Motion Picture Madness!

by Jennifer J.

During the 1890’s America was transforming from a rural unorganized society to a modern institution. With this transformation came developed urban societies, which longed for new forms of entertainment. Ways to communicate were advancing with the invention of the telegraph, telephone and media. There was mass migration from Europe to America during this period which required new ways to communicate.

With the mass amount of people flowing into the Americas, recreational activities became high in demand due to the development of leisure time. “The increase in available leisure time would encourage the creation and use of all recreational forms, especially commercial amusement such a the motion picture, which required a more definite and specific commitment of free time, unlike books, newspapers or periodicals, which could be read in the home with greater ease” (Jowett, pg. 17). The invention of motion pictures was associated with Thomas Edison, who took the use of a camera to a new level in developing a special motion picture camera called the “Kinetograph” (Library of Congress). Edison invented a projecting device in “1892”, which came to be known as the “Kinetoscope” ( Jowett, pg. 26). This projecting device was shaped like a box and one person could view a moving picture by looking inside the box.

Within a few years of Edison’s first moving picture inventions came another invention which would allow images to be projected onto a screen. This next invention was called the “Vitascope” and was created not just by Edison, but with the help of two other men by the names of “Tomas Armat and Francis C. Jenkins” (Jowett, pg.27). America was craving Edison’s new inventions so he allowed the Kinetoscope machines to be sold to stores all over to show the short motion picture shows. “The storefront theater, a minor venue for picture shows since 1895, rapidly became the dominant site of exhibition because changes in motion-picture practice had created new conditions that made it immensely profitable” (Charles Musser, pg. 417). The small theaters became known as “nickelodeons”; these theaters were also deemed responsible for the emergence of modern cinema (Charles Musser, pg. 417).

One of the first films produced and shown at a nickelodeon was a reproduction of a famous fight which involved “Corbett-Fitzsimmons” (Los Angeles Times, 1898). Per an article in the Los Angeles Times “The Famous Fight” reproduction proved the invention of the camera was scientifically advancing because the fight was known to last about an hour long. The reproduction of the fight was important to the public due to controversy about the fight being judged unfairly. People flocked to the nearest nickelodeon theaters so they could have their own opinion on what really happened during the fight.

Most of the films produced during the 1890’s were films reflecting images of real life situations. Some of these situations included “notable persons, railway trains, scenic places, foreign views, fire and police workers, military exercises, parades, naval scenes, expositions, parades, and sporting events” (Library of Congress). It was not until the early 1900’s that fiction story-lines were created and shown in theaters. This type of movie, which involved a script, developed the position of what we call movie actors. From the development of this new type of narrative script actors movie were required, which then created movie stars. Once certain actors were seen in numerous movies, audiences became more curious and want to know about these actors personally. Movie magazines were released to the public, which allowed them to read biographies of their favorite actors. When this personal information was released the public began to yearn for movies which displayed their favorite actors who became stars.

One of the first fiction films to be produced was “The Great Train Robbery” by Thomas Edison (Library of Congress). This films story-line was about two outlaws of the West who held-up the engineers of a train to steel it and the goods that it contained. There were numerous shots taken in this movie, which included indoor and outdoor motion picture photography. This movie was also known as one of the first films to introduce the two-shot sequence in motion picture photography. Edison always tried to be one-step ahead of his competitors, so trying new things in the movie industry was a must.

The emergence of cinema created a form of entertainment that has been running strong ever since the 1890’s all the way through today, 2006. Even though Edison was considered to be the first inventor of the motion picture machines, many other people quickly learned of his invention and strived to improve it, which created major market competition. Soon other companies began to develop new machinery that accentually took over the motion picture market and phased out Edison’s role in motion pictures. Even though Edison was fade away he still was considered not only the inventor of the first moving picture apparatus but was also considered responsible for creating new jobs in America because of his inventions. Movie scripts writers, actors, theater managers, and movie directors were all new jobs created for an aggressive transforming American Society.

Works Cited

Library of Congress-American Memory. “History of Edison Motion Pictures.” Accessed on May 10, 2006.

Los Angels Times. “The Famous Fight.” October 9, 1898. ProQuest Historical Newspapers-Los Angeles Times pg. B5. Accessed on May 10, 2006.

Garth Jowett, “Film: The Democratic Art.” (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1976).

Charles Musser, ‘The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen to 1907.” (Berkley: University of California Press, 1994).

Interesting Links to History and Images Include:

Ediso.

Science in the 1890s: The Rise of Scientific Naturalism

by David L.

During the end of the 19th century western scientific development had reached a crescendo of unprecedented proportions. New fields such as biology and genetics had developed explanations for some of life’s most elusive mysteries, while the older subjects such as physics and chemistry had evolved to a level where almost all relevant phenomenon could be explained by simple mathematical models. At this point in History, a philosophy by the name of Scientific Naturalism became popular among both scientists and lay persons in America. Scientific Naturalism (also known as Scientific Materialism of Pragmatism) is philosophy or world view that asserts that all actions events and objects can be fully explained through the application of known scientific concepts. During the late 19th Century this view of science came to dominate the scientific community as well as many other American intellectual circles. The concept of Scientific Naturalism represented the apex of American confidence in Science and during the 1890s its effects could be seen throughout scientific thought of the time. (4)

More than any other development during this period, it was new discoveries in physics that led many 19th Century intellectuals to believe that formalized science could applied universally through all fields. Due to discoveries throughout the 19th century by geniuses such as Boltzman, Rutherford, and Gibbs (the only prominent American among the great 19th century physics), by the early 1890s the scientific community had managed to unify the concepts of chemistry, thermodynamics and classical physics, giving way to an process for describing almost all observable events on Earth (5). With the advent of these achievements, many prominent scientists at the time were ready to declare a grand ‘Theory of Everything’ under which all physical phenomenon in the entire universe could be described within the confines of several basic scientific concepts. The existence of a nearly unified concept of physics formed the basis for peoples belief in Scientific Naturalism and led scientists in other fields to seek unifying principles that could explain reality within the confines of a formal scientific approach. To many prominent thinkers during the 1890s, it seemed that if a unified scientific theory could be used to describe lightning striking it was likely that science could similarly be used to describe and solve elusive social and psychological problems. (4)

Outside of the realm of physics, the role of scientific naturalism could already be seen in the ways American intellectuals viewed Darwinism. Although opposition to evolution was strong, it was increasingly making headways within the American academic elite. Most notable among the early proponents of evolution, was Herbert Spencer, best known for the his advocacy of Social Darwinism Although Social Darwinism is often times portrayed as simply an excuse for capitalist inequity, it is important to examine the fact that the motivations (but not the methods or conclusions) of early advocates of social Darwinism were at their base scientific (2). Spencer saw Darwinism, and eventually Social Darwinism, as an extension of scientific reason. Just as Newton laid down the basic laws of motion, Spencer felt that Darwinism was part of the same unbending physical laws that mankind could ignore only at its own risk. (3) Since science had seen such great success in the fields of chemistry and physics, it seemed impossible to Spencer, that a theory as lucid as Darwinism could not be cross-applied to the social organization of humans. To the Social Darwinists of the 1890s evolution was not a vague historical mechanism, but a scientific principle that could be applied strictly at every level of society (4)

However, evolution was hardly the only field to be influenced by the ideals of Scientific Naturalism. During the 1890s the field of psychology also came into being with similar philosophical motives. The most prominent figure behind the development of psychology was a man by the name of William James who worked throughout the 1890s to develop psychology from a vague field of interest to an accepted science. Perhaps the most important person in American psychology during the 19th century, James was most famous for his controversial theory of emotion. Under James’s theory, emotions, rather than being independent and spontaneous, were described as simply manifestations of measurable body conditions. James postulated that with close observation, a link between observable body functions and emotion could be detected and formalized.(1) As seen from his theory of emotion, William James was a firm believer of the idea that with enough rigor, even a system as complex as the human mind could be reduced to a simplified scientific understanding. James was heavily influenced by the philosophy of scientific naturalism, and he was not alone in the field; the late 19th century saw an explosion of interest in the scientific measurement of human mental capacity and functioning, eventually culminating in the creation of American Psychological Association in 1892. (6)

The subject of Scientific Naturalism might seem overly abstract, but in many ways 19th Century ideas on science reveal much about America in the 1890s. The 1890s was a decade in which an incredible optimism could be seen about technology and science. Many ordinary citizens, with no formal knowledge of science, looked towards scientists and engineers to find the solutions to literally all of society’s problems. Arguably, it was this attitude that led to both the decades great achievements and its darkest legacies. Looking back at the 1890s, it is easy to contrast the optimism of the late 19th Century with modern day views. For better or for worse, Americans today seem to regard answers based solely on scientific approaches with an enormous amount of skepticism. For evidence of this one should look no further than the debates over intelligent design. Not only is entire concept if intelligent design a reaction against Scientific Naturalism, one of the main accusations leveled at the proponents of classical Darwinism is that they irrationally subscribe to an “Naturalist world view” that inherently precludes the existence of forces not already found in existing scientific theories. Though this is a potent attack in today’s intellectual environment, ironically, this same label would probably not be seen as negative in the scientific community of the 1890s.

Sources Cited

1.) Psychology and Evolutionary Naturalism in American Thought, 1890-1940
Hamilton Cravens; John C. Burnham
American Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 5. (Dec., 1971), pp. 635-657.

2.) Evolution, Social or Cultural
A. R. Radcliffe-Brown
American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 49, No. 1. (Jan. - Mar., 1947), pp. 78-83.

3.) Evolution and the Rise of the Scientific Spirit in America
Sidney Ratner
Philosophy of Science, Vol. 3, No. 1. (Jan., 1936), pp. 104-122.

4.) Modernity and the Spirit of Naturalism (in The Fifth Annual Patrick Romanell Lecture on Philosophic Naturalism)
Thelma Z. Lavine; Clarence J. Robinson Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, Vol. 65, No. 3. (Nov., 1991), pp. 73-83.

5.) Revolutions in Physics and Crises in Mathematics
Salomon Bochner
Science, New Series, Vol. 141, No. 3579. (Aug. 2, 1963), pp. 408-411.

6.) Struick, Dirk J. Yankee Science in the Making. Boston, Little Borown and Company 1948

Ragtime

by Anson L.

Musically, ragtime is described as a composition written for the piano consisting of three to four sections, each with sixteen measures. The genre is usually recognized for its syncopated melody, which is accompanied by a steady rhythm.

Ragtime is one of the most elusive musical genres in American history. To this day, there is no formal definition of the genre. And to deepen the mystery, while any suggested that the term might have been derived from the word ‘ragged’, a term used to describe Negro dance music, the etymology of the word ‘ragtime’ itself is also unknown (Jasen 2). Historians have attempted to pinpoint the origin of the music along with the name associated with it, but these attempts have been unsuccessful. Some claimed that ragtime music was present at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, but there are no records that show that the term ‘ragtime’ was associated to the musical genre at the time (Berlin 27).

While the name and definition of ragtime is still shrouded in mystery, its origin is not. Ragtime originated in the 1890s and developed and matured during the following decades. Ragtime is usually created by forming and organizing several folk melodies and fusing it with original musical techniques (Schafer 5). The timing of the introduction of ragtime music was crucial to its later success. The emergence of ragtime happened alongside some technological advances that were taking place during the 1890s. During the decade, the music publishing industry experienced a huge boom. Coupled with new technological means of music communications such as recordings and piano rolls, ragtime music became a hit with the public.

Although popular, ragtime was not well received by everyone in the community. Some cultural leaders of the time feared that this was the downfall of classical music. These critics viewed ragtime as a threat to what they thought of as ‘good music’. They also thought that the nation’s youth is exposed, not to the European style of sophisticated culture, but to an African savagery nature (Berlin 32). One thing that critics and many supporters of ragtime music agree on is the vulgar nature of the lyrics, with most songs depicting violence, racial bigotry, greed and sexual promiscuity. Here’s an excerpt from a song titled Do Your Honey Do by Theodore A. Metz

What am de use for to tarry and toil,
And to save up all your dough,
When you feel in your bones,
Dat de gal dat you love,
Is another big nigger’s beau,
And the cheek of dat wench,
For to come around and say,
Dis here love you nebber can share,
I’ve another big coon,
He am de star o’ my soul,
Now do him if you dare,

And I done him, cause I love her
I carved him long, I carved him deep,
Yes I done him, Does you believe me,
And I put that coon to sleep...

The racial stereotype was even more apparent in ‘coon songs’, a musical craze that coexisted with ragtime during the ragtime era. The coon songs were a sign of the white-supremacy sentiment that existed in the 1890s. Coon songs were staple routines of minstrelsy and vaudeville. While it was a commercial success, there was an unfortunate by-product. Coon songs helped the skyrocketing sales of sheet music and concert hall tickets, but brought along with it a widespread racist sentiment. Both coon songs and ragtime music became an outlet for these white-imposed stereotypes and gradually transformed into a commercial showcase of racist humor. An example of this kind of stereotype is displayed in ‘All Coons Look Alike to Me’ by Ernest Hogan.

All coons look alike to me,
I’ve got another beau, you see,
And he’s just as good to me
As you, nig! Ever tried to be.

He spends his money free,
I know we can’t agree,
So I don’t like you no how,
All coons look alike to me.

This song is a particularly interesting example, in that Ernest Hogan was a black songwriter. This perhaps is one of the most unfortunate examples in which a black person of the time is depicted as submitting to the stereotype that the whites want to portray to the nation. Several black singers performed the same song later during the decade, but were hesitant to use the word ‘coon’. Singers such as J. Rosamond Johnson and Bob Cole substituted the word ‘coon’, for ‘boys’ in an attempt to lesson the song’s racial charge.

While ragtime music was not generally viewed in a positive light, it made a huge contribution in the development of a new genre in American music, Jazz. And although much of it was racially stereotypical, it did help to bring black music into the mainstream and made way for genres like jazz to flourish.

Bibliography

Berlin, Edward A. Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History. University of California Press; Berkeley, CA. 1980

Hasse, John Edward. Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music. Schirmer Books; New York, NY. 1985

Jansen, David A. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History. Seabury Press; New York, NY 1978

Schafer, William J. The Art of Ragtime: Form and Meaning of an Original Black American Art. Louisiana State University Press; Baton Rouge, LA. 1973

Waldo, Terry. This Is Ragtime. Hawthorn Books; New York, NY 1976

Baseball

by Chad P.

American Baseball transformed greatly in the 1890’s. The results of many of these transformations persist in baseball today. The social and economic conditions of the late nineteenth century shaped the status of American sports of the time, and baseball was no exception. The mid-nineteenth century began the formation of baseball clubs and the standardization of baseball rules. However the turmoil of the 1890’s as a result of competing league structures, team strikes, and player’s moral issues lead to the arrangement of the National and American Leagues and the current rules of modern American Baseball.

The social and political climate of the nineteenth century allowed for the necessary circumstances for the formation of modern American Baseball. The transformation of the United States from a rural society to an urban-industrial society helped create the conditions for the popularization of professional sports. Economic prosperity increased standards of living and created increased leisure time for the average American. In addition, the economic boom times enabled the formation of an America “aristocracy” that amassed sufficient capital to financially support sports. Further, Sports Journalism became popular as a result of increased communication capabilities due to new technologies which could transfer up to date information. In addition, new technology such as the railroad linked distant communities and allowed the teams from different regions to compete, creating friendly turf competitions. In America’s nineteenth century the economic and societal links tightened by technology permitted widespread interest in sports. (Betts, 39-40)

American Baseball was one of the many sports to benefit from the economic and social changes which created prevalent interest in sports. (Zingg, 396-397) Baseball clubs were organized all over the East and Mid-West in the mid-1800s, but the National League was not formed until 1876 by the president William Hulbert. The increased regional competition after the civil war, as a result of linking communities by rail significantly contributed to the development of baseball in the 1860’s and 1870’s.
In the 1880’s journalism and the beginning of standardization of baseball were important factors in baseball’s increasing popularity. By 1882, the American Baseball Association is created in a reaction against the National League, and the American Association becomes known as the Beer and Whiskey League. The first publication of Spalding’s official base ball guide in 1886 demonstrates the standardization of baseball rules. The expanded newspaper coverage of baseball shows the journalism’s importance to baseball. The nineteenth century was the root of American baseball, but by the 1890’s baseball became the national game, marking a decade of turmoil in baseball history. (Betts, 231-256)

John Montgomery Ward, the star player from the New York Giants, formed the first union for professional baseball players in 1885, naming the union the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players. By 1887 most of the players in the National League and American Association are members of the union and attempt to seek recognition to bargain for their contracts with the club owners. However, the club owners refuse to compromise on reserve clauses and the salary caps, especially on the controversial pitcher’s salary cap of two thousand dollars. (Sullivan) Hence, the Players’ League is formed on December 16, 1989 by numerous players that are unsatisfied with the National League (NL) and American Association (AA) contracts. (Reiss, 322)

The first season of the Players’ League begins in 1890 with strong financial backing. The contract issues are remedied with profit sharing for the players and long term contracts. The Players’ League includes many former players from AA and NL; however some star players refuse to join the Player’s League. Due to this the Players’ League fails after only one season, which leaves great competition between the NL and AA. “The new National League is formed in 1892, despite the club owner’s positive ideas of the new NL. The turmoil negatively impacts the fan’s views and decreases sales. (Sullivan)”

The decreased popularity of baseball, leads to changes to improve the public image of baseball. In 1894 the “Brush Rules” are established, which fines players one hundred dollars for vulgar language to assist in cleaning up baseballs moral issues. In 1895, stricter regulations are made which does not allow club owners to pay the fines for the players. (Ritter) During the 1890’s sports journalism’s exciting descriptions are considered one of the few reasons that base balls popularity continued through these dark ages. (Betts, 55-56)

By 1900 baseball was thriving again and the foundation of current American baseball was developed. The National League was strong and in 1900 the American League was established by Ban Johnson, a Cincinnati sportswriter. The 1890’s had seen standardization of most of the rules of baseball from the number of strikes and balls to the still customary sixty feet and six inches distance between the pitcher and the batter. The season was extended to one hundred and fifty games and the club owners were more regulated to create an even playing field. Although the beginning of the 1890’s marked a disarray of American Baseball, the disarray was resolved at the end of the decade, with a strong base and great fan support to develop the modern structure of American Baseball.

Work Cited

Betts, John. “Sporting Journalism in the Nineteenth-Century American” American Quarterly 5 (1953) 39-56.

Betts, John. “The Technological Revolution and the Rise of Sport, 1850-1900.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 40 (1953) 231-256.

Johnson, Lloyd. Baseball: A Pictorial Tribute. Stamford, CT: Brompton Books, 1995.

Reiss, Steven. “The New Sport History” Reviews in American History. 18 (1990) 311-325.

Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: the Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men who Played It. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1984.

Sullivan, Dean A. ed. Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.

Zingg, Paul. “Diamond in the Rough: Baseball and the Study of American Sports History.” The History Teacher. 19 (1986) 385-403.

Child Labor in Coal Mines

by Megan B.

Industry and progress not only touched the lives of children in the 1890’s, it nearly swallowed some of them whole. Children labored to abusive extents in numerous industries, such as agriculture and textiles. Coal mining stood apart from other industries, as an industry that literally put children’s lives at risk on a daily basis. It was estimated that in the Pennsylvania area alone, there were at least between nine thousand and ten thousand children under the age of fourteen working in coal mines, and very possibly as many as twelve thousand (1).

John Spargo observed and commented on the conditions children experienced working in the coal mines in his widely read piece, The Bitter Cry of the Children, published in 1906. The following is his description of life at the breaker, where the youngest children of the coal mine worked sorting coal:

The coal is hard, and accidents to the hands, such as cut, broken, or crushed fingers, are common among the boys. Sometimes there is a worse accident: a terrified shriek is heard, and a boy is mangled and torn in the machinery, or disappears in the chute to be picked out later smothered and dead. Clouds of dust fill the breakers and are inhaled by the boys, laying the foundations for asthma and miners' consumption”.

After working at the breakers, boys moved on to work inside the mine, underground as door tenders, switch boys, or mule drivers. These jobs entailed greater perils for the boys. They worked alone in the darkness of the mine, often for fourteen hours at a time. In addition to the harsh nature of their jobs, the boys were also disciplined harshly. To keep children on task "supervisors often resorted to the switch or whip" (3).

What would a day in the life of a child laborer in the mines be like? The boys working in the mines awoke by 5:30am, dressed in work clothes already covered in coal dust, and were at work by 7:00am. Breaker boys sat along a board over a large chute. Coal passed underneath them through the chutes, and all day long their job was to pick out pieces of slate and rock by hand. As can be imagined, their hands and fingers were cut over and over again performing this task. Coal dust hung in the air and filled their lungs.

The breaker boy advanced to be a door tender. These boys spent their days alone, in darkness, opening and closing the door for men and cars passing through. The door tender advances to the job of mule driver, entailing higher pay but higher physical danger. Mule drivers had to retrieve the mules from inside the mine, clean them, and harness them to the cars before 7:00am. For the rest of the day, mule drivers brought the full cars up to the breakers and the empty cars back down into the mine.

The mule drivers were endangered by the possibility of being crushed by the cars. In general the boys working inside the mines were at a greater risk of serious injury and death than the boys in the breakers were. It was not uncommon for the boys working underground to spend their day "partially submerged in water" (3). They were also at serious risk due to their exposure to mine dust and mine gas, and there was a constant risk of injury or death due to explosions, rock falls, and mine collapses (3).

In 1902 the National Child Labor Committee performed its first investigation of child labor in the coal mines (1). The committee was concerned with the moral effects of the mine work on the children. The committee believed that the children were adversely impacted by performing monotonous labor in dreadful conditions, and also by the influence of the men in the mine, who used profanity and obscenity in the presence of the children, as well as tobacco and alcohol.

In their report the committee commented that “the lives of many of the small boys in the coal region are already so tainted by vicious habits that an almost insuperable obstacle to a maturity of virtue and intelligence is presented” (1). Significantly, the committee also noted that the economic conditions of the coal mines were not such that the labor of the boys was required, but rather the economic conditions of everyday life pushed boys looking for work to help support their families into the coal mines.

Boys working as laborers in coal mines in the 1890's faced serious injury and death, losing their childhood in the process. The boys most often did not receive formal education (1). They worked to help support their working families. The lives of these children of the 1890's are illustrative of the realities of children in this era, which was that there was very little opportunity to live their lives as children.


Works Cited

1. Lovejoy, Owen R. ‘Child Labor in the Coal Mines’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 27 (March, 1906).

2. ‘No Rest for the Weary: Children in the Coal Mines’. Source: John Spargo, The Bitter Cry of Children (New York: Macmillan, 1906), 163–165.

3. Keil, Thomas J., 'The Family Wage System in Pennsylvania's Anthracite Region: 1850-1900'. Social Forces, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Sep., 1988).

4. ‘The Life of a Coal Miner’. By John McDowell.

Sexuality in the 1890s: The Role of the Gentleman in Society

by Hailey Y. and Stephanie T.

In the 1890s, gender roles served as an integral part of a functioning society. Women were expected to be pious, submissive and loyal to their husbands, caring and nurturing for their children, and well-bred, catering hostesses. If a woman were to overstep such boundaries, she would be considered un-ladylike, scandalous, or even immoral. Similarly, the boundaries for men, as far as their societal roles were concerned, proved to be just as rigid. The “ideal” socially-acceptable male was the “gentleman,” a Victorian version of today’s iconic “knight in shining armor,” the epitome of a present day “perfect man” (Gentleman 1). If a male were to overstep the boundaries of this definition, he would also be socially sanctioned, and find himself suffering various consequences.

The Gentleman figure of the 19th century is man who, by nature, avoids conflict and removes “obstacles” or unnecessary contention from his life and the lives of others; he does not argue unnecessarily, is considerate, and he encourages others to be the same (Gentleman 1). Because his intentions are non-abrasive, and because he desires to be so even-tempered, he then develops the skills of a dedicated listener, and is fair in his assessment of other’s opinions (Gentleman 1). Finally, although he possesses all of these fine qualities, the Victorian gentleman is always humble, and never betrays his actual confidence (Gentleman 2).

These characteristics were important in defining both a man’s internal constitution, and his actions within various situations. Even during the simplest daily tasks, like afternoon tea, there were strict guidelines for the man that wanted to be considered a gentleman. He was required to partake in what he was served, regardless of his actual taste, was expected to produce intelligible, appropriate conversation when necessary, and always take out a cigar for himself and his guests at the conclusion of tea (19th Century 1). Other important 19th century events like dining, attending a ball, sport or leisure event, engaging in business, politics and the public sphere, or promoting education, each had similarly structured societal “rules” (19th Century 1).

Such rules meant that there was little room for self expression. A gentleman wore clothing that had been deemed suitable for the occasion, in the colors that were fashionable, despite his personal inclination. The “sack suit,” or business suit was considered the “leisure wear” of the day (American 1). For the majority of Americans, the sack suit was a gentleman’s “best clothes;” a banker or a man of middle class would wear it to a picnic, whereas a man of lower class would only wear a sack suit to church (American 1). Gentleman wore primarily black or gray, and his trousers or upper garments were “required” to match (American 1).

Appropriateness ranged from the minute detail of proper wardrobe and dress to situations regarding personal relationships, such as that of marriage and right to possessions. One of the major characteristics of a gentleman was that he respect others, and that the same respect extend into his relationship with his wife and his possessions. A “true gentleman” gave his wife “equal right to all [of his] worldly possessions” and thus “a certain sum of money” (Whisper 1). He considered his property to be more than his own, and recognized that his family had equal right to that property.

The way that a man treated women in the Victorian age extended from issues of courtesy, like the previously mentioned role of money and expenditures within a marriage, to more controversial, socially weighted issues of sexual boundaries. During the 19th Century, there was a debate between whether or not it was considered apropos to engage in physical activities with one’s close familiar relations, i.e. cousins. The meaning of kissing had evolved during this time from a form of common courtesy, like handshaking, that could be exchanged with a common acquaintance, to a form of special endearment only proper if exchanged between “husband and wife, brother and sister, father and daughter, lover and betrothed” (Familiarities 1). In an article that engages this subject, “an estimable gentleman and an eminently useful member of society” is shunned for his blatant ignorance of this value, describing in detail how the man forces his daughters’ schoolmates to kiss him upon arriving, and upon leaving his household. The article seems to suggest that although the young females are neither “prudish nor ill-bred,” that the man being discussed, by virtue of his behavior, is “no real gentleman” (Familiarities 2).

The importance of being a gentleman in the Victorian age was more than a matter of dressing the part, or acting according to social guidelines. Becoming a gentleman was a way of measuring one’s internal constitution, and determining the value of one’s self. The consequences of rebelling against gentlemanly ideals meant tarnishing one’s reputation amongst outsiders, amongst family and friends. But perhaps more importantly, that rebellion meant a loss of self value and honor that, during this time, could only be attained through the title of “gentleman.”


Bibliography

A Gentleman

A Whisper to a Newly-Married Pair: A Whisper to The Husband On Expenditure

American Men’s Attire: 1860-1900

Familiarities Between Relations

The 19th Century Gentleman

Gilded Age Baseball: A Mirror of Society

by Christian W.

The decade of the 1890’s was a period of social change and reform, big business, and racial tension. During this time, America’s newly instated national pastime, baseball, was in its fledgling years. The organization of baseball in the 1890’s was, in reality, as fragile as an infant. The rules we have today were just being conceived, Babe Ruth was just a distant descendant to the forefathers of the game, and Barry Bonds was more than a century away from trying to break records. Nonetheless, this is the period when leagues were formed, teams were chartered and players formed unions. As professional baseball developed it became clear that the racial stances, business practices and theory behind the way the game was played all echoed the societal norms of the day.

Baseball as we know it today began in Manhattan in the mid 1840’s. It was seen as a gentleman’s game for professionals and started as a grassroots leisure activity. Through the 1850’s and early 1860’s the popularity of the sport grew and baseball clubs were popping up in cities throughout the U.S (1). The first leagues were formed when clubs from different cities began playing each other on the weekends and the sport grew beyond the east coast into the west and into Oregon (1). The progression of the game was halted by the civil war in the late 1860’s. After the war the soldiers returned home and brought baseball with them. The first professional team came into being in Cincinnati in 1871 and the stage was set for professional leagues to be established and the nation to mold a new pastime (1).

Although professional leagues were established earlier than the 1890’s the finer points of running a team and managing inter-league competition were yet not realized. Team owners in this era exercised a large amount of power over their players, setting forward rules that capped salaries and limited options for players wanting to change teams. The tension between owners and players escalated as players began missing games due to not being paid. Players who were fed up with the conditions they were playing under formed the “Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players” baseball player union, and in 1889 went on strike as the first professional sports union in the U.S (2). Team owners exercised complete control of their players, so much so that players were seen as a commodity in a marketplace. They were bought and sold without consent and their skills had no worth other than salary to themselves, while the corporate owners of their team made thousands of dollars due to trades and ticket sales (2). Their attempt to start a league of their own, with team ownership falling into the hands of the players acting as “capitalists” and not owners failed due to the already large number of leagues present. In the end the players had to settle for the only to get paid, that was, to work for the rich baseball club owners (2). As baseball became a profitable endeavor, the skills and trade of the working class players were capitalized on by rich owners who could profit from mass marketing these skills to boost ticket sales. This exploitation of the lower classes skills is reminiscent of much big business during this era. The attempt of the players to rise up, only to be quelled by the wealthy owners rings similar to the attempts at labor reform present in corporate and industrial America during the later parts of the 19th century. Players received more than an average worker in their salary, but the gap between earnings from the top of the baseball corporation to the bottom was extreme. Just like in the factories and sweatshops, those who labored received little, while those with the means to market their wares on a large scale made significant profits and shared little (2).

Another way in that the teams of the 1890’s mirrored the corporate environment was a new style of play invented in 1894. The Baltimore Orioles studied, timed, and perfected the movements it took to hit infield balls and run from base to base. Their mastery of the timing and nuance of the game, put into an assembly line of men on base was called “scientific play” (3). Much like the practice of scientific management manager and coaches would watch and time a players movements to enhance efficiency and focus on strong points in the players game. In a time when sluggers and homerun hitters ruled the game, this infield heavy manner of play proved effective as a tool for increasing the chance of victory (3). By paralleling factory and corporate work common in the cities where the baseball teams were based, the managers were able to fine-tune their teams into a working unit. One player would bunt and get on base, and the next would double to take the first to home, the last would hit an RBI into the outfield and bring the runner on third home. Each player had his task and his strength, they were polished, compartmentalized, and implemented in a way that was not unlike secretaries in a large corporate office sorting papers with accuracy and consistency (3).

Unfortunately, the prejudices that resided in corporate America were also ringing through baseball at this time as well. The “color line” had been drawn, and African American players were forced to start their own “Negro Leagues” in order to have a chance to play (4). These teams were often technically superior to the all white major league teams and offered entertainment on a level not available at a major league game. Players would steal bases more regularly, dive for catches, and play to the crowd while simultaneously performing impressive athletic feats (5). All white clubs who did not adopt the scientific style of play had a system of putting a man on first, and then bring up a homerun hitter to drive in the points. This was looked down on in the African American leagues that made for much more exciting and technically fast-paced games than the major league counterparts (5). The ban on African Americans in baseball that was implemented in 1890 reflected the attitude of inequality present throughout this decade in America. The action of the African American ballplayers to coordinate teams and tournaments without wealthy sponsorship shows the drive and determination to be seen on equal terms as the White population (6). Unfortunately, because of the lack of corporate sponsorship the leagues were often put on hold because of local economic problems. Nevertheless, the presence of these leagues opened the door for future hall of fame players such as Jackie Robinson and Willie Mayes to take the field as major league players (5).

Baseball was born in the 1840’s but it came into adulthood through the decade of the 1890’s. We can use our national pastime as a window to view the trends and prejudices present in our culture during that era. The attitudes of the players towards the team ownership, the methods through which the game was played, and the discrimination of African Americans all reflect views and practices in American Culture during the 1890’s. By using the looking glass of Baseball we can get a third person perspective on how intertwined the corporate and societal ideals of the decade are with the way sports are played and manipulated. In a period driven by money and prejudice, we can see the same values reflected in stadiums throughout the major cities. In a time when speed and efficiency were treasured traits, we can see them sought after and put to use on the baseball diamonds in rural centers. Baseball in the 1890’s was truly a child of the decade, mirroring society both in its management, and the way the game was played.

Works Cited

1. The History and Beginnings of Baseball 6th Nov. 2005.

2. Ethan, Lewis, A Structure To Last Forever: The players League and Brotherhood war of 1890

3. Scientific Baseball. 6th Jun. 2001

4. Introduction to Baseball's Negro Leagues

5. Negro Leagues baseball: Timeline of Even in Professional Black Baseball

6. Pope, Steven W. A review of The League That Failed

The Bird Hat Craze

By Megan D.

The late 1880s saw a fashion craze that seemed to sweep both the markets and popular culture equally. The use of exotic objects such as fruit, furs and animals in the millinery (hat making) business mostly among fashionable women became the norm. However, perhaps the most debated accessory was the use of birds as hat ornaments. the utilization of birds as décor was both highly revered and detested. Bird feathers, and I some cases entire stuff birds were used as topping for a Victorian era hat. Often, even birds considered to be endangered were used in order for hats to be "one of a kind" for those patrons who were willing to pay sometimes outlandish prices for them. In one instance, ornithologist Frank Chapmen walked the streets of Manhattan on a hat survey and counted about three quarters of the 700 hats he view as being decorated in bird ornament in some way (Ehrlic).



In America alone, the gull, tern, heron and egret populations saw sharp declines along the Atlantic coast (Price). Even popular magazines noted that the craze would probably decimate large populations of birds due to the attractiveness of owning a bird hat. Profits were extremely lucrative, in fact, in 1903 a business whose purpose was solely the hunting and gathering of plumes for trading would make roughly $32 per ounce! Thus even through controversy, the roughly 83,000 people who worked in the millinery business stood strong against opposition as the money was simply too good (Ehrlic).

However many people were not so easily swayed by the monetary gains of the plume trading industry. They saw the hunting of birds for something as trivial as fashion to be cruel and irresponsible. In the same time period states were forming individual Audubon Societies under the purposes of campaigning for bird protection against the millinery industry (Price). These advocates launched what could be called the first modern movement to conserve animals. Although it started as primarily grassroots, it gained notable esteem.

One thing I find exceedingly interesting, is that this grassroots movement of Audubon organizations across the country were primarily run by women of leisure, fashionable women of city society. In fact, about 80% of all membership and half the leadership was female (price). I immediately thought back on the information we had been given earlier in the class about women of leisure and their endeavors at social change in young women's homes. One must ask if the high level of female involvement in these societies had to do with this trend of community involvement among upper class women as a means of finding something to keep themselves occupied (most of the plans to boycott the industry was done through the use of lush afternoon teas as informational meetings).

However there are other societal considerations that may put the debate into a more understandable context. First, we must understand the time in which this "craze" occurred . Second, we must consider the moral implications of women and their place in this time in history. The 19th century saw major advances in the industrial world. Things that were once taken as sacred part of nature were now being used for inventions that were changing the way humans lived (oil, wood, steel etc). Perhaps one hundred years earlier, when things weren't considered to be as expendable, using animals for such "selfish" means would have been even more hotly debated than in the 1890s.

Another consideration is the level of moral involvement the opposition might have had. Women in the Victorian era were seen as precious, virginal, moral individuals, who were not to ruin their nature in any way were defaming their names, and the names of their counterparts by participating in such a vulgar practice of wearing birds upon their heads. Women were supposed to be a wall of morality around a perverse world. Their actions were to reflect their given status. In essence, no one was to be more moral than the woman. The fur trade most certainly could not be fully blamed for it's indecency, that was what was to be expected, but if women were buying into such a defamatory practice, then society as a whole could be considered to be in danger (Price). This is an interesting dichotomy. We seem to have the old fashioned ideals of times past clashing with the need for advancement in more modern times; a theme we have seen often during this class. What is more interesting is that this dichotomy is occurring within the same level of the social strata. Arguments could be made on both sides of the debate, but perhaps the most important lesson that could be taken from this very interesting cultural craze was it's ability to show the affects of modernity on the ideals of a people.


Works Cited

Ehrlic. Paul R. Dobkin. David S. Wheye. Darryl. "Plume Trade." 1988. Stanford University.

Price. Jennifer. "When Women Were Women, Men Were Men, and Birds Were Hats." Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern America. New York: Basic Books, 1999

The Edison Company and Motion Pictures

By Laura T.

During the early 1890’s many middle-class Americans were regimented by the daily factory routine. According to Janette Thomas Greenwood and her book, The Gilded Age, she points out that there was shift in American culture, emphasizing a desire to engage in recreational activities (171). The newly developed cinematic experience offered Americans entertainment during their leisure time. The popularity of full-length films did not arise until the 1930’s with the creations from Walt Disney, however the history of motion picture technology became possible through the inventions of Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison and Company became an influential component in the development of motion picture technology and film production. Thomas Edison was one of the greatest inventors in history, and through his invention of the Kinetoscope and short films, he paved the way for future films and technological advances along with the increasing popularity of movie theatres.

Inventions
Before the invention of the Kinetoscope, the first machine patented in the United States that showed animated pictures was a device called the Zoopraxiscope. William Lincoln had patented this device in 1867. This device allowed for pictures to be watched through a hole in the machine, but was not very successful and soon came the invention of the Kinetoscope.
The Kinetoscope came to existence in October 1888. Edison believed this device would record and reproduce objects in motion, which would "do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear." The name Kinetoscope was derived using the Greek words "kineto" meaning "movement" and "scopos" meaning "to watch." (1) The image illustrates the basic design of the Kinetoscope. It was a tall wooden box with a magnifying lens in the top. Inside the box the film, was a continuous band of approximately 50 feet, and as each frame passed under the lens, the shutter permitted a flash of light so brief that the frame appeared to be frozen. This rapid series of still frames appeared as a moving image. The invention allowed for Kinetoscope parlors to open throughout the states.

Films
The first motion picture shown in a theater to an America audience was on April 23, 1896, in New York City. Admission was twenty-five cents as viewers were treated to several short films within their cinematic debut. Nearly five hundred people became cinema's first major audience during the showing of the films. The earliest movie theatres were converted churches or halls, showing just ten to twelve minutes of film. (2) Unlike the films today that last two hours, ten minutes was all of the projector's reel capacity at the time.

Early films produced by the Edison Company during this period were actuality films. These short films were motion pictures taken of everyday life and events as they occurred. One of Edison's first motion picture and the first motion picture ever copyrighted showed his employee Fred Ott pretending to sneeze. During this brief five-second clip, the importance was not the content of the action, but the fact that the sequence of movement could be viewed. The Edison Company's actuality films contained scenes of local events such as scenic places, parades, expositions, and sporting events. By 1904, fiction films, as opposed to actualities, were becoming increasingly popular. The Edison Company also focused on contemporary social issues in fictional films that reflected the Progressive attitudes of the time. (3) Thomas Edison created hundreds of short film clips that can be viewed at the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Theatres
Shifting from the Kinetoscope parlors, new storefront theaters began to emerge. These theatres were called nickelodeons and first appeared in 1905. Nickelodeons featured films all day long. The theaters attracted a variety of people, including women and children, and the frequent showings allowed people to stop in almost anytime. However, by the end of 1907, entrepreneurs began to build movie theaters with greater seating capacities where larger audiences could see longer film productions. (4)

During the Gilded Age, the emergence of motion pictures in America was made possible through the inventions and works of Thomas Edison. The Kinetoscope device allowed a series of moving objects to become short film clips. The growth of film ideas and technology has obviously advanced drastically over time, yet its roots remain with the creation of the ten-minute motion reels. The Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division houses more than half a million moving image items, including feature films, shorts, serials, newsreels, cartoons, documentaries, educational films, television programs, and commercials. (5) The short clips available are quite interesting to see the beginning attempts to create films. The growth of movies has allowed Americans to engage in a leisure activity. Through the history of motion pictures and the innovations of Thomas Edison, we can attribute the birth of films to the innovations of the 1890’s.

Bibliography

1. Kinetoscope. Accessed May 6, 2006

2. History of Edison Motion Pictures. Accessed May 6, 2006


3. Edison Film Production. (1896-1900) Accessed May 6, 2006


4. Fictional Films Dominate as Nickelodeons Emerge. Accessed May 6, 2006


5. Moving Image Section--Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Accessed May 6, 2006

6. Thomas-Greenwood, Janette. The Gilded Age: A History in Documents. Oxford University
Press; New York, 2000.