The 12 October 1942 edition of the New York Times (page 13) gives us this little gem, an article about the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing finally accepting jitterbug - in a modified form - into the world of ballroom dance. This is the beginning of the end for Lindy Hop, its transformation from a social street dance to the institutionalised, simplified and soulless ballroom jive we know today.

There are so many things I like about this article - how the “Lindy Hop” is in quotation marks every time, that the jitterbug is an “indoor sport”, the idea of “modified cavortings”, especially those demonstrated by Mr and Mrs Rutherford, oh my…

Click on the thumbnail to see the original article, or read the text below:

Jitterbug Jumps From Low To High
Teachers Here Approve Modified Cavortings for Ballroom

The jitterbug, handmaiden of swing, is rising from its lowly estate, members of the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing were told yesterday at their October meeting in the Hotel Astor.

This delight of the youngsters, hitherto scorned or derided by the conservative pundits of the ballroom floor, and a direct descendant of the “Lindy Hop”, no longer can be ignored, according to those who spoke of the trend of social dancing.

With its cavortings refined and modified to fit the usually crowded floor, this season it will take its place beside rhumba, samba, foxtrot and waltz. As in all the history of social dancing, it was stated, the old must give way to the new.

To demonstrate how this refinement and modification can be brought about and how teachers can meet the demand of the tweenagers [sic] for recognition of one of their most popular indoor sports, George Rutherford of Poughkeepsie, with Mrs Rutherford, presented combinations of the “Lindy Hop” and jitterbug steps.