When my mother was a little girl in the 1920s she used to go to the movies on Saturday, where, in addition to the feature movie and a newsreel and maybe a cartoon, they usually showed one episode of a weekly serial. These were called Cliffhangers -"The Perils of Pauline" is the classic example, and each episode would end with the hero -- or often heroine -- in some deadly peril. Often literally hanging off a cliff. My mother used to worry about the heroine hanging there all week until the next episode, and hope that someone was bringing her sandwiches. Read More
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