Rag Mop

"Rag Mop" was a popular American song of the late 1940s-early 1950s.

The song, a 12-bar blues, was written by Tulsa Western Swing bandleader Johnnie Lee Wills and steel guitarist Deacon Anderson and published in 1949. Considered a novelty song, the lyrics consisted mostly of spelling out the title of the song; because of the spelling used in the song, it is sometimes referred to as "Ragg Mopp."

While Johnnie Lee Wills and his band recorded it for Bullet Records in 1950, the most popular version of this song was recorded by The Ames Brothers, and released by Coral Records as catalog number 60140. The song was part of a double-sided hit; the flip side was "Sentimental Me." The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on January 6, 1950 and lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1. The song was re-released in 1951 by Coral as catalog number 60397, with the flip side "Hoop-Dee-Doo". The group re-recorded the song several times. The 1950 recording is considered an example of proto-rock and roll as it contained elements that would later go into the defining of the genre.

Mop

A mop (such as a floor mop) is a mass or bundle of coarse strings or yarn, etc., or a piece of cloth, sponge, or other absorbent material, attached to a pole or stick. It is used to soak up liquid, for cleaning floors and other surfaces, to mop up dust, or for other cleaning purposes. The word (then spelled mappe) is attested in English as early as 1496, but new refinements and variations of mop designs have been introduced, from time to time. For example, American inventor Jacob Howe received U.S. patent #241 for a mop holder in 1837 and Thomas W. Stewart (U.S. patent #499,402) in 1893.

Types

Dry-mop, dust-mop

A dry-mop or dust-mop is designed to pick up dry, loose contamination such as dust, earth and sand from the surface of the floor. It consists of yarn and/or microfiber and is used as a first step in cleaning a floor.

Professional dry mops consist of a flat sheet of microfiber textile or sheets with a surface of looped yarn, usually about 15 cm (6 in) wide, and comes in variable lengths (usually 30–100 cm (12–39 in)).

Methoxsalen

Methoxsalen — also called xanthotoxin, marketed under the trade names Oxsoralen, Deltasoralen, Meladinine — is a drug used to treat psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo, and some cutaneous lymphomas in conjunction with exposing the skin to UVA light from lamps or sunlight. Methoxsalen modifies the way skin cells receive the UVA radiation, allegedly clearing up the disease. The dosage comes in 10 mg tablets, which are taken in the amount of 30 mg 75 minutes before a PUVA (psoralen + UVA) light treatment. Chemically, methoxsalen belongs to a class of organic natural molecules known as furanocoumarins. They consist of coumarin annulated with furan. It can also be injected and used topically.

Natural occurrences

Methoxsalen is extracted from Ammi majus, a plant of the family Apiaceae. The substance is also present in other Apiaceae as well as Rutaceae, for example bergamot oil which is used in many perfumes and aromatherapy oils. When these products are applied to skin and exposed to UVA radiation, the skin may turn brownish due to the phototoxic effects of methoxsalen present in the bergamot oil. Most modern perfumes containing bergamot have the Methoxsalen removed.

NPAS1

NPAS1 is a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor.

See also

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External links

Textile

A textile or cloth is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres (yarn or thread). Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or felting.

The words fabric and cloth are used in textile assembly trades (such as tailoring and dressmaking) as synonyms for textile. However, there are subtle differences in these terms in specialized usage. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres. Fabric refers to any material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting, or bonding that may be used in production of further goods (garments, etc.). Cloth may be used synonymously with fabric but often refers to a finished piece of fabric used for a specific purpose (e.g., table cloth).

Etymology

The word 'textile' is from Latin, from the adjective textilis, meaning 'woven', from textus, the past participle of the verb texere, 'to weave'.

Ragtime

Ragtime – also spelled rag-time or rag time – is a musical genre that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated, or "ragged", rhythm. The genre has its origins in African-American communities like St. Louis years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Ernest Hogan (1865–1909) was a pioneer of ragtime music and the first to publish in the musical genre. He is also credited for coining the term ragtime. Ben Harney, a white Kentucky native has often been credited for introducing the music to the mainstream public. His ragtime compositions helped popularize the genre throughout America. Ragtime was also a modification of the march made popular by John Philip Sousa, with additional polyrhythms coming from African music. The ragtime composer Scott Joplin (ca. 1868–1917) became famous through the publication of the "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) and a string of ragtime hits such as "The Entertainer" (1902), although he was later forgotten by all but a small, dedicated community of ragtime aficionados until the major ragtime revival in the early 1970s. For at least 12 years after its publication, "Maple Leaf Rag" heavily influenced subsequent ragtime composers with its melody lines, harmonic progressions or metric patterns.

Rag (student society)

University Rag societies are student-run charitable fundraising organisations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Most universities in the UK and Ireland, as well as some in South Africa and the Netherlands have a Rag. In some universities Rags are known as Charities Campaigns, Charity Appeals, Charity Committees, or Karnivals, but they all share many attributes.

In the UK, the National Student Fundraising Association (NaSFA), set up in December 2011, exists as a support and resource sharing organisation run by those managing rags for others managing RAGs.

Origins

The Oxford English Dictionary states that the origin of the word "Rag" is from "An act of ragging; esp. an extensive display of noisy disorderly conduct, carried on in defiance of authority or discipline", and provides a citation from 1864, noting that the word was known in Oxford before this date. Early Rag collectors may have ragged passers-by until they made a donation.

Alternatively, it is thought to be from the Victorian era when students took time out of their studies to collect rags to clothe the poor.