The Dawn of Mass Culture

Mr. White’s US History 1

Big Questions As you complete these notes, think

about the following questions: Compare and contrast the way that

Americans spent their leisure time in the early 1900s with how they spend it today. Are they more alike, or different?

Compare and contrast mass culture of the early 1900s with today.

Compare and contrast shopping and advertising in the early 1900s with today.

American Leisure Leisure time was primarily a middle-

or upper-class activity – why? Over the early 1900s, Americans

would enjoy more and more leisure activities Amusement parks Bicycling and tennis Spectator sports Baseball

Amusement Parks Parks were built

that had picnic areas and rides to go on

Coney Island in New York opened in 1884

First Ferris wheel opened in Chicago in 1893

Bicycling and Tennis Previously male-only – tires were

all rubber, kind of dangerous After invention of safer bicycles,

women begin to cycle – meant freedom for many of them

Tennis – not as big now, but people then enjoyed it

Snacks Coca-Cola –

originates in 1886, hitting mainstream by 1900s

Hershey’s chocolate bars

Spectator Sports and Baseball Boxing and baseball became popular as

spectator sports – had just been for fun before

Baseball – appeared in the US in 1845, and became popular during the Civil War

By 1900s, game had been standardized, and clubs were appearing everywhere in the country

Mass Culture Newspapers – worked harder to grab

readers’ attention with interesting stories – “sin, sex, and scandal.”

Fine arts – art galleries appear in cities, many free and public libraries

Popular fiction – more book writers start writing light fiction, as opposed to heavy literature

Shopping First shopping center appears in

1890 – people could come, stroll around, and view window displays

Department stores – actually begin as early as 1865

Chain stores – stores that offered the same products at many locations saved money by buying in large quantities

Advertising Money spent on advertising went from

$10 million in 1865 to $95 million by 1900 Advertisers used innovative methods –

put advertisements on buildings, rocks, etc.

Catalogs introduced – people could look through the catalog and order through a form, then have it delivered to their house

Discussion Questions When you have free time, what kind of

leisure activities do you do? How are these different from those in the late 1900s?

Compare and contrast news and media of the early 1900s (newspapers) to today. How are they the same? Different?

Compare and contrast shopping and advertising of the early 1900s (newspapers) to today. How are they the same? Different?