuart Mclean on the CBC Radio mentioned the band as the butt of a practical joke played by central character Dave in an episode of the Vinyl Cafe.


title: ? and the Mysterians

text: Former Mysterians drummer Eddie Serrato (born Eduardo Serrato, December 5, 1945) died from a heart attack on February 24, 2011, aged 65. Lead guitarist Robert Balderrama was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2017.


title: Japanese folklore

text: Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture.


title: Japanese folklore

text: In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The academic study of folklore is known as . Folklorists also employ the term or to refer to the objects and arts they study.


title: Japanese folklore

text: Men dressed as namahage, wearing ogre-like masks and traditional straw capes ("mino") make rounds of homes, in an annual ritual of the Oga Peninsula area of the Northeast region. These ogre-men masquerade as kami looking to instill fear in the children who are lazily idling around the fire. This is a particularly colorful example of folk practice still kept alive.


title: Japanese folklore

text: A parallel custom is the secretive ritual of the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa which does not allow itself to be photographed.


title: Japanese folklore

text: Many, though increasingly fewer households maintain a kamidana or a small Shinto altar shelf. The Shinto version of the kitchen god is the , and the syncretic Buddhist version is the Kōjin, a deity of the hearth enshrined in the kitchen.


title: Japanese folklore

text: Japanese popular cults or are sometimes devoted to particular deities and buddhas, e.g. the angry Fudō Myōō or the healer Yakushi Nyorai. But many cults centered around paying respects to sacred sites such as the Ise Shrine ("Ise-kō" or ') or Mount Fuji (', by which many local mock-Fuji shrines have been erected). Pilgrimage to these meccas declined after the Edo period. But recently, the Shikoku Pilgrimage of the eighty-eight temple sites (commonly known as "ohenro-san") has become fashionable. Popular media and cottage industries now extoll a number of shrines and sacred natural sites as .