Transcript Dawn of Mass Culture

Dawn of Mass Culture
19th century amusements:
Horse racing, card playing,
theater, baseball, dancing, parties
Leisure
Relief from city congestion & dull factories
 Amusement parks
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 Built
on green spaces
 Often built by trolley car companies
 Picnic grounds & rides
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Coney Island, NY
 1894-
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Roller Coaster!
World Columbian Expo- Chicago 1893
More leisure
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Bicycling
 Male
only till 1885: Safety bicycle
 Smaller
 Women
wheels, air filled tires
discard corsets
 Shirtwaists
& split skirts, to ride
 Gave women a sense of freedom
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Tennis
 First
seen in Wales, 1873
New snacks:
Potato Chips - 1853
 Chewing Gum - 1870
 Coca Cola - 1886
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 Designed
by pharmacist to cure headaches
Cracker Jacks – 1893
 Hershey Bars - 1900
 Ice Cream cone - 1904
 Popsicle - 1905
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Sports
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Spectator Sports
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Boxing
Baseball
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Telegraphed transmissions of contests at hotel lobbies &
barber shops
Based on Rounders, English sport
By 1860s, many clubs across US
National League 1876
American League 1900
1st World Series: 1903
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Negro Leagues founded
Spread of Mass Culture
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Art galleries, Libraries, books
Motion Pictures
Newspapers
Pulitzer- NY World
 Hearst- NY Journal, SF Examiner
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Art
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Realism
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Thomas Eakins
Ashcan school
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Competed for readership- exaggerated stories
Yellow Journalism
Gritty urban life scenes
Abstract (Europe)
Libraries spread (poor man’s university)
Fiction
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Crime, Westerns
Realism- Jack London, Stephen Crane- show lower classes
Humor- Mark Twain
Shopping
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Malls (Arcades)
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Cleveland, 1890
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Department Stores
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Marshall Field, Chicago
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Chains
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Five & Dime stores
Advertising
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Geared to women shoppers
Bargain basement
Woolworth’s
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Jewelry, leather goods, stationery
Bands play on Sundays
Mostly patent medicines
Soaps, baking powders
Newspapers, magazines, billboards, barns, rocks
Catalogues & RFD
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Montgomery Ward (1872) Sears (1886)
Rural Free Delivery- packages to your home!