I feel like this is an in-joke that I’m not a part of.
I know that there’s an esteemed member of this here message board that goes by the name 1920s Style Death Ray and I’ve heard references to 1920s style X here and there, but have no idea what the joke is. Please explain.
It’s from an old thread about “scalar weapons”; upon getting the concept, one poster said “Ah, they’re 1920’s style death rays!” This phrase was repeated and modified at length.
Can’t find the thread, for some reason – oh, well.
What Nametag said. Just adding that the original post in question accidentally got quadruple-posted, which is what started everyone off.
Ahh…my searches didn’t work either (then again, I’m going off of what you guys told me and guessing at what extra words add in), but thanks for the info).
Apparently this has come up recently. In a thread about threads from the past being lost, Mangetout writes:
Apparently there’s somethign Tesla doesn’t want us to know…
Here is a link to the original thread about scalar weapons that inspired the 1920’s style death rays joke: linky
Said rays might also be described as 1920s style, 1920’s-style, or 1920s-style in this iin-joke, running gag, or meme.
(Can you tell I’m trying to include all possible helpful words so this is easier to find next time we search for it?)
And by iin-joke I mean in-joke.
AH! They’re *1920’s * Style Death Rays!
Or, they’re 1920s Style Death Rays!
Or, they’re 1920s-Style Death Rays!
Or, they’re 1920s Style Death Rays!
Or… 
Hey you missed:
…they’re 1920s Style “Death Rays”
I think the quotes are an integral part.
And an often used (but probably incorrect) hyphenated variation:
…they’re 1920s Style Death-Rays
Ah, they’re 1920’s style “Death Rays”
is the "correct way to write it.
I’ll be damned, our dearly departed Dogface was the gentle…man who began this trend.