{"product_id":"2940012787118","title":"Forgotten beginnings of the U.S. entertainment industry","description":"Forgotten beginnings of the U.S. entertainment industry (also, “Smoky Joe” Wood and the lifting of the Red Sox curse)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDon’t believe everything that you read on a NOOK reader -  for instance, this.  Here we have a double header of tall tales, both set in the second decade of the 20th century.  One is a conspiratorial tale about how the U.S. entertainment industry began.  The other is a baseball story.  It’s about “Smoky Joe” Wood.  Have you heard of him? The author of this yarn actually met him. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou are asked to believe that jokes don’t just happen.  Some are products of government planning.  In this scenario, it’s not Socialism, but the desire to combat Socialism, that sets government employees to work creating jokes. Elihu Root and President Taft were the key figures.  Later, the industry was privatized.  Read all about it.  None of this is true. Disclaimer:  The part about Skull and Bones could be true; I’m not privy to its inner secrets.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere’s more truth to the tall tale about Smoky Joe Wood although the connection to the Red Sox sweeping the World Series in 2004 and breaking the “curse” may be stretching it.  I say that the curse had to do with Smoky Joe and not Babe Ruth.  Babe Ruth got into the Baseball Hall of Fame right off the bat but Smoky Joe Wood had to wait until 2004 to be inducted into the Ted Williams Hall of Fame in Florida.  It’s no coincidence that the curse was lifted in the same year.","brand":"Thistlerose Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073530806512,"sku":"2940012787118","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012787118_p0.jpg?v=1763572745","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012787118","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}