Recreational Entertainment In The 1920's
At the end of the 19th century, many changes began taking place in our country. The beginning of the industrial revolution boosted the economy, helping more people get jobs. This boost in the economy ultimately drove the push for more recreational entertainment. Towards the end of the industrial revolution came a change in the amount of time people worked. Before 1860, people didn’t have an abundant amount of free time. This is because in 1860 the normal work week averaged an incredible 66 hours (“39b. Sports and leisure”)! By the 1920s the work week had decreased 26 hours, putting the average workweek at 40 hours. In the 1920’s Henry Ford, in addition to his creation of the assembly line, invented the 5 day 40 hour work week ("Ford Factory
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Workers Get 40-hour Week."). He changed these things, hoping to acquire more workers, and to boost his worker’s productivity. It’s no wonder why entertainment made a jump from simply church on Sunday to things such as vaudevilles, boxing, football, and baseball. This change in culture led to the drive and growth in cultural entertainment.
There were two types of entertainment that emerged during this time.The first, leisure entertainment, included vaudeville and theatre. The second, recreational entertainment, included sports such as football and boxing. Football, especially at the college level, became an extremely large part of the American spectator entertainment. Relaxed rules and no prominent knowledge of the health risk lead to 18 football related deaths in 1905 (“39b. Sports and Leisure”). Baseball also became a very well liked pastime, and the National baseball league was formed in 1876 (“39b. Sports and Leisure”). Shortly after the league was formed, touring baseball leagues became ever more popular. People, especially the younger generations, began to love attending the league’s games. The younger people looked up to their favorite stars, such as shortstop Honus Wagner, who played 21 seasons in the major baseball league almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates (“Honus Wagner”).
Boxing, even though not considered a sport until New York legalized it in 1896, was widely popular (“Bare Knuckle Boxing Thrived in the Nineteenth Century”). Men would hold matches out in the open, these matches generally drew many people, and sometimes would even be reported to the local paper for publishing. Boxing, because it was not really considered a sport, needed a large amount of refining. The guidelines the boxers generally played by were called the “London Rules”, and lacked a general time amount (“Bare Knuckle Boxing Thrived in the Nineteenth Century”). These rules had no round limit or round time limit, meaning matches and rounds could go on for hours. The men would fight until one would go to the ground, at this point there was a thirty second break. After the break, the two boxers would be asked to stand up and meet in the middle of the ring. When one of the boxers was unable to stand or make it to the center, the match would be given to the standing champion. In the early days of boxing, men did not even wear protective gear. This lack of protection often caused the men’s hands to be bloody, fractured, and broken. The invention of the boxing glove wasn’t until 1860 in England, when sports man John Douglas developed rules based on padded gloves (“Bare Knuckle Boxing Thrived in the Nineteenth Century”). These rules didn’t come into effect until the 1880’s in America. The new rules were called the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. These rules have been the basis for general boxing since their publication.
As time got closer to the turn of the century, people were not just looking for sports and arena entertainment. People were becoming ever more interested in music, and the arts. Vaudeville, a combination of music and comedy, became increasingly popular between 1870s and early 1900s (“About Vaudeville”). This was especially well known in old frontier towns, where these shows were intended for only male audiences. Because of mainly male audiences, these shows were often crudely comical. This trend continued until the early 1880s when Tony Pastor, a minstrel singer, made a variety show specifically designed for families. Other producers quickly realized the amount of money they could make with the wider audience, and thus vaudeville shifted from vulgar to more family friendly. With these changes and quickly growing urban populations, vaudeville became a central point of the American cultural life(“About Vaudeville”).
Vaudeville wasn’t centered around just comedy, it had almost all acts of stage entertainment.
These acts would range from people performing stunts to playing the piano, to dancers and tumblers, actors would put on shows, and magicians displayed great feats. The shows could go on for hours at a time. Often there would be a dozen or more acts in a single showing (“About Vaudeville”). However, as many act different acts as there were, comedy often brought in the biggest crowds. Comedy acts such as Witt and Berg were the most popular. Vaudeville appeared to be nothing more than different acts of entertainment, this however was not the case. It was much more than entertainment, it was the changing of an era. These shows were the symbol of cultural diversity at the turn of 19th century America. It was the product of centuries old cultural traditions. These which included, the English music hall, minstrel shows of antebellum America, and the Yiddish theater (“About Vaudeville”). However not completely free from its times prejudice, it was the first form of entertainment to cross racial and class barriers. For many people, it was one of their first exposure to people of other cultures, many of which they may not have even known
of.
As time progress Vaudeville slowly went out of style, mainly with the invention of the cinema. Vaudeville theaters became equipped to show new productions of cinema, with these shows, the live actors and singers were forced to find different work. Many of the smaller Vaudeville actors struggled to find any. Most went out of work, and had to look elsewhere to make a living. Some of the popular actors however, became big stars in the cinema industry. Big actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Burt Williams, Buster Keaton, implemented their Vaudeville talents in many of the silent movies (“About Vaudeville”).
As vast as modern entertainment is now, entertainment still holds its roots from what started at the turn of the century. Sports are still a prominent part of recreational entertainment, and going to the theater is and always will be widely popular. But we can still revisit old time shows and Vaudeville-type performances at the Historic Ellisville Opera House and other similar theatrical venues in our area.
Workers Get 40-hour Week."). He changed these things, hoping to acquire more workers, and to boost his worker’s productivity. It’s no wonder why entertainment made a jump from simply church on Sunday to things such as vaudevilles, boxing, football, and baseball. This change in culture led to the drive and growth in cultural entertainment.
There were two types of entertainment that emerged during this time.The first, leisure entertainment, included vaudeville and theatre. The second, recreational entertainment, included sports such as football and boxing. Football, especially at the college level, became an extremely large part of the American spectator entertainment. Relaxed rules and no prominent knowledge of the health risk lead to 18 football related deaths in 1905 (“39b. Sports and Leisure”). Baseball also became a very well liked pastime, and the National baseball league was formed in 1876 (“39b. Sports and Leisure”). Shortly after the league was formed, touring baseball leagues became ever more popular. People, especially the younger generations, began to love attending the league’s games. The younger people looked up to their favorite stars, such as shortstop Honus Wagner, who played 21 seasons in the major baseball league almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates (“Honus Wagner”).
Boxing, even though not considered a sport until New York legalized it in 1896, was widely popular (“Bare Knuckle Boxing Thrived in the Nineteenth Century”). Men would hold matches out in the open, these matches generally drew many people, and sometimes would even be reported to the local paper for publishing. Boxing, because it was not really considered a sport, needed a large amount of refining. The guidelines the boxers generally played by were called the “London Rules”, and lacked a general time amount (“Bare Knuckle Boxing Thrived in the Nineteenth Century”). These rules had no round limit or round time limit, meaning matches and rounds could go on for hours. The men would fight until one would go to the ground, at this point there was a thirty second break. After the break, the two boxers would be asked to stand up and meet in the middle of the ring. When one of the boxers was unable to stand or make it to the center, the match would be given to the standing champion. In the early days of boxing, men did not even wear protective gear. This lack of protection often caused the men’s hands to be bloody, fractured, and broken. The invention of the boxing glove wasn’t until 1860 in England, when sports man John Douglas developed rules based on padded gloves (“Bare Knuckle Boxing Thrived in the Nineteenth Century”). These rules didn’t come into effect until the 1880’s in America. The new rules were called the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. These rules have been the basis for general boxing since their publication.
As time got closer to the turn of the century, people were not just looking for sports and arena entertainment. People were becoming ever more interested in music, and the arts. Vaudeville, a combination of music and comedy, became increasingly popular between 1870s and early 1900s (“About Vaudeville”). This was especially well known in old frontier towns, where these shows were intended for only male audiences. Because of mainly male audiences, these shows were often crudely comical. This trend continued until the early 1880s when Tony Pastor, a minstrel singer, made a variety show specifically designed for families. Other producers quickly realized the amount of money they could make with the wider audience, and thus vaudeville shifted from vulgar to more family friendly. With these changes and quickly growing urban populations, vaudeville became a central point of the American cultural life(“About Vaudeville”).
Vaudeville wasn’t centered around just comedy, it had almost all acts of stage entertainment.
These acts would range from people performing stunts to playing the piano, to dancers and tumblers, actors would put on shows, and magicians displayed great feats. The shows could go on for hours at a time. Often there would be a dozen or more acts in a single showing (“About Vaudeville”). However, as many act different acts as there were, comedy often brought in the biggest crowds. Comedy acts such as Witt and Berg were the most popular. Vaudeville appeared to be nothing more than different acts of entertainment, this however was not the case. It was much more than entertainment, it was the changing of an era. These shows were the symbol of cultural diversity at the turn of 19th century America. It was the product of centuries old cultural traditions. These which included, the English music hall, minstrel shows of antebellum America, and the Yiddish theater (“About Vaudeville”). However not completely free from its times prejudice, it was the first form of entertainment to cross racial and class barriers. For many people, it was one of their first exposure to people of other cultures, many of which they may not have even known
of.
As time progress Vaudeville slowly went out of style, mainly with the invention of the cinema. Vaudeville theaters became equipped to show new productions of cinema, with these shows, the live actors and singers were forced to find different work. Many of the smaller Vaudeville actors struggled to find any. Most went out of work, and had to look elsewhere to make a living. Some of the popular actors however, became big stars in the cinema industry. Big actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Burt Williams, Buster Keaton, implemented their Vaudeville talents in many of the silent movies (“About Vaudeville”).
As vast as modern entertainment is now, entertainment still holds its roots from what started at the turn of the century. Sports are still a prominent part of recreational entertainment, and going to the theater is and always will be widely popular. But we can still revisit old time shows and Vaudeville-type performances at the Historic Ellisville Opera House and other similar theatrical venues in our area.