Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 February 20

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February 20

50 cal gun and air

The other day, I was watching a Youtube vid of someone taking multiple shots with a 50 cal gun. The host showed how the air around the gun got cold enough to see one's breath. What is the science behind this? 70.26.18.103 (talk) 16:16, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Maybe you could link to the YouTube item? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:32, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

You should probably ask at the science RD. 69.174.144.79 (talk) 18:57, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Weimar Wild-Boys

I was browsing 4chan's /pol/ and came across some fascist comparing what they saw as today's "femboy degeneracy" to a phenomenon of "Wild-Boys" in Weimar Republic. Supposedly, during the Weimar period, many male teens and young adults formed hyper sexual homosexual gangs and constantly had BDSM style sex with each other. From a reddit post, I was able to find the book "Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin" (full HTML text, very NSFW, search for "Wild-Boys" with the dash). But I couldn't find anything more about it on pages like German Youth Movement, Weimar culture or Wandervogel. It's seems to be a very interesting phenomenon, very surprising that it doesn't have a Wikipedia page and information seems hard to come by. I don't know enough about the topic to be able to research it properly or a create a Wikipedia page. Can someone here point to some books/articles where I could find more about this? Thanks and regards, TryKid ^{[dubious – discuss]} 17:11, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

I can't (though there might be some in Gordon's bibliography). You could contact the Schwules Museum (it was more or less born out of the successful 1984 exhibition „Eldorado – Homosexuelle Frauen und Männer in Berlin 1850–1950“ which Gordon quotes too). Here's their contact site in English. ---Sluzzelin talk 18:09, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the link, I'll email the museum if I can't find enough to create a Wikipedia article. It seems most sources about this aren't in English, which might be the reason I couldn't find much. I also noticed that Mel Gordon doesn't have a Wikipedia page dispite having a NYT obituary. These small things remind me of how incomplete Wikipedia is despite 20 years and 6 million articles behind it. Thank you and the IP for the help and regards, TryKid ^{[dubious – discuss]} 22:34, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Do you know whether they called themselves "Wild Boys" or is that an English translation, or is that just a name given to them later? I did try looking for "Wilde Jungs", "Wilde Burschen" etc., but found nothing. Yeah, the Museum may be your best bet, they have a huge archive and, of course, are located right in Berlin where it supposedly happened. ---Sluzzelin talk 22:43, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I only know what little information I came across through a quick Google search after reading the original 4chan post. I don't know what they were originally called, but maybe dash in "Wild-Boys" suggests it's a translation. Regards, TryKid ^{[dubious – discuss]} 00:11, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

TryKid, because the unknown commentator I mentioned below talked about "wild gangs", I somehow found "wilde Clique" or "wilde Cliquen" (plural) which looks like a vague hit. Perhaps try searching for that as well, or mention it if you do contact the Schwules Museum. And if you need help with German texts, I'm more than happy to assist. ---Sluzzelin talk 02:15, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Tangential to the topic, it strikes me that this movement must, surely, have been an inspiration for William S. Burroughs' 1971 novel The Wild Boys, set in the (then future) late 20th century and depicting a similar "homosexual youth movement": however, I can't find any critical discussion about this, and it's certainly not mentioned in the novel's article, although Borroughs did travel in Europe in the 1930s and participate in gay Weimar culture. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.125.75.168 (talk) 20:33, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

(Indenting because your mentioning Burroughs and my googling combinations with Burroughs led me to the link). Apparently Guy Hocquenghem mentioned the Weimar Wild-Boys in Race d’Ep ! Un siècle d’images de l’homosexualité (pages 116-121 according to an unknown commentator in this blog). "Race d'Ep" is Verlan for "pédéraste".---Sluzzelin talk 20:46, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

I can't see anything in Miles, Barry (2014). William S. Burroughs: A Life. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 9780297867258. to make a connexion between the Wild-Boys of the original question and Burroughs's Wild Boys. He didn't go to Berlin, or as far as I can see Germany, in the 30's - he was in Vienna, Hungary, Dubrovnik. He would have met people who were familiar with, or at least aware of, the scene, so could have heard about them. It's an interesting question, the similarities are striking. DuncanHill (talk) 03:12, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Agreed that he doesn't appear to have visited Berlin or Germany, but from the Lede of Weimar culture: "some authors also include the German-speaking Austria, and particularly Vienna, as part of Weimar culture", and from William S. Burroughs#Europe: "He traveled to Europe and became involved in Austrian and Hungarian Weimar-era LGBT culture . . . ." {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.125.75.168 (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 13:06, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Not sure if there's a connection, but see also Swingjugend and Edelweiss Pirates for other Nazi-era countercultures. Alansplodge (talk) 13:43, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Did Lefaucheux make a 6mm revolver?

Ferdinand Cohen-Blind tried to assassinate Otto von Bismark with a 6mm Pepperbox Revolver. At least that is what is said in the article about Ferdinand. I tried to Google a bit, and couldn't find the model of this supposed 6mm revolver made by Lefaucheux. The closest thing I got was a 7mm Revolver. This photo is very similar to the Dorotheum 7mm pepperbox revolver made by Lefauchex. Maybe the sources are wrong, and the gun is a 7mm Pepperbox revolver? User:Tetizeraz. Send me a ✉️ ! 20:06, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Actually, none of the sources linked in the article mention it is a 6mm weapon. I'm changing it to 7mm in the article about Ferdinand. User:Tetizeraz. Send me a ✉️ ! 20:38, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

User:Tetizeraz, I found this "Lefaucheux pattern folding knife pistol with unusual six shot 6mm pinfire revolver", and this one. Alansplodge (talk) 23:50, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

LEFAUCHEUX-BÜNDELREVOLVER, UM 1860KAL. 6 MM LEFAUCHEUX. Alansplodge (talk) 23:59, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Alansplodge thanks Alan. I changed the article in English and German to 6mm. User:Tetizeraz. Send me a ✉️ ! 01:51, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

That 6mm folding-knife pistol looks very different from the pepperbox on display at the Bismarck-Museum as the revolver with which Bismarck was shot. The Bündelrevolver is an identical-looking pepperbox, though, except for the material used for the handle. In view of the current uncertainty, the best solution appears to be not to mention a presumed calibre until a reliable source is found.  --Lambiam 11:59, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Agreed. I couldn't find anything that specified the calibre either. Alansplodge (talk) 13:37, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Alansplodge I changed the article in English and Deutsch, removing the mention of the caliber of the weapon since there's no reliable information about the actual caliber of the weapon. User:Tetizeraz. Send me a ✉️ ! 04:02, 1 March 2021 (UTC)