I was messing around with searching LIFE Magazine via Google the other night and found these photos and little letter about “Jitterbug Jewelry” – rhinestone encrusted brooches of dancing instruments. I would die if I found a set of these! Just too too cute.
And a note about the highlighting below – when searching for vintage info about swing dancing, I find that “jitterbug” is the best search term. The music was “swing”, the dances were individually known as “Lindy Hop” “Balboa” and “Shag” but collectively called “jitterbug”, and a dancer was always just a “jitterbug”. Not sure when terms like “swing dancing” and “lindy hopper” started being used, but I’m guessing around the 70′s & 80′s – so those terms commonly used today aren’t very useful for searching older references.
Jitterbug Jewelry, as featured in LIFE magazine, May 16, 1938
