1920s Campaign Resources

Topics for the Lecture and Slice of Life series.
Discussion about historical events, people, items, etc. that can add to the flavor to any historical game setting.
Discussion and sharing of links and resources.
Canageek
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Canageek » Wed Feb 22, 2017 3:32 am

A Blast From The Past is an endless source of good writing and ideas. A historian's blog, every article is extensively researched and are often about outstanding historical mysteries.
I could go on, but you get the idea. Now, he is trying to dispel the myths, but there is no reason that just because Aqua Tonfa almost certainly doesn't exist doesn't mean you can't discover that it was supplied by the Mi-Go or Ghouls. Also, taking control of someone by stealing their hair is a very different form of magic that players won't be expecting.

(I'll make it into the Card Catalog eventually!)
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Plays GURPS, Call of Cthulhu and a few other things.

Canageek
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Canageek » Wed Feb 22, 2017 3:58 am

Some shorter ones:

Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine (1881-1964 and 1900-1970): The Queens of the Sydney Underworld An article on the women who ran organized crime in Sydney during the 1920s, useful for when your globetrotting campaign leaves the US.

Old French CrimeA series of sensationalist newspaper photos from French Newspapers, 1890-1920. So, between the two main Lovecraftian periods. Sorry, but possibly still useful?

The MET has uploaded and made every image they have publicly available and free to use. The images are high quality and highly searchable. There must be something of use in there for someone here.
Moderator of the Suppressed Transmissions board.
Plays GURPS, Call of Cthulhu and a few other things.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Wed Feb 22, 2017 2:24 pm

The Music Hall and Theater History Site - A comprehensive online history of British theaters and Music Halls.

Icehouse - Miss Devine - 1990 Australian pop song inspired by one of Sydney's more notorious figures.
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:16 pm

Two more of those Pre-WWI sketchbooks.

Venice; A Sketch-Book by Fred Richards (1914)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54224

Oxford; A Sketch-Book by Fred Richards (1915)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54220
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:25 pm

The First and Third volumes of Clark Ashton Smiths Poetry.

The Star-Treader and other poems by Clark Ashton Smith (1912)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38410

Ebony and Crystal by Clark Ashton Smith (1922)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53333
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Fri Mar 10, 2017 12:05 pm

Some more pre-WWI sketchbooks of English locations.

The English Lakes; A Sketch-Book by Gordon Home

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54318

Stratford-on-Avon; A Sketch-Book by Gordon Home
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54324

Winchester; A Sketch-Book by Gordon Home
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54327

York; A Sketch-Book by Gordon Home
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54328

London; A Sketch-Book by Lester G. Hornby (1912)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54320

This last link is to a blog post at Yog-Sothoth.com which has some 1920s photographs which could be used for character portraits/props.
http://www.yog-sothoth.com/blog/480/ent ... m-england/
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:09 am

A YouTube channel devoted to films in the public domain covering the period from the early 1900s to the 1960s, the 1920s films would be perfect for Keepers wanting to show players what their characters would be seeing at the local picture palace. Some of the plots (For example the pulpy 'Queen of the Amazons') could be used as inspiration for scenarios.

The Video Cellar
The Video Cellar is an eclectic collection of classic cinema. From the earliest days of silent cinema through the golden age of Hollywood, we have something here for everyone.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheVideoCellar/
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Fri Mar 17, 2017 12:13 am

A final set of pre-WWI sketchbooks. More of these can be found on Project Gutenberg.

Bruges; A Sketch-Book by Joseph Pike
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54314

Paris; A Sketch-Book by Eugène Béjot (1912)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54323

Bath and Wells; A Sketch-Book by D. S. Andrews
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54336

Bristol; A Sketch-Book by Dorothy E.G. Woollard
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54344

Glasgow; A Sketch-Book by John Nisbet (1913)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54354

Harrow; A Sketch-Book by Walter M. Keesey (1914)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54355
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Wed Apr 05, 2017 3:42 pm

An account of a minor WWI naval action that could prove of inspiration to authors of pulp-scenarios.

HMAS Sydney versus a Zeppelin

A public domain artists impression of the engagement is below:

Image
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

Graham
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Re: 1920s Campaign Resources

Post by Graham » Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:13 pm

A popular history (from 1928) about the Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America...
This little book is intended as a general commentary and explanation of the more important phases of the ancient life and arts of the Indians of Mexico and Central America, and especially of their history. The substance of it is drawn from many sources, for the anthropologist must mould together and harmonize the gross results of several sciences. Archæology, ethnology, somatology, and linguistics all make their special contributions and we are only on the threshold of our subject. In the Mexican and Central American field we find the accumulated writings that result from four hundred years of European contact with the Indians and in addition a mass of native documents and monumental inscriptions expressed in several hieroglyphic systems.
Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America by Herbert Joseph Spinden (1928)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54550
"If you do good, you'll live forever, if you do bad, you'll die hearing a single note for I am the one true sound...", Fragment found in a cult hideout.

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