I love watching movies from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. I consider this period to be the Golden of Film (seems like I’m not the only one to think this).

There’s a curious thing I noticed in some of the films of that era…

Most of the actors spoke in a weird accent. It’s one I could not place. It didn’t sound British, nor did it sound Long Island-ish.

I thought nothing of it until I watched a video of an actress saying the same thing in 21 English accents. At the 2:13 mark, the actress profiles what is known as the Mid-Altantic accent.

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So, I started down a rabbit hole to learn more about the Mid-Atlantic accent…

According to Wikipedia, the Mid-Atlantic accent (also known as the Transatlantic Accent or Mid-Atlantic English) is an accent taught to actors and actresses in the 1930s and 1940s and to those in the upper class and elite of the New England states in America. It was considered posh to be able to speak with this accent.

Here’s a great video summarizing the rise and fall of the Mid-Atlantic accent:

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And here’s another video summarizing the rise and fall:

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Therefore, the only people who knew to speak it were taught to speak it…

Not only did actors and actresses use the Mid-Atlantic accent in films, so, too, did American Presidents of that time. If you listen to audio recordings of Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Franklin D. Roosevelt, you’ll hear them speaking in the accent.

Even first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis are said to have spoken in the accent after learning it early in their lives.

The accent fell out of favour shortly after World Word II…

There really isn’t any explanation why, except that it was simply a fad. However, some actors have used the Mid-Atlantic accent in the portrayal of their characters in more recent films and television shows, such as the Crane brothers in the sitcom Frasier, and Effie in the Hunger Games.