Do you shimmy? Do you shake? Do you like jazz dancing? It could kill you, says the Washington D.C. Health Commissioner. “Jazz music is damaging to the nervous system,” he claims. “It should be avoided not only because it is unhealthy, but because it is un-aesthetic.”

The commissioner notes that “a good old-fashioned waltz is alright,” and should be practiced regularly. But he fails to note that at the beginning of the 19th century, 100 years ago, the waltz was considered lewd and unseemly.

Writing about the English youth in 1813, Diarist Thomas Raikes recounted: “it was the greatest sensation [that] broke all the bounds of good breeding [...] and enraged the nobility.”