Editing Jitterbug (section)

==Popularity==
[[File:Jitterbug dancing SLNSW FL9435363.jpg|thumb|Jitterbug dancing competition, Trocadero, Sydney, 1948]]
[[File:Jitterbug dancers SLNSW FL9435364.jpg|thumb|Jitterbug dancers, Trocadero, Sydney, 1948]]
In 1944, with the United States' continuing involvement in [[World War II]], a 30% [[Excise tax in the United States|federal excise tax]] was levied against night clubs that featured dancing. Although the tax was later reduced to 20%, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country. It has been argued that this tax had a significant role in the decline of public dancing as a recreational activity in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Felten|first=Eric|date=2013-03-17|title=How the Taxman Cleared the Dance Floor|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323628804578348050712410108.html|access-date=2021-05-30|issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=COPELAND|first=JOHN|title=Some Effects of the Changes in the Federal Cabaret Tax in 1944|date=1945|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23404801|journal=Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Taxation Under the Auspices of the National Tax Association|volume=38|pages=321–339|jstor=23404801|issn=2329-9045}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hill|first=Constance Valis|url=https://archive.org/details/tapdancingameric0000hill|title=Tap dancing America : a cultural history|date=2010|publisher=New York, N.Y. : Oxford University Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-19-539082-7}}</ref>

World War II facilitated the spread of jitterbug across the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. Across the Atlantic in preparation for [[D-Day]], there were nearly 1,6  million American troops stationed throughout Britain in May 1944. Numbers dwindled thereafter, but as late as April 30, 1945  there were still over 224,000 airmen, 109,000 communications zone troops, and 100,000 in hospitals or preparing to serve as individual replacements.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

Dancing was not a popular pastime in Britain before the war, and many ballrooms had been closed for lack of business. In the wake of the arrival of American troops, many of these re-opened, installing [[Jukebox|jukeboxes]] rather than hiring live bands. [[Working class]] women who had never danced recreationally before made up a large part of the attendees, along with American soldiers and sailors.<ref name=":1" /> [[British Samoa|British Samoans]] were doing a "Seabee version" of the jitterbug by January 1944.<ref>''[[Popular Science]]'', January 1944. "The Seabees Can Do It". page 57.</ref>  By November 1945 after the departure of the American troops following D-Day, English couples were being warned not to continue doing energetic "rude American dancing," as it was disapproved of by the [[Upper class|upper classes]].<ref name=":1">''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', 24 November 1945. "Britons Drive to End Jiving as Yanks Go Home". page 88</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' reported that American troops stationed in France in 1945 jitterbugged,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775896,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103195946/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775896,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=3 November 2007 | work=Time | title=U.S. At War: G.I. Heaven | date=18 June 1945}}</ref> and by 1946, jitterbug had become a craze in England.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Clarke|first1=Mary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COATAQAAIAAJ&q=jitterbug|title=The History of Dance|last2=Crisp|first2=Clement|date=1981|publisher=Orbis|isbn=978-0-85613-270-4|language=en}}</ref> It was already a competition dance in Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/08/1231004167858.html|title=Muscle beach party|website=Smh.com.au|date=8 January 2009}}</ref>

A [[United Press]] item datelined Hollywood on 9 June 1945 stated that dancer Florida Edwards was awarded a $7,870 judgement by the district court of appeals for injuries she sustained while jitterbugging at the [[Hollywood Canteen]] the previous year.<ref>United Press, no headline, ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Sunday 10 June 1945, Volume 51, page 6.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/2d/27/802.html|title=Edwards v. Hollywood Canteen|website=Justia Law|access-date=12 December 2018}}</ref>

In 1957, the [[Philadelphia]]-based television show ''[[American Bandstand]]'' was picked up by the [[American Broadcasting Company]] and shown across the United States. ''American Bandstand'' featured popular songs of the day, live appearances by musicians, and dancing in the studio. At this time, the most popular fast dance was jitterbug, which was described as "a frenetic leftover of the swing era ballroom days that was only slightly less acrobatic than Lindy".<ref>{{cite book|last=Shore|first=Michael|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica00shor/page/54/mode/2up?q=frenetic|title=The History of American Bandstand|author2=Dick Clark|publisher=[[Ballantine Books]]|year=1985|isbn=0-345-31722-X|location=New York|pages=54|author2-link=Dick Clark}}</ref>

In a 1962 article in the ''[[Memphis Commercial Appeal]]'', bassist [[Bill Black]], who had backed [[Elvis Presley]] from 1954 to 1957, listed "jitterbug" along with the [[Twist (dance)|twist]] and [[Cha-cha-cha (dance)|cha-cha]] as "the only dance numbers you can play".<ref>''The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley's Band''. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 146. {{ISBN|1-55652-614-8}}.</ref>