The Society for the Suppression of Music was sprung upon an unsuspecting Cincinnati in November 1879. The newspapers carried a brief classified item that conveyed the flavor of the new organization:
Society for the Suppression of Music(…)
Judging by the evidence, the Society for the Suppression of Music was a joke created by Cincinnati artist Henry Farny and paper merchant John S. Woods. Completely humorous in intent, the Society gathered for regular dinners at which members read outrageous reports (some of which saw print in the local newspapers) and awarded each other facetious honors.
Newspapers as far away as Chicago picked up the gag and recommended that their cities should form satellite chapters. The tone (if I may be forgiven a musical metaphor) of the Society is reflected in a letter read at an early meeting:
“I have in my home an instrument of torture known as a piano. My sister performs upon the same, likewise my wife. Where are the liberties guaranteed to us by the Constitution of the United States and the State of Ohio? Something will come of this. I hope it mayn’t be human gore.”
Wirklich existiert allerdings die Initiative No Music Day.
(via Mediateletipos)
