Jitterbug

The famous bandleader Cab Calloway is generally credited with using the term “jitterbugs” to describe dancers out on the dance floor. The swing era had introduced dances fast irregular movements. The term jitterbug caught on and grammatically tumbled around in usage. It could be used as a verb to describe, “jitterbugging” to swing music. It could also be interpreted as a noun to describe the dancer or the swing dance individually. However, the use of jitterbug in several of Cab Calloway’s title songs solidified his identification with the term.

There is some evidence that a man named Harry Alexander White, known as “Father White,” is the man that first used the term jitterbug. He played trombone and drums and often arranged music. He worked with many well-known bandleaders. It is believed that Edwin Swayzee, a trumpet player, heard Father White using the term and he wrote the song “The Jitterbug” for Cab Calloway. The song was recorded in January 1934 and the term was introduced nationwide.

Swing dance of the 1930’s and 1940’s included the Lindy Hop along with the Jitterbug. Observers often used the terms interchangeably. They were all in a similar style and swept the country from Harlem to Hollywood. When the Harvest Moon Ball held a competition of the two dances, the event was filmed and was shown to the nation from 1938 to 1951 on newsreels of the time. Though popular with the public, it is possible that some may not have liked the dances because of the lack of defined moves. By the early 1940’s, the established dance organizations had to start documentation of the dances since they were all totally cemented in the public mind.