lackadaisy
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Books and Research
🕑 Added 2022-07-09 03:07:40 +0000 UTCA Patron inquired about the books I've used as resources for Lackadaisy a little while back, and I had promised to share. Questions about how or where I do research for the 1920s and the comic in general are pretty common, really, but I don't have a formal bibliography compiled at present, so I figured photos would suffice for now.
Here's an outside link, in case anyone wants a closer look.
Anyway, these are most of the tangible materials I've gathered since I began working on Lackadaisy. They don't represent every resource I've used by a long shot - I've been down more digital rabbit holes seeking esoteric, nerdy wisdom than I could realistically document - but there's a lot here among the books that I've made good use of. Some of it is just history in broad strokes, some of it is extremely specific, some has been vital for visual reference, and some has been only tangentially relevant but has helped round out my understanding of life in the 1920s.
There are even a few books here I wouldn't recommend as reliable information sources - one of the Vodou/Voodoo related items, for instance. It's old and written by outside observers with authoritative tone and with a perspective that is, uh, dated to phrase it more kindly than it deserves. The book remains useful in a way - not as a resource on Voodoo, but as as a reference for how cultural outsiders might have perceived it and its practitioners.
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To address some of the other, related research questions I often get:
-- You don't have to do this. Buy a crap-ton of books, I mean. You can find a lot of information online. You can check things out of virtual libraries. If you do happen to want books, browse used booksellers. It's a lot cheaper. You can find a lot of curious things that are out of print that way too.
Check government archives for photos (if photos existed during your history of choice). The are often a very illuminating glimpse at real life for people. Ads and catalogues are also a fantastic peak at the psychology, sensibilities and aesthetics of a time period. Many, many, many newspapers are digitally archived. If you can actually visit historical sites related to your subject matter, do it.
You'll generally get more of those types of things than from massive, expensive, hardbound coffee table tomes, however pretty and enticing those are (I know - they were a vice of mine).
-- You don't have to do this part 2, in the sense that you're fully in control of how researchy it even gets. You can pick a historical subject and play however fast and loose with it you want. I'd say just understand what it is you're doing and try to be consistent about it. Is it researched, grounded historical fiction? Is it alternative history that gradually comes unmoored from actual events? Is it fantasy with history-flavored frosting on top? Is it a slap-stick space opera played out in medieval space armor? All valid approaches, all with probably different levels of research required.
-- You can do historical fiction without being painfully obsessive over detail accuracy. Details can certainly help with immersion to some extent, but too much focus on them can distract from a story as well. Take some artistic liberties where it makes sense, where it benefits plot progression overall, and where it allows you to keep moving forward instead of spinning your pedantic hamster wheel. Fudging and abstracting things deliberately and conscientiously as a means to an end? - well, that's art.
-- You will inevitably get some things wrong. It's not the end of the world (the real one or the historically fictional one). For any highly specific, obscure topic you can think of, there is a coalition of nerds fully devoted to it. They'll know more than you, and they might show up to call you on an error you've made. That's okay. In fact, it can be quite helpful. You can go back and fix things...or if you can't, you can acknowledge your error, pocket the newfound information, and move along.
-- You won't find all of the information you'll need for a historical setting in one place. In fact, you probably won't find all of the information you think you need, full stop. You'll be looking for it, excavating for it even, but might come up empty handed. In that case workarounds or some of that artistic license I mentioned before come in handy.
Likewise, there's no big, magical, one-stop reservoir of all of the information about the 1920s that I've ever stumbled upon. Research takes time and effort and stubborn digging. Before consigning yourself to doing lots of it for your comic or story, consider whether or not you are the kind of person who wants to do that.
-- The research doesn't stop when you start writing/drawing. You keep learning as you go. With some topics, they're so enormous, that's how it must be. You'll never know everything before you begin. Certainly, get acquainted with your historic setting first, but try not to use research as an endless means of preparation-procrastination.
-- Check your assumptions. It's easy to think you know something only to find, the moment you start delving, you were completely off-base. (This happens to me all the time, especially with slang, idioms and word usage in general.)
-- Pull important information from more than one resource when possible. Double or triple check if it's correct. Things-which-are-wrong propagate like mad on the internet. Print publication has never been immune either. For a lot of topics (like the Voodoo example I noted above), it's wise to consider whose perspective you're getting and what their angle of bias might be. You might need to bolster your understanding with other points of view.
Comments
Jessica Rockeman
This post!!! For all archives and museum professionals everywhere, thank you. People. Check out your archives and museums. We're like librarians but with more dead stuff. XD
Your Humble Host
Wow that's a really thorough list. Awesome. It really shows dedication and discipline to your craft. I can't wait for the animated show.
ThirdKind
Reading list acquired
Stephen Smoogen
So how many of those covers have you 'replaced' the humans with the kool kats?
Tiger in man's clothing
One can never do too much research. This one has a 1927 Book of Wonder encyclopedia set and several books about science, technology, history and culture for the United States in the teens, 20s, and 30s. They are very halpful in Call of Cthulhu. There are some really good 4E CoC books that are filled with useful information as well.
Ghost
completely agree with some of your advice here! You can get lost in details trying to be so accurate to the time making it difficult to relate to in modern mindsets- thats so true and I feel often overlooked
Tracy Butler
I have not read it, but I will absolutely seek it out now. Thank you for the suggestion!
akrasia
That's commitment. Carry on!
Dave D
"Prep-procrastination"!
While not *super* relevant to your research Walter Johnson's "The Broken Heart of America" is an incredible read on the tragic history and legacy of STL. I wouldn't be surprised if you've already read it, and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of personal connection to the city. Thanks for a list of books I now have to find! Down by the Gravois catches my eye in particular
Nelly Galan
I’m here for the drink guide!
