Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York

275 Pages·1986·3.84 MB·English

by  Kathy Peiss

CHEAP AMUSEMENTS
WORKING WOMEN AND
CHEAP AMUSEMENTS
LEISURE IN TURN-OF-THE-
CENTURY NEW YORK
KATHY PEISS
FOR MY MOTHER AND FATHER, WITH LOVE
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
Chapter One
The Ilomosocial World of WorkingClass Amusements 11
Chapter Two
Leisure and Labor 34
Chapter Three
Putting on Style 56
Chapter Four
Dance Madness 88
Chapter Five
The Coney Island Excursion 115
Chapter Six
Cheap Theater and the Nickel Dumps 139
Chapter Seven
Reforming Working Women's Recreation 163
Conclusion 185
Notes 189
Index 237
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Anyone who writes about the history of New York City feels a kinship with the
immigrant at Ellis Island, faced with a bewildering array of information,
impressions, and leads, grateful fir the help of colleagues, friends and passers-by.
It is a pleasure to thank those who have aided me in the long project of
researching, writing and producing this book.
My oldest debt is to Mari Jo Buhle, who guided this research as a dissertation;
the conceptualization of the book, its organization and prose have benefited
immeasurably from her careful readings of drafts and meaningful suggestions,
while her friendship and belief in my work have sustained me for a number of
years. I am obliged as well to another graduate school mentor, Howard
Chudacoff, for his useful questions, intelligent criticisms, and unwavering
support. Susan Porter Benson and Roy Rosenzweig read this manuscript in
painstaking detail, and incalculably helped me to chart revisions. I am very
grateful to Linda Shopes, for her insightful advice on several chapters; Judith
Gerson, who sharpened my thinking about gender; David Green, who
thoughtfully commented on many drafts; and Robert Earickson, for his help on
countless details. These friends have also suffered through this work with me at
various times, and offered their comradeship and good humor in what has often
been a lonely task.
My work has benefited significantly from discussions with various scholars at
different conferences and seminars; while our meetings have often been brief,
they have given me much to ponder. Lewis Erenberg, Stephen Hardy, Daniel
Horowitz, Dale Light, and Priscilla Murolo in particular made very helpful
comments on various parts of this work. Lois Banner and her NEII Summer
Seminar for College Teachers in 1984 offered many useful suggestions, as did
participants in my women's history study group, JoAnn Argersinger, Toby Ditz,
Elizabeth Ermarth, Jenny Jochens, Marylynn Salmon, Linda Shopes, and Karen
Whitman.
I could not have undertaken this project without the superb collections of the
New York Public Library. The staff of the Rare Books and Manuscript Division,