HIST 2057 ESSAY 1
Brooks Rogers
Professor Carson
History 2057
February 10, 2015
Amusing the Million Paper In John Kasson’s book Amusing The Million; Kasson creates an image of Coney Island that is an escape from the increasingly urban lifestyle where people were expected to follow strict social codes of conduct. Throughout the nineteenth century a polite and courteous norm was considered as the ‘official’ culture of America. This proper group of reformers took matters into their own hands to try to control and end the debauchery caused by the public. These reformers built museums and libraries to influence a culture based on integrity and morality. Kasson, however, points out that this social disagreement is never fully installed into American society do to the large range of different people and their cultural beliefs. Although these reformists do try to sway the growing population to spend their free time in a way that reflected the social peace and order they wished to see, the new urban public turned to Coney Island since it was a dream world that showed the reserve of what the genteel reformers wanted. “..Coney Island celebrated particularly the sexual aspect of this freedom, the “naughtiness” of violating customary proprieties” (Kasson 47). As seen in the picture on page 49 of Amusing The Million; not only did people love Coney Island because of the hot dogs, funnel cakes, roller coasters, brass bands, or even the endless beer gardens; it was because they could explore the emerging exotic amusements and not be judged for it. Kasson states “In the later nineteenth century, an assertive new economic elite arose with less intimate ties to the custodians of culture” (Kasson 5). These were the wealthier people of the time, who had a large impact in culture because of their economic pull. Some genteel reformers successfully formed alliances with these new elitists but overall the new rich class eclipsed the genteel progress. Coney Island is acknowledged in the fact that it was
Professor Carson
History 2057
February 10, 2015
Amusing the Million Paper In John Kasson’s book Amusing The Million; Kasson creates an image of Coney Island that is an escape from the increasingly urban lifestyle where people were expected to follow strict social codes of conduct. Throughout the nineteenth century a polite and courteous norm was considered as the ‘official’ culture of America. This proper group of reformers took matters into their own hands to try to control and end the debauchery caused by the public. These reformers built museums and libraries to influence a culture based on integrity and morality. Kasson, however, points out that this social disagreement is never fully installed into American society do to the large range of different people and their cultural beliefs. Although these reformists do try to sway the growing population to spend their free time in a way that reflected the social peace and order they wished to see, the new urban public turned to Coney Island since it was a dream world that showed the reserve of what the genteel reformers wanted. “..Coney Island celebrated particularly the sexual aspect of this freedom, the “naughtiness” of violating customary proprieties” (Kasson 47). As seen in the picture on page 49 of Amusing The Million; not only did people love Coney Island because of the hot dogs, funnel cakes, roller coasters, brass bands, or even the endless beer gardens; it was because they could explore the emerging exotic amusements and not be judged for it. Kasson states “In the later nineteenth century, an assertive new economic elite arose with less intimate ties to the custodians of culture” (Kasson 5). These were the wealthier people of the time, who had a large impact in culture because of their economic pull. Some genteel reformers successfully formed alliances with these new elitists but overall the new rich class eclipsed the genteel progress. Coney Island is acknowledged in the fact that it was