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Mencken’s Americana
Louis Hatchett, editor
H. L. Mencken's tart observations
of the zanier side of American life
From 1924 to 1933, the most cheerfully scandalous publication was the American Mercury, described by its editor as "a serious review, the gaudiest and damndest ever seen in the Republic." Its editor, H. L. Mencken, tartly commented on a circus tent full of American zaniness, from the Scopes “Monkey Trial” to labelling the South as a literary desert, the “Sahara of the Bozart.”
The American Mercury's "Americana" section was its most popular. Here, Mencken delighted in pointing out the imbecilities of real events, using the most delightfully creative language. Mencken's humor delighted readers then and will not only amuse but inform present-day audiences of the excesses of the roaring twenties.
Louis Hatchett is an independent scholar and writer from Henderson, Kentucky. He has a master's degree in history from Western Kentucky State University. With William K. McNeil, he has written and published several comprehensive discographies, including volumes on Fred Astaire and Al Jolson.
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