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 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014462893 
 
STUDIES IN AMERICAN SOCIAL CONDITIONS— 8 
 
 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 RICHARD HENRY EDWARDS 
 
 Editor of Studies in Social Problems, Extension Division 
 University of Wisconsin; Sodcd Study and Service 
 Secretary, Student Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Assodations 
 
 SLslioaation Sj^ttii 
 
 New Yobk: 124 Eabt 28th Street 
 
 London: 47 Paternosteb Bow, E. C. 
 
 1915 
 
COPTBIOHT, 191S, BT 
 , BiCHABD HeHBT EdWABDS 
 
 coptbiqht, 191s, bt 
 
 The Intkbwational ■ Committee op 
 
 YocHQ Meh's Chbistian Asbocutioh 
 
To 
 
 TVff. Pdbe Spibit of Plat 
 
 In the Heart of a Little Gibl 
 
 To 
 
 ELIZABETH 
 
 1010—1912 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The three master forces fixing the mundane welfare 
 of human beings are Work, Living Conditions, and 
 Recreation. Students of society learned to appreciate 
 the first two of these before they noticed the third. They 
 were aroused as to the labor problem and the housing 
 problem before they became concerned over the manner 
 of use of leisure time. Mr. Edwards has realized the 
 strategic importance of this last factor, and in this mono- 
 graph has given us the most comprehensive and search- 
 ing survey of the tendencies and problems of public 
 recreation that has come to my notice. 
 
 The labor question leads into the thick of class strug- 
 gle. One learns to balance the claims and interests of 
 contending groups. The issues raised are not easy to 
 settle in terms of the soul's health of the individual. 
 Those who bring to the great debate nothing but ethical 
 considerations do not get very far or command much 
 confidence. In the settlement of labor problems, such 
 matters as risk and fatigue, efficiency and economy, bulk 
 large. 
 
 The recreation problem, on the other hand, does not 
 precipitate us into the class struggle. The conflict is not 
 so much between groups as between warring sides of 
 human nature — appetite and will, impulse and reason, 
 inclination and ideal. Here, if anywhere, is the place for 
 ethical considerations. The disposition of leisure time 
 
 5 
 
6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 is preeminently a conscience matter. A youth submits 
 perforce to the conditions of his work, but he chooses 
 his recreations in freedom. To acquaint young people 
 with the good or ill effects of the different varieties of 
 recreation upon the higher self is the surest way to wean 
 them from that which is frivolous and debasing. 
 
 This sociological study is profoundly moral. It is true 
 that the author invites the individual to study, not his 
 own use of leisure time but the problems of public recrea- 
 tion. But, while pondering on the obstacles in the way 
 of community advancement, he is sure to do some hard 
 thinking about his own habits and choices. The au- 
 thor's strategy is in line with the modern ideal of social 
 service instead of individualistic salvation. The indi- 
 vidual saves his own soul while helping his fellows to 
 save theirs. While Mr. Edwards' contribution has the 
 objectivity and the scholarship of a scientific work, it 
 will be found that in reaction upon the student it has 
 much in common with masterpieces of moral inspiration. 
 
 Edward Alsworth Ross, 
 Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This book is part of a series of "Studies in American 
 Social Conditions," which are published in the interest of 
 a systematic consideration of social questions by groups 
 of citizens.^ 
 
 It is ever)rwhere agreed that enough reliable informa- 
 tion about our social problems has been amassed to de- 
 mand the serious attention of all thoughtful men and 
 women. It is evident also that many hopeful efforts to 
 solve these problems are being made by groups of 
 people following various plans of action. The service 
 which this series of studies would render is to aid in 
 spreading the knowledge of facts, and to increase ac- 
 quaintance with proposed solutions. 
 
 These studies are especially prepared for use by "Com- 
 munity Interest Groups." The plan of organizing such 
 groups is a definite effort to aid in the formation of pub- 
 lic opinion and the stimulation of action which will be 
 effective in community betterment. The plan is simple 
 and tested. The suggestion is that groups of men and 
 women, or either alone, shall regularly meet to study, as 
 citizens, the facts of this and other social problems; 
 that they candidly discuss those facts and the proposed 
 solutions; and then take individual or united action to- 
 ward solving the problems acute in their own community. 
 
 iThis series embraces the following studies now in print: "The Liquor 
 Problem," "The Labor Problem," "Poverty," "Concentrated Wealth," "Busi- 
 ness Morals" and "Popular Amusements." These are sold at 12 cents each 
 for all except "Popular Amusements," which is $1.00. Orders should be 
 sent to Association Press, 124 East 28th Street, New York City. 
 
 7 
 
8 PREFACE 
 
 A group may be formed anywhere without formalities, 
 through the mutual desire of a few people, the choice of 
 a leader and agreement as to time and place of meeting. 
 An account of such a group under the title, "The Social 
 Problems Group," will be found in Charities and the 
 Commons (now The Survey) for October 17, 1908. 
 
 For suggestions upon The Discussion Group Meeting 
 and the Group Leader, see page 231. For A Suggested 
 Order for the Use of This Study by Discussion Groups, 
 see page 234. For Further Suggestions for the Use of 
 This Study, see page 236. 
 
 Grateful acknowledgment is here made to Professor 
 Edward Alsworth Ross for many suggestions in the 
 preparation of this study; to Mary Imogene Hazeltine, 
 preceptor of the Wisconsin Library School, and to Emma 
 B. Skinner, class of 1910, for assistance on the bibli- 
 ography; to Professor Graham Taylor of the Chicago 
 School of Civics, Professor Charles R. Henderson of 
 the University of Chicago, Lee F. Hanmer, director of 
 the Department of Recreation of the Russell Sage Foun- 
 dation, J. C. Boyers of the Playground and Recreation 
 Association, Arthur H. Gleason, Journalist, and to Anna 
 Camp Edwards, all of whom have made valued sugges- 
 tions after reading the manuscript. 
 
 Especial acknowledgment is made to George J. Knee- 
 land, author of "Commercialized Prostitution in New 
 York City," for confidential information upon the over- 
 lapping of the vice problem and that of popular amuse- 
 ments. Especial acknowledgment is also made to Dean 
 Louis E. Reber of the Extension Division of the Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin, whose kindness has made possible 
 the printing of this book in its present form following 
 its publication as an Extension Division bulletin. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction by Edward Alsworth Ross ■: 6 
 
 Preface ij\ g 
 
 PART I. THE PROBLEM OF POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 L The Amusement Situation in General 13 
 
 IL The Dramatic Group of Amusements 31 
 
 1. Serious drama 35 
 
 2. Melodrama, musical comedy, farce, burlesque.. 43 
 
 3. Vaudeville 46 
 
 4. Motion pictures 50 
 
 in. The Socjal Rendezvous Group of Amusements: 
 
 1. Cafes with amusement features and similar 
 
 places 66 
 
 2. Public dance halls 70 
 
 3. Pool rooms and similar "hang-outs" for men.. 82 
 IV. The Athletic Group of Amusements: 
 
 1. Amateur athletics 88 
 
 2. Professional athletics 92 
 
 Baseball 92 
 
 Boxing g6 
 
 V. Special Amusement Places: 
 
 1. Commercial amusement parks 105 
 
 2. Racetrack parks log 
 
 VI. Special Amusement Events : 
 
 1. Holiday and similar celebrations 119 
 
 2. Excursions and outings 121 
 
 3. The circus 122 
 
 4 Amusement features of fairs 123 
 
 5. Automobile races 124 
 
 6. Aeroplane exhibitions 125 
 
 PART II. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS OF THE PROBLEM 
 OF POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 VII. Summary and Forecast: the Prevalence of Pro- 
 fessionalism, Commercialism and Immoral- 
 ity Necessitate a Public Awakening and 
 the Improvement of Conditions by Pressure 
 
 OF Public Opinion 133 
 
 VIII. Restrictive Public Opinion : Repressive and Regu- 
 lative Measures in Relation to Evils. 
 
 1. The situation in general 147 
 
 2. The dramatic group 149 
 
 9 
 
10 CONTENTS 
 
 PASB 
 
 3. The social rendezvous group 153 
 
 4. The athletic group 156 
 
 5. Special amusement places 157 
 
 6. Special amusement events 158 
 
 IX. Constructive Public Opinion Expressed in 
 
 1. Play — The gospel of play — The importance of 
 
 private recreation 163 
 
 2. The drama league and similar organizations, the 
 
 movement for amateur dramatics, endowed 
 and civic theaters, viewed as efforts to solve 
 the problems of the dramatic group 169 
 
 3. Social settlements, churches. Christian Associa- 
 
 tions, social and recreation centers, and the 
 like, viewed as efforts to provide wholesome 
 social life and to solve the problems of the 
 social rendezvous group 173 
 
 4. Public parks, playgrounds, and the recreation 
 
 movement, viewed as efforts to provide for 
 the conservation of leisure time, the free de- 
 velopment of amateur athletics, and to solve 
 the problems of commercialized amusement 
 resorts 180 
 
 5. Holiday celebrations, community festivals, field 
 
 days, pageants and fairs, viewed as efforts to 
 take the place of commercialized amusement 
 events 186 
 
 6. City departments of recreation charged with the 
 
 regulation of commercial enterprises, the de- 
 velopment and supervision of public recreation 191 
 
 PART III. SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY ACTION. 
 X. Suggestions for Community Action. 
 
 1. The amusement situation in general 221 
 
 2. The dramatic group 225 
 
 3. The social rendezvous group 226 
 
 4. The athletic group 227 
 
 5. Special amusement places 228 
 
 6. Special amusement events 229 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1. The discussion group meeting and the group 
 
 leader 231 
 
 2. A suggested order for the use of this study by 
 
 discussion groups ._ 234 
 
 3. Further suggestions for the use of this study. . 236 
 
 4. Questions for debaters 237 
 
 5. Vocational opportunities 238 
 
PART I 
 THE PROBLEM OF POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN 
 GENERAL 
 
 "It is as if we ignored a wistful, over-confident creature who 
 walked through our city streets calling out, 'I am the spirit 
 of youth! With me all things are possible.'" Jane Addams. 
 
 We are to study together the amusements of the Amer- 
 ican people. We are to pay especial attention to their 
 extent, their characteristics, and the moral influence 
 which they exert. We are to study them critically but 
 constructively. We seek no repression of the instinct of 
 play, but the full and rich development of that instinct 
 through forms of expression which are not dominated by 
 commercialism or tainted by immorality. We . are to 
 study the situation as a national problem, but not at a 
 distance. "Our town" is to be at the focus of interest, 
 and conditions elsewhere will interest us as they are like 
 or unlike our own. We are to listen to "the voice of the 
 towns, the little aggregations where the sinew of the 
 nation grows, rather than of the metropolis." 
 
 What is the amusement situation in America today? 
 What are the people in "our town" actually doing for 
 their recreation? Where do they go for their fun? Not 
 merely the little group of those who are known to any one 
 individual, but the bulk of the people throughout the 
 
 13 
 
14 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 town — ^where are they on Saturday and Sunday nights, 
 and holidays? What are the conditions which obtain 
 where they go ? What are the influences which surround 
 them there? Has the play impulse in "our town" been 
 coined at a nickel a thrill, a quarter for a real sensation? 
 Have our schools and homes, our libraries and churches 
 left the instinct of play to be exploited by those who 
 seek profits only? 
 
 A Typical Town Situation 
 
 The situation is vividly illustrated by one who found 
 himself one summer evening in the center of what we 
 may call a typical American town, and 
 
 "On a brightly-lighted street thronged with summer girls, 
 school-boys, children, country folks and working people. But 
 there was something strange about this street. It seemed to 
 have only one side; and the people's faces were turned one 
 way. The side to which the people flocked was light; the 
 other side was, comparatively speaking, dark. The visitor 
 crossed from the bright to the dark side, and discovered there, 
 dimly illuminated by an occasional flickering lamp, inter- 
 spersed with comfortable homes, stretching in dull array — the 
 very institutions of Civilization itself. . . . 
 
 "Here was the library, spacious and solid ... I read a 
 card, also, affixed to the spiked gateway fortifying the heavy 
 doors : 'This Library closed at S p. m. during July, August and 
 September.' It is closed Sundays, holidays and Saturday after- 
 noons. Beyond the library was the high school, substantially 
 built, designed to endure for many years. . . . Yet this great 
 agent of civilization, the measure by which western nations 
 tell off their progress, seemed lazy and indifferent: I could 
 use it in no other way except to sit on its steps and watch life 
 on the other side of the way — and the steps were dusty. Its in- 
 hospitable air hurried me on to a cozy dwelling under elm 
 trees. . . . 
 
 "But as I paused a policeman crossed the street, closed the 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 15 
 
 gate, tried the catch, and looked at me as if to say 'How came 
 that gate open?' ... I learned that the house was once the 
 home and is now the memorial of a famous poet. Summer 
 travelers make a point of visiting it, the policeman said, and it 
 would be worth my while to stay over to see the great man's 
 cradle and his grandfather's clock. I could not stay over, I ob- 
 jected, whereupon he replied severely that it was worth patron- 
 izing, if only for the sake of the public-spirited committee of 
 leading ladies who opened it daily from two to five. . . . 
 'That,' he said more aflfably, 'is the Old First Church, built in 
 1798, and the statue in front is of its great minister, who 
 preached from 1800 to 1850.' 'Have you a good man now?' I 
 asked idly. 'Fair,' he replied, 'but the church is closed during 
 the summer, you know.' 
 
 To that "other side" the visitor next turned : 
 
 "It was festooned with lights and cheap decorations meant 
 only for fair weather; the doors of shops stood wide open, and 
 sodawater fountains were crowded with boys and girls; there 
 were fruit and nut stands, popcorn wagons decorated with flags, 
 ice cream parlors with every table filled, and people waiting 
 their turn over by the candy counters; besides penny shows 
 and the gay vestibules of nickel theaters. Opposite the barren 
 school yard was the arcaded entrance to the Nickelodeon, fin- 
 ished in white stucco, with the ticket-seller throned in a chariot 
 drawn by an elephant trimmed with red, white, and blue lights. 
 A phonograph was going over and over its lingo, and a few 
 picture machines were free to the absorbed crowd which circu- 
 lated through the arcade as through the street. Here were 
 groups of working girls — now happy 'summer girls,' because 
 they had left the grime, ugliness and dejection of their factories 
 behind them, and were freshened and revived by doing what 
 they like to do. . . .'" 
 
 If this is a fair picture of a typical American town, it 
 gives a clue to the issues before us, for it raises questions 
 
 1 S. N. Patten, Current Literature, v. 49, p. 183-188, August, 1909. 
 Quoted from the author's "Product and Climax. 
 
l6 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 that challenge every institution established by society for 
 the protection and guidance of young people. 
 
 The Extent of Commercial Amusements 
 
 No reliable figures are in existence covering the extent 
 of commercial amusements in America as a virhole, but 
 recreation surveys have been made in several cities where 
 they are prevalent, notably in Milwaukee, Detroit, Kan- 
 sas City, and San Francisco. These surveys indicate that 
 amusement enterprises have captured the leisure time and 
 attention of all classes. In Kansas City, for example, 
 with a population of 248,381, the annual attendance at 
 commercial recreations is estimated at 41,062,808, and 
 the annual expenditure $6,010,037.48. In San Fran- 
 cisco, having a population of 416,912, the theaters and 
 motion-picture houses, "with a total weekly capacity of 
 almost 2,000,000, an estimated weekly attendance of over 
 half a million, and an estimated expenditure by patrons 
 of over $100,000 per week, . . . are entitled to serious 
 attention." In New York City, with a population of 
 4,766,883, a careful estimate indicates that "one thousand 
 motion picture shows are collecting over twelve million 
 dollars a year from the people." "Nearly six hundred 
 dance halls are running on a basis of profit." * 
 
 So popular, indeed, have commercial amusements be- 
 come that their patronage may be said to be universal. 
 One has only to watch the night life of any city as it 
 moves in and out past the box ofiices to see young, middle- 
 aged, and old men, women, and children, of every occu- 
 pation and station in life, all intent on finding "a good 
 time." Sooner or later the whole city turns out. Amuse- 
 
 » "The City Where Crime is Play," p. 30. 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 17 
 
 ment enterprises have indeed become a vast business in- 
 terest, involving enormous investments of capital, occu- 
 pying much valuable property in the heart of the cities, 
 and receiving huge sums from the earnings of all classes 
 of citizens. Their field of operations extends to every 
 place where a venture can be expected to pay. The 
 ability of so many fake enterprises to make money indi- 
 cates the openness and gullibility of the public mind, and 
 emphasizes also the dearth of wholesome and attractive 
 offerings. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 The characteristics of public amusements must be 
 studied type by type. They are too varied for general 
 statement, though they may be roughly classified as 
 dramatic, sociable, and athletic, with the addition of cer- 
 tain special places and special events. Their variety itself 
 is significant of the amounts of money expended upon 
 them and the intensity of popular desire to hear or see 
 some new thing. Ingenious appeal is made to curiosity 
 and the love of spectacle, to sociability, appetite and 
 thirst, to sex excitement, antagonism, and many other 
 human desires. Spectacular offerings have been sought 
 out in the remotest corners of the globe and made to yield 
 their brief moment of stimulation to the ever shifting 
 multitude. Some thriller is provided for every pleasur- 
 able sensation known to man. 
 
 Morals 
 
 It is important to recognize that amusements may be 
 good or bad, independent of commercial management, 
 and also that commercial management is apparently nee- 
 
i8 ' POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 essary and valuable in great portions of the amusement 
 field. Yet it is equally important to ask if the amusement 
 situation is not now widely dominated by a type of com- 
 mercial management which has no regard for art, spon- 
 taneity, or the basic demands of morality. Miss Addams 
 goes so far as to write : 
 
 "Since the soldiers of Cromwell shut up the people's play- 
 houses and destroyed their pleasure fields, the Anglo-Saxon 
 city has turned over the provision for public recreation to the 
 most evil-minded and the most unscrupulous members of the 
 community. . . ." ' 
 
 It has been demonstrated in the recent reports of vice 
 investigations in large cities, such as New York, Chicago, 
 and Philadelphia, that commercial amusement enterprises 
 line both sides of the broad way that leads to the under- 
 world. The Philadelphia Vice Report, for example, de- 
 clares that : 
 
 "Many public dance halls, moving picture shows, and other 
 amusement centers are breeding-places of vice — the rendezvous 
 of men who entrap girls and of girls who solicit men. Veri- 
 table orgies are described as transpiring in some of the clubs. 
 The proprietors of these places are known to abet these vicious 
 practices, and, in many cases, to derive large revenue from 
 them." ' 
 
 The Chicago Vice Report says : 
 
 "The investigation of dance halls, cheap theaters, amusement 
 parks, and lake steamers, shows that these places are sur- 
 rounded by vicious dangers which result in sending many young 
 girls into lives of immorality."' 
 
 1 Jane Addams, "The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets," p. 7. 
 
 2 Report of the Vice Commission of Philadelphia," p. 21. 
 ' "The Social Evil in Chicago," p. 246. 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 19 
 
 Great sections of the amusement problem are found, in 
 fact, to overlap the vice problem, and to form one great 
 series of exploitations by which the vicious and criminal 
 prey upon the innocent, prostituting the natural instinct 
 of pleasure, and degrading vast numbers of young people 
 into the life of shame — "confusing joy with lust and 
 gaiety with debauchery." 
 
 Julia Schoenfeld summarizes her impressions of an 
 investigation of New York conditions as follows : 
 
 "It was discouraging after many weeks of going about to 
 see the same characteristics, the same pitfalls, the same snares 
 for all. Young girls do not willingly walk into danger. Girls 
 are everywhere and danger lurks everywhere. Girls from good 
 homes, girls who live in boarding houses, girls from the tene- 
 ments, girls who must content themselves in hall bedrooms, 
 girls of all ages, all in the mad pursuit of pleasure, running 
 headlong into danger, having their moral senses blunted — all 
 because the people of New York are willing to let any kind of 
 amusement exist under any condition, are willing to sit by and 
 let politicians graft. By their very indifference to public wel- 
 fare they are helping along the great curse that is besetting the 
 American public today — the Social Evil."^ 
 
 A significant chart of moral values is presented in the 
 Kansas City Survey of Commercial Recreation, by Fred 
 F. McClure. 
 
 "After noting the maturity and impressionability of the at- 
 tendants at various kinds of commercial amusements, and list- 
 ing carefully the objectionable features of each kind, the fol- 
 lowing rating of the different kinds of amusements in propor- 
 tion to their moral worth is submitted as representing an opinion 
 based on very careful study: 
 
 ' From an unpublished report on amusement resorts by Julia Schoen- 
 feld. 
 
20 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Motion picture shows 79 per cent good 
 
 Theaters 72 
 
 Dance halls 23.1 
 
 River excursion boats 7.7 
 
 Pool halls 46-2 
 
 Skating rinks 74.1 
 
 Penny arcades 38.S 
 
 Shows — "Men only" o 
 
 Shooting galleries 84.7 
 
 Bowling alleys 77.1. 
 
 Amusement parks 71. i 
 
 "Medical museums, social clubs, wine gardens, chop-suey res- 
 taurants, and saloons are not graded. They would undoubt- 
 erly lower the average of good, wholesome recreation. The 
 totals show wholesome amusement 68 per cent, bad 32 per cent. 
 The 32 per cent consists of intemperance, obscenity, suggestions 
 of crime, dissipation, late hours, representing an expenditure 
 of $1,923,211.99."' 
 
 Among the many influences at work today in shaping 
 the actual morality of young people, none is more imme- 
 diate, more puzzling, or more significant than the influ- 
 ence of their amusement life. The Recreation Survey of 
 Montclair, N. J., for example, shows that "by analysis of 
 cases, two-thirds of the juvenile delinquency in Montclair 
 has been traced to faulty recreative conditions." We 
 shall give the moral issues involved in the problem a large 
 consideration throughout our study. 
 
 Causes 
 
 What are the deep, underlying causes of the amuse- 
 ment situation in America today? Why is enthusiasm 
 for wholesome recreation not universal? Why are the 
 suggestive play and the sensual dance so alluring? Has 
 
 1 "Recreation Survey of Kansas City," p. 73. 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 21 
 
 human nature begun to break down in the face of the 
 unrestrained commercialism in amusements? Why has 
 the love of spontaneous play given way so largely to the 
 love of merely being amused ? Why is it that "a consid- 
 erable section of our people are poor in play and rich in 
 vice?" Why do we forget that "recreation is stronger 
 than vice, and that recreation alone can stifle the lust for 
 vice?" We will be meditating upon such questions as 
 these while we pursue our study. 
 
 What relation have working conditions in America to 
 the amusement spirit? Do the industries in "our town" 
 over-speed and under-pay working men and women to 
 the point at which excess is the logical reaction and sen- 
 sational excitements are sought to stir the blood that is 
 infected with the toxin of fatigue? Professor Walter 
 Rauschenbusch says : 
 
 "The long hours and the high speed and pressure of industry 
 use up the vitality of all except the most capable. An ex- 
 hausted body craves rest, change and stimulus, but it responds 
 only to coarse and strong stimulation. In all mill towns where 
 the long work day is the rule, the night school, library, and 
 church languish, and the saloon and house of prostitution 
 flourish. Drink and sexual vice are the ready pillows of an 
 exhausted body, the only form of play which degradation 
 knows." * 
 
 He further characterizes the work of thousands of 
 American working men and women as follows : 
 
 "At the end of the day they have taken so many thousand 
 stitches in so many shirts; or they have sewed on a gross of 
 buttons; or a bolt of cloth has gone through their hands; that 
 is the beginning of it and the end of it for them, and it has no 
 further bearing upon them than as a growing sum of losses of 
 
 » Walter Rauschenbusch, "Christianizing the Social Order," p. 249. 
 
i22 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 vitality, of ambition and imagination. . . . This is the condi- 
 tion in which thoughtful workingmen feel they are placed. 
 They believe that they produce enough to give them a mar- 
 gin of leisure for real life, but one extra hour of toil, one 
 dollar taken from their wage, a little additional speeding of the 
 work, wipes out that margin of time and vitality which makes 
 their life free and livable. That margin is God's country in 
 their life, the soil where all the higher instincts and desires 
 are cultivated. Wipe that out, and you leave the brute needs. 
 Their resentment is deepened by the knowledge that the extra 
 strength taken from them is often turned to useless luxury by 
 those who take it. An additional vase or rug in a wealthy 
 woman's drawing room may add nothing to the real comfort of 
 any one; yet it may embody the excess toil of a thousand girls 
 for a week. If each girl had been able to retain that addi- 
 tional fragment of earnings it might have meant an excursion 
 on Saturday, a concert, some article of womanly adornment, a 
 present to a friend, something to give the feel and joy of life. 
 Instead it is bottled up in that vase to which a few satiated 
 ladies may say 'Ah!'" 
 
 Is the work of great numbers of girls at the most play- 
 loving period of life so unsuited to them, so mechanical 
 and exhausting that they are quite naturally feverish 
 for excitement at night and ready to take up with anyone 
 who can "show them a good time" ? 
 
 What relation have living conditions in many sections 
 of many cities to the amusement situation ? Is it because 
 these conditions are so congested and noisy, so unbear- 
 ably squalid and lacking in all ministration to the sense of 
 the beautiful, that great multitudes roam the streets 
 ready for any welcome which carries with it light and 
 cheer and diversion ? How many working girls join the 
 throng merely because the lonely hall-bedroom is their 
 only home ? Do not young men have emotional reactions, 
 too? 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 23 
 
 '"Looping the loop,' amid shrieks of simulated terror, or 
 dancing in disorderly saloon halls, are, perhaps, the natural re- 
 actions to a day spent in noisy factories and in trolley cars 
 whirling through the distracting streets, but the city which 
 permits them to be the acme of pleasure and recreation to its 
 young people commits a grievous mistake." ' 
 
 Are we awake to the meaning of youth ? Do we under- 
 stand the spirit of youth and enrich it, or do we merely 
 repress it with heavy hand until it is sadly broken, or 
 until it breaks away from all control and guidance to 
 seek expression in the exploiter's house? Is not Miss 
 Addams at the core of the question when she says of the 
 spirit of youth: 
 
 "We may cultivate this most precious possession, or we may 
 disregard it. We may listen to the young voices rising clear 
 above the roar of industrialism and the prudent councils of 
 commerce, or we may become hypnotized by the sudden new 
 emphasis placed upon wealth and power and forget the suprem- 
 acy of spiritual forces in men's affairs. It is as if we ignored 
 a wistful, over-confident creature who walked through our city 
 streets calling out, 'I am the Spirit of Youth! With me, all 
 things are possible!' We fail to understand what he wants or 
 even to see his doings, although his acts are pregnant with 
 meaning and we may either translate them into a sordid chron- 
 icle of petty vice or turn them into a solemn school for civic 
 righteousness." ' 
 
 The Problem and Our Approach to It 
 
 The amusement problem is a universal problem, for 
 everybody plays at something. Coney Island and the 
 Mardi Gras are only glittering exponents of a national 
 passion. No one who has been at a baseball game or 
 a picture show, at a circus or the vaudeville, at a country 
 
 ijane Addams, "The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets," p. 69. 
 'Ibid., p. 161. 
 
24 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 fair or among the children on a city street, can doubt 
 that all America believes in amusement. The. important 
 question is the sort of amusement in which she believes, 
 for the sort of play on which her attention is focused 
 fashions the national character. The relaxations to 
 which industrial and living conditions limit the people 
 inevitably mould their morals. 
 
 The amusements which prevail among the people sur- 
 round them with their atmosphere as with a garment. 
 It may be an atmosphere of ozone or of noxious gases. 
 What amusements recreate the spirit of man? What 
 stifle, depress, and degrade him? 
 
 The purpose of our study is to find the answer to these 
 questions, to examine the five great groups of amuse- 
 ments in America today — dramatic, social rendezvous, 
 athletic, special places, and special events. We frankly 
 study them as constituting a social problem and take for 
 granted in many of them a large percentage of good 
 upon which our search for aggravated conditions will 
 leave us little time to dwell. At the same time we shall at- 
 tempt, without overstatement, to form a sound judgment 
 of conditions as they exist in America today. We shall 
 pass from the study of the problem, to an examination 
 of the leading movements which point the way to its 
 solution, in order that action in "our town" may be 
 based upon the successful experience of other communi- 
 ties. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion * 
 
 r. The purpose of this hour is to see that everyone is inter- 
 ested in the situation, and to recognize that amusements in 
 
 ' Snegestions for an outline of study and discussion covering the work 
 as a whole are given on page 231. 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 25 
 
 America have become a serious matter. Make clear how this 
 question affects every home in the land; that the amusement 
 business is highly organized and commercialized, and that many 
 evils find in it a comfortable nest in which to hatch their 
 young. These facts are to be studied. 
 
 2. Discuss the importance of play. Can it be safely dispensed 
 with in a busy life? Is the man who boasts that he hasn't 
 taken a vacation in twenty years to be applauded, or is he a 
 sinner against youth and society? The importance of play will 
 be fully discussed under the solutions of the problem, but touch 
 upon it here. 
 
 3. Discuss briefly the proper relation of work to play, of 
 monotonous mechanical labor and long hours of confinement to 
 excesses in alcoholic liquor and vicious amusements. 
 
 4. Let the members of the group state, without referring 
 to the outline, the most popular forms of recreation as they 
 have observed them in "our town.'' They may have some to 
 add to those in this study. Where people are present who have 
 lived in various parts of the country they should present briefly 
 the amusement situation as they have observed it. 
 
 5. Discuss the local situation with reference to immoral in- 
 fluences. Someone may have a story of evil conditions to tell. 
 Jot down this story and prove later by investigation whether 
 it presents a fair picture of conditions. 
 
 6. Are amusements in general, and especially vicious amuse- 
 ments, demanded to the extent which their present provision in 
 many towns would imply, or has the business of providing 
 amusement over-stocked the market and created an unnatural 
 demand for excitement? 
 
 7. What is the effect upon the moral sensibilities when spec- 
 tators watch performers take hazardous risks in entertaining the 
 crowd ? 
 
 8. Of what significance is it that people work in a wide 
 variety of forms of labor, that the modern specialization of 
 tasks within those forms of labor gives each worker a different 
 work life from that of all but a few of his fellows? Thus 
 labor has come to be a diversifier of experience. Do not the 
 people still find their pleasures, however, in comparatively few 
 ways? Have the most popular forms of amusement thus be- 
 
26 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 come remarkable unifiers of experience? What extraordinary 
 significance does this fact lend to the artistic and moral char- 
 acter of the most popular forms of amusement? 
 
 9. The attention of each person to whom a topic is assigned 
 should be called to the fact that three points of interest should 
 be met by his presentation — Extent, Characteristics, and Moral 
 Influence. Note this threefold division in each chapter of the 
 text dealing with the problem. 
 
 10. The group will discover the limits which have been set by 
 the author at different points as boundaries and divisions of 
 the problem. They should recognize from the beginning that 
 matters which do not bear directly upon the immediate subject 
 should not be introduced. The leader will do well to limit the 
 discussion at each meeting strictly to the topic in hand or to 
 points which have been made in previous meetings. 
 
 11. For further material upon the amusement situation in 
 general, see pages 147, 163, and 221. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 [The book and periodical references which follow under each 
 heading are a selected list intended for popular use. Many 
 references cover related subjects in addition to the one under 
 which they are listed. Book references should be kept up to 
 date by consulting the Book Review Digest, and the A. L. A. 
 Booklist. New magazine articles are listed in the Readers' 
 Guide to Periodical Literature. Thesa may be found at any 
 public library. There are a number of magazines especially 
 devoted to different phases of amusement which have not been 
 listed. They piay well be consulted for side lights on the 
 problem.] 
 
 Books 
 
 Addams, Jane. "The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets." 
 Macmillan, New York City, 1909. $1.25. 
 
 A mature statement of the problem of public recreation in Ameri- 
 can city life. 
 
 Bliss, W. D. P. ed. "New Encyclopedia of Social Reform." 
 Funk, 1908. $7.50. 
 
 Contains articles on many phases of the problem. 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 27 
 
 "Britannica Year Book 1913." The Encyclopedia Britannica 
 Company, New York City, 1913. $2.25. See articles on 
 sports and games, pp. 445-471 ; sport in the United States, 
 pp. 472-474- 
 
 Valuable resume of conditions in various sports. Reference is 
 made to articles in the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Bri- 
 tannica which should also be freely consulted on all phases of the 
 problem. 
 
 Chicago Vice Commission. "The Social Evil in Chicago." Chi- 
 cago Vice Commission, 1911. Republished by the Vice 
 Commission of Chicago, Inc., for distribution by the Ameri- 
 can Vigilance Association, 105 West Monroe St. Distrib- 
 uted to responsible persons who send Soc. in stamps to 
 cover cost. 
 
 This report lays bare some of the prevalent amusements of Chicago 
 on their worst sides. 
 
 Collier, John, and Barrows, E. M. "The City Where Crime is 
 Play." The People's Institute, New York City, January, 
 
 I914. IOC. 
 
 A valuable report on play in New York containing recent discus- 
 sion of commercial recreation. 
 
 Davis, M. M., Jr. "The Exploitation of Pleasure": a study of 
 commercial recreations in New York City, N. Y. Russell 
 Sage Foundation, 191 1. loc. 
 
 An important document setting forth conditions in New York City. 
 
 Hanmer, L. F. and Knight, H. R. "Sources of Information on 
 Recreation." Department of Recreation, Russell Sage 
 Foundation, 130 E. 22nd St., New York City. loc. 
 
 The latest bibliography on the subject. Should be freely consulted 
 on all topics. 
 
 Hayues, Rowland. "Detroit Recreation Survey," March and 
 April, 1913, The Detroit Board of Commerce. Free dis- 
 tribution. 
 
 A comprehensive survey of conditions in Detroit, with recom- 
 mendations. 
 
 Haynes, Rowland. "How a Community May Find Out and Plan 
 for Its Recreation Needs." National Education Associa- 
 tion book, 1912. 
 
28 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Haynes, Rowland. "Recreation Survey. Milwaukee," Bureau 
 of Economy and Efficiency, 1911. Also published in The 
 Playground, May, 1912, v. 6, No. 2. 
 A careful study of the amusement situation in Milwaukee. 
 
 Haynes, Rowland and McClure, F. F. "Recreation Surveys of 
 Kansas City, Mo." Second annual report of the recreation 
 department of the Board of Welfare, April, 1911-April, 
 1912. 
 
 A comprehensive report upon conditions in Kansas City, with rec- 
 ommendations. 
 
 Hartt, R. L. "The People at Play." Houghton, 1909. $1.50. 
 
 Studies of amusements. 
 
 Israels, B. L. "Recreation in Rural Communities." National 
 Conference of Charities and Correction, Proceedings 191 1, 
 pp. 103-107. 
 
 Kneeland, G. J. "Commercialized Prostitution in New York 
 City." Century Company, 1913. 
 
 The authoritative work on the subject. See index for amusement 
 institutions and their relation to vice. 
 
 North, F. R. "Indianapolis Recreation Survey," March, 1914. 
 Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. 
 Describes conditions with recommendations. 
 
 North, F. R. "Recreation Survey of the City of Providence, 
 R. I." November and December, 1912. Providence Play- 
 ground Association. 
 
 Describes conditions in Providence and makes recommendations. 
 
 Patten, S. N. "Product and Climax." Huebsch, New York, 
 1909. soc 
 
 A stimulating discussion of the amusement situation. 
 
 "Public Recreation, Transactions of the Commonwealth Club 
 of California," San Francisco, June, 1913, v. 8, no. 5. 
 
 A comprehensive presentation of the problem in San Francisco 
 with recommendations. 
 
 Report and Recommendations of Morals Efficiency Commis- 
 sion, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1913. Apply to the Commission. 
 
THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 29 
 
 Report of the Hartford Vice Commission, Hartford, Conn. 
 July, 1913. Apply to the Commission. 
 
 Report of the Philadelphia Vice Commission. Philadelphia, Pa., 
 1913. Apply to the Commission. 
 
 Report of the Portland Vice Commission to the Mayor and City 
 Council of the City of Portland, Oregon. January, 1913. 
 Apply to the Commission. 
 
 Robinson, H. P. "Peoples at Play" (in his "Twentieth Century 
 American"). Putnam, 1908, pp. 408-428. $1.75. 
 
 Russell Sage Foundation — Division of Recreation. "Recreation 
 Bibliography." Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1912. 
 
 lOC. 
 
 Important books, reports and magazine articles are listed in this 
 bibliography. 
 
 "The Social Evil in Syracuse, N. Y." Being the report of an 
 investigation of the moral condition of the city, conducted 
 by a committee of eighteen citizens, 1913. Apply to the 
 Moral Survey Committee. 
 
 Third Annual Report of the Recreation Department of the 
 Board of Public Welfare. Kansas City, Mo., April 15, 
 1912-April 21, 1913. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Addams, Jane. "Some Reflections on the Failure of the Mod- 
 ern City to Provide Recreation for Young Girls." Chari- 
 ties and the Commons, December 5, 1908, v. 21, pp. 365-368. 
 The temptations open to young girls in the city and the need of 
 healthy amusements. 
 
 "Amusement as a Factor in Man's Spiritual Uplift." Current 
 Literature, August, 1909, v. 47, pp. 185-188. 
 
 Pointed presentation of some interesting contrasts in American 
 amusements and occupations. Selections are given from S. M. Pat- 
 ten's "Product and Climax." 
 
 Braucher, Howard. "Play and Social Progress." Annals of 
 the American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 325-333- 
 Reveals intimate knowledge of people's needs. 
 
30 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "Fortunes for Entertainments." The New York Times, Sep- 
 tember 7, 1913, part 7, p. I. 
 
 Broad estimates on dramatic amusement totals of cost. 
 
 Haynes, Rowland. "Making a Recreation Survey." Playground, 
 1913. V. 7, pp. 18-25. 
 
 Mallery, O. T. "The Social Significance of Play." Annals of 
 the American Academy. March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 368-373. 
 
 Repplier, A. "Our Loss of Nerve." Atlantic, September, 1913, 
 V. 112, pp. 298-304. 
 
 Amusement weakenings. 
 
 Russell, Ernest. "People at Play": holidays by land and sea. 
 Collier's, August 14, 1909, v. 43, pp. 14-15. 
 
 Describes recreations of the people. 
 
 Sherlock, C. R. "Risking Life for Entertainment." Cosmopoli- 
 tan, October, 1903, v. 35, pp. 613-626. 
 Illustrated account of risks incurred by performers. 
 
 Stelzle, Charles. "How 1,000 Working Men Spend Their Spare 
 Time." Outlook, April 4, 1914, v. 106, pp. 762-766. 
 
 Sets forth results of an investigation. 
 
 "Survey of a City's Fun." Survey, April 20, 1912, v. 28, p. 127. 
 Proposed survey of San Francisco amusement enterprises. 
 
 The Survey. A Magazine of Social Reconstruction. Survey 
 Associates, Inc. 105 E. 22nd Street, New York City. 
 (Weekly.) $3.00 a year. 
 
 An illustrated magazine representing the highest standards in so- 
 cial work. Indispensable to all who are interested in the solution 
 of this and kindred problems. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSE- 
 MENTS 
 
 The first group of amusements to be studied is the 
 dramatic group. Under this general head may be clas- 
 sified : serious drama, melodrama, musical comedy, farce 
 and burlesque, vaudeville, motion pictures, and a few 
 others. They all have this in common, that they involve 
 some sort of dramatic representation before an audience. 
 Attention is invited to the scene presented, and with 
 them all "the play's the thing." 
 
 Extent 
 
 The numbers of playhouses, the total attendances and 
 moneys invested or expended in dramatic amusement of- 
 ferings the country over can be estimated only in a most 
 general way, if at all. 
 
 The New York Times in an article entitled "Fortunes 
 for Entertainments," is authority for the following state- 
 ments : 
 
 "It is estimated in round figures that the American public 
 pays between twenty-five and thirty millions of dollars annu- 
 ally for theatrical amusements. The enterprise which is respon- 
 sible for this enormous expenditure represents an invested cap- 
 ital of more than four times this amount of money. At least 
 
 31 
 
32 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 $120,000,000 is represented in theatrical investments in the United 
 States." 
 
 A list of the principal cities with the number of thea- 
 ters included in each is given (obviously excluding mo- 
 tion picture houses) virith the following conclusion: 
 
 "Compile these figures and there is an aggregate of 2,973 
 theaters which get regular bookings. A conservative estimate 
 of theaters of all kinds in the United States, large and small, 
 would be 3,000." 
 
 Computations of costs are then given and lead to this 
 conclusion : 
 
 "We arrive at an approximate grand total of $45,000,000 in- 
 vested in theater properties. This sum represents only the one 
 item of permanent investment. An expenditure of double 
 this amount is necessary to run the theaters." ' 
 
 The following more careful estimates from recreation 
 surveys indicate something of the popularity of dramatic 
 amusements in various cities. 
 
 Milwaukee, a city of 373,857 population, is reported to 
 have sixty-two playhouses, with a total capacity of 42,- 
 232, and an average weekly attendance of 349,673. 
 
 The Recreation Survey of Milwaukee indicates that: 
 
 "Between eight and nine o'clock on either Saturday or Sunday 
 evenings all the theaters are open, vaudeville houses are in the 
 middle of their first evening performances, and the moving pic- 
 ture shows are getting the largest percentage of their attend- 
 ance. At this hour it is safe to say 37,875 people are in attend- 
 ance at some performance of this kind at one time. This em- 
 phasizes two things: First, the popular hour for social enter- 
 tainment; and second, the very considerable part played in the 
 recreation life of the city by this type of amusements." 
 
 iNew York Times, Sept. 7, igi3, part 7, p. i. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 33 
 
 Detroit, a city of 465,756 population, is estimated in its 
 Recreation Survey to have: 
 
 "In all the theaters and moving picture houses ... a total 
 average weekly attendance of 547,409, seventy-three per cent 
 of which is in the moving picture houses, ... a number equal 
 to the entire population of the city of Detroit" 
 
 Kansas City, in its Recreation Survey, is estimated to 
 have an average weekly attendance of 554,064 at thea- 
 ters and motion picture houses, the average at motion 
 picture shows alone being 449,064, or almost twice the 
 population of the city. It is noteworthy that Kansas 
 City shows one-half or more of those attending various 
 forms of dramatic amusement to be between 15 and 25 
 years of age. 
 
 Providence, a city of 224,326 population, is estimated 
 to have an average weekly attendance of young people 
 under 25 years of age at moving pictures and theaters 
 of 43,500, nearly three times the number attending any 
 other form of indoor amusement. 
 
 Richmond, Va., a city of 127,628 population, in May, 
 19 1 2, according to its Recreation Survey, showed an at- 
 tendance at theaters and motion picture shows equal to 
 about half the population of the city. 
 
 Similarly Indianapolis in January-March, 1914, with 
 a population now estimated at 265,000, showed an esti- 
 mated attendance at dramatic amusements of 420,780, of 
 which 320,527 was at motion pictures. 
 
 The study of the characteristics and morals of dramatic 
 amusements should be made in connection with each 
 type in the following chapters. The following charac- 
 terization from San Francisco is in some respects typical 
 of the moral issue. 
 
34 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "We find throughout all the theaters, from burlesque to legit- 
 imate, a clearly perceptible factor of sensuousness and vulgarity. 
 The people blame the management, but they go. The man- 
 agement admits the vulgarity but pleads the demand of the 
 people. This demand cannot be denied. When we find musical 
 comedy playing to thirty-two per cent of the capacity of all 
 the standard houses, it is not a whim of the management. But 
 we also find the management not only supplies the demand, it 
 stimulates and helps to increase it. It plays down even more 
 than is necessary from the box-office."* 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. The size of the show-going public in each town is impor- 
 tant to determine. A member of the group should report a 
 careful estimate. A method for the determination of this total 
 in the larger cities will be found in the Detroit, Indianapolis, 
 or other recreation surveys. 
 
 2. What conclusions as to the significance of dramatic amuse- 
 ments do you draw from the fact that the theaters continue to 
 play to large audiences in times of financial depression? How 
 do you account for this? 
 
 3. It should be noted that each general subject, such as. The 
 Dramatic Group, is treated in four different places, i. e., under: 
 
 a. The Problem (as here). 
 
 b. Restrictive Public Opinion (page 147 and following). 
 
 c. Constructive Public Opinion (page 163 and following). 
 
 d. Suggestions for Community Action (page 221 and follow- 
 ing). 
 
 Cross references are given under each section of the 
 problem to the pages where the other sections may be 
 found. Further material upon the dramatic group will 
 be found upon pages 149, 169, and 225. 
 
 1 "Transactions of the Commonwealth Club of California," Public Recre- 
 ation, p. 246. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 3S 
 
 I. SERIOUS DRAMA 
 Extent 
 
 Serious drama has come to receive a surprisingly small 
 percentage of the actual attendance of the show-going 
 public. Of the sixty-two playhouses in Milwaukee, only 
 three are devoted to drama as "legitimate" theaters, and 
 they reach only 6.3 per cent of the show-going public. 
 The Kansas City Survey shows similarly that serious 
 drama in that city reaches only 5.1 per cent of the show- 
 going public. The corresponding figure for Detroit is 
 5.2 per cent, and for San Francisco 6 per cent. The in- 
 fluence of serious drama in the national life, however, is 
 much greater than these figures would indicate, for the 
 educational value of good plays carries far, and the 
 standards of serious drama affect other phases of dra- 
 matic production. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 Serious drama, defined as "a sincere portrayal of life 
 by imitation in action," answers as a fine art to a per- 
 sistent human interest, an interest in the meaning of the 
 human story with its varied motives, characters and con- 
 ditions. It has a dignity and quality which none of the 
 other amusement features of this group possess, for it 
 depends upon a play which is a representation of life, 
 upon actors who possess some measure of artistic skill, 
 and upon an audience which has at least some degree of 
 serious interest. 
 
 The purpose of drama is primarily to give recreation 
 in the full sense of the word, and it achieves its purpose 
 in either tragedy or comedy by the effective substitution 
 
36 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 of the world of imagination presented on the stage for 
 the matter-of-fact worlds in which the members of the 
 audience live. It releases them in flight beyond the 
 stern borders to which life has brought them, and thrills 
 them with some bit of the human story which might be 
 their own. 
 
 There is much discussion concerning the degree to 
 which serious drama is and should be educational. 
 Do the motives pictured in the world of the stage operate 
 in the work-a-day worlds of the audience? Should the 
 playwright seek to educate by developing in his work a 
 clear message? Viewpoints vary widely on these ques- 
 tions, but it is clear that drama may have a profoundly 
 educational effect. In the modern social drama 
 
 "... the individual is displayed in conflict with his environ- 
 ment and the drama deals with the mighty war between per- 
 sonal character and social conditions. The Greek hero struggles 
 with the superhuman; the Elizabethan hero struggles with him- 
 self; the modern hero struggles with the world." "The rela- 
 tion between the one and the many, in politics, in religion, in 
 the daily round of life itself has been and still is the most im- 
 portant topic of our times." * 
 
 This relation is the subject matter of the modern so- 
 cial drama, reflecting the social interest of the times. 
 The social outcast of any sort, and the unconventional 
 person become, therefore, highly dramatic material. 
 
 Morals 
 
 The morality of serious modern drama is widely dis- 
 cussed. It is indisputable that dramatic representa- 
 tions may have a positive moral influence of the first or- 
 
 1 Clayton Hamilton, "Theory of the Theater," p. 137. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS zi 
 
 der. Serious drama, as we know it, was born within the 
 church in the miracle plays, and has often served the 
 cause of morality in the highest degree. It is manifest, 
 on the other hand, that it can exercise a profoundly im- 
 moral influence, and has often done so. No generaliza- 
 tion on the moral influence of the drama as a whole is of 
 any value. Discriminating criticism is needed to estab- 
 lish the truth in each instance. Furthermore, serious 
 drama in America varies so widely as to moral tone, and 
 there are so many conceptions of what it is that makes 
 a play "immoral," that no wholesale generalization on 
 the morality of the serious drama as it is in America to- 
 day avails anything. Here also discriminating criticism 
 is necessary. 
 
 What makes a play immoral? Is it the subject matter 
 which the dramatist presents, the treatment of the sub- 
 ject matter by the dramatist, or the presentation of the 
 play by the manager and actors? May or may not im- 
 morality be present in any one of the three? A leading 
 dramatic critic writes : 
 
 "To either condemn or defend the morality of any work of 
 art because of its material alone, is merely a waste of words. 
 There is no such thing per se as an immoral subject for a play: 
 in the treatment of the subject, and only in the treatment, lies 
 the basis for an ethical judgment of the piece. . . . The only 
 way in which a play may be immoral is for it to cloud, in the 
 spectator, the consciousness of those invariable laws of life 
 which say to man 'Thou shalt not;' or 'Thou shalt.' . . . The 
 one thing needful in order that a drama may be moral is that 
 the author shall maintain throughout the piece a sane and truth- 
 ful insight into the soundness or unsoundness of the relation 
 between his characters. He must know when they are right 
 and when they are wrong, and must make clear to the audi- 
 ence the reasons for his judgments. . . . Whenever, then, it 
 becomes important to determine whether a new play of the 
 
38 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 modern social type is moral or immoral, the critic should 
 decide first, whether the author tells lies specifically about any 
 of the people in his story, and, second, provided that the play- 
 wright passes the first test successfully, whether he allures the 
 audience to generalize falsely in regard to life at large from 
 the specific circumstances of his play. These two questions are 
 the only ones that need to be decided." ' 
 
 Whether or not this statement covers the. whole of the 
 question, it is beyond doubt that this fundamental im- 
 morality of treatment exists in many of the plays pre- 
 sented as serious drama. A large proportion of the plays 
 brought out each year, representing, as they do, that 
 which is momentarily effective rather than that which 
 is fundamentally true, are written with no sincere dra- 
 matic purpose. They portray the results of human ac- 
 tion, not as those results work out in life, but as the play- 
 wright fancies to portray them for the sake of theatric 
 effect. This means that there are many in which lies are 
 told about the people in the story, and which by care- 
 lessness or intention lure the audience to generalize false- 
 ly in regard to life as a whole. 
 
 Prevalent discussion of the morals of modern drama 
 exerts itself fully as much with the choice of subject mat- 
 ter as with the immoralities of treatment indicated above. 
 Whether or no this is theoretically correct from the art- 
 ist's viewpoint, there is widespread criticism of the 
 "broadening license allowed to the drama of sexuality," 
 the large presentation of sex relations, especially irreg- 
 ular relations — the life of the courtesan and the prosti- 
 tute. Opinions vary widely on the issue whether this 
 dramatic emphasis merely reflects or helps to create and 
 intensify the acute and morbid sex consciousness of to- 
 
 * Clayton Hamilton, in his "Theory of the Theater," pp. 144, 14S-9. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 39 
 
 day. There are many who ask how it is possible to hold 
 guiltless those dramatists who help to focus and hold 
 public attention upon this type of subject matter. If the 
 normal mind instinctively refuses to dwell long upon 
 these subjects, is it not a fair demand of the normal pub- 
 lic that other phases of life more wholesome and no less 
 dramatic be chosen? May it not be that an increasing 
 knowledge of the consequences of the prevalent sex stim- 
 ulation in our theaters may alter the a priori generaliza- 
 tion that "there is no such thing per se as an immoral 
 subject for a play"? Might not an increasing apprecia- 
 tion of the physiological psychology of sex make the pres- 
 entation of certain sex facts wholly valid exceptions to 
 this principle? S. H. Adams, in discussing Salome as 
 "a slightly disguised piece of abnormal sensuality," 
 speaks to the point when he says : "This sort of thing can 
 only be normal in a world made up of lecherous-minded 
 people, a world in which such ideas and motives being 
 natural to the mass are proper subjects for art." ^ 
 
 The essential principle set forth by G. K. Chesterton 
 in discussing the criminal operation in Waste seems to 
 get near the root of the truth, and to be capable of ex- 
 tension to no small amount of the subject matter of mod- 
 em drama. He says : 
 
 "Here I think the whole argument might be sufficiently cleared 
 up by saying that the objection to such things on the stage 
 is a purely artistic objection. There is nothing wrong in talk- 
 ing about an illegal operation; there are plenty of occasions 
 when it would be very wrong not to talk about it. But it 
 may be easily just a shade too ugly for the shape of any work 
 of art. There is nothing wrong about being sick; but if Ber- 
 
 1 S. H. Adams, "Indecent Stage." American Magasine, May, 1909, v. 
 68, pp. 4 ■-47- 
 
40 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 nard Shaw wrote a play in which all the characters expressed 
 their dislike of animal food by vomiting on the stage, I think 
 we should be justified in saying that the thing was outside, not 
 the laws of morality, but the framework of civilized literature. 
 The instinctive movement of repulsion which everyone has 
 when hearing of the operation in Waste, is not an ethical re- 
 pulsion at all. But it is an esthetic repulsion, and a right one." ' 
 
 Beyond this, however, the question of what is valid 
 subject matter for drama apparently can not be answered 
 solely upon artistic grounds, even though certain bodies 
 of subject matter may be successfully ruled out on that 
 basis. 
 
 Here, as elsewhere, we are coming into an increasing 
 sense of the value of the social reference. Artistic dog- 
 matism is as out of place here as moral dogmatism. The 
 social consequences of any art, especially an art so purely 
 social as drama, can no longer be ignored, for the voice 
 of the common weal has, after all, the final right to be 
 heard. 
 
 Hugo Muensterberg brings the social reference to bear 
 upon "red light drama" in the following paragraphs of 
 far-reaching truth : 
 
 "To strengthen this instinctive emotion of mysterious re- 
 spect which makes the young mind shrink from brutal intru- 
 sion will remain the wisest policy as long as we cannot change 
 that automatic mechanism of human nature. by which the sex- 
 ual thought stimulates the sexual organs. 
 
 "A nation which tries to lift its sexual morality by dragging 
 the sexual problems to the street for the inspection of the crowd 
 without shyness and without shame, and which- wilfully makes 
 them objects of gossip and stage entertainment, is doing worse 
 than Munchausen when he tried to lift himself by his scalp. 
 
 "It seems less important that the youth learn the secrets of 
 
 ^G. K. Chesterton, "George Bernard Shaw," pp. 140-141. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 41 
 
 sexual intercourse than that their teachers and guardians learn 
 the elements of physiological psychology."* 
 
 John Galsworthy puts positively that quality of life 
 which many lovers of art desire to see enter more largely 
 into the making of our modern drama, when he says : 
 
 "It is certain that to the making of good drama, as to the 
 practice of every other art, there must be brought an almost 
 passionate love of discipline, a white heat of self-respect, a 
 desire to make the truest, fairest, best thing in one's power ; and 
 that to these must be added an eye that does not flinch. Such 
 qualities alone will bring to a drama the selfless character 
 which soaks it with inevitability.'" 
 
 Jane Addams, in writing of the morals of the stage 
 as a whole, emphasizes the intense significance of the 
 question, and says with prophetic foresight : 
 
 "There is no doubt that we are at the beginning of a period 
 when the stage is becoming the most successful popular teacher 
 in public morals. Many times the perplexed hero reminds one 
 of Emerson's description of Margaret Fuller, 'I do not know 
 where I am going, follow me;' but nevertheless, the stage is 
 dealing with these moral themes in which the public is inter- 
 ested. . . . While many young people and older ones as well 
 go to the theater, if only to see represented and hear discussed 
 the themes which seem to them so tragically important, there 
 is no doubt that what they hear there, flimsy and poor as it 
 often is, easily becomes their actual moral guide. In moments 
 of moral crisis they turn to the sayings of the hero who found 
 himself in a similar plight. The sayings may not be profound, 
 but they are at least applicable to conduct. It would be a 
 striking result if the teachings of the contemporaneous stage 
 should at last afford the moral platform upon which the various 
 members of the community would unite for common action in 
 matters of social reform.'" 
 
 1 "Hugo Muensterberg." New York Times, September 14, 1913, p. 4. 
 •John Galsworthy, "The Inn of Tranquillity," p. iga. 
 a Jane Addams in The Survey, April 3, 1909. 
 
42 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 Serious drama as we have it in America today raises 
 many subjects for discussion: 
 
 1. Do all members of the group agree that drama is a fine 
 art and has a large and legitimate place in human interest? 
 
 2. A member of the group should give a brief paper, dis- 
 tinguishing sharply between the characteristics of tragedy, com- 
 edy, farce, melodrama, burlesque, vaudeville, and motion pic- 
 tures. 
 
 3. Has the modern social drama as we have seen it in ''our 
 town" done harm by its presentation of the socially outcast 
 as its subject matter, or has more harm been done by the way 
 in which these matters have been presented? 
 
 4. What is it that makes a play immoral? A member of the 
 group should present a brief paper on this question. Ample 
 references from all points of view will be found in the bibli- 
 ography. 
 
 5. Discuss grand opera in its relations to the questions raised 
 here. 
 
 6. Groups may well observe the moral atmosphere which 
 surrounds and pervades the theater in their town. Is the theater 
 well managed and the atmosphere wholesome? The manager 
 might be invited to present the problems of the drama as he 
 sees them from the business point of view. 
 
 7. The group should watch the effect of the theater upon 
 those who attend habitually. To what degree does it seem to 
 provide genuine recreation and happiness? Does it lead in 
 cases of excessive attendance to a loss of good perspective on 
 fife, to extravagant expenditure, to theatrical poses, or other 
 false attitudes? 
 
 8. In this discussion, the group should stick to the single topic 
 of "legitimate" drama. The discussion of other phases of dra- 
 matic amusement should await their turn. 
 
 9. Further material upon serious drama will be found upon 
 pages 149, 169, and 225. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 4J. 
 
 2. MELODRAMA, MUSICAL COMEDY, FARCE, 
 BURLESQUE 
 
 Alongside of serious drama go melodrama, musical 
 comedy, farce, and burlesque. These have this in com- 
 mon, that they lack the serious artistic purpose of drama 
 proper. The audiences at these productions are for the 
 most part in frivolous mood. 
 
 Extent 
 
 Heavy inroads have been made in the last few years 
 into all these types of plays, especially into stage produc- 
 tions of melodrama, by vaudeville and motion pictures. 
 The Milwaukee Survey shows that the show-going public 
 there gives an average weekly attendance of five per cent 
 to melodrama, and 6.9 per cent to burlesque. The De- 
 troit Survey shows 6.8 per cent at burlesque. Kansas 
 City shows 3.5 per cent at melodrama, and 3.6 per cent 
 at burlesque theaters. San Francisco shows 3.5 per cent 
 at burlesque. It is probable that these percentages are 
 an approximate representation of conditions in the coun- 
 try as a whole. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 Melodrama, as presented on the stage, or as now largely 
 in motion pictures, is the elemental dramatic expression 
 for the mass of the people. It shows the common life of 
 men in the grip of superior forces, caught in dramatic 
 situations, and is especially significant for its wide appeal. 
 Melodrama is like tragedy in this : 
 
 "That each exhibits a set of characters struggling vainly to 
 avert a predetermined doom; but in this essential point they 
 
44 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 differ, — that whereas the characters in melodrama are drifted 
 to disaster in spite of themselves, the characters in tragedy go 
 down to destruction because of themselves. In tragedy the 
 characters determine and control the play; in melodrama the 
 plot determines and controls the characters. 
 
 "If we turn our attention to the merry-mooded drama, we 
 shall discern a similar distinction between comedy and farce. 
 A comedy is a humorous play in which the actors dominate the 
 action; a farce is a humorous play in which the action domi- 
 nates the actors."* 
 
 Comedy and farce on the American stage have degen- 
 erated, with rare exceptions, into cheap musical and va- 
 riety shows of the extravaganza type. They are in no 
 sense drama. They are for the most part well charac- 
 terized as providing "music thin and chirpy, staging gor- 
 geously vulgar — with no touch of poetry or imagination 
 or reckless romance." 
 
 Burlesque, as its name implies, is a type of theatrical 
 representation in which there are incongruous contrasts 
 between the subject and the manner of treatment. It 
 abounds in parody and grotesque caricatures. Its key- 
 note is cynicism, and its appeal is to the lowest sense of 
 humor. It descends to any degree of vulgarity neces- 
 sary to get a laugh, and degenerates everywhere into a 
 coarse buffoonery suited to the audience to which it 
 caters. 
 
 Morals 
 
 The morals of melodrama seem always to be sound at 
 heart, however crude and theatric the play may be. Is 
 the villain not always done to death and the heroine res- 
 cued and vindicated ? To many jaded theatergoers today, 
 
 tQaytan Hamilton, "Theory of the Theater," pp. 127-131. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 4S 
 
 the old-fashioned morals of melodrama seem like the lost 
 virtues of their childhood, and it is a fact of deep sig- 
 nificance that the morals of motion picture plays are 
 for the most part the morals of melodrama. 
 
 Cheap musical comedies, gayety and burlesque shows 
 ordinarily have as little morals of any sort as the law 
 allows, and frequently less. It is here that immorality in 
 dramatic amusements has its chief stronghold. They do 
 an incalculable damage to public morality, for their basic 
 appeal is directly to the sensual passions. They fre- 
 quently reek with suggestive songs and dances, vulgar 
 jokes, with vile double meanings, and spectacular effects 
 which have no other appeal than to sensuality. "A vein 
 of appalling vulgarity," says Israel Zangwill, "runs 
 through most of our musical plays and farcical come- 
 dies."* 
 
 Burlesque in New York City has been classified as 
 "five-sixths demoralizing and one-sixth lowering." It 
 would be difficult to overestimate the moral damage done 
 by suggestive "popular" songs which have their origin 
 here, are easily memorized, and spread contagiously 
 through all classes of society. 
 
 The audiences at these shows are for the most part 
 fond of vulgarity and help to create the atmosphere in 
 which it thrives. "They contain an unpleasantly large 
 number of boys between sixteen and eighteen, plus a 
 still larger contingent of young men." 
 
 Robb O. Bartholomew, in the Report of the Censorship 
 of Motion Pictures in Cleveland, calls attention to "the 
 appalling amount of harm the cheap vaudeville and bur- 
 lesque shows are doing," and says : 
 
 '■Cosmopolitan, v. 38, AprU, 1914, p. 641. 
 
46 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "When one sees the hundreds of young men and boys at 
 these performances, and sees the frenzied manner in which 
 they indicate their approval of the vulgar, he cannot but con- 
 cede that many must here receive the suggestion and impetus 
 that leads them into lives wasted in dissipation and profligacy. 
 Recently, in visiting one of the larger burlesque theaters of this 
 city, eighteen boys were seen, twelve of whom were known to 
 be under fourteen years of age. These young boys witnessed 
 a performance which overflowed from beginning to end with 
 insidious suggestions clothed to make immorality appear the 
 normal indulgence of the ordinary life. . . . The flashy light 
 of sensual pleasures was turned full in their faces, blinding 
 their eyes." 
 
 George J. Kneeland is authority for the following: 
 
 "It may be said that practically all of the women in burlesque 
 shows are professional prostitutes. The men in the shows are 
 addicted to the lowest forms of degeneracy." 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Discuss the place and value of melodrama as an expres- 
 sion of the life of the people. Study the typical characters 
 found in melodrama, the hero and villain, the benevolent old 
 man, the heroine. What basic moral qualities are personified? 
 
 2. What are the deep-seated, reasons for the degeneracy of 
 musical comedy and burlesque? To what extent is this due to 
 the character of those who present them? Does their presenta- 
 tion by amateurs free them from the taint of vulgarity? Is 
 burlesque inherently bad? 
 
 3. Further material dealing with melodrama, musical comedy, 
 farce and burlesque will be found on pages 149, 169, and 225. 
 
 3. VAUDEVILLE 
 Extent 
 
 Vaudeville has next to the largest popularity of all 
 forms of dramatic entertainment. Motion pictures alone 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 47 
 
 exceed it. The Milwaukee Survey shows that 21.6 per 
 cent of the average weekly attendance at all the play- 
 houses is at vaudeville. Detroit shows 14.9 per cent at 
 regular vaudeville, Kansas City 5.1 per cent, San Fran- 
 cisco 25 per cent. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 Vaudeville is a straight-out effort to entertain the 
 public by any dramatic means which comes within its 
 grasp. "It may be described as a succession of acts 
 whose stimulus depends usually upon an artificial rather 
 than upon natural, human and developing interest, these 
 acts having no necessary and as a rule no actual con- 
 nection." 
 
 It has no aim to portray life in serious drama and yet 
 it offers playlets and famous scenes from well-known 
 plays, sometimes presented by leading actors. It has no 
 educational aim, but it uses travel features or educational 
 motion pictures whenever a hearing seems likely to be 
 accorded. It is not a circus, but it displays trained horses, 
 dogs, monkeys, clowns and other members of the zoo. Its 
 stock attractions are songs and dances, scenic posing, 
 monologue and dialogue skits, acrobats and jugglers. It 
 is a medley of anything and everything that will "go." 
 The different "acts" may, of course, be genuinely artistic 
 and frequently are so in the better houses. There is 
 an occasional act of real wit and cleverness. The music 
 is often catchy and recreative. The acrobats and jug- 
 glers are usually skilful. Taken as a whole, however, 
 the country over, vaudeville offerings are for the most 
 part cheap and vapid. 
 
 Much has been said in praise of it, but the American 
 
48 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Magazine presents the following characterization of vau- 
 deville's dramatic effects : 
 
 "The chief indictment against the vaudeville of today con- 
 sists in this fact, vaudeville has done more to corrupt, vitiatC) 
 and degrade public taste in matters relating to the stage than 
 all other influences put together. Vaudeville audiences . . . 
 their minds ... so long drugged by such a wealth of cheap 
 and obvious entertainment — comic jugglers, who fall down stairs 
 in fifty different ways; brazen-voiced singers who bawl about 
 coming home drunk, and others of that ilk — that they had lost 
 the faculty of thinking."' 
 
 Morals 
 
 The morals of vaudeville in New York City are thus 
 characterized by the same writer : 
 
 "A somewhat objectionably wide experience with vaudeville 
 bills has convinced the writer that a vaudeville show, especially 
 in 'first class' houses, that does not contain at least one number 
 that is calculated to make a decent woman ashamed of her 
 presence in that theater is about as rare as snow in Panama. 
 . . . Nowadays it is anything to get a laugh or a shock. The 
 only limit is what the police will allow, and the police apparently 
 draw the line only at indecent physical exhibitions on the stage, 
 and not always there. The far more pernicious evil of sugges- 
 tive songs and lewd lascivious jests goes quite unheeded by the 
 authorities." ' 
 
 It may be open to question whether these words are 
 true of the better vaudeville houses generally, the coun- 
 try over, but it is doubtless a fair characterization of 
 the morals of American vaudeville as a whole. 
 
 The San Francisco Survey indicates that: 
 
 '■American Magazine, "Decay of Vaudeville," v. 69, p. 840. 
 'Ibid., pp. 844-846. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 49 
 
 "The song and dance monologue, though well received when 
 well done, is least worth while of all the acts. It is in these 
 particularly that coarseness and vulgarity creep in. It is to be 
 regretted that this vulgarity is enjoyed by a considerable num- 
 ber of women . . . though they blush, they applaud." 
 
 There is general agreement among investigators of 
 conditions in motion picture shows that the vaudeville 
 acts so frequently put on between the reels are uniformly 
 cheap and usually degrading. Of these vaudeville acts 
 at picture shows, Robb Bartholomew, in the Report of 
 the Censorship of Motion Pictures in Cleveland, says: 
 
 "It is impossible to describe in this report the excesses to 
 which vaudeville performances are allowed to go in most of 
 the theaters where performances are given. There are on file 
 several pages of carefully written reports, affidavits and other 
 material describing vaudeville acts which were either sugges- 
 tive of the immoral, or vulgar and positively indecent. Many 
 verses of different songs have been gathered which would not 
 bear printing in this report. Dancers were often seen who 
 endeavored to arouse interest and applause by going through 
 vulgar movements of the body." 
 
 Amateur night performances in commercial theaters 
 deserve careful attention. The Chicago Vice Report in- 
 dicates that : 
 
 "Another immoral feature in connection with the cheap thea- 
 ter is the amateur nights and conditions back on the stage. 
 Workers among delinquent girls testify that these are the in- 
 fluences that first started many of the girls into immoral lives." 
 
 Cleveland conditions in this respect are thus described : 
 
 "The amateur performances given in many of the motion pic- 
 ture theaters should be classed in a different category from 
 the regular vaudeville performances. As now conducted they 
 
so POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 are in most instances bad because these young participants 
 seek to mimic the vaudeville performers who are most cor- 
 dially received by the crowds of the theaters. Unfortunately 
 it is the class that can best portray things suggestive or inde- 
 cent that are so received by the patrons." ' 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Do you consider vaudeville an enemy of dramatic art? 
 Why? 
 
 2. Is vaudeville in "our town" a genuine recreation, or does 
 it leave the audience bored and stale? 
 
 3. Is there any vaudeville house in "our town" from which 
 the one or more suggestive acts usually present are eliminated? 
 
 4. What is the matter with amateur nights? What is the 
 best substitute which avoids their dangers? 
 
 5. Further material dealing with vaudeville will be found on 
 pages 149 and 169. 
 
 4. MOTION PICTURES 
 Extent 
 
 The enormous popularity of motion pictures is, with 
 the possible exception of the dance mania, the most 
 spectacular single feature of the amusement situation 
 in recent years. The Milwaukee Survey shows upon a 
 "conservative" estimate that 210,630 persons or 60.2 
 per cent of the show-going public is reached by the fifty 
 motion picture theaters in the city, and that the capacity 
 of these theaters is filled from eight to eleven times each 
 week. Mption pictures there get three-fifths of the pat- 
 ronage of the show-going public, and motion pictures and 
 vaudeville together four-fifths. 
 
 The Detroit Survey shows an estimated average 
 
 1 R. O. Bartholomew, "Report of the Censorship of Motion Pictures," 
 Cleveland, p. 15. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS Si 
 
 weekly attendance at down-town and neighborhood pic- 
 ture shows of 399,816 or 73.1 per cent of the show- 
 going public. 
 
 The Cleveland Report of Censorship of Motion Pic- 
 tures for 1913 indicates that the average daily attend- 
 ance at motion picture theaters is 115,000, while the av- 
 erage for Sundays and holidays is about 200,000, or 
 "in other words, one in every six of our citizens at- 
 tends a motion picture theater each week day, and one 
 in every three when such leisure time as Saturdays, Sun- 
 days and holidays is granted." San Francisco shows 
 an average weekly attendance of 65.5 per cent of the 
 show-going public at motion pictures and 80 per cent 
 of the total theater capacity in motion picture houses. 
 The Kansas City Survey shows that 73.9 per cent of the 
 show-going public there attend motion pictures. 
 
 "The most striking figure of the table (showing vari- 
 ous forms of commercial recreation) is that of 449,064 
 as the average weekly attendance at motion picture shows 
 in Kansas City, or almost twice the population of the 
 city." Rowland Haynes, the chief expert in recreation 
 surveys of the Playground and Recreation Association, 
 vouches for the conservatism of this estimate. 
 
 This means that "if we rule out the penny arcades 
 and the medical museums as special pick-up forms of 
 amusement, the moving picture shows have four times 
 as many attendants per week as the vaudeville, melo- 
 drama, burlesque, and legitimate theaters put together." 
 
 It is manifest that motion pictures have done more 
 than all other agencies combined to increase the size of 
 the show-going public. Their cheapness, their family 
 and neighborhood character, their attractiveness to chil- 
 dren have brought into the patronage of this form of 
 
52 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 public amusement a veritable multitude of people who 
 formerly took their recreations in private and seldom 
 went to shows of any sort. 
 
 Walter P. Eaton, the dramatic critic, ventured the 
 following in the latter part of 1913 : 
 
 "There are certainly ten thousand such theaters (motion pic- 
 ture theaters), it is said, and probably the daily attendance is 
 closer to twenty million than to the five million estimated by 
 the proprietors." "This means that at ten cents an admission, 
 we as a nation are spending two millions of dollars daily to 
 witness canned drama."* 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 Any form of amusement which gets the attention of 
 such enormous numbers of people, especially the young, 
 is a matter of deep significance in the national life. The 
 secret of motion pictures lies in the fact that: 
 
 "Films have been made so delicate that they will take a pic- 
 ture in an exposure of i-42,oooth of a second; the mechanism 
 has been so perfected that streams of consecutive pictures can 
 be taken at the rate of 5,000 per second, the measurement and 
 control of this being entrusted to a tuning-fork — so far beyond 
 our mere mechanical abilities do such figures take us." ' 
 
 The single acting of a story or scene of any sort be- 
 fore the camera in the manufacturer's theater makes 
 possible the reproduction of the same scene before count- 
 less people at small cost. The majority of films are 
 made in this way, but large sums of money are also 
 spent in securing pictures of actual events in remote 
 countries or in the original setting of great events and 
 with as many as possible of the original factors present. 
 
 iW. p. Eaton, in "Menace of the Movies," American Magasine, Sep- 
 tember, 1913, V. 76, p. 55. 
 
 ' Filson Young, "Kinema," in the Saturday Review, January 27, 1912. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS S3 
 
 Motion pictures show interesting contrasts to other 
 forms of dramatic art. 
 
 "In several important respects the moving picture is a more 
 serviceable medium for story-telling than the regular drama. 
 . . . The main advantage of the moving picture play over the 
 traditional types of drama is that the author is granted an im- 
 measurably greater freedom in handling the categories of place 
 and time. ... A story told by moving pictures may change 
 its place as frequently as the author may desire. He may 
 arrange his tale in fifty scenes instead of four. . . . Further- 
 more, the moving picture possesses a notable advantage over 
 the contemporary regular drama in its ability to alter in a frac- 
 tion of a second the point of view from which the story shall 
 be looked upon. As soon as a character has passed through a 
 certain door, the scene may be shifted from the room that he 
 has left to the room that he has entered; and the eye may 
 follow him all through a house from cellar to attic without 
 any loss of time. ... It is not at all surprising that the 
 moving picture play has driven out of existence the cheap type 
 of popular melodrama. The reason is not merely that the mov- 
 ing picture show could undersell the regular theater and offer 
 a performance for five cents, instead of for ten, twenty and 
 thirty. The real reason for the triumph of the moving picture 
 play is the purely critical reason that it offers a more artistic 
 type of narrative than the old popular melodrama."* 
 
 As vaudeville requires no thinking, so motion pictures 
 require no listening. Their appeal is wholly to the eye. 
 They tell their vivid pictorial story in a language all 
 can understand, and bring from the ends of the earth 
 the exact appearance of foreign scenes and peoples, 
 thrilling adventures on land and sea, the story of great 
 invention, all forms of work and play, and thus make 
 the whole world kin in marvelous fashion. The va- 
 riety of subjects which they may present, and the re- 
 
 1 Clayton Hamilton, in "The Art of the Moving Picture Play," The 
 Bookman v. 32, pp. S"-5x6, January, 1911. 
 
B4 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 markable degree to which they can reveal the human 
 story by means of acting without speech, have given 
 them both a wide range and deep intensity of human 
 interest. 
 
 Morals 
 
 It is quite impossible to over-emphasize the signifi- 
 cance of clean morals in motion picture representations. 
 What has been said concerning morals of serious drama 
 applies in no small degree here and with that increased 
 importance which inheres in the fact of the enormously 
 greater attendances indicated above. 
 
 In the morals of motion pictures the dangerous ele- 
 ment has entered chiefly in the ease with which sugges- 
 tive stories and indecent or criminal actions are por- 
 trayed, and despite all efforts to eliminate them, a small 
 percentage of such pictures continues to be shown. 
 Where boys and girls attend in large numbers, pictures 
 of this sort are an especial menace. The vividness and 
 the manner of the portrayal have frequently led to such 
 direct imitation of the actions portrayed that the most 
 serious crimes have been committed under the power 
 of an impulse thus awakened. The San Francisco rat- 
 ing of the morals of motion pictures is 48.66 per cent 
 good, 17 per cent bad, 32 per cent neutral, 2.33 per cent 
 doubtfully bad. 
 
 The danger of vulgar vaudeville acts in motion pic- 
 ture theaters has already been pointed out in the chap- 
 ter on Vaudeville. 
 
 The Chicago Vice Report calls attention to another 
 danger connected with motion picture theaters, as fol- 
 lows: 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS SS 
 
 "Investigations by individuals interested in the welfare of 
 children have pointed out many instances where the children 
 have been influenced for evil by the conditions surrounding 
 some of these shows. Vicious men and boys mix with the 
 crowd in front of the theaters and take liberties with very 
 young girls." 
 
 The evil effects of lurid posters are also to be noted 
 here. 
 
 Early in the development of the popularity of motion 
 pictures, their possibilities for evil as well as good were 
 recognized and the action of a few far-sighted men and 
 women in forming the New York National Board of 
 Censorship has had an effect of the utmost importance 
 in safeguarding public morals by an efficient coopera- 
 tion with the manufacturers of films. It may well be 
 questioned whether any other group of men and women 
 of equal size has done more for the morals of recreation 
 in America than the members of this Board, for the sig- 
 nificance of motion pictures in the national life of today 
 is difficult to over-estimate. Motion pictures have in 
 reality provided a theater of the people, not without 
 its defects and dangers, but for the most part whole- 
 some. It may be temporary in its popularity, but it is 
 offering at the present to millions of American citizens 
 daily a means of real diversion, some genuine education, 
 and no small degree of uplift. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 I. What are the physical conditions in motion picture shows 
 in "our town"? Are the buildings well ventilated? Are proper 
 safeguards against overcrowding and fire provided? Are there 
 an adequate number of exits? 
 
S6 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 2. How thoroughly censored are all the films shown? Is 
 there need of a local or state wide censorship? 
 
 3. Does the popularity of the movies in "our town" seera to 
 have an effect upon the patronage of the saloons? 
 
 4. What are the moral conditions surrounding motion pic- 
 ture shows? Are low jokes and immoral suggestions tolerated 
 about the entrance? Is there evidence of improper action in 
 dimly lighted parts of the theater? 
 
 5. What are the subjects of greatest interest? Why is West- 
 ern so popular? 
 
 6. Study the moral attitude of the audience. Does it ap- 
 plaud the sensually suggestive when it is shown, or is the atti- 
 tude one of decency and wholesomeness ? 
 
 7. What specific points in motion pictures which you have 
 seen do you believe should be eliminated, such as the clinging 
 kiss, the suggestive embrace, the striking of blows, the bran- 
 dishing of a knife? 
 
 8. Study carefully the reels that are not censored. Do any 
 of them advertise commercial products of doubtful value? Are 
 they up to the grade of censored films? 
 
 9. Further material upon motion pictures will be found on 
 pages 149, 169, and 225. 
 
 FURTHER SUGGESTIONS ON THE DRAMATIC 
 
 GROUP 
 
 Other phases of dramatic amusements which the group 
 may well investigate and discuss are: 
 
 I. Penny arcades still prevalent at amusement re- 
 sorts and in the larger cities, notably Kansas City among 
 those surveyed. There they receive 7.8 per cent of 
 the total attendance at exhibition amusements. The pic- 
 tures exhibited in these slot machines are always of 
 a low order, frequently suggestive and indecent, calcu- 
 lated to catch the attention of boys and girls of prurient 
 mind. Reference should be made to the Kansas City 
 Recreation Survey and The Social Evil in Chicago. The 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 57 
 
 prevalence of suggestive and obscene postcards should 
 also be noted. 
 
 2. Medical museums, "men only" shows, and similar 
 exhibition places which show a variety of freaks and ab- 
 normalities, many of which are out and out fakes. These 
 places are often catchtraps for the underworld. 
 
 3. Patent medicine, Indian, glass-blowing shows, and 
 the like which make the round of the country villages, 
 frequently traveling with tents and presenting a cheap 
 entertainment. This is accessory to the sale of medi- 
 cine, Indian goods, glassware or other articles. These 
 shows depend upon the gullibility of country people and 
 often succeed by the use of clever tricks in extracting 
 considerable sums of money from villages where poverty 
 is general. The persistence of Punch and Judy, puppet 
 shows and the like at country fairs and elsewhere is well 
 worth attention. The latest successors to these travel- 
 ing entertainments are the motion picture shows- which 
 make the rounds of the smallest villages during the sum- 
 mer months with tent equipment. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Books 
 
 Reference should be made throughout the study of the dra- 
 matic group to the recreation surveys and reports listed under 
 the Amusement Situation in General. 
 
 Addams, Jane. "House of Dreams" in "The Spirit of Youth 
 and the City Streets," 1910. PP- 75-io3- Macmillan, $1.25. 
 
 Theaters and moving picture sliows have great influence in forming 
 the ideals of the youth of the city. 
 
 Bowen, L. DeK "Five and Ten Cent Theaters." Chicago Juve- 
 nile Protection Association. Report of investigations in 
 1909-10. 
 
S8 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Grau, Robert. "The Stage in the 20th Century," v. 3, Broad- 
 way Publishing Co., New York, 1912. $5. 
 
 A remarkably full and intimate discussion of the problems of the 
 theater, including motion pictures. 
 
 Herts, A. M. "Dramatic Instinct — Its Use and Misuse." Re- 
 print from the Pedagogical Seminary, December, 1908, v. 
 15, pp. 550-562. 
 A careful statement of the instinctive basis of drama. 
 
 Serious Drama 
 
 Books 
 
 Burton, R. E. "New American Drama." Crowell, 1913, $1.25. 
 
 Caffin, C. H. "The Appreciation of the Drama." Baker, igo8. 
 $1.50. 
 
 Interesting discussion of the stage, the actor, the play, the material 
 of the drama, etc. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "American Stage of Today." Small, 1908. $1.50. 
 
 Largely descriptive of plays and actors, but indicative of the gen- 
 eral trend of the theater. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "At the New Theater and Others." Small, Bos- 
 ton, 1910. $1.50. 
 
 A survey of the American stage during the two seasons of 1908. 
 
 Hamilton, Clayton. "Theory of the Theater." Holt, igio. $1.50. 
 Able discussion of fundamental principles in dramatic art. 
 
 Mackaye, Percy. "The Playhouse and the Play." Macmillan, 
 1909. $1.25. 
 
 A series of addresses covering the theater and democracy in 
 America. 
 
 Matthews, Brander. "Study of the Drama." Houghton, 191 1. 
 $1.25. 
 
 "The most suggestive and serviceable book concerning the tech- 
 nique of the drama." Drama, February, 1911. 
 
 Moses, M. J. 'The American Dramatist." Little, 191 1. $2.50. 
 "The mass of data on American drama here presented for the first 
 time in a single volume constitutes the book's chief value." A. L. A. 
 Booklist. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS S9 
 
 Price, W. T. "Analysis of Play Construction and Dramatic 
 Principle." W. T. Price, New York, 1908. $S. 
 
 A comprehensive discussion of the technical principles of dra- 
 matic art. 
 
 Winter, William. "The Press and the Stage." 1899. $1.50. 
 
 An oration of permanent value. 
 
 Wister, Owen. "Subjects Fit for Fiction." In American Li- 
 brary Association papers and proceedings, 1906, pp. 20-24. 
 A discussion upon morals in fiction which is applicable by analogy 
 to the drama. 
 
 Woodbridge, Elizabeth. "The Drama, Its Law and Its Tech- 
 nique." AUyn, Boston, 1905. 8oc. 
 A brief handbook on dramatic principles. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Adams, H. S. "Indecent Stage." American Magazine, May, 
 1909, V. 68, pp. 41-47. 
 
 Discusses stage tendencies and individual plays with their effect 
 on the audience. 
 
 "An Ominous Sign of the Times." Outlook, September, 1913, 
 V. 105, PP- 68-70. 
 The failure to represent vice as repulsive as it is. 
 
 "A Vicious Use of Frankness." Independent, September 11, 
 1913, V. 75, pp. 604-605. 
 
 Discusses plays offensive for their presentation of vice. 
 
 Belasco, David. "Playwright and the Box Office." Century, 
 October, 1912, v. 84, pp. 883-890. 
 Interprets the box office point of view. 
 
 Bernhardt, Sarah. "Moral Influence of the Theater." Current 
 Literature, February, 1903, v. 34, pp. 172-173. 
 
 Attaches great importance to the moral value of the theater as an 
 institution of the people. 
 
 Cohan, G. M. and G. J. Nathan. "Mechanics of Emotion." 
 McClure, November, 1913, v. 42, pp. 69-77. 
 
 An acute analysis of dramatic effects which produce tears, laughs 
 or thrills. 
 
6o POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Dale, Alan. "Theater's Responsibility." Cosmopolitan, July, 
 1907, V. 43, pp. 294-304. 
 
 Immunity of New York public to immoral plays, through a con- 
 stant diet of them. 
 
 "Demoralizing Plays." Outlook, September 20, 1913, v. 105, p. 
 no. 
 
 A discriminating editorial. 
 
 "Dramatizing Vice." Literary Digest, October 4, 1913, v. 47, 
 pp. S76-S77- 
 
 Groups many varying opinions on the subject. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "Neglect of Stage Management." American 
 Magazine, January, 191 1, v. 71, pp. 400-409. 
 Much power rests in the hands of the stage manager. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "What Is a Good Play?" American Magazine, 
 September 12, v. 74, pp. 615-624. 
 
 The basic question of the playwright's sincerity. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "What Is a Moral Play?" American Magazine, 
 February 14, v. 77, pp. 49-52. 
 Discusses recent plays. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "What Makes a Bad Play?" American Maga- 
 zine, October, 1912, v. 74, pp. 744-753- 
 Lack of sincerity and evil tendencies for which it is responsible. 
 
 "Extension of Opera in America." American Magazine, Feb- 
 ruary, 1910, V. 69, pp. 537-545- 
 
 Forbes-Robertson, James. "Theater of Yesterday, Today and 
 Tomorrow." Century, February, 1914, v. 87, pp. 505-510. 
 Sound comment. 
 
 Hamilton, Clayton. "Emotional Contagion in the Theater." 
 Bookman, April, 1914, v. 39, pp. 139-147. 
 Interprets the susceptibility of the crowd. 
 
 Hamilton, Qasrton. "Infirmity of Purpose in the Drama." Book- 
 man, October, 1912, v. 36, pp. 164-175. 
 Some fundamental principles. 
 
 Hamilton, Clayton. "What Is Wrong with the American 
 Drama?" Bookman, May, 1914, v. 39, pp. 314-319. 
 
 The public does not care to see life represented truly and inter- 
 preted nobly. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 6i 
 
 Hamilton, J. S. "Sex-tangled Drama." Everybody's, Novem- 
 ber, 1913, V. 29, pp. 676-687. 
 
 Discusses morals of recent plays. 
 
 Kau£Fman, R. W. "Drama and Morality." Forum, May, 1914, 
 V. SI, pp. 664-672. 
 Justifies modern drama. 
 
 "Love-making on the Stage." Independent, February 7, 1907, 
 V. 62, pp. 33*-339. 
 
 The unwholesomeness of too much stage love-making. 
 
 Matthews, Brander. "The Show Business." Munsey, Febru- 
 ary, 1913, V. 48, pp. 73A-7Z7- 
 
 Relation of commercial management to dramatic art. 
 
 Moses, M. J. "Disintegration of the Theater." Forum, April, 
 191 1, V. 45, pp. 465-471- 
 
 Moses, M. J. "Plays for Parents." Independent, February 6, 
 1913, V. 77, pp. 301-305. 
 
 Interprets recent children's plays. 
 
 Muensterberg, Hugo. "Muensterberg Vigorously Denounces Red 
 Light Drama." New York Times. September 14, 1913, p. 4. 
 A brilliant statement of the problem, which has been much dis- 
 cussed with widely divided opinion. 
 
 "Plays That Make People Think." American Magazine, Janu- 
 ary, 1910, V. 69, pp. 409-417- 
 
 Robertson, J. F. "A Talk About the Theater." Outlook, Sep- 
 tember 24, 1910, V. 96, pp. 191-199- 
 
 A mature discussion of the drama. 
 
 Shaw, Mary. "My 'Immoral' Play." McClure's, April, 1912, v. 
 38, pp. 684-694. 
 
 An "immoral" play defended by the leading lady. 
 
 Windsor, Frederick. "Boys and the Theater." Atlantic, March, 
 191 1, V. 108, pp. 350-354- 
 
 Searching questions. 
 
 Winter, William. "Shadows of the Stage." Harper's Weekly, 
 September 24, 1910-April 22, 191 1. 
 A series of fearless articles by a leading dramatic critic. 
 
62 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Melodrama, Musical Comedy, Farce, Burlesque 
 
 "Climax of Melodrama.'' Current Literature, December, 1912, 
 V. S3, pp. 690-691. 
 
 Describes a recent spectacular production. 
 
 Davis, M. M., Jr. "The Burlesque,'' in "The Exploitation of 
 Pleasure," 1911, p. 31. 
 Compare also similar reports. 
 
 Hamilton, Clayton. "Melodrama, Old and New." Bookman, 
 May, igii, v. 33, pp. 309-314. 
 
 An incisive statement of the case. 
 
 Hartt, R. L. "The Home of Burlesque," in "The People at Play," 
 1909, pp. 1-43. 
 
 Hartt, R. L. "Melodrama," in "The People at Play," 1909. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 "American Girls' Damaging Influence on the Drama." Current 
 Literature, December, 1907, v. 43, p. 673. 
 
 Kingsley, S. C. "Penny Arcade and the Cheap Theater." Chari- 
 ties and the Commons, June 8, 1907, v. 18, pp. 295-297. 
 
 Vaudeville 
 
 Books 
 
 Grau, Robert. "The Vaudeville Situation," in "The Stage in the 
 Twentieth Century," 1912. pp. 45-73. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Collins, Sewell. "Breaking Into Vaudeville." Collier's, March 20, 
 1909, V. 49, p. 20. 
 
 Ideas upon the essentials of vaudeville as given .by a playwright 
 of vaudeville productions. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 63 
 
 "Decay of Vaudeville." American Magazine, April, 1910, v. 69, 
 pp. 840-848. 
 
 A sharp indictment of vaudeville. 
 
 "Golden Age of Vaudeville." Current Literature, June, 1907, v. 
 42, p. 669. 
 
 Interprets vaudeville favorably. 
 
 Swan, Arthur. "Vaudevilitis and Its Cure." The Drama, Febru- 
 ary, 1912, No. 5, p. 209-218. 
 
 A trenchant discussion. 
 
 Zangwill, Israel. "Future of Vaudeville in America." Cosmo- 
 politan, April, 1905, V. 38, pp. 639-646. 
 Discusses proper sphere of music halls and their probable future. 
 
 Motion Pictures 
 
 Books 
 
 Bartholomew, R. O. Report of Censorship of Motion Pictures 
 and of investigation of Motion Picture Theaters of Cleve- 
 land, 1913. 
 
 A thorough investigation. 
 
 Collier, John. "Problem of Motion Pictures." National Board 
 of Censorship, 1910. 
 
 Fosdick, R. B. Report on the Condition of Moving Picture 
 Shows in New York. March 22, 1911. Free, Office of the 
 Commissioner of Accounts, City of New York. 
 
 A statement of conditions. 
 
 Jump, H. A. "Social Influence of the Moving Picture." Play- 
 ground and Recreation Association of America, New York, 
 1911- Sc. 
 
 Talbot, F. A. "Moving Pictures, How They Are Made and 
 Worked." Lippincott, 1912. $1.50. 
 
 A comprehensive view of the subject, its history, achievements 
 and possibilities. 
 
 Thomas, Mrs. W. I. "Five Cent Theater." In National Confer- 
 ence of Charities and Correction, 1910. pp. I4S-I49- $3. 
 A concise discussion. 
 
64 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 "Dehumanizing the Stage.'' Current Opinion, April, 1913, v. 54, 
 pp. 297-298. 
 
 Interprets the development of mechanical devices. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "Menace of the Movies." American Magazine, 
 September, 1913, v. 76, pp. SS-60. 
 Able discussion of the dramatic significance of motion pictures. 
 
 Fuller, Mary. "My Adventures as a Motion-Picture Heroine." 
 Collier's, December 30, 191 1, v. 48, pp. 16-17. 
 
 Grau, Robert. "Moving Picture Show and the Living Drama." 
 Review of Reviews, March, 1912, v. 45, pp. 329-336. 
 
 Hamilton, Cla3rton. "Art of the Moving Picture Play." Book- 
 man, January, 1911, v. 32, pp. 512-516. 
 
 Hamilton, Clayton. "Drama of Illusion." Bookman, December, 
 1911, v. 34, pp. 358-370. 
 
 Interpretative account of modern realistic drama. 
 
 Lane, W. D. and others. "Edison vs. Euclid: Has He Invented 
 a Moving Stairway to Learning?" Survey, September 6, 
 1913, V. 30. pp. 681-695. 
 
 Discusses Mr. Edison's contribution through the movies. 
 
 "Moral Havoc Wrought by Moving Picture Shows." Current 
 Opinion, April, 1914, v. 56, p. 290. 
 
 "Moving Picture and the National Character." Review of Re- 
 views, September, 1910, v. 42, pp. 315-320. 
 Educational possibilities are illustrated. 
 
 Palmer, L. E. "The World in Motion." Survey, June 5, 1909, v. 
 22, pp. 355-365. 
 
 Vivid account of moving picture shows, past and present, and 
 their great possibilities in becoming the **People*s theater." 
 
 Verse, M. H. "Some Picture Show Audiences.'' Outlook, June 
 24, 191 1, V. 98, pp. 441-447- 
 
 Wallin, J. E, W. "The Moving Picture in Relation to Education, 
 Health, Delinquency and Crime." Pedagogical Seminary, 
 June, 1910, V. 17, pp. 129-142. 
 A fundamental discussion of the problems involved. 
 
DRAMATIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 65 
 
 "White Slave Films : A Review." Outlook, February 14, 1914, v. 
 106, pp. 345-350. 
 
 Where the danger lies. 
 
 Willows, Maurice. "The Nickel Theater." Supplement to "An- 
 nals of the American Academy," July, 191 1, pp. 95-99- 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OE 
 
 AMUSEMENTS 
 
 The second general phase of the amusement problem 
 embraces : 
 
 1. Cafes with amusement features and similar places. 
 
 2. Public dance halls. 
 
 3. Pool rooms and similar "hangouts" for men. 
 These resorts have this in common, that they bring 
 
 people together for social intercourse. They variously 
 offer opportunity for eating and drinking, smoking, mu- 
 sic and dancing, games, and a certain amount of gen- 
 eral sociability. The first and second headings above 
 cover institutions for men and women, the third, for 
 men alone. 
 
 I. CAFES WITH AMUSEMENT FEATURES 
 
 Cabarets, music halls where food and drink are sold, 
 beer gardens, roof gardens and the like. 
 
 Extent 
 
 This group represents an important and popular phase 
 of the problem. Under it let us study those places which 
 ordinarily dispense to men and women both food and 
 
 66 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 67 
 
 drink, and which provide music or other entertainment 
 features as a part of the bill of fare. 
 
 It is not easy to draw a line between these and other 
 places more or less like them and thus get at their num- 
 ber. On one side is the ordinary free-lunch bar saloon 
 and the field of the liquor problem. On another side are 
 the rendezvous of the underworld, and the field of the 
 social evil. On another side still is cheap vaudeville 
 and the dramatic amusement field; while on the near 
 side they shade oflE into ordinary restaurants. 
 
 It it indeed the hybrid nature of these places typified 
 in the cabaret, quasi-dramatic, quasi-musical, dispensing 
 food and drink to all who have the price, and whose 
 appearance does not offend the management, which gives 
 them whatever distinctive character they have. 
 
 The puzzle of finding a basis of classification for in- 
 stitutions of this general type is well illustrated in the 
 following quotation from a novel of 1914, which also 
 shows the difficulty of getting at any figures showing 
 their extent. 
 
 "Funny how this building tells the story of the last few 
 years," she said. "A few winters ago we thought it was amus- 
 ing to go to supper at a good restaurant after the theater, have 
 something nice to eat and drink, talk a while, and go home to 
 bed. We thought we were very devilish. . . . And now the 
 place down stairs is deserted. 
 
 "Then somebody started the cabaret. And we flocked to that. 
 We ate the filthiest stuff and drank the rottenest wine, and 
 didn't care, so long as they had some sensational dancer or 
 singer cavorting in the aisle. They were so close you could 
 hear them grunt, and they looked like frights in their make-up. 
 But we thought it was exciting. . . . But it has become so 
 tame and stupid that it is quite respectable." 
 
 "At present we are dancing in the aisles ourselves, crowding 
 the professional entertainers off their own floors. . . . What- 
 
68 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 ever we do is wrong, so, as my youngest boy says, 'What's 
 the use and what's the diff?'" 
 
 "Only one thing worries me," said Winifred, as she peeled 
 her gloves from her great arms and her tiny hands. "What 
 will come next? Even this can't keep us interested much 
 longer."' 
 
 The important fact from the point of view of this 
 study is the apparently rapid increase of places of this 
 general type frequented by the public in the larger cities. 
 
 Some factors in addition to catchy advertising, which 
 help to swell their number and patronage, are the din- 
 ing out habit, the contracted space for the home enter- 
 tainment of guests, difficulties with domestic service, and 
 the pervading restlessness and sensationalism of city life. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 Certain characteristics of these places are especially 
 worthy of study. Their hybrid character has already 
 been touched upon. As a combination between vaude- 
 ville and restaurant, the cabaret stands at the poii^ of 
 breakdown in the separation of entertainers and audi- 
 ence, for the entertainer not only performs before those 
 entertained but also among them. The tendency is to 
 break down this separation entirely, and for promiscu- 
 ous sociability to develop. Yet the passing of this sepa- 
 ration means the passing of dignity and any real musical 
 or dramatic purpose. It paves the way for the crowd 
 spirit to take possession of the place. Similar tendencies 
 working out in different ways exist in roof gardens and 
 music halls where refreshments are served, and careless- 
 ness in relationships is prevalent. 
 
 1 Rupert Hughes, "What Will People Say?" p. 41. 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 69 
 
 Places of this type ordinarily expect that liquor will 
 be ordered with meals or refreshments and frequently 
 make their chief profits from drinks. The management, 
 therefore, fosters an alcoholic gaiety and seeks to spread 
 the atmosphere of a "good time" throughout the place 
 so that semi-intoxication is general. This means that an 
 easy-going familiarity comes to dominate the crowd. 
 This frequently degenerates into promiscuous sociability 
 with the aid of some "star" entertainer, ordinarily a 
 young woman in scanty attire who sings and dances sug- 
 gestively in and out among the diners, frequently playing 
 tricks upon them. The spirit of license easily develops 
 under her guidance as the sense of privacy breaks down, 
 and in the prevalence of the dancing mania a more or 
 less general promiscuity of relationships may emerge. 
 
 Morals 
 
 The moral character of the places in this group varies 
 widely, of course, for in some the management is strict, 
 while with others "anything goes." Even though there 
 be considerable care on the part of the management, 
 the very nature of the place as described above provides 
 the setting for immoral influences. The sale of liquor, 
 easy-going familiarity, suggestive singing and dancing, 
 a young woman or effeminate man to set the crowd 
 off together in some common impulse — these are the fac- 
 tors sought by the underworld in its recruiting stations. 
 The result is that many of the places in this group, 
 ostensibly respectable, have become the rendezvous of 
 men and women who pick up acquaintances and lure 
 young people into immorality. The San Francisco re- 
 port indicates "grave abuses which exist in connection 
 
70 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 with many of those restaurants which are conducted in 
 conjunction with hotels and bars," and characterizes this 
 combination in the form there found as "a standing men- 
 ace to the community." 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Discuss the dangers of being friendly and sociable with 
 strangers in public places. 
 
 2. Consider with care the conditions in ice cream and soda 
 water parlors, candy shops, and the like, where musical and 
 other amusement attractions are frequently provided. These 
 places are often social rendezvous and show many of the ten- 
 dencies already described. 
 
 3. Discuss the rapid recent development of the restaurant 
 into a place of varied amusement. What dangers do you see 
 in the overlapping of different forms of business in these 
 places ? 
 
 4. Further material upon cafes with amusement features will 
 be found on pages 153, 173, and 226. 
 
 2. PUBLIC DANCE HALLS 
 
 Closely akin to cafes with amusement features, roof 
 gardens, and the like, and often directly connected with 
 them, are public dance halls. 
 
 Extent 
 
 The number of public dance halls in any community 
 is likely to be in proportion to the number of young 
 men and women who are out of normal home relations 
 and social life of a more selective sort. These places 
 breed most prolifically in the congestion and abnormal 
 living conditions of the larger cities. They are always 
 present to some extent in smaller cities and towns, and 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 71 
 
 there are few villages in which there is no hall which 
 serves this purpose. In the present stage of the dancing 
 craze, figures are rapidly out of date but may continue 
 to be of value for comparison. 
 
 The Milwaukee Recreation Survey summarizes the 
 dance hall situation there as follows : 
 
 "In November, 191 1, 12,000 or 13,000 was the average number 
 of people in attendance at dancing places, both academies and 
 dance halls, on each Saturday evening. This was before the 
 height of the season, when there is a larger attendance. Of 
 each Saturday night crowd in November, 191 1, 8,000 or 9,000 
 were between eighteen and twenty-five years of age, or about 
 fourteen per cent of the entire number of young people in Mil- 
 waukee between those ages. Of this 8,000 or 9,000 about 1,000 
 were in good surroundings in carefully supervised dancing acad- 
 emies and in family gatherings in halls where older people of 
 the neighborhood were in attendance. About 2,500 were in 
 surroundings where there is little oversight. The remaining 
 4,000 to 5,000 were in surroundings which make for coarseness, 
 if nothing worse is said of them. Some of these latter named 
 places are distinctly vicious." 
 
 The situation in 191 1 in Chicago, a city of 2,185,283, 
 is thus described in "The Social Evil in Chicago" : 
 
 "There are approximately 275 public dance halls in Chicago 
 which are rented periodically to so-called pleasure clubs and 
 societies, or are conducted by individuals. Many of these halls 
 are frequented by minors, both girls and boys, and in some 
 instances they are surrounded by great temptations and 
 dangers." 
 
 Mrs. Charles H. Israels thus describes the New York 
 situation in 191 1 : 
 
 "In New York City over 500 public dance halls are registered 
 as such, and about one-half of them are operated as dancing 
 academies. Taking in all of the dance halls, dancing academies 
 
72 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 and amusement resorts in and around New York City where 
 dancing may be indulged in the year around, the rough average 
 attendance in a year would mount up to four or five million 
 young people between the ages of fifteen and thirty. In Man- 
 hattan Borough alone about 100,000 young people are taught to 
 dance each week. The storm of dance madness has come over 
 the young people of New York."' 
 
 The extent of the dance hall situation of 1910 in 
 Cleveland, a city of 560,663 population, is thus sum- 
 marized in the pamphlet "Story of Public Dance Halls" : 
 
 "Five thousand girls and 6,500 young men were found in at- 
 tendance at the 79 dances in public halls visited. There were 
 altogether 130 dance halls where pay dances were given." 
 
 The Kansas City Survey, covering April, 191 1, to 
 April, 1912, shows "a total of 16,566 as the total aver- 
 age weekly attendance at all types of dancing places 
 in Kansas City." 
 
 An unpublished report of Louisville, a city of 223,928 
 population, shows 33 dance halls, 9 of which are in 
 buildings where liquor is sold, and in adjacent buildings 
 or on opposite corners. 
 
 The San Francisco report states that "Of the hun- 
 dred and two dance halls in the city and county of San 
 Francisco forty are in the district known as the Barbary 
 Coast. All of these dances are operated in connection 
 with saloons or cafes." 
 
 Characteristics ' 
 
 Public dancing places are of two main types — dancing 
 academies, and public dance halls. Dancing academies 
 are 
 
 I Mrs. C. H, Israels, in "Diverting a Pastime," Leslie's, July 27, igir< 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 73 
 
 "... places in which dancing is taught. The typical acade- 
 my gives lessons during the day and on certain evenings, per- 
 haps three in each week. The remaining evenings, and of course 
 Sunday afternoons, are either 'reception nights' in which pupils, 
 their friends, and outsiders may come (for a price) to take 
 part in general dancing; or the hall is leased to organizations 
 to 'run off' aflfairs. In the latter case the renting organiza- 
 tion assumes entire management, selling the tickets and reap- 
 ing the profits. The academy thus shades into the dance hall 
 proper. In this no instruction is offered at any time, but the 
 floor is thrown open several nights of the week to whomsoever 
 will pay the fifteen or twenty-five cents admission, and is rented 
 on other nights for 'aflfairs' whenever the proprietor can get 
 his price." * 
 
 Public dance halls range all the way from "the back 
 room of the saloon in which couples sit around at tables, 
 and, from time to time, rise and whirl to the music of 
 an unpleasant piano," to the great public ball-rooms 
 accommodating many hundreds of couples, and run 
 solely as a moneymaking affair. All varieties of own- 
 ership and management are to be found in the control 
 of these places, from that both owned and strictly man- 
 aged by the "professor" of dancing, to the hall which is 
 merely an adjunct to a saloon and open to the pro- 
 miscuous throng or let to any individual or group which 
 desires to "run off" a dance. The conduct of any dance 
 depends indeed almost invariably upon the character of 
 the leaders in the group who are present. In the Mil- 
 waukee Survey, Rowland Haynes points out that . 
 
 "A careful distinction should be made between diflferent types 
 of dances in dance halls. A majority of them appeal chiefly to 
 the younger people, are conducted by the young people them- 
 selves, and have practically no supervision or chaperonage by 
 
 iM. M. Davis, "The Exploitation of Pleasure," pp. I3-I4. 
 
74 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 older persons. These should be carefully marked from certain 
 family gatherings where children of five go with their parents 
 and many married couples are present with the younger people. 
 These neighborhood social gatherings are of high order in fur- 
 nishing fun and in the developing of a wholesome neighbor- 
 hood feeling. The fact that they are held in a hall or room 
 where liquor is sold is simply an incident." 
 
 Four types of dances fairly typical are described by 
 M. S. Hanaw in "The Report of Baltimore Public Dance 
 Halls," as follows: 
 
 1. Academies for public dancing. 
 
 2. Public charity balls, often given during the winter by 
 unions or "friends" of a fellow-workman in distress. As a rule 
 there is no supervision. Profits are derived from the sale of 
 drinks. 
 
 3. Public, social, literary, athletic, or political club benefit 
 balls. There is always a bar and seldom is there any real 
 supervision. 
 
 4. Balls "run off" by individuals for personal gain are per- 
 haps the most lawless of all. There is never any supervision, 
 and the crowd is always very large and promiscuous. There is 
 extreme disorder and much indecency. 
 
 The third and fourth groups above are thus described 
 by M. M. Davis : 
 
 "The average young man and woman are more affected by 
 the larger dance halls. Innumerable clubs — social, fraternal, ath- 
 letic, political — support themselves by 'running off' an 'affair' 
 or two each year. The 'affair' is a dance, the dance includes 
 drinking, and the drinks make the main profit both for the 
 landlord and for the club. Such a situation is but another 
 result of the lack of facilities, either at home or in public 
 buildings, for the normal expression of community life. When 
 people cannot form a social circle and dance at home or in a 
 municipal hall, and when rents of meeting-rooms are so high 
 that the club dues practicable for working people cannot alone 
 meet the tax, then there is no other way than the present 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 75 
 
 system of 'running' affairs. Thus we get down to the basal 
 economics of it. More than this, a further opportunity for 
 the exploitation of the multitude leads clever young men to 
 organize clubs for the purpose of 'running' affairs, thereby 
 making profit for themselves. There are young fellows who are 
 notorious as organizers of dances, operating usually under the 
 name of an organization which they and a few cronies actually 
 constitute. These worthies, of course, do not refuse to accept 
 opportunity to utilize vicious agencies." ' 
 
 The characteristics of dancing places in smaller towns 
 are described by Mrs. Israels as follows : 
 
 "The young people coming from the country form the main- 
 stay of the amusement resorts. They drift into the towns and 
 into amusement places, and find on every hand a plentiful sup- 
 ply of their favorite type of recreation, the dance. In the 
 smaller communities it is often a big room over a saloon, with 
 immoral resorts in the immediate neighborhood, or a dance 
 platform attached to a picnic grove. There the boys meet girls 
 and the girls meet boys and the nights go merrily on; but the 
 proprietor must be paid, and he is paid in the way that suits 
 him best. Drinks pay his bills. While the purchase of liquor 
 must often cost the girl nothing in money, it frequently costs 
 her something else that she can never regain though she live 
 a hundred years."' 
 
 Morals 
 
 The morals of public dancing places cover a wide 
 range. Of the best grade of halls, carefully super- 
 vised, Mrs. Israels writes: 
 
 "There are good dance halls in all parts of the country. 
 Some are under the direction of the city, like those in Chicago, 
 where the field houses in the small parks serve the purpose of a 
 
 1 M. M. Davis, in "The Exploitation of Pleasure," pp. 15-16. 
 
 2 Mrs. Belle Linder Israels, "Conference of Charities and Corrections, 
 Boston, 191J, p. 105. 
 
76 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 dance hall available for young people of the neighborhood at 
 all times. Frequently good dance halls are found as private 
 enterprises conducted on the principle that the best things pay. 
 These modern model dance institutions are in the Western 
 cities with the exception of a few in New York." ^ 
 
 The preponderance of evidence upon the morals of 
 average public dance halls is, however, decidedly in 
 the negative. The difficulties which arise in one form 
 or another are usually due to the breakdown of social 
 proprieties, the ease of making acquaintances, the sen- 
 sual character of the dancing which is allowed to pre- 
 vail, the sale of liquor, the tendency to coarse conver- 
 sation and profanity, darkness in certain portions of 
 the building accessible to the dancers, or shadow dances, 
 the lack of supervision, and the character of some at 
 least of the persons in attendance. The situation in 
 Chicago has been described by the Juvenile Protective 
 Association : 
 
 "... a very large number disreputable, with saloon attached, 
 patronized by young girls. . . . Dancing is only a secondary 
 consideration; drinking is the principal object. The girl is not 
 welcome unless she drinks. From this sort of amusement the 
 end is sure." 
 
 The full description of these places as given in the 
 Chicago Vice Report and other authoritative documents 
 shows how the amusement problem and the vice problem 
 merge into one in the lower grade halls. It is sufficient 
 here to quote as follows : 
 
 "In nearly every hall visited, investigators have seen profes- 
 sional and semi-professional prostitutes. Practically no effort 
 
 1 Mrs. Belle Linder Israels, "Diverting a Pastime," Leslie's Weekly, 
 July 27, 191 1. 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS n 
 
 is made by the managers to observe laws regarding the sale of 
 liquors. Nor is the provision of the ordinance relating to the 
 presence of disreputable persons observed." 
 
 Mrs. Louise DeKoven Bowen thus describes the Chi- 
 cago situation in 1914: 
 
 "We need a law which shall provide that the sale of liquor 
 shall be eliminated from dance halls. About 86,000 young people 
 attend these halls in Chicago on evenings when dances are 
 given and a large number of them get into trouble because 
 liquor is openly sold, while white slavers ply their trade in 
 many of these places and disreputable lodging houses are often 
 in the immediate vicinity." ' 
 
 The situation in New York is thus described by Julia 
 Schoenf eld : 
 
 "From personal investigation of about one hundred dance 
 halls . . . fully two-thirds should be listed as positively un- 
 desirable. Liquor, of course, is universally sold in the dance 
 hall, and the character of a place may often be rated according 
 to the time allowed for drinking stands in ratio to the dancing 
 periods. In a well-managed dancing academy, on a reception 
 night, there may probably be a ten-minute period for dancing, 
 with four minutes intermission for rest and refreshments. In 
 a low dance hall the spieling period might be four minutes, with 
 fifteen minutes between devoted to drinking." 
 
 The Cleveland situation in 1910, before the remark- 
 able improvements made in the situation under the di- 
 rection of Robb O. Bartholomew, is thus described by 
 him, and reveals conditions which may be found in many 
 large cities where there is no efficient regulation of these 
 halls. 
 
 p. 19 
 
 iMrs. Louise DeKoven Bowen, in "Some Legislative Needs in Illinois," 
 
78 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "The special investigation of dance halls which was carried 
 on by a self-constituted committee during the year 1910, showed 
 that young boys and girls, fourteen to eighteen years of age, 
 were attending dances where liquor was sold in one end of the 
 hall ; that prizes were often offered to girls who would drink the 
 greatest number of glasses of liquor during the evening; that 
 these girls and boys were allowed to remain at the dances until 
 three o'clock in the morning; that at many of these dances im- 
 moral women were allowed to solicit; that dances were held 
 in buildings where there was no attempt at proper sanitation; 
 that fire code regulations were unlawfully disregarded and that 
 there were many unlighted passages, rooms and stairways 
 where patrons congregated and conducted themselves in a rep- 
 rehensible manner. The dances were found to be unprotected 
 from disturbances and fights precipitated by intoxicated individ- 
 uals or by gangs of toughs and rowdies who frequented halls 
 where inefficient police were hired to do police duty. It was 
 found that many of these officers frequently became intoxi- 
 cated and that in at least two cases they were endeavoring to 
 lead young girl patrons astray. These special police failed to 
 see to the proper ventilation of halls, allowed all manner of 
 obscene dancing, refused to prohibit vulgar and profane lan- 
 guage, and encouraged drunkenness." ' 
 
 In an unpublished report upon "The Social and Moral 
 Aspects of the Amusements of Working Girls in New 
 York City," Julia Schoenfeld writes of public dance 
 halls : 
 
 "I found that vulgar dancing exists everywhere, and the 
 'spiel,' a form of dancing requiring much twirling and twist- 
 ing, and one that particularly causes sexual excitement, is popu- 
 lar in all . . . The desire for popularity, the coarse language 
 and the vulgarity of many, the easy familiarity in the dance 
 practiced by nearly all the men in the way they handle the girls, 
 deadens after a while the sensibilities of even the finest girl. 
 Going to a place constantly where the greater number lack 
 
 ' R. O. Bartholomew, "Report of Dance Hall Inspector," Cleveland, O., 
 August, 1912. 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 79 
 
 restraint and refinement, the girl becomes inured, so that what- 
 ever first shocked her does not seem so terrible." "Some places 
 went so far as to offer prizes of $ioo to the girls who at the 
 end of the month had the largest number of drinks placed to 
 their credit."' 
 
 It is not surprising that A. B. Williams, Jr., General 
 Agent of the Cleveland Humane Society, writes of a 
 similar situation : 
 
 "Under such conditions it is not strange that one who deals 
 often with the problem of the illegitimate child frequently gets 
 the statement from the girl-mother, 'I met him at a public 
 dance.' " 
 
 It is obvious that all of these tendencies and influ- 
 ences have been intensified in public dance halls by the 
 "modern dances" in which bodily contact has been con- 
 ventionalized to an unprecedented degree, and fainting 
 due to prolonged sex excitement is not infrequent. 
 
 San Francisco contributes the following in its report 
 on Recreation: 
 
 "Of all vicious dances, the Saturday all-night dance which 
 has become a part of our city life, is by far the most danger- 
 ous. The records of our juvenile and other courts show that 
 not only does one girl (as had been reported) sacrifice her vir- 
 tue as the result of each dance, but that some weeks three and 
 four of this kind are reported. There can be absolutely no 
 question but that at these dances many girls make their first 
 step toward the 'Tenderloin' and the 'Barbary Coast.' " 
 
 That the dance hall problem is not confined to the 
 larger cities, but spreads throughout the country, is evi- 
 denced in the following: 
 
 1 The Playground, March, 1914. 
 
8o POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "The Slavs in the Pennsylvania coal fields habitually drink 
 heavily before their prolonged dances. The dancing halls which 
 are weekly patronized by the working classes of these mining 
 towns are not fit places for our young, for their minds are 
 not humanized and their bodies are not refined in them. Dan- 
 gerous and daring men have perfect freedom and are under no 
 restraint in cementing friendship with gullible young girls which 
 often means their ruin.'" 
 
 Other immoral features which claim attention are 
 the offensive "throw-aways" upon which suggestive 
 songs and stories are printed, and the singing of vicious 
 songs with the acting out of sentiments expressed. 
 
 The evil of the special liquor license in relation to 
 dancing is sufficiently characterized in the following by 
 A. E. Graupner, Assistant City Attorney of San Fran- 
 cisco : 
 
 "By reviewing the ordinances we find that San Francisco 
 not only tolerates the sale of liquor at public dances but author- 
 izes and licenses twenty-four hour orgies in the guise of 
 dances and masked balls, under the ordinance providing for one 
 day liquor licenses, and permits saloons to conduct dances for 
 the purpose of increasing the demand for liquor." ' 
 
 The moral dangers involved in public dance halls 
 are clearly summarized in the San Francisco report as 
 follows : 
 
 "Of all recreations, public dance halls bear the most direct and 
 immediate relation to the morals of their patrons, and it is 
 very much to be regretted that this influence, as at present ex- 
 erted, is extremely destructive. This may be directly traced 
 to three primary causes. First, the forming of promiscuous 
 
 * F. H. Streightoff, in "The Standard of Living Among the Industrial 
 People of America," p. 142. 
 
 ''"Public Recreation Transactions of the Commonwealth Club of Cali- 
 fornia," p. 282. 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 8i 
 
 acquaintanceships ; second, the intimate relations of the dancers ; 
 third, the sale of liquor. In addition to each of these causes 
 exerting an influence peculiarly its own, the three working in 
 conjunction form a combination that is extremely destructive 
 of the moral sense of the participant." 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. The following points may well be discussed: What 
 prompts most young people to go to public dance halls? Are 
 these desires right enough and natural in themselves? What 
 are the chief dangers to which young people are exposed? In 
 some groups a thorough discussion of facts set forth by the 
 Chicago Vice Commission and other reports may be held. Such 
 a discussion should, however, have the definite aim of improv- 
 ing local conditions. 
 
 2. A local investigation as to dance halls might be made by 
 one or two mature and thoroughly experienced persons on 
 behalf of the group, but a visit by the group to a public dance 
 hall would, of course, be out of place. Mere curiosity should 
 never prompt any social investigation. "Slumming" expeditions 
 are uniformly condemned by social workers. They yield no 
 facts to those who go that are not better obtainable elsewhere. 
 They intensify the evils which they go to see. Social investi- 
 gation of any real value is a delicate, difficult, and frequently 
 dangerous piece of work. It should seldom be undertaken save 
 by professional workers. 
 
 3. The group should consider the value of skating rinks as 
 akin to dance halls but furnishing more wholesome exercise. 
 
 4. Some groups may be tempted to digress from the main 
 subject at this point to take up a discussion of the social evil 
 or the liquor problem. The limits of this study make that in- 
 advisable here. 
 
 5. Further material upon public dance halls will be found on 
 pages 153, 173, and 226. 
 
82 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 3. POOLROOMS AND SIMILAR "HANGOUTS" 
 FOR MEN 
 
 The third general phase of the social rendezvous group 
 deals with those public places where men congregate 
 for amusement.^ 
 
 Among them are pool and billiard halls, gaming and 
 drinking "clubs," bowHng alleys, shooting galleries, cigar 
 stores, barber shops, depots, hotel lobbies, and other 
 "hangouts." With these should be included certain 
 street corners and other outdoor loafing places, notably 
 those in the neighborhood of railroads, saloons, hotels, 
 and theaters. 
 
 Extent 
 
 It is obviously impossible to get at any general esti- 
 mates of the number of such places or the numbers of 
 men frequenting them. Figures are available from 
 some cities, however, for pool, billiards, and bowling 
 places. Milwaukee shows 842 pool places, 24 billiard 
 places, 91 bowling places. "Only a small fraction of 
 the pool tables are in regular pool and billiard parlors 
 devoted chiefly to these games. The majority are single 
 tables scattered in a little over eight hundred saloons, 
 and furnish an adjunct to that neighborhood place of 
 amusement." 
 
 The 63 billiard rooms of Montreal are reported to 
 average 3,000 men a night. The unpublished Recrea- 
 tion Survey of Rochester, N. Y., shows "190 pool and 
 
 iThe saloon, the chief of all these places, is considered under "The 
 Liquor Problem,'* rather than^ here. Reference should be made to that 
 problem, Study No. i, "Studies in American Social Conditions," where 
 a selected bibliography will be found. 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 83 
 
 billiard and bowling places," and Louisville, Ky., 107 pool 
 and billiard rooms. The Kansas City report shows 197 
 pool and billiard parlors with 153,387 as the average 
 weekly attendance on this type of amusement. Age rec- 
 ords were not taken at these inspections except to note 
 many minors. The Detroit Survey shows 297 poolrooms, 
 16 billiard rooms, 36 bowling alleys, 5 shooting galleries. 
 
 "Providence, R. I., shows an estimated 32,600 as the total at- 
 tendance at the 160 pool rooms and 18 bowling alleys each 
 week. . . . The number of individual men is probably at least 
 one-third that number. Of more than 10,000 estimated habitues 
 of these places, it is found that about three-quarters are young 
 men under twenty-five years of age. Of the places where pool 
 is played, practically one-half, 73, have liquor, and 58 of these 
 are really bar-rooms, with one pool table, in most cases little 
 used." 
 
 Indianapolis shows a weekly attendance in winter of 
 IQO.CKX). There were 471 licenses granted in 1913. 
 These figures seem to indicate that in typical American 
 cities the attendance at these places is considerable, and 
 when all the "hangouts" included under this phase of the 
 social rendezvous group are considered, it is evident 
 that a large proportion of the young men of any city 
 spend much of their leisure in them. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 The characteristics of places included under this 
 grouping vary widely, but have their unifying factors 
 in their "men only" character and conversation, in games 
 of some sort, smoking, frequently petty gambling, and 
 the sale of liquor either in the rendezvous or near it. 
 In pool, billiard and bowling places, the loser pays the 
 cost of the game. The gambling may be a side issue 
 
84 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 to the playing of some game of skill, or it may be the 
 entire attraction. 
 
 Morals 
 
 A considerable proportion of places in this group 
 which are under management, are well run and cater 
 to a clean trade which comes for the sake of the games 
 and a democratic meeting place. The Kansas City chart 
 on the moral grading of commercial recreation rates 
 pool halls as 46.2 per cent good, and bowling alleys as 
 77.1 per cent good. 
 
 Considering all the places included in this group, how- 
 ever, it seems apparent that serious immorality charac- 
 terizes many of them. Conversation is apt to be low 
 grade, as reported from Montreal, "a great deal of vile 
 talk and coarse language." 
 
 Gambling on the outcome of various games is widely 
 prevalent and is in fact the chief interest in many of 
 these rendezvous, especially in gaming "clubs," card 
 joints, racetrack and baseball pool rooms, and ordinary 
 gambling joints with their typical mechanical devices 
 for various sorts of gambling. 
 
 Where liquor is dispensed in the place or near it, 
 typical saloon conditions develop, and frequently "many 
 men under the influence of liquor" are found. The 
 companionship of the liquor traffic with men's games is 
 always a serious evil wherever it is permitted. 
 
 One of the chief dangers in these rendezvous is the 
 gang spirit, which frequently characterizes them. They 
 may start as a loitering place for idle boys who grad- 
 ually form into a gang and not infrequently become cen- 
 ters of the most immoral and criminal influences. They 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 85 
 
 seem to become hotbeds of lawlessness, generating the 
 most vicious growths of the crowd spirit. These ren- 
 dezvous at their worst, indeed, are the meeting places 
 of the underworld mashers, cadets, procurers, gangsters, 
 gunmen, thieves, and criminals of all sorts. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Members of the group should be delegated to study the 
 "hangouts" of the men of the town. All possible information 
 should be secured as to the character of these places, and some 
 estimate formed as to the gangs which frequent them. 
 
 2. Can law-breaking in "our town" be traced to any of these 
 rendezvous ? 
 
 3. Further material dealing with pool rooms and similar 
 "hangouts" for men will be found on pages 153, 173, and 226. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Reference should be made throughout the study of the Social 
 rendezvous group to the recreation surveys and reports listed 
 under The Amusement Situation in General. 
 
 Books 
 
 Bartholomew, R. O. "Report of Dance Hall Inspector." Cleve- 
 land, O., August, 1912. Apply to Mayor's office. 
 
 Bowen, L. DeK "Our Most Popular Recreation Controlled by 
 the Liquor Interests." The Juvenile Protective Association 
 of Chicago, 191 1. loc. 
 A study of public dance halls. 
 
 Calkins, Raymond. "Substitutes for the Saloon." Houghton, 
 1901. $1.30. See chapters on "The Saloon as a Social 
 Center," pp. 1-24. "The Clubs of the People," pp. 4S-69; 
 "The Qubs for the People," pp. 70-100; "Indoor Amuse- 
 ments," pp. 156-186; "Outdoor Amusements," pp. 187-215. 
 Winter and summer amusements and substitutes. 
 
86 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Hanaw, M. S. "Baltimore's Public Dance Halls." A pamphlet 
 published by the author. 
 
 Israels, Mrs. C. H. "The Dance Problem." Proceedings, Con- 
 ference of Charities and Correction, 1912. pp. 140-146. 
 Much experience and practical wisdom are packed into these pages. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 "Against the Tango." Literary Digest, January 31, 1914. v. 48, 
 p. 210. 
 
 Varied comment. 
 
 Bowen, L. DeK. "Dance Halls." Survey, June 3, 1911, v. 26, 
 pp. 383-387. 
 
 A telling article by one who knows the facts. 
 
 Castle, I. "What Is a The Dansant? Delineator, May, 1914, v. 
 84, p. 10. 
 
 "Dancing Academies; Some Possibilities." Charities and the 
 Commons, February 27, 1909, v. 21, pp. 1018-1019. 
 
 Evils of dance halls and academies, offering substitutes for the 
 latter as they exist today. 
 
 Inglis, William. "Is Modern Dancing Indecent?" Harper's 
 Weekly, May 17, 1913, v. 57, pp. 11-12. 
 
 An unbiased consideration of a remarkable phase of contemporary 
 life. 
 
 Israels, B. L. "Way of the Girl." Survey, July 3, 1909, v. 22, 
 pp. 486-497. 
 
 Vivid account of the evils due to public dance halls and amuse- 
 ment parks, with an appreciation of the good use to which they can 
 be turned. 
 
 Mumford, E. W. "Where Is Your Daughter This Afternoon?" 
 Harper's Weekly, January 17, 1914, v. 59, p. 28. 
 Defends the modern dances. 
 
 "New Dances Again." Independent, January 12, 1914, v. yy, p. 
 SI- 
 
 "New Reflections on the Dancing Mania." Current Opinion, Oc- 
 tober, 1913, V. 55, pp. 262-264. 
 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 87 
 
 "Problem That the Tango Has Inflicted on the Church." Cur- 
 rent Opinion, March, 1914, v. 56, p. 206. 
 
 "Recreation Program for a Million Children." Charities and 
 the Commons, March 6, 1909, v. 21, pp. 1037-1038. 
 
 Investigation made in New York shows that public dance halls 
 are attended by a quarter of a million persons a week. 
 
 "Sir Ray Lankester's Plea." Current Opinion, October, 1913, 
 
 V. SS. P- 259- 
 An interesting aspect of the question. 
 
CHAPTER IVi 
 
 THE ATHLETIC GROUP OE AMUSE- 
 MENTS 
 
 I. AMATEUR ATHLETICS 
 Extent 
 
 The wide extent and deep significance of amateur 
 athletics is not appreciated by those who identify them 
 solely with college football, baseball, rowing and track 
 games. The newspapers have greatly exaggerated the 
 comparative importance of college athletics. A far wider 
 field opens when we consider all the ways in which 
 the American people find recreation in manifold athletic 
 exercises which return to those who participate no other 
 pay than pleasure. Scrub baseball easily yells itself into 
 the place of first importance upon this view of the case. 
 No American village and no normal American home 
 fails to have some interest in one of the following ac- 
 tivities : Baseball and football, boating, tramping, track 
 games, tennis, boxing, bowling, golf, swimming, riding 
 or driving, and such winter sports as bobbing, skating 
 and skiing. The prevalence of amateur athletics needs to 
 be appreciated as a most significant fact in the national 
 life. 
 
 Schools and colleges are awake to the educational sig- 
 
ATHLETIC OKOUP OF AMUSEMENTS 89 
 
 nificance of these activities, instinctive and irrepressible 
 as they are wherever young people come together, and 
 the organization of athletics in educational institutions 
 is well-nigh universal. Instructors who are members 
 of the regular instructional staff are usually in charge, 
 and in many institutions some form of activity is made 
 compulsory upon all students. Intercollegiate, inter- 
 scholastic and interclub athletic leagues of many sorts 
 cover the country like a network, bringing enormous 
 numbers of young men into healthful competitive sport. 
 Among the most important of these are the public school 
 athletic leagues of the larger cities. These play inter- 
 scholastic games in all the chief sports, and enroll thou- 
 sands of boys in over 170 of the larger cities. 
 
 Amateur athletics reach their most spectacular form in 
 college and university matches, especially football, base- 
 ball, rowing and track games. The so-called "big games" 
 have become national amusement events of the first or- 
 der, and they deserve special study, therefore, from that 
 point of view. 
 
 'Tt is probably a conservative estimate to put the cost of 
 football to America at $2,500,000 a year; as for the cost of 
 football to the crowds of spectators, the mere paying of an 
 admission fee just begins it. Hotels and carriages, banners 
 and all sorts of things carry the cost upward. If 30,000 people 
 go to a game against Princeton or Harvard on Yale field, the 
 $60,000 admissions only begin to tell the story of what they 
 spend. For instance, not long ago the New York, New Haven 
 & Hartford made public the returns of its football business, 
 amounting to not less than $120,000, or nearly the average day's 
 passenger traffic."^ 
 
 ^Arthur Reeve, "What America Spends for Sport," Outing, t. 57, p. 
 304, December, 1910. 
 
90 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 The distinctive characteristics of these games and 
 exercises are too many and varied for specific com- 
 ment, yet they are to be recognized as a national asset 
 of immense value, for they all minister to health and 
 efficiency, to sociability and cooperation, and are often 
 more profoundly educative than formal instruction. The 
 meaning of loyalty and basic morality enter the very 
 fiber of American youth through well-conducted ath- 
 letics. Football has been the object of much adverse 
 criticism, primarily upon the points of physical danger 
 and brutality. Expert opinion is widely divided, and the 
 rules have been revised a number of times. The prev- 
 alence and popularity of the game increases, and a 
 decided balance of opinion among college presidents is 
 favorable to its continuance under proper regulation. 
 
 Morals 
 
 In considering the whole field of amateur athletics, 
 it is refreshing to find effective moral influences at work 
 throughout this phase of the national amusement situ- 
 ation. 
 
 Both the moral and mental values of well-conducted 
 athletics are now recognized as not less significant than 
 their physical value and the work of school and college 
 athletic leagues, where held to true amateur standards, 
 has greatly heightened the student morale of the country. 
 
 One of the chief moral dangers in athletics is the 
 temptation to win at any price, which not infrequently 
 leads to dishonesty either within the game itself or in 
 the introduction of players who are ineligible under the 
 amateur rules as agreed upon. The excessive desire to 
 
ATHLETIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 91 
 
 win also leads not infrequently to rough and brutal play, 
 creating a low moral tone in the team and its supporters, 
 which in turn reacts to the detriment of all concerned, 
 especially of boys in the habit-forming age. These dan- 
 gers and others are intensified by the increase of pub- 
 licity, by large attendances of spectators, by athletic 
 "hero worship"' and by the prevalence of certain false 
 attitudes which find their way in from the realm of pro- 
 fessional sport. The steady maintenance of the highest 
 amateur standards alone prevents the encroachment of 
 these dangers. 
 
 Such attendant evils as rowdyism, disrespect of spec- 
 tators for authority, gambling and intoxication, which 
 at times accompany certain phases of these sports, are 
 noticeably in opposition to the inherent demands of the 
 sports themselves, and they are, therefore, not just criti- 
 cisms of athletics. These all tend to disappear as the 
 games are more effectively managed and standards of 
 good sportsmanship prevail. We may safely hold that 
 amateur athletics are the most wholesome and encourag- 
 ing phase of the whole general problem; indeed, they 
 are less a phase of the problem than an effective solution. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. This topic should be taken up with special reference to 
 local conditions. Members of the group should report upon 
 such questions as the following: What teams or clubs for 
 amateur athletics are organized in our town? How general is 
 participation among the young people in scrub baseball, tennis, 
 track games, boating, tramps, golf, and winter sports? Are the 
 girls athletic? How many people attend public games? Are 
 there a good many fans and rooters who never play at anything 
 themselves, merely fans and nothing else? 
 
 2. Do standards of good sportsmanship prevail in our home 
 
92 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 town athletics? Can the team and its supporters lose a game 
 like men? Is the leadership of the game clean, or do drinking, 
 rowdyism and profanity go along with athletics as we have 
 them? Are any of the finest men in the community backing up 
 the team with enthusiasm and financial support? Are there 
 any such men who help to quicken loyalty to town or school 
 and who keep in touch with boys and young men? 
 
 3. An interesting meeting can be held by inviting an athlete 
 to tell the good which he believes athletics accomplish. See 
 the bibliography for references. Another member of the group, 
 perhaps a doctor, should present Dr. Woods Hutchinson's argu- 
 ment on the "Real Danger of Athletics." See the bibliography. 
 Doubtless other advantages and dangers will be pointed out by 
 other members of the group in the discussion. The standards 
 of good sportsmanship and good morals should be kept in mind. 
 Young men's groups will enjoy a debate upon the comparative 
 merits of different sports, football, baseball, etc. A college or 
 school professor, or a father who has had experience with college 
 athletics, might well be heard upon "Advantages vs. Attendant 
 Evils." A member of the group should present a digest of the 
 cost of American athletics as shown by Arthur Reeve in "What 
 America Spends for Sport." See the bibliography. An inter- 
 esting portion of the hour can be spent by the members of 
 the group telling what out-of-doors sports they like best and 
 what they get out of them. 
 
 4. Further material upon amateur athletics will be found on 
 pages 156, 180, and 227. 
 
 2. PROFESSIONAL ATHLETICS 
 
 Baseball. 
 
 Athletics in any branch may of course be profession- 
 alized; that is, they may be participated in for pay. 
 There are persons who make their living as experts 
 in every Hne of sport. The most conspicuous forms of 
 professional athletics in America are baseball and boxing. 
 
ATHLETIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 93 
 
 Extent 
 
 Interest in baseball conies nearer perhaps to being a 
 national characteristic than any other single element 
 in American life. It is difficult to overestimate the 
 amounts of money, time and enthusiasm, and the num- 
 bers of people affected by "the great American game." 
 The National, American, and Federal leagues are only 
 the most conspicuous among the many professional 
 leagues which in more restricted territory play off their 
 series of inter-city games. The enormous total of finan- 
 cial investment may perhaps be imagined from the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 "Here are some figures which were furnished by an American 
 league dub-owner. They are conservative. 
 
 Money spent — 
 
 Players' salaries $80,000 
 
 Traveling expenses each season IS>000 
 
 Southern training trip (expenses of 40 play- 
 ers as well as coaches, manager, news- 
 papermen, trainer, etc.) 10,000 
 
 Cost of scouting system iS.ooo 
 
 Salaries of office help, including secretary, 
 business manager, assistants, stenogra- 
 phers, ticket sellers, ground keeper, etc 10,000 
 
 Advertising 2,500 
 
 Telegraph tolls 1,000 
 
 $133,500 
 
 "There you have in round numbers the yearly cost of main- 
 taining a major league club. The teams draw their earnings 
 from the receipts, and approximate figures would prove that it 
 takes slightly more than $1,200 a day to maintain a club. It 
 is absolutely necessary that the teams perform before average 
 daily crowds of 5,000. 
 
 "There are twelve cities represented in the National and 
 
94 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 American leagues and the cost of the sixteen fields (each 
 league contains eight clubs, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, 
 Boston and St. Louis having representative teams in each organ- 
 ization) totals something like $10,000,000." ' 
 
 Some slight appreciation of the enormous attendances 
 at professional baseball games in America may be gained 
 from the fact that the championship series of five games 
 between New York and Philadelphia in 1913 shows a 
 total of 150,992. The receipts were $325,980. 
 
 The numbers of people who "follow" league base- 
 ball as one of their chief forms of amusement, though 
 they may rarely be able to attend a game, is beyond 
 calculation. Who does not ? 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 Mr. "Casey" shall furnish us our description of the 
 characteristics of the game: 
 
 "Such is baseball— our baseball! A good game is a three- 
 ringed circus with a tingle of excitement for every moment. 
 When a base hit is made, with two men on bases in a close 
 game, lightning looks slow and poky in comparison; the ball 
 sizzles about burning the air, the men on the field dart like 
 streaks, while on the stand twenty thousand mad men worship 
 their gods with a great outcry. 
 
 "Such is baseball — our baseball! a game that clutches spec- 
 tators and squeezes them till they yell; a game that makes 
 centenarians dance and howl and throw peanut shells at the 
 umpire. There is nothing like it in the way of games."" 
 
 Morals 
 
 The moral dangers involved in professional baseball 
 are the same as those described under amateur athletics, 
 
 1 N. B. Beasley, "Baseball — a Business, a Sport, a Gamble," Harper's 
 Weekly, April ii, 1914, v. 58, p. 27. 
 
 "J. P. Casey, "Our Great American Game," Independent, August 16, 
 1906, V. 61, p. 376- 
 
ATHLETIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 9S 
 
 with the additional pressure to win at any price which 
 comes where such a large financial outlay is involved 
 and where certain stakes go to the winning team at the 
 end of the season, if not at other times. In the major 
 leagues, however, baseball is such serious business and 
 the entire game so reduced to absolute rules and regula- 
 tions that these dangers are only rarely apparent. Will 
 Irwin is doubtless right when he says: 
 
 "Baseball is no longer like horse-racing and boxing, 'mere 
 excuses for betting.' Undoubtedly baseball players as a class 
 are today the cleanest body of professional athletes in the 
 world." 
 
 The betting evil so prevalent in connection with base- 
 ball is not fostered by the inherent character of the 
 sport, nor by the management of the leagues. Betting and 
 gambling are specific evils of themselves and fasten 
 upon any phase of human activity where chance or un- 
 certainty enter in. The national game is not to be held 
 responsible therefore for these evils which attend it. 
 The rowdyism which likewise manifests itself in con- 
 nection with professional baseball is usually the rowdy- 
 ism of a small section of the crowd rather than of the 
 players, although there are occasional lapses on their 
 part into "mucker ball." The morality of American 
 professional baseball, especially in the major leagues, is 
 on the whole nothing less than a national achievement 
 and expression of America's love of clean sport in honest, 
 hard-fought contests. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 I. The best place to study professional baseball is on the 
 bleachers. The group should go to a league game together. 
 
g6 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 In addition to watching the game, watch the crowd. Relaxa- 
 tion, good fellowship, blowhardism, and peanuts are everywhere. 
 How good it is to be off the job! See this cross-section of 
 America down the row of seats ! Even if a big, fat, know-it-all 
 fan who couldn't catch a little pop fly sits near you criticizing 
 the home team, you may still look upon the occasion as one of 
 wholesome amusement. 
 
 2. Watch the crowd after the game; try to form some esti- 
 mate as to what extent the evils of betting and rowdyism have 
 fastened themselves to the good of baseball in "our town." 
 
 3. Further material upon professional baseball will be found 
 on pages 156, 180, and 227. 
 
 Boxing 
 Extent 
 
 Professional boxing is widely prevalent in America 
 under legal restrictions varying in difiEerent states. It 
 is confined almost wholly to the cities, and is usually 
 conducted under the name of an athletic club or asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 Of boxing as a "manly art," Theodore Roosevelt says: 
 
 "I have always been fond of boxing and have always believed 
 in it as a vigorous, manly pastime, one of those pastimes which 
 have a distinct moral and physical value because they encourage 
 such essential virtues as courage, hardihood, endurance, self- 
 control." ' 
 
 It would appear, however, that the manly art, despite 
 its virtues as an amateur sport, lends itself with singular 
 fatality to the expression and development of brutal 
 instincts when professionalized. As a social event, a 
 
 'Theodore Roosevelt, Outing, v. 95, p. 550. 
 
ATHLETIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 97 
 
 prize-fight acts like a magnet in drawing together the 
 lower elements of any city. 
 
 Morals 
 
 On the moral side, prize-fighting is open to the charge 
 of extreme brutality, both in itself and in its effect upon 
 the spectators. The extension of this brutalizing in- 
 fluence through the use of motion pictures now makes 
 the prize-fight problem all the more serious, and the 
 importance of the censorship of motion pictures all the 
 more apparent. The race hatred engendered by the 
 Johnson- Jeffries fight was a sharp blow in the face of 
 our social integrity as a nation, and on a spot already 
 sore and bruised. Betting and gambling enter into the 
 very management of such events. "Prize-fighting has 
 become a business, and a crooked kind of business at 
 that." It is indeed those who have induced the prize- 
 fighters to make it a business who have brought the ring 
 into disrepute. The men who do the fighting are often 
 a decent lot compared to their exploiters. 
 
 The degree to which the Reno fight was a great battle 
 for money stakes, and the extent to which the whole mis- 
 erable affair became the occasion of sensuality, gambling, 
 intoxication, betting and brutality, make it for recent 
 years a striking national episode, a climax of commer- 
 cialization and immorality. The winner of the contest 
 was estimated to win in all over $600,000, and the loser 
 more than half that sum.* 
 
 The morals of the occasion, which were typical, are 
 well described by an English journalist, who says : 
 
 1 E. B. Moss, "In the Ring for a Million," Harper's Weekly, v. 54, pp. 
 13-14, May 14, 1910. 
 
98 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "I suppose there has never been collected in one place Defore 
 such a body of sharps, thugs, and toughs, as descended on the 
 Truckee Valley for this famous fight. As train after train 
 disgorged its load, the bars and gambling houses grew fuller 
 and fuller. No one seemed to have any thought or desire 
 beyond drink, the spin of the roulette wheel, and the endless 
 discussion of the coming fight. The whole atmosphere was 
 unbearably squalid and dull. 
 
 "The typical modern 'fight fan' is a bar-room loafer, a gam- 
 bler, a creature equally foul in his language and in his thoughts. 
 Compared with him the pugilist is as Hyperion to a satyr." ' 
 
 These are but the logical climaxes of the universal 
 tendencies which always seem to be prevalent in prize- 
 fighting. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. All the essential facts about prize fights may be discovered 
 without attendance at the ring side. A round-by-round descrip- 
 tion of any fast fight, as recorded by the newspapers, will bring 
 the uninitiated to an appreciation of the moral elements which 
 are involved. Any study of the fight fan as a type will be amply 
 illustrative of the characteristics which the business develops. 
 
 2. Further material upon professional boxing will be found 
 on pages 156, 180, and 227. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Amateur Athletics 
 
 Books 
 
 See entries under Proposed Solutions, Play, etc., p. 209. 
 Barbour, R, H. "Book of School and College Sports." Appl«- 
 ton, 1904. $1.50. 
 
 Contains rules and definitions of terms of outdoor games. 
 
 iH. H. Fyfle, "What the Prize-Fight Taught Me," Outlook, August 13, 
 1910, V. 95, pp. 827, 829. 
 
ATHLETIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 99 
 
 Camp, Walter. "Book of Football." Century, 1910. $2. 
 
 A comprehensive and authoritative presentation. 
 
 Camp, Walter. "Football Facts and Figures." Harper, 1894. 
 
 An old collection of interesting facts and opinions useful for 
 comparisons. 
 
 Camp, Walter and Deland, L. F. "Football." Houghton, 1896. 
 $2. 
 Not recent but valuable. 
 
 Clark, E. H. and Graham, John. "Practical Track and Field 
 Athletics." Duffield. $1. 
 
 New revised edition. Contains descriptions of practical methods 
 of training for various events, including sprinting, jumping, pole 
 vaulting, shot putting, hammer throwing, etc. R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Cline, Earl. "Advisability of Inter-High School Contests in 
 Athletics." Springfield, Mass. American Physical Educa- 
 tion Association. 50c. 
 
 Qine, Earl. "Inter-high-school Athletics." Russell Sage Foun- 
 dation, 130 E. 22d St., New York City. 
 
 Davis, P. H. "Football : The American Intercollegiate Game." 
 Scrihner, 191 1. $2.50. 
 
 A history of football with special attention to the development of 
 the game in America during the past forty years. 
 
 Dudley, Gertrude and Kellor, F. A. "Athletic Games for 
 Women." Holt, 1909. $1.25. 
 
 Gulick, L. H. "Amateurism." Russell Sage Foundation, 130 E. 
 22d St., New York City. 
 A pamphlet. 
 
 Gulick, L. H. "Physical Education by Muscular Exercise." 
 Blakison, 7Sc. 
 
 Hetherington, C. W. "The Law of Amateurism." Russell Sage 
 Foundation, 130 E. 22d St., New York City. 
 
 A pamphlet. 
 
 Robinson, H. P. "Peoples at Play." "Twentieth Century Amer- 
 ican," pp. 408-428. G. P. Putnam, 1908. $1.75. 
 A comparison of English and American sports. 
 
100 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Reports of Public School Athletic Leagues of Baltimore, Buffalo, 
 Newark, N. J., New Orleans, New York, Seattle, Troy, N. 
 Y. Sent free on application to the secretaries of the 
 leagues. Also reports of the committees on athletics for 
 boys and athletics for girls, of the Playground and Recre- 
 ation Association of America. R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 "Spaulding's Athletic Library." American Sports Publishing Co. 
 IOC. each. 
 A separate book for each sport. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 "An Encyclopedia of Sport." Outing, March, 1912, v. S9. P- 70S- 
 
 "Athletics and Morals." Atlantic, February, 1914, v. 113, pp. 149- 
 
 152. 
 The two are closely interwoven. 
 
 Bruce, H. A. "The Psychology of Football." Outlook, Novem- 
 ber s, 1910, V. g6, pp. 54I-S4S- 
 
 Butler, E. H. "Obvious Athlete." Atlantic, March, 1914, v. 113, 
 pp. 422-426. 
 
 Suggestive comment. 
 
 Butler, N. M. "Shall Football Be Ended or Mended?" Review 
 of Reviews, January, 1906, v. 33, pp. 71-72. 
 A series of opinions by college presidents. 
 
 Camp, Walter. "Lawn-Tennis, the Queen of Games." Century, 
 August, 1910, V. 80, pp. S4S-5S7- 
 
 Clurman, M. J. "Is It Not Time for Parents to Act?" Ladie^ 
 Home Journal, September, 191 1, v. 28, p. 5. 
 
 A sharp indictment of football as physically dangerous. 
 
 Colton, A. E. "What Football Does." Independent, Septem- 
 ber IS, 1904, V. 57, pp. 600-607. 
 Strongly advocates football for school boys. 
 
 Gulick, L. H. "New Athletics." Outlook, July 15, 1911, v. g^ 
 pp. 597-600. 
 
 A discriminating article in favor of intercollegiate athletics. 
 
ATHLETIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS loi 
 
 Hutchinson, W. H. "Exercise and Its Dangers." Harper's 
 Monthly, March, 1907, v. 114, pp. 601-607. 
 Discusses the proper limits of exercise. 
 
 Hutchinson, W. H. "Real Danger of Athletics.'' Outing, No- 
 vember, 1910, V. 57, pp. 168-173. 
 Discusses the need and value of athletics. 
 
 Lucas, J. P. "Commercializing Amateur Athletics." World 
 Today, March, 1906, v. 10, pp. 281-285. 
 Indictment of athletic clubs. 
 
 Merrill, G. E. "Is Football Good Sport?" North American Re- 
 view, November, 1903, v. 177, pp. 758-765. 
 Argues against football as a sport. 
 
 Needham, R. B. "The College Athlete." McClure's, June, 1905, 
 V. 25, pp. 115-128; July, 190S, V. 25, pp. 260-273. 
 How commercialism is making him a professional. 
 
 "Objections." Current Literature, January, 1906, v. 40, pp. 21-25. 
 A collection of opinions on football from prominent men. Mostly 
 in a critical vein. 
 
 Price, L. E. "Truth About Football." February 3, 1912, v. 56, 
 p. 6. 
 
 A plea for better spirit. 
 
 Reeve, Arthur. "What America Spends for Sport." Outing, De- 
 cember, 1910, V. 57, pp. 300-308. 
 
 Interesting figures on the cost of athletics. 
 
 Reeve, Arthur. "World's Greatest Athletic Organizations." 
 Outing, October, 1910, v. 57, pp. 106-115. 
 Story of a public school athletic league. 
 
 "Snobbery of Sport." Independent, February 6, 1913, v. 74, pp. 
 277-278. 
 
 Discusses amateur standards. 
 
 Stearns, A. E. "Athletics and the School." Atlantic, February, 
 1914, V. 113, pp. 145-148. 
 
 Frank statement of the issues involved. 
 
 Stewart, C. A. "Athletics and the College." Atlantic, February, 
 
 1914, V. 113, pp. 153-156. 
 Cites prevalent evils. 
 
102 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "The Amateur." Outlook, February 8, 1913, v. 103, pp. 293-295. 
 
 Comment on amateur standards. 
 
 Thwing, C. F. "Ethical Function of Football." North Ameri- 
 can, November, 1901, v. 173, pp. 627-731. 
 
 Positive gains to the player in building character. 
 
 Thwing, C. F. "Football; Is the Game Worth Saving?" Inde- 
 pendent, May IS, 1902, V. 54, pp. 1167-1174. 
 
 Extracts from opinions pro and con, of leading college presidents) 
 on the game — favorable in most cases to its continuation. 
 
 Whitney, Caspar. "Is Football Worth While?" Collier's, Decem- 
 ber 18, 1909, V. 44, p. 13. 
 
 A symposium of opinions from the presidents of representative 
 educational institutions in the United States. 
 
 BA.SEBALL 
 
 Books 
 
 Evers, J. J. and FuUerton, H. S. "Touching Second: The Sci- 
 ence of Baseball." Chic. Reilly, 1910. $1.25. 
 An authoritative treatise. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Beasley, N. B. "Baseball : a Business, a Sport, a Gamble." Har- 
 per's Weekly, April 11, 1914, v. 58, p. 27. 
 Interesting figures on professional baseball. 
 
 Bruce, H. A. "Baseball and the National Life." Outlook, May 
 17. 1913, V. 104, pp. 104-107. 
 
 Baseball as an American institution. 
 
 "Business Side of Baseball." Current Literature, August, 1912, 
 V. S3, pp. 168-172. 
 
 Casey, J. P. "Our Great American Game." Independent, Au- 
 gust 16, 1906, V. 61, pp. 375-378. 
 
 Animated account of the good of baseball. 
 
 "Close of the Baseball Season." Current Literature, November, 
 
 1910, V. 49. pp. 494-497- 
 Interesting figures in league baseball for 1910. 
 
ATHLETIC GROUP OF AMUSEMENTS 103 
 
 Gushing, P. M. "Playing for What There Is In It." Outing, 
 September, 1900, v. 54, pp. 733-740. 
 High pay of professional athletes. 
 
 FuUerton, H. S. "Fans." American Magazine, August, 1912, v. 
 74. PP- 462-467. 
 
 Fans and their uses. 
 
 Fullerton, H. S. "Hitting the Dirt." American Magazine, May, 
 191 1, V. 72, pp. 3-16. 
 
 The first of an authoritative descriptive series in this magazine 
 upon the fine points of professional baseball. 
 
 "Know Baseball, Know the American." American Magazine, 
 September, 1913, v. 76, p. 94. 
 
 Comment on the season. 
 
 Lordner, R. H. "Cost of Baseball." Collier's, March 2, 1912, v. 
 48, p. 28. 
 
 Interesting calculations. 
 
 Moss, E. B. "Dollars Behind the Diamond." Harper's Weekly, 
 August 31, 1912, V. 56, pp. 13-16. 
 
 Presents the financial factors in a season's play. 
 
 "National Game." Outlook, October 19, 1912, v. 102, pp. 329-330. 
 
 Defends its wholesomeness. 
 
 Stewart, C. D. "United States of Baseball." Century, June, 
 1907, V. 74, pp. 307-319- 
 
 Baseball as a national game. Arguments in its favor. 
 
 Weir, H. C. "Men and the Dollars Behind It." World Today, 
 July, 1909, V. 17, pp. 732-761- 
 Describes interesting phases of baseball. 
 
 Boxing 
 Books 
 London, Jack. "Game," Macmillan, New York, 1912. $1.50, 
 
104 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Brewster, G. O. "Boxing— As a Game." Harper's Weekly, 
 June, igio, v. 54, p. 25. 
 
 Davenport, H. C. "Modern Cave Man." Collier's, June 11, 1910, 
 V. 45, p. 19. 
 
 In the Jeffries trainings camp. 
 
 Fyffe, H. H. "What the Prize-Fight Taught Me." Outlook, 
 August 13, 1910, V. 95, pp. 827-830. 
 
 Suggestive meditations wliich make clear the moral issue at stake. 
 
 Inglis, William. "Apotheosis of La Boxe." Harper's Weekly, 
 August 31, 1912, V. 56, pp. 22-23. 
 
 "Intellectuality of the New Pugilism." Current Opinion, Febru- 
 ary, 1913. V. 54, pp. 130-131- 
 Interprets the art of boxing. 
 
 Lyon, H. M. "In Reno Riotous." Hampton, September, 1910, 
 V. 25, pp. 386-396. 
 The flavor of the occasion is preserved for the gentle reader. 
 
 Moss, E. B. "In the Ring for a Million." Harper's Weekly, 
 
 May 14, 1910, V. 54, Pp. I3-I4- 
 
 The enormous sums involved in the Jeffries-Johnson fight for the 
 world's championship. 
 
 Osborn, E. B. "The Revival of Boxing." Nineteenth Century, 
 October, 191 1, v. 70, pp. 771-781. 
 A vigorous English defense of boxing and prize fighting. 
 
 "Prize Fight Moving Pictures." Outlook, July 16, 1910, v. 95, 
 
 pp. 541-542- 
 
 Editorial comment. 
 
 "Recent Prize-Fight." Outlook, July 16, 1910, v. 95, pp. 550-551. 
 
 An editorial. 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore. "Recent Prize-Fight." Outlook, July 16, 
 
 1910, V. 95. PP- 550-551- 
 Boxing vs. prize fight. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 
 
 I. COMMERCIAL AMUSEMENT PARKS 
 
 The fourth phase of the amusement situation to be 
 studied is that of special amusement places. Here we 
 may group electric parks, lake, river and shore resorts, 
 "white cities," and the "midway" of many public parks, 
 all the glittering train of large-scale amusement enter- 
 prises which have Coney Island for their dazzling head- 
 light. 
 
 Extent 
 
 Such enterprises are a leading feature in the amuse- 
 ment offerings of most of our cities of any size. Their 
 attractions are often highly spectacular and widely ad- 
 vertised over the neighboring territory. They attract, 
 therefore, great masses of people to them. One Coney 
 Island report alone has registered above 5,000,000 paid 
 admissions in a single season, and the weekly attendance 
 has more than once exceeded 500,000 people.^ 
 
 The Kansas City Recreation Survey indicates that: 
 
 "The five summer amusement parks of Kansas City, Mo., are 
 reported to have had in the summer of 1911 an attendance for 
 
 iR. W. Neal, "New York's City of Play," World Today, v. ii, p. 820, 
 August, 1906, 
 
 105 
 
lofi POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 the season of 1,991,780, and an expenditure by patrons of 
 $669,605." 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 The enormous popularity of these enterprises inten- 
 sifies their national significance. Their leading char- 
 acteristics are worthy of careful study. The key to the 
 enterprise in most cases is the necessity and means of 
 transportation to some site of natural beauty where the 
 resort is established. The transportation company in 
 control of the situation is usually the important factor. 
 The park features of the enterprise are often well devel- 
 oped either by the company itself or by the municipality 
 which licenses the amusement features in connection with 
 a public park already established. The amusement fea- 
 tures of the enterprise are developed by the sale of con- 
 cessions or rentals, or by the operation of these features 
 by the company itself. These enterprises, usually active 
 during the summer only, cater to the crowd as a crowd 
 and the "carnival spirit" or crowd consciousness is essen- 
 tial to the largest success. In actual operation, the fea- 
 tures of natural beauty — ^the lake, the ocean, the com- 
 manding view — are effective upon the people principally 
 before they come. Once at the resort, the commercial 
 amusement features reign supreme. They are developed 
 and staged with ingenuity of insistent appeal. The 
 crowd is barked and badgered, deceived and enticed into 
 buying thrills of fleeting pleasure on shoot- the-shoots, 
 topsy-turvy novelties, fake sideshows, sensational joy 
 rides, carrousels, ferris-wheels, merry-go-rounds, acro- 
 batic shows, chariot races, daredevil dives, scenic pano- 
 ramas, and the like. Some of them are harmless, some 
 of them thoroughly vicious; many of them out-and-out 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 107 
 
 fakes; all of them frankly sensational in appeal, and all 
 calculated to separate the people from their money with 
 the least possible return. Commercial profit is obviously 
 the dominating factor in their provision. Feats of skill 
 and daring are often performed, but the very sensation- 
 alism upon which they depend creates an ever-increasing 
 demand for more risks on the part of performers, until 
 death stares them constantly in the face. 
 
 Morals 
 
 Sensationalism is the basis of appeal in these amuse- 
 ment enterprises, and is the key to a study of their 
 moral influence. While their influence may be genu- 
 inely elevating if the features of natural beauty are em- 
 phasized and spectacular features are not developed; 
 or neutral if sensationalism is not carried far nor spe- 
 cific evils permitted, these parks as actually operated 
 near most large cities are often thoroughly debasing 
 in their influence. The sale of liquor is widely preva- 
 lent. A large number of unescorted young girls and 
 boys stroll about, an easy prey for exploitation, and are 
 often lured into immorality under stress of unusual ex- 
 citement or temptation in the glittering or unlighted por- 
 tions of these parks. The carnival spirit of freedom and 
 relaxation frequently degenerates into one of license and 
 gross immorality in the public dancing pavilions and un- 
 lighted places. The modern dances have intensified these 
 tendencies, and speeded up the process by which the mor- 
 als of the innocent are broken down. 
 
 The costumes and conduct of many young women at 
 public bathing beaches are likewise a direct incitement 
 to immorality and serve as an advertisement of character. 
 
ie8 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 The objectionable features of the Kansas City resorts, 
 which are fairly typical, are described as follows : 
 
 "Dark concessions, unsupervised bathing pools, petty gam- 
 bling, indecently suggestive pictures, indecent dancing exhibi- 
 tions, dark unpoliced parts of the park, and the permission of 
 young children to remain in the parks unaccompanied until 
 the closing hours, are features that should be corrected for the 
 sake of the child at least." 
 
 The penny amusement parlors have indecent pictures, 
 patronized by minors, and need censorship. 
 
 "The picture machines were topped off by lurid signs and 
 suggestive pictures inviting the patron to look into the machine 
 and see something racy." 
 
 The dance halls are characterized thus: 
 
 "These concessions are very popular. Many of both sexes 
 go there unaccompanied and meet company. Prostitutes and 
 men seeking prey mingle with those seeking innocent amuse- 
 ment." 
 
 Gambling devices are also frequently prevalent at com- 
 mercial amusement parks. 
 
 All these evils are increased by the close proximity 
 of questionable hotels where no registration by guests 
 is required. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. These parks may be studied by many groups, either as a 
 whole or in small sections in visits taken for the purpose under 
 wise leadership. A number of features should be watched for. 
 Do the people get real recreation and pleasure or merely excite- 
 ment and novelty? What seems to be the effect upon people 
 who go regularly? Do they keep their freshness of feeling, or 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 109 
 
 does everything grow stale, except the latest dangerous per- 
 formance or an atmosphere of immoral license? Can you form 
 a judgment of the character of a show by the sort of appeal 
 it makes and the attractions it offers? What conditions prevail 
 as to intoxication and the sale of liquor? Is there a public 
 dancing pavilion? Are immoral dances in vogue? Are young 
 girls thrown into contact with vicious men and immoral women? 
 What conditions develop late at night? What happens on the 
 late cars returning to the city? Is there any adequate policing of 
 the park? Is it outside the city limits, and under the control of a 
 corrupt county administration? 
 
 2. It is noteworthy that the amusement features of many 
 agricultural fairs are identical with those of amusement parks 
 and frequently quite obscure the agricultural interests of the 
 fair. 
 
 3. Further material upon commercial amusement parks will 
 be found on pages 157, 180, and 228. 
 
 2. RACETRACK PARKS 
 Extent 
 
 Amusement parks solely devoted to horse racing are 
 not many in number, but extend their influence as an 
 important element in the amusement problem by means 
 of racetrack poolrooms and through newspaper and tele- 
 graph reports. They thus reach a clientage of several 
 million people virho "follow," and most of whom bet on, 
 the races. Reliable figures of total attendances, gate re- 
 ceipts, and profits from racetracks, bookmaking, and 
 poolrooms are impossible to obtain but doubtless run to 
 enormous sums. 
 
 The "Encyclopedia Britannica" is authority for the 
 following : 
 
 "Owing to the vast size of the country there are various 
 centers of sport, which can be classified with reasonable accuracy 
 as follows : the Eastern States, dominated by the Jockey Club ; 
 
no POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 the Middle Western States, under the control of the Western 
 Jockey Club, whose headquarters are in Chicago; the Pacific 
 Coast, with San Francisco as its center; and the Southern and 
 South-Western States, with Louisville as the most important 
 center. . . . What New York is to the east, Chicago is to the 
 middle' west, and a very large proportion of American racing 
 is conducted close to these centers. In New York State the 
 Coney Island Jockey Qub, at Sheepshead Bay; The Brooklyn 
 Jockey Club, at Gravesend; The Westchester Racing Associa- 
 tion, at Morris Park; The Brighton Beach Racing Association, 
 at Brighton Beach; the Queen's County Jockey Club at Aque- 
 duct ; and the Saratoga Racing Association, at Saratoga, are the 
 leading organizations. All these race-^courses, with the excep- 
 tion of Saratoga, are within a radius of 20 miles of the city. 
 . . . The Washington Park Club at Chicago is the leading turf 
 body of the west, and the only one on an equal footing with the 
 prominent associations of New York State. With this single 
 exception the most important and valuable stakes of the Ameri- 
 can turf are given in the east; and so great has the prosperity 
 of the Turf been since the Jockey Club came into existence 
 that the list of rich prizes is growing at a surprising rate."* 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 The racing circuits of agricultural and other fairs 
 should be clearly distinguished from these race-track 
 parks, at which the betting interests largely control the 
 situation. Purses for the winning horses are ofifered 
 by the fair management, horses are taken from one fair 
 to another, and local horses are entered. These racing 
 circuits spread throughout the country, sometimes cov- 
 ering one or two states or extending over a large section 
 as the Great Western, which includes tracks between 
 Cleveland, Ohio, and Phoenix, Arizona. 
 
 The races conducted by agricultural fairs have for 
 the most part been well managed, furnishing a spec- 
 
 "^ "Encyclopedia Britannica," v. 13, p. 736. 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES iii 
 
 tacular form of entertainment, improving the breed of 
 horses, and have been kept comparatively free of domi- 
 nation by the betting interests. 
 
 The income which provides the necessary expenses 
 and prize money at commercial racetracks is derived, in 
 addition to income from gate receipts and the like, from 
 the bookmaker's privilege. The following extract from a 
 newspaper description of racing at Havre de Grace, Md., 
 will reveal the essential points of the system and some 
 sidelights. It is generally understood that bookmakers 
 so manipulate the odds that they are sure to win against 
 the public. 
 
 "But the bulk of the crowd was made up of racetrack regu- 
 lars. Since the Percy Gray and the Horton laws put a crimp 
 in betting at racetracks in New York, the racetrack devotee 
 has been held in restraint. So, with a chance of letting loose 
 some of the pent-up enthusiasm, he was here in all his glory 
 today. In the crowd were noticed many faces familiar at the 
 racetracks of New York, while many veterans of the game 
 identified with the sport when the old Gloucester track was in 
 its prime mingled with the newcomers, peered at the 'dope' 
 sheets, and fingered their bank-rolls with all the enthusiasm 
 of the olden days. 
 
 "Men discarded their dignity with their coats and collars, 
 and pushed the bookmakers a merry pace to get all bets placed. 
 There was little heavy play. Men occasionally cashed checks 
 for $500 and lesser amounts that still ran to three figures, but 
 the biggest part of the chancing was done with five and ten- 
 dollar notes. But it is a fair estimate to say that 70 per cent 
 of the ones inside the grounds patronized the betting ring and 
 its opportunities. 
 
 "The betting ring is a source of rich income to the associa- 
 tion. Jack Cavanaugh, known to all devotees of the running 
 tracks, has charge of this inclosure and his ability to handle it 
 and protect those who wager their money is accepted as proof 
 that racing at Havre de Grace is going to be on the level. The 
 
112 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 income derived from the bookmakers' privilege is large and 
 goes to make up the purses offered in the races. It is ex- 
 pected that when the new track is running at its height, at 
 least fifty bookmakers will occupy stools in the ring. 
 
 "Hundreds of men well known in political and private life in 
 Philadelphia were seen among the throng today. The politi- 
 cians were always active in the betting ring and in the third 
 race Reybourn was the strongest kind of a tip among the 
 henchmen of the former Mayor of Philadelphia. The good 
 thing went through, too, for Reybourn beat the barrier, got 
 ofif in front, and was never in danger, having plenty of re- 
 serve speed to stand off the rush of the long shot, Pretend, at 
 the finish. The political contingent 'cashed' and was in good 
 humor for the remainder of the afternoon."' 
 
 Betting is also carried on extensively in racetrack pool- 
 rooms which are operated secretly in the larger cities, 
 especially in New York and Chicago. The news of races 
 comes direct from the tracks by telegraph and telephone 
 and is essential to the existence of poolrooms. The tele- 
 graph and telephone companies are primarily responsible, 
 therefore, for the perpetuation of the evils connected 
 with them. 
 
 Morals 
 
 The morals connected with racetrack parks are one 
 with the morals of gambling and betting everywhere, 
 although these evils seem to have been more closely 
 identified with horse racing than any other form of sport. 
 Great numbers of people of all occupations and in all 
 portions of society have been caught by the mania for 
 unearned money and have in many cases been brought 
 to ruin. There is perhaps no more insidious evil in 
 American life today than the gambling spirit which is 
 
 1 Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 25, 27, 1912. 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 113 
 
 the perfect expression of commercialism in relation to 
 any sport. It cuts the nerve of clean and wholesome 
 competition in all forms of play. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. The general question of betting in relation to sport may 
 well be discussed at this point. It may be considered from the 
 point of view of its influence upon the bettor and also its effect 
 upon the moral and business stability of a town where it pre- 
 vails. 
 
 2. See the chapter on the subject in the author's "Christianity 
 and Amusements." 
 
 3. Further material upon racetrack parks will be found on 
 page 157. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Commercial Amusement Parks 
 
 Books 
 
 Reference should be made to material upon commercial amuse- 
 ment parks contained in the recreation surveys and reports listed 
 under The Amusement Situation in General. 
 
 Hartt, R. L. "The Amusement Park" in "The People at Play," 
 1909, pp. 43-85. 
 
 Henry, O. "Brick Dust Row" in "The Trimmed Lamp," Double- 
 day, New York. $1. 
 
 Henry, O. "The Greater Coney," in "Sixes and Sevens," Double- 
 day, New York, 1911. $1.20. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Davis, C. B. "Renaissance of Coney." Outing, August, 1906, 
 
 v. 48, pp. 513-522. 
 Description of the old Coney and the new. 
 
"4 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Denison, Lindsay. "The Biggest Playground in the World." 
 Mitnsey's, August, 1905, v. 33, pp. 557-566. 
 
 Account of the dazzling and deafening variety of entertainment, 
 and tlie remarkable transformation the Island has undergone. 
 
 LeGallienne, Richard. "Human Need of Coney Island." Cosmo- 
 politan, July, 1905, V. 39, pp. 239-246. 
 
 Illustrated account of Coney Island, the need of its existence as a 
 palace of illusion and pleasure demanded by the American people. 
 
 Neal, R. W. "New York's City of Play." World Today, August, 
 1906, V. II, pp. 818-826. 
 
 Graphic picture of Coney Island, disclosing demoralizing amuse- 
 ments. Illustrated. 
 
 Walters, Theodore. "New York's New Playground." Harper's 
 Weekly, July 8, 1905, v. 49, pp. 976-980. 
 
 Illustrated account of Coney Island, with its effect upon the 
 throngs which fill it. 
 
 Racetrack Parks 
 
 Books 
 
 Bliss, W. D. P. "Gambling," in "Encyclopedia of Social Re- 
 form," 1908, p. 530. 
 
 A concise description of racetrack gambling, as well as other 
 forms, is given. 
 
 "Horse Racing." "Encyclopedia Britannica," The Encyclopedia 
 Britannica Company, New York, 1910-11, v. 13, pp. 734-736. 
 Admirable general statement of the situation in the United States. 
 See index for articles on kindred subjects. 
 
 Rowntree, B. S., ed. "Betting and Gambling, a National Evil." 
 Macmillan, 1905. $1.60. 
 
 Written from an English point of view, the book contains inter- 
 esting facts concerning the extent and forms of gambling with sug- 
 gestions as to legislative control. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Fullerton, H. S. "American Gambling and Gamblers." Ameri- 
 can Magazine, February and March, 1914, v. 77, pp. 33-38, 
 57-60. 
 A resume of the gambling situation. 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES iis 
 
 Flynt, Josiah. "Poolroom Vampire and Its Money Mad Vic- 
 tims." Cosmopolitan, February, 1907, v. 42, pp. 359-371. 
 The first of a series of five articles in succeeding numbers of the 
 Cosmopolitan upon the destructive influence of racetrack and pool 
 rooms. 
 
 France, C. J. "The Gambling Impulse." American Journal of 
 Psychology, February, 1902, v. 13, pp. 364-407. 
 Scholarly study of the psychology of gambling. 
 
 "Racetrack Betting." Charities and the Commons, March 14, 
 1908, V. 19, pp. 1735-1736. 
 
 Extracts from letters prompted by Governor Hughes* campaign 
 against racetrack betting. 
 
 Riis, J. A. "Gambling Mania." Century, April, 1907, v. 73, pp. 
 925-927. 
 
 Gambling has become a national evil. 
 
 Scott, Leroy. "Horse Racing and the Public." World's Work, 
 August, 1906, V. 12, pp. 7?67-yi7g. 
 
 Showing the dependence of racing upon gambling and the effect 
 upon our social life. 
 
 "Sport of Kings — or of Gamblers." Outlook, September 9, 191 1, 
 
 V. 99, PP- 57-58. 
 Editorial comment on racetrack gambling. 
 
 Sullivan, Mark. "Pool Room Evil." Outlook, May 28, 1905, v. 
 77, pp. 212-216. 
 
 Explains pool rooms and bookmaking and their evasion of New 
 York's inadequate law. 
 
 Tobenkin, Elias. "Petty Gambling: A Problem of the Poor." 
 World Today, May, 1910, v. 18, pp. 512-514. 
 
 Wilson, T. B. "Making of Criminals Through the Racetrack." 
 Overland, November, 1908, n. s. v. 52, pp. 444-448. 
 
 The California Jockey Club at Emeryville — one of the nation's 
 greatest agencies in making criminals. 
 
 Works, J. D. "Racetrack Evil and the Newspapers." Arena, 
 
 April, 1908, V. 39, pp. 427-429- 
 Plea for reform in newspaper columns now devoted to racetrack 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 
 
 Extent 
 
 Into the life of every community there come special 
 amusement events. A circus comes to town. A group 
 of men get up a street fair. A holiday is turned into 
 a carnival. A military encampment or a firemen's con- 
 vention is held. The railroad runs a special excursion 
 to a nearby city, to the county or state fair. Some 
 organization gets up a public picnic or a clambake. In 
 New York, a Tammany leader "gives" his henchmen an 
 outing. In Chicago, but recently, two notorious alder- 
 men "gave" the first ward ball. Election night and New 
 Year's night in the great cities have become faodern sat- 
 urnalias. Automobile and motorcycle races are widely 
 advertised and draw visitors from miles around. It is 
 obviously impossible to determine the number of events 
 of this sort except locally. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 No phase of the amusement problem is more worthy 
 of study than these events, for they bulk large in the 
 life of every community, and often carry with them a 
 spontaneous interest and excitement which gives them 
 
 ii6 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 117 
 
 unique influence. It is significant that the crowd spirit 
 usually dominates them. Their characteristics and their 
 moral influence vary so widely that few general state- 
 ments can be made. It is clear, however, that they may 
 be more important in the experience of a boy or girl, a 
 young man or woman, than months of ordinary living, 
 or any number of customary pleasures. The vividness 
 with which they are anticipated and remembered is a 
 sufficient indication of their importance. How frequently 
 the conversation of American youth runs upon this lofty 
 reminiscence, "It certainly was a time." 
 
 Morals 
 
 Events of this class are especially significant on the 
 moral side because their management usually lacks the 
 permanence and responsibility which ordinarily char- 
 acterizes an amusement institution in which some prop- 
 erty investment and social reputation are involved. 
 
 The forces of evil take a special advantage of many 
 of these events. Liquor is almost sure to be dispensed 
 more freely than usual, and special permits are fre- 
 quently issued by the licensing authorities. An out- 
 break of gambling more or less secret is likely to occur, 
 and vicious men often import immoral women for these 
 occasions. A special event may be staged in a day or a 
 night and secretly manipulated by a few men to the moral 
 undoing of a multitude — an event that would never be tol- 
 erated in a decent town, if it were not dependent upon 
 the crowd spirit, the suddenness of its occurrence, and 
 the secrecy with which it was planned. 
 
 To a large number of people in every community, a 
 special event of this sort is always the occasion for a 
 
ii8 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 period of extraordinary license. To many more it is 
 a time of unusual moral strain and temptation. Things 
 may be done under special excitement or intoxication 
 which would never be indulged in under ordinary cir- 
 cumstances. A man or woman, a boy or girl, may be 
 left maimed or diseased for life. This, as a matter of 
 fact, is what America is suffering at the hands of amuse- 
 ment promoters and may expect to have foisted upon 
 it increasingly unless the movement for well-conducted 
 public pageants and festivals as part of a constructive 
 recreation program is able to counteract it. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. This topic makes an especially important study. The lit- 
 erature on many subjects which are suggested for discussion 
 is small, but the local importance of these unrecorded events 
 looms large. 
 
 2. Make this topic an object of special investigation locally. 
 List the events of this sort which have happened in or near 
 ■'our town'' the last five years. Estimate the number of people 
 who participated in them. Who was back of them? What mo- 
 tives led to their being planned? What evils crept in? What 
 effect upon particular people can be traced to some event of this 
 type? 
 
 3. Study the present tendency in your own and surrounding 
 towns and cities to "get up" this sort of event. Are there the 
 sort of men in the management who will insure its moral as 
 well as its spectacular success? Study especially the effect of 
 these events upon children and young people. Do you see any 
 way in which more efficient supervision could be attained? The 
 members of the group should recall and, in some cases, state 
 their impressions of events of this character made upon them 
 during childhood. 
 
 4. Further material upon special amusement events will be 
 found on pages 158, 186, and 229. 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 119 
 
 I. HOLIDAYS AND SIMILAR CELEBRATIONS 
 
 Extent and Characteristics 
 
 General holidays, numbering eight or nine in most 
 states yearly, release the bulk of the population from 
 their round of work to free days of recreation. The 
 harder and more confining the daily round, the more sig- 
 nificant is the day of freedom, and the less prepared is 
 the worker likely to be for its wise use. The holiday 
 for the great mass of workers is, therefore, a rare 
 boon, and in many instances a special problem. 
 
 Holidays naturally bring an outburst of the amuse- 
 ment spirit. The form of that outburst, the degree to 
 which it is shaped by the traditions of the day, or utilized 
 by amusement promoters, is highly significant. The 
 characteristics of the "insane" Fourth, still prevalent in 
 many communities, are too familiar to need statement 
 here. 
 
 Election and New Year's nights frequently bring spe- 
 cial problems in the larger cities where they are coming 
 increasingly to take on the character of enormous crowd 
 demonstrations. The carnival spirit develops with the 
 use of confetti, horns, and various other devices by 
 which promiscuous horse-play spreads abroad on the 
 streets. The lawlessness of this mood develops an ele- 
 ment of heedless cruelty in the attitudes of large num- 
 bers of young men. There is an especially large con- 
 sumption of liquor on such nights as these, and cafes 
 with amusement features sell out their available seating 
 space long in advance. The increasing exploitation of all 
 such occasions by commercial amusement interests is 
 obscuring the original significance of our holidays. 
 
120 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 With the study of legal holidays should be consid- 
 ered those special occasions which are worked up more 
 or less often in every community, such as street fairs 
 and various shows, carnivals, firemen's conventions and 
 the like, many of which are accompanied by the fea- 
 tures prevailing in amusement resorts. This whole ten- 
 dency, indeed, finds its climax in special carnivals at 
 highly commercialized amusement parks. 
 
 These events vary so widely that a statement of their 
 extent or specific characterization of them here is not 
 possible. 
 
 Morals 
 
 The general moral standards and conditions of any 
 community, and the immediate management of each 
 event, will largely determine the morals of those occa- 
 sions. The forces of evil in any community, however, 
 are almost sure to fasten upon them for special activ- 
 ity, and frequently do a record business in demoraliz- 
 ing citizens and visitors for the sake of financial profit to 
 themselves. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. It is highly important to study the local use of holidays 
 and direct their celebration into such public activities as are 
 described in the section on Holiday Celebrations and Com- 
 munity Festivals, page i86. 
 
 2. What are the moral conditions in "our town'' on holiday 
 evenings ? 
 
 3. Do conditions in the factories and business places on the 
 morning after indicate that the majority of workers know how 
 to use their freedom wisely? 
 
 4. How nearly sane has the celebration of the "Fourth" be- 
 come in "our town"? 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 121 
 
 2. EXCURSIONS AND OUTINGS 
 
 Extent and Characteristics 
 
 Public excursions and outings are everywhere popular 
 and important events. No estimate of their extent can 
 be made except locally. 
 
 They are a natural expression of the desire for free- 
 dom and release from the daily grind. Congestion in 
 living conditions, and the speeding up process in in- 
 dustry accentuate this desire and increase the popu- 
 larity of amusement parks and resorts to which excur- 
 sions frequently go. Outings and picnics are often con- 
 ducted by loosely organized clubs or associations which 
 are at bottom really commercial enterprises. The polit- 
 ical picnic or clambake is an especially interesting fea- 
 ture of American life. The conditions of travel in all 
 such events play an important part. 
 
 Morals 
 
 An excursion by rail or boat may be so long, and the 
 crowd of such a character that moral integrity is put 
 under the heaviest strain and a spirit of license may 
 develop with free social mingling of the crowd which 
 loosens the ordinary sanctions of morality. Such a spirit 
 may easily characterize a public picnic or general ex- 
 cursion, and is, in fact, often cultivated by the man- 
 agement, especially where liquor is sold and intoxication 
 results. 
 
 The description of certain of these excursions in rec- 
 reation surveys and vice reports indicates the presence 
 of the worst evils, including the use of staterooms on 
 day boats for immoral purposes. 
 
122 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Study the number of excursions from or to your town 
 during a summer season. What are the most popular forms? 
 Are the boats or other conveyances properly provided with phys- 
 ical safeguards? What are the conditions generally prevailing 
 toward the end of the day or trip? Is liquor sold openly or 
 secretly? Does immorality creep in? 
 
 2. Study the moral consequences of automobile excursions 
 by small parties of young people unchaperoned. George J. 
 Kneeland writes the author as follows : "To my mind the auto- 
 mobile is one of the chief sources of seduction now used. Young 
 men with cars at their disposal are the chief offenders. They 
 seek out attractive department store or high school girls for 
 these excursions and the girls are wild to go." 
 
 3. THE CIRCUS 
 
 Extent, Characteristics, Morals 
 
 The circus is an institution of large significance to 
 American youth, whether it be among the many one- 
 ring country affairs, or the half-dozen or more claim- 
 ing to be the "greatest show on earth." Its local mani- 
 festation may be looked upon as a temporary epidemic, 
 and hence it is properly placed among Special Amuse- 
 ment Events. 
 
 Its familiar traveling zoo, its clowns, trained animals, 
 acrobats, and aerial performers have important educa- 
 tional and amusement values, and the fact that the circus 
 is attended by so many parents with children acts as a 
 moral disinfectant. The further fact that a high degree 
 of skill and steadiness are required by many of the per- 
 formers, tends to check some of the excesses which other 
 traveling amusement troops often indulge in. 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 123 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. What amusement values are brought by the circus only, 
 to great numbers of American children and young people? The 
 members of the group might interpret very briefly their early 
 impression. 
 
 2. What dangers lurk in the neighborhood of the tents of 
 traveling shows? 
 
 4. AMUSEMENT FEATURES OF FAIRS 
 
 Extent, Characteristics, Morals 
 
 The amusement features of our prevalent agricultural 
 fairs and exhibitions may well be studied under Special 
 Events, for they are occasional in occurrence and last 
 but a few days in a place. They capitalize the same 
 crowd spirit as the other events here treated. The agri- 
 cultural exhibits, wholesome as they are, stand in strik- 
 ing contrast to the usual commercial attractions. These 
 frequently embrace most of the features of holiday 
 celebrations and excursions, the cheapest sideshows and 
 vaudeville, public dancing, and the variegated novelty 
 features of amusement parks. Automobile races, aero- 
 plane exhibitions, or balloon ascensions, are ordinarily 
 provided by the management. The total result of the 
 commercial offerings at many fairs is that the agricul- 
 tural features are largely obscured and the people from 
 the surrounding country are fleeced by fakirs and char- 
 latans. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 r. What conditions obtain at the fair in or near "our town"? 
 How important in the lives of country people are the cheap 
 
124 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 amusements offered there? What idea of fun do country boys 
 get from them? 
 
 2. By what system and standard of judgment are the conces- 
 sions granted to amusement enterprises ? Is there any system of 
 inspection? 
 
 5. AUTOMOBILE RACES 
 
 Extent, Characteristics, Morals 
 
 The invention of the automobile released a new world 
 of sensation. The enthusiasm which has swept the 
 country for this great discovery has been seized upon 
 by automobile manufacturers for advertising purposes, 
 and by amusement interests for easy profits. Automo- 
 bile races are widely prevalent at fairs and elsewhere as 
 special amusement events. These races are hazardous 
 in the extreme. The life of the racer is in constant jeop- 
 ardy, and that of the spectator frequently so. The fol- 
 lowing extract from "How I Won the Vanderbilt Cup" 
 is a sufllicient indictment of these races as ordinarily 
 conducted. It tells the story of a race in which there 
 were four hours of gruelling contest, and drivers and 
 crowd were in imminent peril. Such experiences as this 
 at a dangerous turn were of frequent occurrence: 
 
 "Between the swerving Fiat and the inner rim of the road 
 was an opening of possibly ten feet. The great crowd swayed 
 backward as the Darracq hurtled into the breach straight ahead. 
 Only the two left wheels were on the ground. A false move 
 and the car would have turned completely over. . . . Over the 
 next ten miles of road we were moving at the rate of a hun- 
 dred miles an hour. . . . We were away again, this time with 
 every ounce of power in play, with care and caution thrown 
 to the winds and with everything hazarded in a genuine death 
 gamble. There was no more stopping or slackening at turns, 
 no further fear or concern over the reckless crowds that by 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 12S 
 
 this time were pressing so far on to the course that for miles 
 there was only a narrow lane open between staring human 
 walls. And the climax? A mile from the finish it became evi- 
 dent that the dense mass of spectators was beyond control. 
 Dare-deviltry was in the atmosphere. . . . As in a trance the 
 bugle sounded, and the next moment with a flash and volley, 
 the Darracq was over the tape — a winner." ^ 
 
 The death and accident list from this sort of driving 
 has reached a large total. The speed mania takes pos- 
 session of the crowd as well as of the drivers, and the 
 attitude of some of the managers of these events is re- 
 flected in such posters as this : "Auto races this after- 
 noon. Dare-devil drivers race with death on famous 
 figure-eight track regardless of life or limb." 
 
 6. AEROPLANE EXHIBITIONS AND BALLOON 
 ASCENSIONS 
 
 The stupendous discovery of flight by heavier-than- 
 air machines has offered a new thriller among amuse- 
 ment events. Aviation meets enjoyed an unprecedented 
 popularity in the first flush of enthusiasm over flying 
 and still draw large crowds wherever they are offered as 
 attractions. Spectacular flights by foolhardy aviators 
 are less prevalent than in the earlier days of flying, and 
 the permanent amusement value of aviation seems to be 
 approximately the same as that of balloon ascensions. 
 These continue in popularity at county fairs and in spe- 
 cial endurance contests. 
 
 1 Louis Wagner, "How I Won the Vanderbilt Cup,'' Outing, October, 
 1909, p. 788. 
 
126 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and DiscussroN 
 
 r. What is the danger to spectators in watching automobile 
 races and spectacular aeroplane flights? 
 
 2. Do you know instances where the crowd have lost their 
 heads and done foolish or brutal things i! 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Reference should be made to material upon special amuse- 
 ment events of various forms, contained in the recreation sur- 
 veys and reports listed under The Amusement Situation in Gen- 
 eral. 
 
 Holiday and Similar Celebrations . 
 
 Books 
 
 Schauffler, R. H. "Independence Day." Our American Holiday 
 Series, Moffatt, 1912. $1. 
 
 A comprehensive treatment of the development, abuses and possi- 
 bilities of the day. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Cains, William. "Election Night in New York." Harper's 
 Weekly, November 7, 1908, v. 52, p. 10. 
 Illustrated account of the celebration, 
 
 Frazer, R. F. "Making Thrills for the Night Fans." Technical 
 World, August, 1913, v. 19, PP. 838-841. 
 
 Motorcycle racing. 
 
 "Independence Day — The Modern Moloch." Review of Reviews, 
 June, 1910, V. 41, pp. 735-736. 
 Ravages of "Fourth of July'' tetanus. 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 127 
 
 Irwin, Will. "The First Ward Ball." Collier's, February 6, 1909, 
 V. 42, pp. 16-17. 
 
 "Led by Bathhouse John ten thousand joyless reveling pick- 
 pockets, bartenders, prostitutes and police captains celebrate the 
 reign of graft, while grief-stricken Hinky Dink sways in the corner." 
 The illustrations by McCutcheon breathe the atmosphere of the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 "Our Murderous Patriotism." Harper's Weekly, June 11, 1910, 
 V. 54, p. 24. 
 
 Figures and opinions on the casualties of the Fourth of July. 
 
 "The Fourth of July." Outlook, July 19, 1913, v. 104, pp. 596-597. 
 
 "Toll of the Fourth." Collier's, July 2, 1910, v. 45, p. 15. 
 
 "Harmless" devices resulting in 29,296 killed and wounded in the 
 past six years. 
 
 Excursions and Outings 
 
 Reference should be made to recreation surveys and reports of 
 vice commissions. 
 
 The Circus • 
 
 Books 
 
 McFarlane, A. E. "Redney McGaw." Little, 1909. $1.50. 
 Gives a happy picture of life in the circus. 
 
 Metcalfe, Francis. "Side Show Studies." Outing, igo6. $1.25. 
 
 "Anecdotal short stories of circus life — absurd, amusing." A. L. 
 A. Booklist. 
 
 Thompson, W. C. "On the Road with a Circus." New Amster- 
 dam, N. Y., 1905. $1. 
 "Unexaggerated and entertaining." A. L. A, Booklist. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Bergengren, Ralph. "Taking the Circus Seriously." Atlantic, 
 May, 1909, V. 103, pp. 672-679. 
 An interpretative study of the circus. 
 
128 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Davis, C. B. "Visit to the Circus." Outing, May, 1904, v. 44, pp. 
 145-153- 
 
 A sympathetic description of the circus. 
 
 Harriman, K. E. "Social Side of the Circus." Cosmopolitan, 
 July, 1906, V. 41, pp. 309-318. 
 An inside view of circus life. Illustrated. 
 
 Irwin, Wallace. "At the Sign of the Three Rings." Collier's, 
 May 4, 1912, V. 49, p. 18. 
 Circus talk. 
 
 Johnson, Martyn. "A Day with the Circus." World Today, 
 July, 1910, V. 19, pp. 709-715- 
 An interesting description. 
 
 Weir, H. C. "Other Side of the Circus." World Today, Sep- 
 tember, 1908, V. IS, pp. 905-912. 
 A look into circus life. 
 
 "We Visit the Circus." Harper's Weekly, March 29, 1913, v. 57, 
 p. 20. 
 
 Amusement Features of Fairs 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Hamilton, J. "Influences Exerted by Agricultural Fairs." An- 
 nals of the American Academy. March, 1912, v. 40, pp. 
 200-210. 
 A general presentation. 
 
 Ruhl, A. "At the County Fair." Collier's, August 16, 1913, v. 51, 
 pp. 20-21. 
 
 Set forth in all its glory. 
 
 Howells, W. D. "Fairs in America." Harper's Monthly, De- 
 cember, 1902, V. 106, pp. 163-167. 
 
 Describes the average county or state fair. 
 
 Lloyd- Jones, Richard. "The Significance of State Fairs." Col- 
 lier's, October i, 1910, v. 46, pp. 16-T7. 
 
 The work done by the state Harvest Festivals to advance iti-lus- 
 trial welfare. 
 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 129 
 
 Automobile Races 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 "Commercial Murder." Outlook, September 30, 1911, v. 99, pp. 
 258-259. 
 
 An indictment of automobile racing. 
 
 Fox, E. L. "Speed Kings." Hampton, July, 1910, v. 25, pp. 
 57-68. 
 
 Automobile racers. 
 
 George, H. C. "Shaking Dice with Death." Collier's, January 15, 
 1910, V. 44, P- IS- 
 
 Risking life in the perilous game of automobile racing. 
 
 Hamans, J. E. "Meaning of the Vanderbilt Cup Race.'' Outing, 
 November, 1906, v. 49, pp. 258-272. 
 
 Nathan, G. J. "Hazards of the Vanderbilt Cup Race." Outing, 
 January, 1910, v. 55, pp. 477-482. 
 
 Describes accidents and narrow escapes. 
 
 Nesbit, W. D. "$50,000 for Speed." Collier's, June 21, 1913, v. 
 51, pp. 7-8. 
 
 Wagner, Louis. "How I Won the Vanderbilt Cup." Outing, 
 March, 1907, v. 49, pp. 785-789. 
 This record is sufficient indictment of the sport. 
 
 Wagner, F. J. "Automobile Racing in America." Collier's, Janu- 
 ary II, 1913, V. 50. suppl. pp. 39-40- 
 A general presentation. 
 
 Aeroplane Exhibitions 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Clover, S. T. "First Meet of the Man-Birds in America." Out- 
 ing, March, 1910, v. 55, pp. 750-763- 
 Account of the first of a large number of "meets." 
 
130 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "Men in the Air." World's Work, December, 1910, v. 21, pp. 
 13720-13721. 
 
 Interesting reflections on the second international contest. 
 
 Post, Augustus. "Flying Fast and Furious.'' World's Work, 
 July, igii, V. 22, pp. 14635-14641. 
 
 Shows the development of "meets" by maps. 
 
 "Recent Aviation Events.'' Scientific American, September 20, 
 1913, V. 109, p. 229. 
 
 Woodhouse, Henry. "Harvard-Boston Aviation Meet." Inde- 
 pendent, September 29, 1910, v. 6g, pp. 676-686. 
 Account of an early aviation meet. 
 
PART II 
 
 PROPOSED SOLUTIONS OF THE PROBLEM 
 OF POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 SUMMARY AND FORECAST 
 
 The prevalence of professionalism, commercialism, and 
 immorality necessitate a public awakening and the im- 
 provement of conditions by pressure of public opinion. 
 
 Popular public amusements have now been sketched 
 as to their extent, characteristics, and morals. They 
 have been studied frankly as a social problem. They 
 make widely varying impressions upon those who study 
 them, yet some consensus of opinion may emerge as 
 to three outstanding facts. These are the wide prev- 
 alence of: I. Professionalism, 2. Commercialism, and 3. 
 Immorality. 
 
 I. PROFESSIONALISM 
 
 Instead of the wholesome love of play, the love of 
 being played upon has become a national passion. The 
 spontaneity of playful activities, and the originality which 
 creates them are being lulled to sleep by the habit of 
 being amused. Among great groups of people it is 
 wholly out of date to "make your own fun." Especially 
 where congestion of living conditions and the fatigue 
 of over-work make private recreation difficult for fam- 
 ilies or friends, the crowds are flocking to the public 
 
 133 
 
134 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 entertainers. They look on, wistful or Jaded, while 
 others do their playing for them. Yet not with these 
 alone has the professional come to dominate the situa- 
 tion. Almost equally with those whose resources for 
 private recreation are ample the compelling motive is to 
 be amused. 
 
 The professional entertainer holds sway in every field 
 from which he is not rigidly excluded, evefy field in 
 which the rights of the amateur are not vigorously as- 
 serted. He plays the game better than the rest of us. 
 We pay him to devote his time to it. His work has 
 high social value if he teaches the rest of us how to 
 play the game better, and we keep on playing, but when 
 his superiority shames us into inactivity, into merely 
 watching him, we are in a dangerous way. This is what 
 has happened to us and the line of division between en- 
 tertainer and entertained is an ever-deepening line save 
 where reassertions of the amateur spirit restrain it. 
 
 A social disease has been spreading broadcast among 
 us. The professional, whether he be actor, dancer, ath- 
 lete, or what not, is the chief source of infection. The 
 disease of spectatoritis is abroad in the land. Its germs 
 are in every breath we draw and most of us are aiifected 
 with that paralysis of play activities which is its most 
 striking immediate symptom. 
 
 Here and there appears the aggravated case — com- 
 pletely infected — the fan who is nothing but a fan, a 
 flabby creature symbolic of a multitude, a parasite upon 
 the play of others, the least athletic of all men, never 
 playing himself at anything, a spectacle hunter, not a 
 sportsman. 
 
 Spectatoritis, like the professional who spreads it, de- 
 pends upon crowds and crowd contagion. Our study of 
 
SUMMARY AND FORECAST 135 
 
 amusements has shown the crowd spirit at work in 
 almost every phase of the problem. This means that 
 great masses of people meeting in the highly suggestible 
 state of crowd consciousness are daily exposed to the 
 professional entertainer, the expert crowd stimulator who 
 has unique power for "the contagion of virtues and vices, 
 in the epidemic of degrading or uplifting suggestions." 
 
 Spectatoritis is the crowd reaction to professionalism. 
 It must be squarely faced if the amusement problem 
 is to be solved, for its end is brutality and callousness 
 at the loss of human life. We may yet avoid its full 
 manifestations, familiar to other nations, ancient and 
 modern, in established public spectacles of brutality. 
 We are still a long way from the Roman amphitheater 
 and the Spanish bullfight, but spectatoritis leads that 
 way. Its way has ever been the path of a jaded sensa- 
 tionalism, and the sensational is the basis of appeal in 
 an alarming proportion of our public spectacles. A 
 clear-eyed public opinion must now reckon in advance 
 with its full consequences. 
 
 A most penetrating statement of this evil has recently 
 been made by Professor George Elliot Howard, the well 
 known sociologist of Nebraska University. I quote at 
 length a passage discovered after the paragraphs above 
 were written. 
 
 "It is right, of course, to lay "the chief stress on the influence 
 of the spectator in creating the spectacle. Normally it is largely 
 a case of demand and supply. The desires of the spectator de- 
 termine the character of the spectacle. But that is not the 
 whole story. The spectacle which the spectator molds, in its 
 turn molds the spectator. The spectator is a being which feeds 
 on its own offspring. Here is an endless circuit of give-and- 
 take, which as applied to the spectator-personality might well 
 be called the 'dialectic of emotional growth.' 
 
136 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "Moreover the reciprocal influence of the spectator and the 
 spectacle in our days is not usually normal. The spectacle is 
 commercialized. It is chiefly the asset of the business man — the 
 entrepreneur. The exploiter of the human need of recrea- 
 tion provides what, under all the conditions, he thinks will pay. 
 A large part of the theater-crowd is fortuitous. It comes from 
 out of town. It takes what it can get, not always what it 
 prefers. 
 
 "Again, it must be held firmly in mind that we have to do 
 with a species of crowd. As such it is amenable to the laws 
 of crowd psychology. Now the result of bodily contagion in 
 the spectator crowd is greatly to increase the effects of 'multi- 
 plied suggestion.' Every emotion, every psychic manifestation 
 called out by the stimulating spectacle is intensified. The emo- 
 tional conductibility of the mass is very great. Nor must it be 
 forgotten that pleasurable sensations or emotions, even if mor- 
 bid, take the most enduring hold of the conscious or the 
 subconscious self. They well up readily in associative memory. 
 How vast, then, for good or ill, must be the emotional dis- 
 charge in the theater-crowd. For almost every social situation, 
 almost every moral crisis or mental conflict, almost every de- 
 sire, passion or ideal is presented to consciousness, accompanied 
 by all the allurements of light, color, rhythm or sound. 
 
 "Clearly, here is a tremendous power which calls loudly for 
 social control. For ages the susceptibility of the spectator crowd 
 has been exploited for vicious, commercial, or other selfish ends. 
 Why not capitalize it for the advancement of social welfare? 
 
 "Commercialized recreation need not necessarily be bad if 
 wisely regulated; yet, as a matter of fact, in the United States 
 almost every form of dramatic spectacle has been put upon 
 too low a plane, often a disgracefully low plane. How serious 
 is the danger to society, is partially realized when we count the 
 vast throngs which regularly back the playhouses. 
 
 "In fact, we owe to mob-mind in large measure the present 
 low standard of dramatic recreation in our country. It is high 
 time to give up the notion that only the bad is 'catching.' Even 
 more contagious are the good, the beautiful and the true. 
 
 "The spectator-crowd at an athletic contest, a football game, 
 game of baseball, a wrestling or a boxing match, a Marathon 
 
SUMMARY AND FORECAST 137 
 
 race, is essentially a theater crowd, except that often it sits in 
 the open air. The members of the spectacle are the only per- 
 sons who exercise ; and their exercise is not play but work, often 
 for hire. The vicarious play of the team, however fascinating, 
 does not exercise the spectator's muscles. 
 
 "In basic principle, the psychology of the athletic spectator- 
 crowd is the same as that already presented. It is crowd psy- 
 chology. Suggestibility is higher, contagion swifter, emotion 
 more tumultuous, the range of suggested ideas or actions nar- 
 rower, than in the dramatic crowd. The sub-conscious self of 
 the spectator emerges; the elemental gaming or struggle in- 
 stinct of the human animal slips its leash, and the spectator 
 thrills with emotional reaction to the athlete's muscular experi- 
 ences. Who of us has not shared in the hypnotic frenzy, the 
 mob-hysteria of the 'bleachers' if not of the 'grandstand'? 
 
 "It is because actions are more 'catching', more readily inti- 
 mated than words, that public exhibitions — in the theater or 
 on the field — may prove dangerous, especially to children and 
 adolescents. Happily, the more brutal forms of contests are 
 being prescribed. Bear-baiting, bull-baiting, cock fighting and 
 prize fighting are passing. Is there no need of going further? 
 Do not humanism and the Gospel of peace demand that exhibi- 
 tions of boxing, wrestling and other spectacles suggesting hurt, 
 cruelty, brute force, or war, be abandoned? Yet in my own 
 town a few weeks ago was presented a motion-picture of a 
 bull-fight, before a crowd including hundreds of school- 
 children." 
 
 This convincing statement diagnoses and describes 
 our social disease of spectatoritis, and concludes with 
 valuable suggestions for "the social control of this neg- 
 lected aspect of crowd-mind." The writer shares our 
 viewpoint as to the urgent need of a public awakening 
 to the evils of the situation in putting first among these 
 suggestions for social control the following: 
 
 "There must be fostered a powerful sentiment in favor of the 
 public support of all proper forms of the newer recreational 
 
138 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 education. By Nature's law recreative pleasures are essential to 
 sound body, sound mind, sound character, and sound social 
 living. Why suffer them longer to be monopolized for com- 
 mercial exploitation — often for vicious ends? Why not co- 
 ordinate them into an efficient division of social education?"' 
 
 2. COMMERCIALISM 
 
 Inseparable from the evils of professionalism and 
 spectatoritis, stands that of commercial domination. The 
 distinguishing difference between the professional and 
 the amateur is the entrance of the money element. It 
 is clear enough that the money element dominates the 
 amusement situation in America. Back of the profes- 
 sional stands the commercial promoter and the promoter 
 is wont to take his cue from the cash box. He is not 
 seeking chiefly the social welfare. 
 
 Walter Rauschenbusch has well stated the influence of 
 commercial control in the following: 
 
 "Pleasure resorts run for profit are always edging along to- 
 ward the forbidden. Men spend most freely when under liquor 
 or sex excitement; therefore the pleasure resorts supply them 
 with both. Where profit is eliminated, the quieter and higher 
 pleasures get their chance. The institutions of pleasure main- 
 tained by the people for their own use, such as parks, play- 
 grounds, museums, libraries, concerts, theaters, dance halls, are 
 always cleaner than the corresponding ventures of capitalism, 
 provided some rational supervision is maintained. I spent an 
 evening in a small Missouri town waiting for a train. The 
 streets were in possession of an amusement company and lined 
 with tents and booths. The company evidently tried not to 
 offend the public sense of decency and to supply a "moral show.' 
 The saloons were doing a rushing business, but the crowds flow- 
 ing along the sidewalks were composed of clean American farm- 
 
 1 G. E. Howard, "Social Psychology of the Spectator," American Jour- 
 nal of Sociology, July, 1912, v. 18, pp. 42-46. 
 
SUMMARY AND FORECAST 139 
 
 ers with their wives and children or their sweethearts, trying 
 to have a good time with the facilities offered. But those 
 facilities were so meager and so monotonous ! You could 
 pay a nickel for popcorn and soft drinks ; or pay a quarter 
 to see the clowns and the girls in brilliant tights perform in a 
 variety show; or pay a quarter to throw balls, or toss rings, or 
 shoot a rifle to win a prize. That was all; pay, pay, pay, and 
 nothing but a gambling thrill or satisfied curiosity to show for 
 it. This is what capitalism can do for our people in catering to 
 their desire for recreation. Can the people do no better for 
 themselves ?" ^ 
 
 Commercial management has been well characterized 
 as tending to sever the individual from the community, 
 to prefer miscellaneous crowds to neighborly groups, 
 to neglect the interests of the child, and to make no pro- 
 vision aside from moving pictures for the mother of the 
 wage-earning family. 
 
 We recognized, however, at the beginning of our study 
 that amusements might be good or bad independent of 
 commercial management, and likewise that commercial 
 management is necessary and valuable in certain por- 
 tions of the amusement field. Yet we asked if it might 
 not be that the present situation is widely dominated by a 
 type of commercial management which regards neither 
 art nor spontaneity nor the basic demands of morality. 
 Our study brings us to an inevitable affirmative as the 
 answer. 
 
 Let us be wholly just, however, to amusement promot- 
 ers. There are a considerable number of able men in 
 the "amusement business," who serve society valuably. 
 They explore new fields of human interest, serving as 
 advance agents in the discovery of that which will "go" 
 with the people. They stake large sums of money on 
 
 1 Walter Rauschenbusch, "Christianizing the Social Order," p. 440. 
 
140 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 experiments calculated to open some new approach to 
 the social mind, and enlarge the borders of human hap- 
 piness — with profits, of course, for themselves, yet not 
 without frequent benefit to society. The commercial 
 promoter, indeed, often pays the cost of experimenta- 
 tion with the public, and in effect hands over to society 
 a forged weapon, as in the now accepted use of motion 
 pictures in education. 
 
 There are charlatans here, however, as in other forms 
 of business, very many of them — a large proportion of 
 those engaged — ^men who stand for the exploitation of 
 human life, not for its service. Let us see the amuse- 
 ment exploiter just as he is, for he lies in wait for the 
 spirit of youth at every corner. He is not a playful 
 person, nor does he by his enterprises produce a play- 
 ful people. With him the love of fun in the human 
 heart is a cold matter of dollars and cents. He buys 
 youth's freshness of feeling in return for sundry tick- 
 Hngs of sensation, and blights its glad spontaneities with 
 his itching palm. He turns the pure upleaping spirit 
 of play into a craze for mere sensation and coins up 
 with an awful wastage one of the most priceless assets 
 of the race. There follows in his train a jaded company 
 of heavy-eyed, broken people who have lost the spirit of 
 youth and the love of vigorous, wholesome play. 
 
 The underlying fact in the amusement situation is this, 
 that certain financial interests have discovered the nat- 
 ural resource of the play instinct and are exploiting it 
 for gain as ruthlessly as they have exploited other great 
 natural resources. The depleted emotions, the stimu- 
 lated lust, and the criminal tendencies which they pro- 
 duce by their exploitations cannot be traced back to 
 source with the same deadly accuracy as bleak hillsides 
 
SUMMARY AND FORECAST 141 
 
 and slaughtered stump lots may be laid at the door of 
 ruthless deforestation, but the methods and results are 
 not essentially dissimilar. In no phase of our whole 
 great modern struggle against excessive profits for the 
 few and in favor of human values for the many is the 
 battle any keener than in this so-thought "superficial" 
 question of popular amusements. As the congestion of 
 city life thickens, and the daily struggle for a living wage 
 grows sharper, the human need for release through real 
 recreation becomes sharper also. It has, indeed, become 
 for many a desperate need. "Leisure in an industrial 
 city is life itself." The more tragic, therefore, becomes 
 the loss of those spiritual values which are crucified 
 by commercialism in association with play. The full sig- 
 nificance of commercial domination is apparent only to 
 those who realize how essential and how highly spiritual 
 an expression of human life is made in play. If sponta- 
 neous, wholesome and well-ordered play is a profoundly 
 educative and moralizing force, then the substitution of 
 cold profit-seeking amusements, artificial and often nasty, 
 can but exercise a correspondingly profound effect for 
 demoralization. 
 
 Public opinion has before it the task of restoring to 
 all groups of citizens a full opportunity for wholesome 
 recreations unspoiled by commercialism, and also the 
 parallel task of quickening for them that popular enthu- 
 siasm which is now so largely perverted by commercial 
 interests. 
 
 3. IMMORALITY 
 
 A type of commercial management which is tuned to 
 the cash-box cannot afford to be very sensitive about 
 morals. Where money is first, other values get in after- 
 
142 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 ward where they can. In other forms of business, over- 
 production to the point of "all the market will bear" re- 
 sults in price-cutting, reduction of output, or wider ex- 
 tension of markets. In the amusement business, over- 
 production seems to result in a state of glut which drains 
 off in immorality. The emotional and spiritual experi- 
 ences of the race are apparently elastic, capable of in- 
 definite stretching at the hands of commercial aggression. 
 Yet there is a sag of jaded nerves in the city youth 
 of today, a loss of resilient moral tension for which so- 
 ciety through some of its members is responsible. 
 
 It is as yet little realized in what a plot the forces of 
 evil have conspired against the young people of the cities. 
 They still start life with moral fiber made of the same 
 essential texture as the youth of the country. The weak- 
 ening of that fiber is the. result of unbearable strains 
 which a complexity of exploitations puts upon it. These 
 young people are not infrequently exploited in their 
 homes. They are widely exploited in their work and 
 set to mechanical routines at the age when every natural 
 instinct craves change and fun and shifting interests. 
 In their reactions of fatigue they are caught in the grip 
 of these amusement enterprises which are so of^en run 
 with an unbelievable disregard of moral consequences. 
 The filching of their meager earnings is only,' a little 
 theft compared with the enormity of that robfery by 
 which their spontaneous joy in life, their modesty and 
 their chastity are plucked away. It is a terrible 'thing to 
 bring the emotional and spiritual resources of youth to 
 bankruptcy at twenty-two or twenty-three. The spiritual 
 values of a rich maturity cannot blossom in such lives. 
 The lust for profit has picked open the bud. It is no 
 cause for wonder that youth wilts under the process, 
 
SUMMARY AND FORECAST 143 
 
 that emotional instability is so prevalent, that the age of 
 youth is the age of crime and that clandestine prostitu- 
 tion appears to grow with appalling rapidity. On the 
 other hand, it is a cause for wonder to all who are close 
 to these young people that boyish integrity and chivalry 
 last as long as they do, so often victoriously, and that 
 chastity makes so stubborn a fight for its life. 
 
 If these young people are to have their rightful share 
 of high joy in life, morality must have the utmost re- 
 inforcement, for the power of personal morality — the 
 power of the individual to refuse the evil and choose the 
 good — ^is nowhere more needed than in the hodgepodge 
 of confusions which characterize amusement offerings 
 today, often making evil seem attractive and a good life 
 repellent rather than beautiful. 
 
 The first step in the solution of this problem is a pub- 
 lic awakening to the facts of the situation. Only as 
 the full significance of professionalism, commercialism 
 and immorality in amusements is brought home to the 
 thinking public will reconstructions take place. The 
 charm of home life will then be re-established, as it 
 must, for it is the stronghold of morality. There can 
 never be any adequate substitute for the home, however 
 long the economic struggle, and however difficult the re- 
 constructions of the social order required to liberate 
 it in city life. An awakened public opinion must see to 
 it in the meantime that a vast amount of organized rec- 
 reation in the midst of wholesome surroundings is made 
 effective, in order that society may bring to its youth 
 those normal pleasures which make for morality. 
 
 The right-minded public has a fight on against the 
 forces which now control the provision of amusements 
 and against a small but vicious public which has learned 
 
144 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 how to get from commercial management what it wants. 
 A fearless campaign for wholesomeness is the immedi- 
 ate need. An alert and well-informed public opinion 
 will insist that the amateur shall have his rights, that 
 the cash box is meant to serve the recreations of the 
 American people, not to rule them, and that the safe- 
 guarding of public morality is the paramount issue in 
 the national life. The experience of all cities teaches as 
 first in importance the duty voiced in the San Francisco 
 report : 
 
 "A primary step toward clearing commercialized amusement 
 from its vicious influence is the absolute divorce of liquor from 
 all recreation." 
 
 At the spot where the servants of enormous organized 
 profits and the forces of the social evil are daily hunting 
 for American youth with intentness and ingenuity, there 
 public opinion has its work to do. The beginning of 
 solutions lies in its hands. Its time to act is now. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. It is by no means necessary for the group to reach agree- 
 ment on detail points. If a clear conviction of the outstanding 
 evils has emerged from previous discussions, the members may 
 turn to a careful consideration of ways to correct them. 
 
 2. The relation between professional and amateur should be 
 thoroughly discussed. Is spectatoritis prevalent in "our town"? 
 
 3. What is the necessity for commercial management of 
 amusement enterprises? Is it a permanent necessity? Could its 
 character be improved in most towns if the people demanded it? 
 Could public provision and control be carried farther than now 
 in "our town"? 
 
 4. There should be a full realization of the moral issues in- 
 volved in the problem and their significance in the national life. 
 
SUMMARY AND FORECAST 14S 
 
 A member of the group may well present a brief paper on this 
 point 
 
 5. Do the recent recreation surveys and widespread discussion 
 of amusements indicate that the people are waking up? Are 
 we going to get ready to do something in "our town"? 
 
 6. What are the usual obstacles to a recreation program for 
 a community? Inertia or open opposition? 
 
 7. What are the leading forces making for public opinion in 
 any town? In "our town"? Who will help quicken general 
 interest in the improvement of conditions? Is that not the 
 duty of this group? 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Reference should be made to the books and articles listed 
 under The Problem, The Situation in General, which also deal 
 with proposed solutions. 
 
 Books 
 
 Bryce, James. "American Commonwealth." v. 2, 1907. Mac- 
 millan, $4. See chapters on Nature of Public Opinion, pp. 
 247-254; How Public Opinion Rules in America, pp. 263- 
 270; Action of Public Opinion, pp. 317-334; Tyranny of 
 the Majority, pp. 335-343; Fatalism of the Multitude, pp. 
 342-353 ; Wherein Public Opinion Fails, pp. 354-362 ; Where- 
 in Public Opinion Succeeds, pp. 363-374- 
 
 Edwards, R. H. "Christianity and Amusements." Association 
 Press, 1914. 50c. 
 
 An analysis of the outstanding moral temptations in popular amuse- 
 ments, and the application of specific Christian principles. 
 
 Godkin, E. L. "Growth and Expression of Public Opinion, Un- 
 foreseen Tendencies of Democracy." McClure, pp. 183-225, 
 1898. $2. 
 
 Hadley, A. T. "Formation of Public Opinion," in "Standards of 
 Public Morality." Macmillan, pp. 1-29, 1907. $1. 
 
 Points out wide disparity between a man's standard of personal 
 morality and his standard of public morality. 
 
146 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Ross, E. A. "Sin and Society; An Analysis of Latter Day 
 Iniquity." Houghton, 1907. $1. 
 
 "Shows that the greatest offenders of the present day are the 
 grafters and bribers who prey in a large way on the people, and 
 attempts to crystallize public sentiment against these." A. L, A. 
 Booklist. 
 
 Ross, E. A. "Public Opinion," Social Psychology. Macmillan, 
 
 PP- 346-354, ipio- $1-50. 
 An analysis of public opinion. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Bonaparte, C. J. "Government by Public Opinion." Forum, 
 1908, V. 40, pp. 384-390. 
 
 Clear, judicial statement of the nature and power of public opinion, 
 
 "Curiosities of Honest Opinion." Independent, May 10, 1906, v. 
 60, pp. 1109-1110. 
 
 Gulick, L. H. "Popular Recreation and Public Morality." An- 
 nals of the American Academy, July, 1909, v. 34, pp. 33-42. 
 Valuable discussion. 
 
 Howard, G. E. "Social Psychology of the Spectator." American 
 Journal of Sociology, July, 1912, v. 18, pp. 42-46. 
 
 A Tery important factor in the amusement situation. An article 
 of profound insight. 
 
 "Maps of Public Opinion." World's Work, October, 1907, v. 14, 
 p. 9395- 
 
 Contends that public opinion of the individual is formed largely 
 by his industrial position in life, and by inheritance. 
 
 "Revelation of Life in Fiction." Harper's Monthly, May, 1906, 
 V. 112, pp. 962-964. 
 
 Public and private opinion once formed is difficult to change. 
 
 Shepard, W. J. "Nature and Force of Public Opinion." Ameri- 
 can Journal of Sociology, July, 1909, v. IS, pp. 32-60. 
 
 Exhaustive discourse on nature of, place and power of public 
 opinion. 
 
 Sinclair, Upton. "The Muckrake Man." Independent, Septem- 
 ber, 1908, V. 65, pp. 517-519- 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 RESTRICTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 Public opinion expresses itself in two main forms of 
 action in relation to this problem: — in what may be 
 termed restrictive action, and constructive action. Re- 
 strictive action registers the immediate popular protest 
 against evil conditions. It aims to correct outstanding 
 abuses, to maintain order and such propriety of conduct 
 as can be secured by coercive measures. It does not seek 
 to change the essential character of the amusement with 
 which it deals, but contents itself with such outward con- 
 trol as is necessary to prevent expressions of lawless- 
 ness and indecency. The main weapons of restrictive 
 public opinion are agitation, and governmental regula- 
 tion secured by executive action, legal prosecution, and 
 increased legislation. 
 
 Whenever an especially evil situation is laid bare, an 
 outburst of popular condemnation is the first expression 
 of public opinion. Such explosions are valuable if they 
 are aimed at the real evil in the case, for they clear the 
 atmosphere and reassert the supremacy of moral issues. 
 They demonstrate that the moral sense of the community 
 is opposed to evil when evil is exposed and clearly seen. 
 
 I. THE SITUATION IN GENERAL 
 
 Restrictive public opinion maintains that the worst of- 
 fenders against public decency can be handled only by 
 
 147 
 
148 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 the enforcement of adequate laws. It declares that there 
 are staged in America every day shows so vile and 
 corrupting to youth that only arrest and prosecution 
 can reach the responsible person. It declares that in the 
 worst public dance halls and elsewhere there are name- 
 less scenes enacted in the night which society must ob- 
 literate by its authorized officers. It cites the effective 
 agitation in California against the Johnson-Jeffries prize- 
 fight, and the present laws in other states as illustrations 
 of what it may accomplish on that phase of the problem. 
 It declares that the worst of our amusement parks have 
 become the actual summer headquarters and recruiting 
 stations of the organized social evil, which can be cleaned' 
 out only by the most rigid repression. It maintains that 
 under the stress of special excitement, evil suggestion or 
 intoxication in connection with certain special amusement 
 events, crowds of people often commit acts of vice or 
 brutality which the police alone can stop. It maintains 
 that only the fear of the repressive and regulative agen- 
 cies of government, as established and backed by this 
 type of public opinion, keeps the amusement situation 
 anywhere near as clean as it is in any of its phases. 
 
 Doubtless the limitations of restrictive public opinion 
 are many, but it is clearly indispensable, nevertheless. 
 When focussed upon the actual evil in the case, it fur- 
 nishes the emotional strength necessary to quicken public 
 inertia, to curb the forces of evil, and to force mere in- 
 tellectual criticism into activity. Restrictive action alone 
 can safeguard the public from exposure to the worst 
 forms of evil, and no real solution of the amusement 
 problem will be achieved without due emphasis being 
 placed upon this t)rpe of action. The following summary 
 of requirements in legislation for the control of com- 
 
RESTRICTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 149 
 
 mercial recreation is given by Julia Schoenfeld, cover- 
 ing the situation in general: 
 
 1. A license for all commercial amusement enterprises for 
 the premises and not for the man who operates the amusement 
 enterprise. This license is practically for control and not for 
 revenue. 
 
 2. Centralization of authority in a licensing bureau, prefer- 
 ably under the mayor. 
 
 3. Regulations for safety and health. 
 
 4. Prohibition of the sale of liquor. 
 
 5. Proper closing hours. 
 
 6. An age limit for young people. 
 
 7. Revocation of licenses and adequate penalties for failure to 
 comply with laws. 
 
 8. Adequate inspection so that a normal moral tone is main- 
 tained and regulations enforced. 
 
 9. Licenses for amusement enterprises conducted in dance 
 halls.' 
 
 As a matter of effective control it would seem to be 
 important that administrative power should have a maxi- 
 mum of freedom, with the least possible amount of court 
 review in such matters as the moral regulation of per- 
 formances. This means in effect a censorship by the 
 administration. Inspection from the recreation stand- 
 point by trained social workers in addition to and coop- 
 erating with police inspection apparently gives the high- 
 est efficiency. 
 
 2. THE DRAMATIC GROUP 
 
 Restrictive action in relation to this type of amuse- 
 ments has placed among the ordinances of many cities 
 an enactment prohibiting indecent exhibitions such as 
 the following in North Yakima, Wash. : 
 
 » Julia Schoenfeld, The Playground, March, 19 14, p. 463. 
 
ISO POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "It shall be unlawful to exhibit ... any drama, play, the- 
 atrical stage or platform performances or any picture of an 
 obscene, indecent or immoral nature, or wherein any scene of 
 crime or violence is shown, portrayed or presented in a grue- 
 some manner or detail, or in a revolting manner, or which tends 
 to corrupt morals, or which is offensive to the moral sense, 
 or to permit or allow in any such place, any person to sing 
 obscene songs or converse or discourse in obscene or inde- 
 cent language, or to allow or permit any phonographic or sim- 
 ilar device to be used for the reproduction of any obscene song, 
 conversation, speech or discourse."' 
 
 Such ordinances when enforced are effective in put- 
 ting the managers of show houses on their guard, and 
 forcing them to keep their presentations within the lim- 
 its of decency. 
 
 Restrictive public opinion frequently seeks to exercise 
 control over stage productions by attempting to secure 
 the appointment of a single censor or board of censor- 
 ship for a city, appointed by the mayor. The purpose 
 of such a movement has been accomplished in many cities 
 by a system of licenses for commercial amusement en- 
 terprises, as indicated above. This is the most gener- 
 ally accepted method of handling the problem and makes 
 possible a refusal or revocation of licenses for sufficient 
 cause on the theory that the city has a right to supervise 
 and regulate anything it licenses to do business in the city. 
 A system of inspection makes possible the enforcement 
 of the conditions upon which the license was granted, 
 and likewise aids in the operation of the criminal law 
 against oflfenders. As the cities awake to their corpo- 
 rate responsibility for public recreation, a rapid increase 
 in the establishment of license systems with inspection is 
 
 ^ City of North Yakima, Ordinance, No. A. 122. 
 
RESTRICTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 151 
 
 taking place. The extension of these systems to cover 
 all forms of dramatic and other commercial amusement 
 enterprises is urgently needed in most cities. 
 
 In the matter of motion pictures, restrictive public 
 opinion has found an effective expression in the National 
 Board of Censorship already referred to. Such a board 
 is able to accomplish much in this particular field be- 
 cause of the concentration of the film-producing busi- 
 ness in the hands of comparatively few concerns and 
 their willingness to cooperate. The board has secured 
 the cooperation of practically all manufacturers, and the 
 steady improvement in the quality of the pictures has 
 been notable. The report of the board of January i, 
 1913, indicates that: 
 
 "At the close of three and a half years of work, the National 
 Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures is able to report the 
 following results: During the past year at least ninety-eight 
 out of every one hundred films publicly exhibited in America 
 have been previously inspected by the Board. . . . The motion 
 picture programs of about 16,000 theaters in the United States 
 are completely censored by the National Board. The motion 
 picture entertainment of about 7,000,000 Americans daily is thus 
 supervised." 
 
 "In struggling with the moving picture problem, the censor- 
 ship is dealing with nine-tenths of the total theater problem. 
 Moving pictures are now the most important form of cheap 
 amusement in the country. They reach the young, immigrant, 
 family groups, the formative and impressionable section of our 
 cities, as no other form of amusement, and cannot but be vital 
 influences of ill or good. They are the only theaters which it 
 is possible for the wage-worker to attend. In their social and 
 educational possibilities they provide the basis for a neighbor- 
 hood theater of the people."* 
 
 1 "Report of the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures," 
 January i, ig'S- 
 
rS2 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 There is an apparent need of a local censorship of 
 motion pictures in addition to that of the National Board, 
 if all objectionable films are to be kept from public 
 view. An increasing number of cities are passing ordi- 
 nances which provide that only those films may be shown 
 which have been passed by the National Board of Cen- 
 sorship, thus establishing a local censorship which is 
 easy to operate. 
 
 Joint action among owners of theaters in cooperation 
 with the city government and an interested group of 
 citizens may be effective in producing a satisfactory local 
 censorship such as has been secured in Cleveland, O. 
 Suggestions on these and other phases of restrictive ac- 
 tion are contained in the following suggested require- 
 ments : 
 
 "i. A license for the premises for motion picture shows. 
 
 2. Definition of motion pictures and motion picture theater. 
 
 3. Regulation of the building and fire departments to insure 
 proper sanitation and adequate fire protection. 
 
 4. Standards of lighting and ventilation, so framed as to be 
 thoroughly enforcible. 
 
 5. Placing the question of censorship with the licensing au- 
 thority, which will regulate the moral quality of the show, since 
 through this authority it is possible to revoke or suspend a 
 license, if the show is not up to a normal standard. 
 
 6. Requirement that children shall not be permitted to attend 
 motion picture shows during school hours or after eight o'clock 
 in the evening."' 
 
 The need of state laws on the subject is illustrated 
 by the following : 
 
 "The motion pictures of Qiicago are very well censored, and 
 something like one hundred and twenty-six miles of films have 
 
 * Julia Schoenfeld, The Playground, March, 1914, p. 471. 
 
RESTRICTIVE PUBUC OPINION 153 
 
 been condemned and permission to exhibit them refused. In 
 consequence they have been sent outside the city, all over the 
 state, and many of the pictures exhibited in the small towns 
 are bad — the rest of the state suffering for the virtues of Chi- 
 cago! A state law should be enacted providing that all moving 
 pictures should be shown in well-lighted halls, and the posters 
 and advertisements outside all theaters and throughout the city 
 should be censored and passed upon by the same committee 
 which censors the moving pictures." ^ 
 
 It is to be remembered that films which cannot be 
 reached by National, state or local censorship are sub- 
 ject to criminal prosecution if they are of such a nature 
 as to come under the law. 
 
 3. THE SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP 
 
 A. Restrictive action in relation to cafes with amuse- 
 ment features has expressed itself chiefly in city ordi- 
 nances covering the sale of liquor and disorderly con- 
 duct. Cafes, cabarets, and music halls in which the 
 amusement features are highly developed, and likewise 
 those in which provision for general dancing is made in 
 connection, are comparatively new as subjects for special 
 legislation, but are now coming to be placed under the 
 control of license bureaus. 
 
 It is difficult to classify, however, and extremely dif- 
 ficult to regulate such institutions as the large restau- 
 rants of San Francisco having a hotel adjunct and fur- 
 nishing, in addition to food and liquor, amusement fea- 
 tures, including dancing. The report of the Common- 
 wealth Qub suggests an important principle in the fol- 
 lowing: "A policy which would make for the separa- 
 
 1 Louise DeK. Bowen, "Some Legislative Needs in Illinois," p. 21, 
 
154 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS ' 
 
 tion of overlapping businesses, where abuses arise by 
 virtue of the overlap, would be in line with the best 
 interests of the community as well as of the purveyors 
 of decent amusement by taking away their most subtle 
 and dangerous competition." 
 
 B. The following requirements should be sought for 
 in working out legislation for dance halls : 
 
 "i. A license should be required for the premises used for 
 dance halls and not for the man who operates the hall. This 
 places upon the owner of the hall responsibility for the con- 
 duct of the place. Permits for public balls and dances should 
 be exacted and satisfactory references furnished, in order that 
 the type of frequenters of public halls may be regulated. 
 
 2. Regulations of the building and fire departments should be 
 demanded in order to insure proper sanitation and adequate 
 fire protection. Halls should be properly lighted and all rooms 
 should be kept open. This gives an opportunity to close the 
 small, dark, poorly-ventilated dance hall. 
 
 3. The sale of liquor should be prohibited. 
 
 4. The giving of return checks to dancers should be forbid- 
 den, so that the saloons and immoral places that exist in a 
 neighborhood may not be utilized during the dancing period. 
 Dance halls should not be allowed in connection with rooming 
 houses or hotels. 
 
 5. Immoral dancing should be forbidden. 
 
 6. A reasonable hour for closing the dance should be exacted. 
 Half past twelve is suggested, with a possible special permit 
 to be issued for later hours on occasion. 
 
 7. Attendance of minors under eighteen should be forbidden 
 unless accompanied by parent or guardian. 
 
 8. Inspection should be demanded and revocation of license 
 or other penalty imposed for violations. 
 
 9. License fee should be flat or graded according to the size 
 of the dancing space." ' 
 
 1 Julia Schotnfeld, The Playground, March, 1914, pp. 463-464. 
 
RESTRICTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 155 
 
 A rapidly increasing number of cities, recently esti- 
 mated at 158, are adopting ordinances which incorporate 
 requirements in whole or in part as suggested above, 
 and their value in restricting or eliminating the worst 
 evils indicated in the previous chapter upon dance halls, 
 is of the utmost significance. 
 
 The following statemeat from G. J. Kneeland to the 
 author emphasizes an important point: 
 
 "The chief thing to watch in cleaning up the dance hall situa- 
 tion is the character of the clubs or organizations which apply 
 for permits to give dances. Before such permits are granted 
 these organizations should be investigated. This is in many 
 cases the crux of the whole matter because the members of such 
 clubs are usually attached to some political party and the 
 managers of halls dare not interfere with their method of con- 
 ducting their dances." 
 
 C. In working out legislation for bowling alleys and 
 pool rooms, the following requirements should be 
 sought : 
 
 "l. A license should be exacted for the premise and not for 
 the man who operates the alley or pool room. This license is 
 practically for control and not for revenue. 
 
 2. Boys under eighteen should not be permitted to enter. 
 
 3. No liquor should be sold or gambling allowed on the 
 premises. 
 
 4. Proper regulations for ventilation and sanitation should be 
 demanded. 
 
 5. The license should be revoked for violations." ' 
 
 Restrictive action in regard to other rendezvous for 
 men is ordinarily taken through police control of gam- 
 bling, disorderly conduct, and the illegal sale of liquor. 
 
 1 Julia Schoenfeld, The Playground, March, 1914, p. 479. 
 
156 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 The following is the Wisconsin law covering the sup- 
 pression of gambling in cities, villages and towns: 
 
 Section 959 — 70: The common councils of all cities of this 
 state, whether organized under the general law or special char- 
 ters, and the board of trustees of all villages and the town 
 boards of all towns, shall have the power to restrain, prohibit 
 or suppress all descriptions of gambling, fraudulent devices 
 and practices, and to cause the seizure and destruction of all 
 implements, machines, tables, articles and things manufactured 
 and devised solely for the purpose of playing thereon games 
 of chance for money or other property, and all implements, ma- 
 chines, devices, furniture, articles or things actually found be- 
 ing used for playing thereon or therewith games of chance for 
 money or property, after a judicial determination as to the char- 
 acter or the use of such implements, machines, devices, tables, 
 furniture, articles or things. 
 
 4. THE ATHLETIC GROUP 
 
 A. Restrictive public opinion in relation to amateur 
 athletics finds its chief expression in the careful rules 
 and regulations drawn up by the various leagues and 
 organizations, such as The Amateur Athletic Union, The 
 College Athletic Union, The Public Schools Athletic 
 Leagues. These provisions are too many and varied for 
 specific mention here. They are aimed for the most part, 
 however, at the maintenance of the rules of the game 
 as agreed upon, the preservation of the standards of 
 amateur sport, and the elimination of brutality and un- 
 fairness. 
 
 Restrictive public opinion also expresses itself in the 
 control of disorderly conduct among spectators or play- 
 ers through police action or otherwise. 
 
 B. Restrictive public opinion in professional athletics 
 
RESTRICTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 157 
 
 expresses itself, as in amateur athletics, in rules and reg- 
 ulations agreed upon between competing teams, by 
 leagues or other organizations in control, such as the 
 National, American, Federal, and International baseball 
 leagues. 
 
 Police action likewise operates in relation to disor- 
 derly conduct. 
 
 Many states have forbidden professional boxing and 
 prize-fighting altogether, as in the following laws of 
 the state of Wisconsin: 
 
 Section 4520: Any person who shall, by previous arrange- 
 ment or appointment, engage in a fight with another person for 
 the possession of any prize, belt, or other evidence of cham- 
 pionship, or for any other cause, shall be punished by imprison- 
 ment in the state prison not more than five years nor less than 
 one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars nor 
 less than one hundred dollars. 
 
 Section 4521. Any person who shall be present at such fight, 
 as is mentioned in the preceding section, as aid, second or 
 surgeon, or shall encourage, advise or promote such fight, shall 
 be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 
 three years nor less than one year, or in the county jail not 
 more than one year or by fine not exceeding one thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 5. SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 
 
 A, Restrictive public opinion in relation to amuse- 
 ment parks finds expression through police control and 
 sometimes through the license bureau, where such parks 
 are within the city limits. Parks of this character, how- 
 ever, are frequently outside of city limits, and quite un- 
 regulated because of the inefficiency or corruption of 
 county officials. Some provide their own guards and 
 police. 
 
iS8 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 B. Racetrack parks are restricted in some states by 
 laws similar to the following in Wisconsin : 
 
 Section 1779: Any corporation found under this chapter to 
 establish, maintain and manage any driving park may have 
 grounds and courses for improving and testing the speed of 
 horses and may offer and award prizes for competition; but 
 no racing for any bet or wager shall be allowed; and any such 
 corporation may prevent gambling or betting of any kind and 
 preserve order on its grounds and establish rules therefor, and 
 appoint officers and agents who for that purpose shall have the 
 power of constables. 
 
 6. SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 
 
 Special amusement events, such as holidays, excur- 
 sions, and the circus, require extraordinary alertness on 
 the part of the police and other restrictive agencies of 
 government. Special provision is sometimes made in 
 laws againt dangers or evils likely to emerge, as in the 
 recently increased limitations put upon the manufacture 
 and sale of firecrackers, fireworks, etc., tending to regu- 
 late and supervise their use on the Fourth of July. 
 
 An interesting expression of restrictive public opinion 
 in relation to holidays is that of the Society for the Pre- 
 vention of Useless Giving which aims to stop the com- 
 mercialization of Christmas. 
 
 The amusement features of fairs may well be handled 
 by the same methods as city enterprises, through a license 
 inspection system. 
 
 Automobile and similar races are usually held under 
 provisions and restrictions imposed by the organizations 
 conducting them. These are frequently inadequate for 
 the protection of racers and spectators. 
 
RESTRICTIVE PUBLIC OPINION IS9 
 
 The Aero Club of America has forbidden its members 
 to fly over cities. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Lay the foundations for the building of a local program of 
 restrictive action by presenting and discussing the exact situ- 
 ation as to laws and ordinances in "our town." For sugges- 
 tions on local action see page 221. 
 
 2. Six different members of the group should investigate the 
 six main subjects under which restrictive action is presented in 
 this chapter. Report exact wording of laws and ordinances 
 and bring reliable statements as to their enforcement. 
 
 3. The mayor or chief of police might be invited to make a 
 statement to the group of his policy of law enforcement. Cer- 
 tain members of the group should be delegated to prepare 
 needed ordinances along the lines suggested in this chapter for 
 later use in pushing the recreation program. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 The Situation in General 
 
 Reference should be made to the reports and surveys listed 
 under The Problem, The Situation in General, for material upon 
 all forms of restrictive action. State laws and local ordinances 
 should be looked up. 
 
 Books 
 
 Bowen, L. DeK. "Some Legislative Needs in Illinois." Juvenile 
 Protective Association of Chicago, 1914. Sc. 
 
 A stirring indictment. 
 
 Hanmer, L. F. "Recreation Legislation." Russell Sage Founda- 
 tion, N. Y., 1911. 20c. 
 
 Typical state laws and city ordinances dealing with matters of 
 public recreation. 
 
i6o POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Periodicals 
 "After Exposure, What?" Nation, March 22, 1906, v. 82, p. 234. 
 
 Practical value of publicity does not end in simply stirring things 
 tip, but in remedying evils by legislatian, 
 
 "Methodist Amusement Ban." Literary Digest, June rg, 1912, ' 
 V. 44, p. 1260. 
 Discusses the amusement vote of the general conference, 
 
 Schoenfeld, Julia. "Commercial Recreation Legislation." Play- 
 ground, March, 1914, v. 7, No. 12, pp. 461-481. 
 
 An article of unique value, largely quoted in this study, Shotlld 
 be consulted on all phases of the problem. 
 
 The Dramatic Group 
 
 Books 
 
 Bartholomew, R. O. Report of Censorship of Motion Pictures 
 and of investigation of motion picture theaters of Cleve- 
 land, 1913. Office of the mayor, Cleveland, O. 
 
 A remarkable public document which goes bravely and intelligently 
 into the problem. 
 
 Davis, M. M., Jr. "A Positive Censorship," in "The Exploitation 
 of Pleasure," 1911, pp. 58-59. 
 
 See other reports similar to this listed under The Problem, I. 
 
 Report of the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures. 
 50 Madison Ave., New York City, January, 1913. 
 Reports can be secured upon application. 
 
 Suggestions for a Model Ordinance for Regulating Motion Pic- 
 ture Theaters. The National Board of Censorship of Mo- 
 tion Pictures, 50 Madison Ave., New York City. loc. 
 
 "The Standards of the National Board of Censorship of Motion 
 Pictures." 50 Madison Ave., New York City, 
 
 Sets forth the basic principles of the censorship. 
 
RESTRICTIVE PUBLIC OPINION i6i 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Collier, John. "Movies and the Law." Survey, January 20, 
 1912, V. 27, pp. 1628-1629. 
 
 Report of a committee upon an ordinance of New York City, N. Y. 
 
 "English and Their Censor." Current Literature, June, 1912, v. 
 52, pp. 695-696. 
 
 The English situation with reference to America. 
 
 "Penny Arcades." Outlook, October 26, 1912, v. IQ2, pp. 376-377. 
 How New York has been freed. 
 
 Pollock, J. "The Censorship." Fortnightly, May, 1912, v. 97, 
 pp. 880-894. 
 
 A full discussion of the English censorship. 
 
 The Social Rendezvous Group 
 
 Books 
 
 Bartholomew, R. O. "Report of Dance Hall Inspector." Cleve- 
 land, O., August, 1912. 
 
 An invaluable report. Apply to mayor's office. 
 
 Davis, M. M., Jr. "Regulation of Dance Halls," in "The Ex- 
 ploitation of Pleasure," 191 1, pp. 46-47- See other reports 
 similar to this listed under The Problem, I. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Xddams, Jane. "Public Dance Halls of Chicago." Ladies' Home 
 Journal, July, 1913, v. 30, p. 19. 
 Resume of improvements in conditions. 
 
 "Regulating Dance Halls." Survey, June 3, 191 1, v. 26, pp. 345- 
 346. 
 
 A summary of efforts. 
 
i6a POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 The Athletic Group 
 
 See entries under The Problem, IV, The Athletic Group of 
 Amusements, p. 98. 
 
 Special Amusement Places 
 
 See entries under The Problem, V, Special Amusement Places, 
 p. 113. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Whitney, Caspar. "Reforms that Do Not Reform." Outing, 
 April, 1908, V. 52, pp. 124-125. 
 
 Arguments against reforming racetrack gambling by legislation. 
 
 Special Amusement Events 
 
 See entries under The Problem, VI, Special Amusement 
 Events, p. 126. 
 
 Books 
 
 Hanmer, L. F. "Independence Day Legislation and Celebration 
 Suggestions." Department of Recreation, Russell Sage 
 Foundation, 130 E. 22d Street, New York City. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 
 
 However effective in maintaining external order re- 
 strictive action may be, it clearly does not go to the 
 root of the question. It alone cannot solve the problem 
 of amusements in America. Public opinion must find 
 a deeper answer to these issues than can ever be ex- 
 pressed in agitation or governmental', regulation. Con- 
 structive public opinion offers more fundamental solu- 
 tions; it strives to get at the deep-seated causes of the 
 evils which have emerged and cut them off at their 
 source. It seeks to discover the normal human desire 
 which has been perverted in its expression, and to work 
 for the natural and wholesome expression of that desire. 
 It maps out a progressive program, and seeks to hold 
 public opinion of the first type to a prolonged campaign 
 and the support of thorough-going solutions. It would 
 see the leisure time of all the people conserved for wor- 
 thy ends and many friends of wholesome play are now 
 hard at work in the mood of such constructive effort. 
 They are achieving tangible results. They stake their 
 case on the absolute validity and the fundamental im- 
 portance in human life of the beneficent instinct of play. 
 
 I. PLAY, THE GOSPEL OF PLAY 
 
 Constructive public opinion starts its campaign with 
 a deep and valiant belief in play. In season and out 
 of season it preaches the gospel of play: an ample op- 
 
 163 
 
i64 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 portunity for wholesome pleasure for every man, woman 
 and child in every home, store and factory in America, 
 and the means of enjoying it to the full at least once 
 every week. The gospel of play is the beginning of wis- 
 dom in this whole matter. Many minds in many cen- 
 turies have misunderstood or denied the importance of 
 play and looked upon it as a more or less permissible 
 sin, rather than as a natural, right, and beautiful ex- 
 pression of the human spirit. This tragic misconcep- 
 tion has made the earth a sombre place for countless 
 millions. It is well to believe in play, for the love of it 
 leaps up instinctively in every normal being. Whatever 
 one does for the pure love of it, that is play. It is 
 more instinctive than work and not a whit less impor- 
 tant. A playless continent would be no more abnormal 
 than a playless life. Play is for childhood the shining 
 gate that opens wide to life, to sociability, endurance, 
 cooperation, natural growth and the subordination of 
 one's own desires to common ends. It leads out the 
 youthful spirit through mysterious instinctive regions 
 where no formal education can be its guide, and may 
 indeed light up the meaning of government, and the 
 moral order. For maturity,' the shining gate swings 
 backward, restoring joyous memories and the early fresh- 
 ness of boyhood's mornings, recreating body and soul, 
 warding off nervous exhaustion, maintaining balance 
 and proportion in life, making work tolerable for the 
 oppressed, and releasing the worker to increased effi- 
 ciency. It is well to believe in play, for morality and 
 play grow up together like joyous children when play is 
 spontaneous, unbought and clean. 
 
 America believes in play. That is manifest. The 
 question at issue is the sort of play in which she be- 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 165 
 
 lieves, the sort of recreations which are to possess her 
 leisure hours. These will shape the national character. 
 Can she be led to believe completely in wholesome play ? 
 Constructive public opinion sets itself to produce the 
 affirmative answer. Perhaps the most fundamental and 
 enduring of all solutions of this problem lies in a uni- 
 versal adoption of the gospel of wholesome play, in the 
 full development of private recreation as over against 
 public — private in the sense that the crowd is avoided — 
 that commercialized attractions are shunned and reli- 
 ance placed upon plays and games in which personal 
 skill, initiative, wit, and originality count. 
 
 We must remember, too, that joy comes to full frui- 
 tion in the cultivation of music, art, literature and re- 
 ligion. 
 
 All these higher expressions of life, so often in the 
 past the exclusive privilege of the rich, the educated, 
 or the specially favored, are now possible for the whole 
 mass of the people. There are indeed few facts of 
 modern life so significant as the vast process by which 
 the means of enjoyment have been democratized through 
 scientific discoveries, mechanical inventions and modern 
 organization. Never till -the present has Pericles' ideal 
 picture of Athenian recreation, as recorded by Thucy- 
 dides, been capable of universal realization. 
 
 "And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits 
 many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacri- 
 fices throughout the year; at home the style of our life is re- 
 fined; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things 
 helps to banish melancholy. Because of the greatness of our 
 city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we 
 enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as of our own."' 
 
 1 " Funeral speech of Pericles," B. Jowett, "Thucydides" (translated into 
 English), V. i, p. 118. 
 
i66 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 The spirit of youth never had a greater multitude of 
 wholesome recreations, easy of access, than in America 
 today. The constructive use of leisure time by all the 
 people was never more possible than now. 
 
 It is in the achievement of these ideals of the gospel 
 of play that the significance of amateur athletics in all 
 their wide range as a solution of the problem is evi- 
 dent. By their very nature a sharp line is drawn against 
 professionalism. The test of the amateur is freedom 
 from personal commercialization. Commercialism is 
 eliminated, therefore, when the rules are observed, and 
 only in the case of spectacular teams or great institu- 
 tions where enormous crowds attend the games does 
 commercialization in management become a problem or 
 harmful publicity develop. For the rest, the pure love 
 of sport dominates the situation, and it is the inherent 
 nature of successful sport to be morally clean. In it 
 the taint of immorality is a fatal weakness. Amateur 
 athletics thus become not only a magnificent expression 
 of the play spirit, but a positive and effective opponent 
 of the evil tendencies in prevalent amusements. It would 
 be difficult to over-emphasize, therefore, the value of 
 amateur baseball, football, boating, track games, tennis, 
 swimming, tramping, and the like — these in the warmer 
 months; and skating, bobbing, skiing, with handball, 
 basketball, and other gymnasium games, in the winter 
 months. The organization of these activities in schools 
 and colleges and by athletic clubs and other organiza- 
 tions in the cities has high social value. 
 
 Add to organized athletics the wide variety of other 
 private recreations, such as camping, riding and driv- 
 ing, the ancient and honorable picnic, fishing and hunt- 
 ing, the gentle art of gardening, photography, outings. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 167 
 
 travel, woodcraft and nature study; and to these the 
 pleasures of music, home games, private social parties, 
 minstrel shows and amateur dramatics; and through 
 them all trace the perennial joy of natural love and 
 friendship. All these by their healthy vigor, their spon- 
 taneity and wit, their freedom from sordid commercial- 
 ism, and their clean morality, may become the most far- 
 reaching solution of our present problem. How vital are 
 the restorations that work out in us when we play with 
 joyous absorption! The gospel of play is the beginning 
 of wisdom in this whole matter, and any parent, any 
 person set in authority over young people, or any em- 
 ployer of labor, who turns a deaf ear to its appeal and 
 clings to the worn out doctrine of repressing the play 
 impulse, commits a grievous sin against society. On the 
 other hand, those who use their power to enlarge the 
 play life of young people and help to release their pent 
 desires for healthy pleasure are among the saviours 
 of the race. It is necessary to believe in play, despite 
 the evils which fasten themselves about it — aye, the more 
 for that very reason — for the spirit of youth and the 
 spirit of life are killed where play is denied. The gospel 
 of play has saved many souls that were cast down, 
 wounded in our over-heated, over-speeded and under- 
 ventilated order of industry, and sent them back to their 
 jobs with the highly moral purpose to "hit the line hard," 
 to "play fair" and "not to be quitters." Organized and 
 competitive play is giving us much of the moral equivar 
 lent of war and vastly more that war could never give, 
 and giving it, moreover, without war's horrors and bru-" 
 talities. Constructive public opinion begins its crusade 
 with the gospel of play. 
 
i68 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. This is a subject for careful study— a study of books and 
 people; a subject for careful thinking. Much has been written 
 upon it, and yet the far-reaching benefits of well-ordered play 
 are not generally understood. Books and articles among those 
 listed in the bibliography should be read with care by members 
 of the group. Brief reports should be given, upon various topics 
 such as : the relation of play to work ; the relation of play to 
 education; the relation of play to citizenship; the relation of 
 play to moral development ; the part of play in social life. Could 
 we live together happily if we did not play together? Can you 
 imagine a playless town? Are there any such towns in Amer- 
 ica? Is there any natural connection between play and loose 
 morals? Is it true that "in the lower realm where religion and 
 morality do not act, amusements and sports are the only effec- 
 tive motives to elevate men?" Can you suggest any new forms 
 of play which would stir up people not used to playing, as golf 
 stirred up a host of middle-aged men who had left off all 
 games ? 
 
 2. An interesting part of an hour may be spent in reporting 
 and discussing favorite forms of recreation. What is your 
 hobby among the sports and what does it do for you? 
 
 3. The group will be tempted at this point to discuss the 
 play of children. To do so will be to get away from the main 
 point under consideration. 
 
 4. Why do play and vice often go together? Has vice any 
 right to the ownership of play or to companionship with it? 
 
 5. What is to be the future of play in those country districts 
 where city amusements have as yet made small entrance? Will 
 commercialism win out there also, or can public opinion be 
 stirred and leadership provided for a wholesome recreation pro- 
 gram? 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 169 
 
 2. EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF 
 THE DRAMATIC GROUP 
 
 A. The Drama League and Similar Organizations 
 
 Constructive public opinion has already grappled with 
 all phases of this problem. In the matter of the drama 
 there have recently appeared spontaneous movements in 
 several cities for freer and finer expressions of dramatic 
 art. They are protests against the commercialization, 
 the bad taste, and the bad morals of much recent drama 
 and are likewise constructive efforts to improve condi- 
 tions. Such are the Drama League of America, the New 
 Theater and the Little Theater in New York, the Toy 
 Theater in Boston, the Drama Society of Boston, The 
 Chicago Dramatic Society, and the drama departments 
 of women's clubs. A number of high class companies 
 are fighting the same battle in devoting themselves to the 
 best drama at risk of financial loss. 
 
 The Drama League of America is a national organi- 
 zation with a national program. It has not aimed to 
 establish a negative censorship of the theater. Its object, 
 on the other hand, has been 
 
 "To crowd out vicious plays by attending and commending 
 good plays and building up audiences for them through study 
 classes, reading circles and lectures; to aid in the restoration 
 of the drama to its honorable place as the most intimate, the 
 most comprehensive, most democratic medium for the self-ex- 
 pression of the people." "In furtherance of this object, there 
 have been evolved two branches of activity, acting through com- 
 mittees, viz.: the education committee, which cultivates the dra- 
 matic taste of the audiences by the study and reading of plays 
 
170 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 outside the theater, and the play-going committee, which aims 
 to secure actual box-office support of worthy plays." ' 
 
 The league also issues study courses, organizes chil- 
 dren's drama clubs, interests teachers in drama study 
 and in the league, prepares lists of plays for amateur 
 acting clubs and otherwise seeks to create a public opinion 
 which shall hold a balance of power to cast on the side of 
 the best things. 
 
 "The Drama League . . . does not claim as yet to be able to 
 make or mar a play — to dictate arbitrarily as to production; but 
 it does hope as its influence grows in Night Stands to be 
 able to support a League play so strongly in advance as to bring 
 to many of the small towns better plays than they would other- 
 wise get. It aims to discover for the manager the audience 
 that will enjoy a given play and bring the manager, the play and 
 the special audience together."^ 
 
 "Last year in Chicago there were 150 plays — 100 of these 
 were musical comedies and, therefore, not noticed by the League. 
 Of the other fifty, sixteen were approved by the League as 
 worthy and bulletined. This will show a saving of attendance 
 on thirty-four worthless plays, or more than two-thirds of all 
 productions." ' 
 
 "The league" now has "90,000 affiliated members, . . . and 
 the work is reaching out in numberless directions, bearing 
 upon schools, colleges, libraries, clubs and individuals, and deal- 
 ing with play-attending, play-study, festivals, pageants, and all 
 forms of dramatic literature; but always with the audience — ^not 
 interfering with the other side of the footlights."' 
 
 ". . .it has found the nation at large eager and ready to 
 adopt the suggestion that the people must be roused to a realiza- 
 tion of responsibility for national amusements, that it is only 
 as the theater-going public asserts itself that we can have better 
 
 * "Progress of the Drama League," The Drama, November, 1911, p. 
 223. 
 
 'Mrs. A. Starr Best, in The Drama, February, 19 14, p. 135. 
 *Ibid., p. 138. 
 *Ibid., pp. 148-149. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 171 
 
 plays. . . . Given a receptive theater-going public definitely 
 announcing its interest in good plays, the managers will quickly 
 put on such plays; the dramatists will respond to the call, and 
 the theater will be transformed. But first of all an organized 
 audience must be created.'" 
 
 B. The Movement for Amateur Dramatics 
 
 There is in America a wide, spontaneous interest in 
 amateur dramatics. It expresses itself in pkys presented 
 by little groups of drama lovers in every type of com- 
 munity from the smallest villages to the most crowded 
 sections of Chicago and New York. Sometimes acting 
 the plays of the great dramatists, sometimes producing 
 plays of their own, these little groups are centers of dra- 
 matic enthusiasm. They are frequently independent or- 
 ganizations in the community, but more often spring up 
 in connection with a school, a settlement, a college or 
 university. Their point of view is local rather than na- 
 tional and their purpose is dramatic expression rather 
 than any direct eifort to improve conditions in the com- 
 mercial theater. They do not constitute an organized 
 movement with a national propaganda like the Drama 
 League, but are none the less significant. Indeed their 
 very spontaneity, springing up as they do locally, makes 
 them a true expression of the nation's love of drama, 
 independent of the commercial theater. The plays they 
 present may often be poorly acted from the viewpoint 
 of the average audience, accustomed to professionals, 
 but their acting, whatever its quality, is their own and 
 a real expression of their love of art. This means free- 
 dom and democracy in art, and in the end good art as 
 
 1 Mrs. A. Starr Best, in The Drama, February, 1914, pp. 136, 137. 
 
172 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 well as sound morality. When true to the amateur spirit 
 these groups stand for a fine correlation of all the agen- 
 cies necessary to the production of a drama, the need 
 of high-minded authors, managers, players, and audi- 
 ences. 
 
 Such groups naturally come to their fullest expression 
 where dramatic leadership is at its best, as often in a 
 great university. Here are frequently found professors 
 of dramatic literature, translators and playwrights of 
 ability, capable managers, actors with talent, and appre- 
 ciative audiences. 
 
 The purpose of the Wisconsin Dramatic Society, 
 which seeks to unite groups of amateurs throughout the 
 state, is "to raise the standard of dramatic appreciation 
 in the community; to encourage the support of the best 
 plays ; to encourage the reading of good plays in English 
 and in translation from other languages; to encourage 
 the translation, composition, and publication of good 
 plays; to conduct companies for the production of high 
 class plays at a low price." Similarly The Dramatic 
 League of New York City purposes "to promote in public 
 schools, social centers, settlements, churches and other 
 agencies amateur dramatic performances having an edu- 
 cational value." 
 
 The amateur dramatic movement as a whole is of deep 
 significance in improving the status of drama in Ameri- 
 can life through fundamentally constructive action. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 I. What is the most immediate and eflfective way to improve 
 dramatic conditions in "our town"? How would it do to co- 
 operate in the use of the "white list" of the Drama League and 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 173 
 
 at the same time attempt to cultivate a more general apprecia- 
 tion of the best plays by reading and producing some of them in 
 amateur dramatics? 
 
 2. A report should be given on the best available plays for 
 amateurs. 
 
 C. Endowed and Civic Theaters 
 
 Privately endowed or municipal theaters are a further 
 effort to improve theatrical conditions. They may prop- 
 erly be considered as a part of the amateur dramatic 
 movement, as institutional centers for the cultivation 
 and expression of dramatic art where a local school of 
 actors and playwrights may be developed. The move- 
 ment has made considerable progress in England and 
 Germany and its purpose in America is said to be "the 
 establishment of civic or municipal theaters where the 
 best plays both classic and modern shall be given by a 
 well-trained stock company at reasonable prices." 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. How has the need of a municipal theater been altered if 
 at all by the spread of motion pictures? 
 
 2. How large a proportion of the population of "our town" 
 would a municipal theater be likely to reach? 
 
 3. EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF 
 THE SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP 
 
 As Seen in Social Settlements, Churches, Chris- 
 tian Associations, Social and Recreation Centers 
 
 Constructive public opinion in relation to the prob- 
 lems of the social rendezvous group affirms the validity 
 of impulses to sociability just as it recognizes the place 
 
174 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 and power of the dramatic impulse. It sees in the pres- 
 ent congestion of home life in cities — in the abnormal 
 conditions under which great numbers of young people 
 are forced to work and play — the underlying causes of 
 the evils emerging in public dance halls, cafes with 
 amusement features, and similar resorts. It affirms that 
 the widespread breakdown of character which occurs in 
 these places is due less to inherent moral defects than to 
 the rapacity of liquor dealers and the profit-seeking man- 
 agement of amusement enterprises. It points out the 
 need of safeguarding every phase of social life from 
 exploitation, and of counteracting the evils of loneli- 
 ness, over-crowding, fatigue, and barren leisure. It ex- 
 erts itself against promiscuous sociability, and endeavors 
 to make adequate provision for safer social pleasures. 
 
 This type of public interest expresses itself in a varied 
 provision for social life in settlement houses, churches, 
 Christian Associations, social and recreation centers, and 
 the like. 
 
 The social settlements, now numbering approximately 
 413 in the United States, have pointed the way toward 
 solutions of the problem by establishing in congested dis- 
 tricts their attractive neighborhood houses, open and in- 
 viting to the varied interests of the people. Social clubs 
 and classes of every sort that find a response in the 
 people's sense of need are offered and made as inde- 
 pendent and democratic as possible. Opportunities for 
 social life, often including dancing, are provided, and 
 dancing in natural social groups in the midst of an at- 
 tractive development of the varied interests of life sub- 
 sides from the abnormal place it holds among many 
 young people to its normal place. 
 
 The social life connected with churches of all denomi- 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 175 
 
 nations is a fact of primary importance when seen in 
 relation to this problem. Those who desire the solution 
 of social problems do well to remember that "There are 
 in this country 218,147 churches with a membership of 
 more than 35,000,000."^ This means organized social 
 life of the utmost significance. 
 
 In the churches the family group is still the natural 
 unit, and great numbers of young people in city and 
 country meet for social pleasures under the best condi- 
 tions. The importance of this democratic yet safe- 
 guarded social life can hardly be over-emphasized. If 
 the churches were to utilize to the full their natural ad- 
 vantages for the extension of their social activities and 
 reassert with new power their established opposition to 
 class distinctions and their historic emphasis upon the 
 religious life as a life of joy, they could take the lead 
 among the constructive agencies active on this phase of 
 the problem. 
 
 The Young Men's and Young Women's Christian As- 
 sociations have rapidly increased to the number of 2,357 
 for young men in the United States and Canada, and 
 949 for young women in the United States. These As- 
 sociations make an important contribution by their pro- 
 vision of dormitory life and social opportunities. Their 
 attractive buildings contain facilities for various gymna- 
 sium activities and games, lectures, concerts, amateur 
 theatricals, and friendly gatherings. They help to create 
 and maintain standards of social morality. 
 
 The Young Men's Associations are in direct competi- 
 tion with pool halls and "hangouts" for men, and the 
 reported use of city Association buildings or rooms by 
 
 »R. Fulton Cutting, "The Church and Society," p. i. 
 
176 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 625,598 members in 1913 indicates the effectiveness of 
 their rivalry. 
 
 The significance of the many leagues, fraternities, se- 
 cret orders and social clubs for men, and likewise the 
 National Guard as a social organization, should be fully 
 appreciated. 
 
 The movement for the wider use of school buildings 
 has rapidly assumed national significance. These build- 
 ings are already owned by the people themselves in their 
 corporate capacity, and represent in the aggregate vast 
 sums of money which are yielding annually but a frac- 
 tion of the return which the community may justly ex- 
 pect from them. The Russell Sage Foundation reports 
 the results of a questionnaire covering the development 
 of social centers for 1 912- 13 as follows: 
 
 "Cities reporting some paid workers, 71 ; cities in which 
 board of education provided heat, light and janitor service, 126. 
 Expenditures reported, $324,575." "While the number of cities 
 reporting paid workers has not quite doubled, the amount of the 
 expenditures reported is nearly two and a half times as great 
 as it was in 1911-12." 
 
 The recreation features of social centers vary of course 
 with the character of the community, but usually include 
 such activities as public lectures, literary and musical 
 clubs, handicraft or domestic science classes, athletics, 
 game rooms, reading rooms, neighborhood nights, old- 
 fashioned sociables, and dancing parties, all conducted 
 under supervision. Meetings for the discussion of neigh- 
 borhood interests and public questions naturally grow out 
 of this closer association of neighbors and fellow-towns- 
 men. 
 
 Tl\e rapidly increasing popularity of social centers 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 177 
 
 has been traced to their character as neighborhood in- 
 stitutions, to the freedom afforded the individual, his 
 sense of ownership, and the active rather than passive 
 character of the place. It helps to develop the spon- 
 taneous interests of the neighborhood. It is apparent 
 that this movement, as yet in its infancy, is to bulk large 
 in the social and recreational life of the future if the 
 centers are carefully supervised and their activities 
 guided by those who understand social needs. It prom- 
 ises, indeed, to offer a fundamental contribution to the 
 solution of our problem. The cooperation of public li- 
 braries with all social and recreation centers in establish- 
 ing branch libraries is highly desirable. 
 
 The development of artistic dancing — folk dances and 
 the like — in the settlements and recreation centers, is 
 the most direct effort of recent years to restore an ap- 
 preciation of the dance as a form of art, and to offer 
 a corrective to excesses in the modern dances. 
 
 All of these agencies, however, are far from adequate 
 to meet the situation as a whole. Many groups of young 
 people have little or no relation with any of them and 
 conduct their social affairs in public halls rented for each 
 occasion. This is the common method for social club 
 dances, and many such clubs protect the privacy of their 
 affairs by rigidly excluding outsiders, by providing chap- 
 erones and other safeguards. They help greatly in this 
 way to avoid the evils of promiscuous dancing as found 
 in commercial places. 
 
 The city of Chicago has attractive halls in its public 
 parks which are leased to private parties under careful 
 regulation and with great success. This plan of giving 
 the use of the assembly halls in the field houses to socie- 
 ties or groups, instead of to individuals or to the gen- 
 
178 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 eral public, aids in solving the problem of promiscuous 
 acquaintance and attendant evils. "Anybody is welcome 
 but anybody must belong to some social body before 
 anybody can come." 
 
 This principle is fundamentally different from that 
 upon which the experiment of a general municipal dance 
 in the largest available building has sometimes been at- 
 tempted, for in the latter all groups are merged, and so- 
 cial promiscuity is given free reign. 
 
 Of the Chicago provisions Miss Addams says : 
 
 "The free rent in the park to all, the good food in the park 
 restaurant, supplied at cost, have made three parties closing at 
 eleven o'clock no more expensive than one party breaking up 
 at daylight, too often in disorder. Is not this an argument that 
 the drinking, the late hours, the lack of decorum, are directly 
 traceable to the commercial enterprise which ministers to pleas- 
 ure in order to drag it into excess because excess is more profit- 
 able? To thus commercialize pleasure is as monstrous as it is 
 to commercialize art. It is intolerable that the city does not 
 take over this function of making provision for pleasure. . . ,"* 
 
 The fifteenth annual report of the City Superintend- 
 ent of Schools of New York City contains the following 
 upon social centers : 
 
 "The demeanor of the young men has continued to be most 
 exemplary. The men in attendance have constituted themselves 
 guardians of the peace and have been careful that the behavior 
 of all who attended should be beyond criticism. . . . All agree 
 that in the public school dancing classes we have the strongest 
 weapon with which to oppose the evils of the public dance halls." 
 
 The Milwaukee Survey shows that about one-eighth 
 of those in public dance halls were "in good surround- 
 
 ijane Addams, "The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets," pp. 97-98. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 179 
 
 Ings, in carefully supervised dancing academies and in 
 family gatherings, in halls where older people of the 
 neighborhood were in attendance." This quotation would 
 seem to indicate that dancing academies in general if 
 carefully supervised, as they are not, in fact, ordinarily, 
 might be a help in solving the dance hall problem. It 
 also makes clear the more important fact that the res- 
 toration of social dancing to its place as a private recre- 
 ation where parents or other older persons are present, in 
 family gatherings or small social groups, and where pro- 
 miscuous acquaintance is avoided, is a restoration to 
 its natural place. 
 
 The cultivation of private social parties properly con- 
 ducted should indeed be recognized at its full value. 
 However important may be the contribution of the agen- 
 cies described above, they can do little more than point 
 the way toward solutions of the problem. The social 
 recreations of the people will continue to be for the most 
 part financially independent and conducted by natural 
 social groups. Even in the poorer districts of the larger 
 cities, these groups will continue to be socially inde- 
 pendent and self-sustaining. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Do these organizations, most of which were formed pri- 
 marily for other purposes, have a direct bearing on the im- 
 provement of social recreation? In how many of them in "our 
 town" could the social features be more highly developed? 
 Would this make them more attractive to young people? 
 
 2. Discuss the general importance of a well-developed selec- 
 tive social life. 
 
 3. Are our schoolhouses giving the citizens full return for 
 the money that goes into them? How could we extend their 
 use? 
 
i8o POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 4. Discuss the principles involved in group dancing versus 
 public dancing. Do you approve the principle of giving the use 
 of public assembly halls to societies or well defined groups in- 
 stead of to individuals or the general public? 
 
 5. Do you see any possibilities in the solution of the dance 
 situation in a fuller development of folk dances and other forms 
 requiring the participation of a number of people, such as the 
 old-fashioned square dances and Virginia reel? 
 
 4. EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF 
 THE ATHLETIC GROUP AND COMMER- 
 CIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 
 
 As Seen in Public Parks^ Playgrounds, and the 
 Recreation Movement 
 
 Constructive public opinion has long been at work 
 in the establishment of public parks and playgrounds, 
 springing originally out of a desire to beautify the cities, 
 and to relieve the evils of congestion. As a recreation 
 movement it is now becoming conscious of its signifi- 
 cance in the general reconstruction of city life. We have 
 already splendid examples of public parks with play- 
 grounds and recreation centers, properly supervised, that 
 are able to compete effectively with commercial amuse- 
 ment parks and similar resorts, and to provide for free 
 and wholesome expression of the spirit of play. The 
 significance of these developments can hardly be overes- 
 timated. Open air, sunlight, and a place to play bring 
 social and spiritual gifts as surely as they bring physical 
 releases. 
 
 The recreation and social centers in parks and school- 
 houses are rapidly carrying us toward new expressions 
 of democracy. Their significance, and the value of the 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBUC OPINION i8i 
 
 supervised recreation conducted in them grows each year 
 more apparent. The vast process of social education is 
 largely dependent upon organized recreation, and social 
 education in cities is finding an open space, a standing 
 ground and rallying point in public parks and play- 
 grounds. They supply a physical base upon which neigh- 
 borhood consciousness and cooperation may develop. 
 They supply facilities for carrying out a city's recrea- 
 tion program, and are more and more systematically de- 
 veloped as the cities become more awake to their value. 
 
 There are many extensive park and playground sys- 
 tems in the leading cities of the nation, notably. New 
 York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Balti- 
 more, Cleveland, Buffalo and San Francisco. 
 
 Three hundred forty-two cities in the United States 
 and Canada were reported in 191 3 to be maintaining 
 2,402 regularly supervised playgrounds and recreation 
 centers at a total expenditure of $5,700,223.81, and to be 
 employing 6,318 workers.^ 
 
 Playground commissions which have been organized 
 in a number of cities have rendered invaluable service. 
 From the point of view of this study, the South Park 
 system in Chicago is especially noteworthy as the most 
 conspicuous expression of conscious effort to meet a 
 great city's recreational needs with adequate provision, 
 and this despite the fact that it has been done apart 
 from the school buildings of the city, and thus entailed 
 a very large additional cost. Besides the more usual 
 park features of walks, drives, lakes, stands for public 
 music, the museum and the zoo, these parks show cer- 
 tain distinctive features which are thus described: 
 
 1 The Playground, January, 1914. 
 
i82 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "A typical center includes both outdoor and indoor activities. 
 The outdoor activities comprise as the central feature a liberally 
 planned bathing pool, with sand banks, dressing rooms, cleansing 
 showers, life guards and bathing suits. Collateral to this are 
 an outdoor gymnasium for men, another for women, another 
 for boys, another for girls, running tracks, wading pools, and 
 sand courts for the youngsters ; also tennis courts and ball fields 
 — turned into skating rinks in the winter time. The interior 
 features include a thoroughly equipped gymnasium for men, 
 another for women, each having a trained director and being 
 furnished with baths and lockers, a lunch room, reading and li- 
 brary room, one or two small club rooms for small gatherings 
 and a large and beautiful assembly hall for neighborhood 
 meetings, lectures or pleasure parties." ' 
 
 It is especially noteworthy from the point of view 
 of our study that these provisions are not limited to chil- 
 dren. We are here particularly concerned with the prob- 
 lems of those young people who have passed the age 
 of childhood, who are possessed by the virility and ve- 
 hemence of youth, whose lives are full of the "red flare 
 of dreams." The public must make attractive provision 
 for their outdoor activities if they are to be shown a 
 better way than that into which commercial amusement 
 parks now allure them in countless numbers. Society 
 must not only restrict and repress the evil features of 
 amusement offerings ; it must let loose the springs of joy 
 and gladness in a thousand natural ways for these young 
 people under wholesome conditions. 
 
 This requires not only the provision of ample public 
 facilities for outdoor recreation, but also fidelity to the 
 principle that athletic games shall not be played merely 
 to win nor as an end in themselves. A deeper need of 
 
 1 "Chicago Playgrounds and Park Centers," The City Club Bulletin, 
 March 4, 1908, v. 2, No. i, p. 3. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 183 
 
 society is met when play in all its forms is made to serve 
 as a means to all-round health, development, and happi- 
 ness ; when it is made to stimulate and unify community 
 life. The end of athletics is more than hard muscles 
 and physical health, more than winning games or de- 
 veloping a few star players; it is nothing less than a 
 broad service to citizenship, to the larger social needs of 
 all the people. 
 
 With city congestion as serious as it is, and the exploi- 
 tation of happiness what it is, society must increasingly 
 fulfil its duty to utilize to their utmost the places already 
 provided, in order that youth may come into its rightful 
 heritage. This means not only the full social use of all 
 parks and playgrounds as now established, but also more 
 recreation centers, especially devised to meet the needs 
 of young people, recreation piers, baths and bathing 
 beaches, skating rinks, playing fields, theaters for ama- 
 teurs, and assembly halls where athletic and social life 
 may find full expression. 
 
 The recreation movement recognizes, however, that it 
 is not enough to provide these places and leave young 
 people to frequent them without guidance in the pleas- 
 ures which develop there. The supervision of activities 
 is, after all, the essential element, without which the 
 facilities provided are often worse than wasted. Only 
 as counsellors and play leaders of tact and wisdom, men 
 and women of rich personality, are brought into touch 
 with young people will recreation be sure to bring youth 
 out into a rich maturity. Only thus will the "upper 
 ends" of play bear fruit in citizenship and community 
 spirit. 
 
 Volunteer and paid workers alike have a permanent 
 work to do. The country needs the play-leader, espe- 
 
i84 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 cially the volunteer, to save its youth from social isola- 
 tion, and to cultivate the full realization of a common 
 life. The city needs play-leaders, both volunteer and 
 professional, for the city has become the house and home 
 of countless young people who are forced out between 
 meals from the tiny flats in which they eat and sleep. 
 In the break-up of home life which this involves, the 
 play-leader becomes the big brother or sister of the 
 great city household. The gifts which these leaders de- 
 velop will largely settle the question of whether the city 
 is to give to youth a reasonable chance for real pleasure, 
 or whether it shall continue to have "streets full of young 
 people recklessly seeking pleasure, frequently choosing 
 evil disguised as pleasure." It is this high quality of 
 play-leadership which, in the actual out-working of the 
 recreation movement, will largely determine the effective- 
 ness of public facilities for recreation in competition with 
 commercial amusement resorts, and parks. If the best 
 public opinion and moral responsibility can actually con- 
 trol the supervision of these facilities and take the lead 
 in public recreation, then low commercial offerings can 
 be either driven out or forced to raise their standards. 
 The Playground and Recreation Association of Amer- 
 ica renders a national service in working for the full ideal 
 of recreation. It cooperates in making recreation sur- 
 veys of cities, in fostering the establishment of compre- 
 hensive systems of recreation, in locating play-leaders 
 and supervisors, in giving general information about rec- 
 reation, and in stimulating pubUc interest in all related 
 questions. Twenty-six organizations in New York, with 
 some of which recreation is only an incidental purpose, 
 are cooperating in the Recreation Alliance of New York 
 City. It is prophetic of the cooperative action of the 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION i8s 
 
 future. Its purpose is declared as this: "To be a centet 
 of intercommunication for the various organizations in- 
 terested in recreation in New York City. To foster har- 
 :nonious relations between them and prevent overlapping 
 of work. To draw up a comprehensive plan for work 
 in New York City, recommend the adoption of this plan 
 and endeavor to secure the cooperation of the various 
 organizations in carrying out the plan agreed upon." 
 
 Constructive public opinion, persistent and effective, 
 must now fight out on such lines as these whether whole- 
 some amusement, under reasonable guidance, can be 
 made to "go" with young people under the abnormal 
 conditions of city life. Every community must answer 
 for itself this question: Have professional, commer- 
 cial, and immoral influences gained the mastery in the 
 amusement situation in our town, or can we yet rescue 
 this great and beautiful portion of life to a free and 
 spontaneous expression, that it, in turn, may lead the 
 way to the highest social values? Public morality is at 
 stake in this struggle, and is to be reckoned as a value 
 not less sacred, surely, than public health or safety. 
 
 It is a prophetic picture which Miss Addams paints 
 in her "Spirit of Youth and the City Streets": 
 
 "Many Chicago citizens who attended the first annual meeting 
 of the National Playground Association of America will never 
 forget the long summer day in the large playing field filled 
 during the morning with hundreds of little children romping 
 through the kindergarten games, in the afternoon with the 
 young men and girls contending in athletic sports ; and the even- 
 ing light made gay by the bright-colored garments of Italians, 
 Lithuanians, Norwegians, and a dozen other nationalities, repro- 
 ducing their old dances and festivals for the pleasure of the 
 more stolid Americans. Was this a forecast of what we may 
 yet see accomplished through a dozen agencies promoting public 
 
i86 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 recreation which are springing up in every city of America, as 
 they are already found in the large towns of Scotland and 
 England ? 
 
 "Let us cherish these experiments as the most precious be- 
 ginnings of an attempt to supply the recreational needs of our 
 industrial cities. To fail to provide for the recreation of youth 
 is not only to deprive all of them of their natural form of ex- 
 pression, but is certain to subject some of them to the over- 
 whelming temptation of illicit and soul-destroying pleasures. To 
 insist that young people shall forecast their rose-colored future 
 only in a house of dreams is to deprive the real world of that 
 warmth and reassurance which it so sorely needs and to which 
 it is justly entitled."^ 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Has the recreation movement become self-conscious and 
 organized in "our town"? 
 
 2. Are our parks and playgrounds returning full social value? 
 
 3. How many additional play spaces could be found and util- 
 ized in "our town"? What is the next most needed provision 
 for public recreation? 
 
 4. Discuss the significance of play leadership in the public 
 education of the future. 
 
 5. What does the play leader find it easy to do which the 
 teacher in the classroom finds it hard to do? 
 
 6. What fundamental changes in the national life will the 
 recreation movement help to produce? 
 
 5. EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF 
 SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 
 
 As Seen in Holiday Celebrations, Community Fes- 
 tivals, Field Days, Fairs and Pageants 
 
 The charm of the special day devoted to happiness is 
 deeply significant in our civic life. It answers one of 
 
 ijane Addams, in "The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets," pp. 102- 
 103. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 187 
 
 the oldest needs of man, and of no one more than men 
 and women working at high speed in mechanical drudg- 
 ery for long hours of daily labor. It is this which lends 
 to the observance of Sunday as a rest day an intense 
 significance in an industrial social order. Just as there 
 is no exploitation of pleasure more iniquitous than the 
 exploitation of holidays, there is no movement of con- 
 structive public opinion more beneficent than that for 
 the worthy celebration of holidays, the movement for 
 community festivals, field days, fairs, and pageants. 
 
 The emotional life of the race cannot be registered 
 by the time clock at the factory gate. It floods the free 
 spaces of the day, the week, and suffuses every holiday. 
 It is this that makes them holy days. Those who capture 
 the holidays of men for clean and wholesome pleasures, 
 strike a body blow at commercialism and vice. It is, 
 therefore, highly significant that the festival holiday 
 movement has spread rapidly in recent years and won 
 for itself an enduring place among effective social 
 agencies. 
 
 The insane Fourth has rapidly given way to the sane. 
 The celebration of the day has become enriched as a 
 civic festival incorporating many forms of public recrea- 
 tion and noble demonstrations of patriotism. In 1908 
 four cities are reported as celebrating sanely; in 1913 
 there were 394. In 1908 there were 5,623 accidents re- 
 ported; in 1913 the number was reduced to 1,163. 
 
 The distinctive values of Labor Day, Thanksgiving, 
 Christmas, New Year's, Washington's and Lincoln's 
 birthdays. Memorial Day, and others variously cele- 
 brated, give to the year no small portion of its national 
 sentiment. Worthy celebrations of all these days are a 
 
i88 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 primary duty of public opinion in every community in 
 the land. 
 
 How many beautiful values can be made to live for all 
 mankind by gaily marching children, by youths contend- 
 ing in athletic games, by maidens winding 'round the 
 Maypole, by lively music quickening and dissolving the 
 quaint formations of the folk dances, by free families 
 released to wander with romping children through the 
 parks or over the green of the countryside ! What cour- 
 age in the Nation's heart may not be stirred by reverent 
 celebration of her dead! What daring hopes in the 
 hearts of men may not be freed by rockets blazing sky- 
 ward in the night ! Who yet has told the Nation all the 
 values of her holidays? 
 
 The movement for festival pageants came to us from 
 England, where they were revived in 1905. It has rap- 
 idly spread throughout the Nation, quickening civic en- 
 thusiasm, and revealing unused resources for the cele- 
 bration of local and national holidays. Among the early 
 pageants in the smaller cities and villages were those at 
 Bronxville, New York; Gloucester, Massachusetts; New 
 Britain, Connecticut; Thetford and St. Johnsbury, Ver- 
 mont; Ripon, Wisconsin; and Evanston, Illinois. Nota- 
 ble among the pageants in larger cities have been those 
 in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Milwau- 
 kee. Perhaps the most spectacular of all was the Hud- 
 son-Fulton Celebration at New York in 191 2. 
 
 Pageantry also played a notable part in the Alaska- 
 Yukon Exposition, and will be a conspicuous feature of 
 the Panama Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, where 
 52 acres are to be set aside for carefully selected amuse- 
 ment enterprises. 
 
 The New Orleans Mardi Gras is the chief survivor in 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION i^ 
 
 America of a type of the festivals of earlier days, chiefly 
 Spanish in their origin. 
 
 The principal features of pageants are tableaux of 
 historical or allegorical significance, presented usually 
 either on floats in street processions, or in an outdoor 
 amphitheater. In its fuller development, the community 
 pageant presents its episodes accompanied by music, 
 dances, songs, conversations and speeches. It relies al- 
 most wholly on local talent, and uses large numbers of 
 people in the presentation. The tableaux frequently 
 present in succession the outstanding facts of local his- 
 tory in a wide variety of scenes, as the following, for 
 example, from Oxford, Mass.: 
 
 "The scenes of the pageant began with a prologue, the years 
 1674-1704, and covering the early history of Oxford. The first 
 scene was John Eliot's visit to Manchaug, the Indian name of 
 Oxford. The second scene was the coming of the Huguenots, 
 the first white settlers. Then followed the presentation of 
 land, the Johnson Massacre, and the departure of the Huguenots, 
 fleeing before the savages. The first episode, 1713-1717, showed 
 the life of the English in Oxford, in the following scenes: 
 Scene I, The Coming of the English; Scene II, Life in the 
 Colony; Scene III, Troublesome Times. 
 
 "The second episode covered the period of the Revolution, 
 177s, and the years that followed to 1800: Scene I, Minute 
 Men; Scene II, Funeral Honors for Washington; Scene III, 
 The Visit of Major General Hamilton. 
 
 "The third episode began at 1690 and illustrated the rise of 
 industries. The fourth episode dealt with the War of the Re- 
 bellion, 1861-1865: Scene I, The Departure of the 'DeWitt 
 Guards.' Scene II, 'The Angel of the Battlefield.' Epilogue, 
 Oxford: Past, Present and Future." 
 
 Three facts are of special significance in the relation 
 of the pageant to the amusement problem: first, its re- 
 liance upon a large body of amateurs, under the direc- 
 
190 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 tion of professional trainers, but not supplanted by 
 them; second, its freedom from the commercial motive, 
 the returns above expenses being used ordinarily for 
 community interests; and, third, its inherently moral at- 
 mosphere. It may well stand as our best illustration 
 of the highest type of organized play. 
 
 The social values of pageantry are many and far- 
 reaching. Besides the enduring memory of beautiful 
 pictures, a new pride in local history is awakened, and 
 this in turn brings community interest and loyalty. Prej- 
 udice and social cleavage give way to neighborly feeling. 
 The participation of hundreds of people in the acting 
 brings a new sense of the value of cooperative effort. 
 The participation of school children has high educational 
 value in its training of artistic expression. 
 
 Like all other forms of art, pageantry serves to inter- 
 pret life as a whole, and in an age predominantly social 
 an art so essentially social as pageantry must have fun- 
 damental significance. It quickens appreciation of all 
 the poetry of life — so sadly neglected in America — and 
 deepens the spiritual significance of historic events and 
 national memories. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. Discuss the peculiar importance of worthy celebrations 
 of holidays. Why are days of special pleasure so memorable? 
 
 2. A brief paper on modern pageantry should be presented. 
 Would it be possible for our group to hold an open-air play or 
 start a pageant for "our town"? 
 
 3. A brief statement should be made of the values of enter- 
 tainment programs in Chautauqua or other circuits in certain sec- 
 tions of the country. These frequently last a week in each 
 town in the summer. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 191 
 
 4. A brief statement should be made of the contribution made 
 by secret and rehgious orders in their processions through the 
 streets in full regalia. 
 
 5. How much of the glamour that has been thrown around 
 war, by bands and flags and marching men, is a part of the 
 charm of pageantry rather than of war? 
 
 6. CITY DEPARTMENTS OF RECREATION 
 
 "We continually forget how new the modern city is and how 
 short the span of time in which we have assumed that we can 
 eliminate from public life public recreation. The Greeks and 
 Romans held games to be an integral part of patriotism. It 
 would be interesting to trace how far this thoughtless conclu- 
 sion (that the modern city need not provide recreation) is re- 
 sponsible for the vicious excitements and trivial amusements 
 which in a modern city so largely take the place formerly sup- 
 plied by public recreation and manly sports. It would be illumi- 
 nating to know the legitimate connection between lack of public 
 facilities for decent pleasures and our present social immo- 
 ralities." ' 
 
 In the spirit of these words, constructive public opinion 
 is active in the establishment of city departments of 
 recreation, coordinating with other branches of city gov- 
 ernment. A few cities have already established such 
 departments, and there is now a rapidly develop- 
 ing extension of this movement. If these departments 
 are put under the supervision of men and women who 
 recognize, on the one hand, the social and moral enor- 
 mity of much that is now urged upon young people un- 
 der amusement labels, and who have, on the other hand, 
 an unshakable faith in the young people who pass under 
 their supervision, we may expect far-reaching results. 
 
 iC. R. Henderson, "Preventive Agencies and Methods," quoting Jane 
 Addams, p. 38a. 
 
192 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 The development and administration of these depart- 
 ments of recreation present many problems, for the avail- 
 able buildings and equipment are often under the control' 
 of other departments of the city government, such as 
 the park boards and boards of education. In treating 
 the forms of administration now in use, Rowland Haynes 
 makes important suggestions in The Recreation Survey 
 of Kansas City, Mo., and a classification of administra- 
 tive work is given : 
 
 "By public recreation is meant some form of supervised recre- 
 ation. Parks laid out primarily to beautify the city and used 
 for auto drives, picnic parties, etc., furnish valuable recreation, 
 but this sort is distinguished from supervised recreation in the 
 form of playgrounds, field houses, and recreation centers. This 
 distinction is made even in cities where the supervision of these 
 facilities is in the same hands as the supervision of the parks 
 built primarily for beauty. The administrative work of public 
 recreation falls under three heads : facilities, care-taking, and 
 supervision. By facilities are meant grounds, buildings, and 
 equipment, both in the form of permanent apparatus and per- 
 ishable supplies. By care-taking is meant all forms of attendant 
 services, both for grounds and buildings, such as janitors, field 
 house attendants, bath attendants, and the like. Under super- 
 vision is included all forms of instruction service such as club 
 leaders, playground supervisor, directors, and part-time assist- 
 ants, recreation center directors, and the like." 
 
 The classification of forms of administration is as 
 follows : 
 
 1. Under one form of administration facilities, care- 
 taking and supervision are all under control of some 
 board primarily created for some other purpose, such as 
 the school board or the park board. 
 
 2. A second type of administration puts the conduct 
 of all public recreation in the hands of a board or com- 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 193 
 
 mission created expressly for that purpose. The facili- 
 ties and supervision are under this one board, which is 
 a separate and independent board with powers of con- 
 trol over the properties placed in its charge. 
 
 3. The third form is joint action, in two ways, as 
 follows : 
 
 "Under the first form of this type of administration the fa- 
 cilities are under the control of the boards to whose care these 
 facilities were originally entrusted. The supervision is put in 
 the hands of one of these boards, namely, a board primarily 
 created for some other purpose. The second form of joint ac- 
 tion is like the first, except that the supervision is put in the 
 hands of a board expressly created to carry on supervised rec- 
 reation." 
 
 "Some form of the joint action type of administration is in- 
 evitable in any comprehensive plan for a city's recreation, be- 
 cause such a comprehensive plan requires the use of facilities 
 which are used part of the time for other purposes. To get 
 unity in the system under joint action, provision has to be 
 made for cooperation of various boards in the matter of facili- 
 ties and for the supervision of recreational activities under one 
 head. The control of facilities and of supervision cannot be 
 in all cases under the same board because, while several boards 
 contribute facilities, it is impossible, except in a small city, for 
 several boards to contribute supervision and still have unity 
 in the supervision." 
 
 The outstanding importance of the recreation super- 
 intendent is made clear by Mr. Haynes in a report on 
 Rochester's needs. He writes : 
 
 "The securing of a well-trained, experienced and capable rec- 
 reation superintendent, giving his entire time to the recreation 
 problem in the city, having general oversight of all the recrea- 
 tion work, and with power to carry out measures of efficiency, 
 — this is the fundamental and most urgent need. It is even more 
 important than working out a method of administration. As 
 
194 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 nearly as we can estimate the task of a recreation superintend- 
 ent in Rochester— as the work stands at present, without any 
 developments— it is equivalent to the task of running a school 
 with an enrollment of 4,249. ... If the work develops as it 
 should, the task of the recreation superintendent will become 
 as large and as important as that of the superintendent of 
 schools at present." 
 
 The final recommendation of the California report is : 
 
 "That the system of maintaining separate park commissions 
 and playground commissions be abolished, and that in their 
 stead, public recreation commissions be created, which public 
 recreation commissions shall have complete control and super- 
 vision over all places and forms of public and commercialized 
 recreation." 
 
 What large results may the public expect from the 
 establishment of recreation departments in city govern- 
 ment? Our study would lead us to hope that they might 
 serve the double need for restrictive and constructive 
 action. 
 
 First, there should be such regulation of commercial 
 enterprises as will make impossible the glaring evils now 
 associated with many of them (an immediate result to 
 be desired), restrictive action on a high level of intelli- 
 gence, artistic appreciation, and moral dignity. 
 
 Second, there should be such a far-reaching construc- 
 tive program as will include the provision and use of 
 adequate facilities for public recreation, and its sympa- 
 thetic supervision. This may rightly be expected. 
 
 May we not look to city recreation departments for 
 civic theaters expressive of our common life? May we 
 not look to them for social and recreation centers wisely 
 supervised ? May we not look to them for the fostering 
 of universal athletics ? May we not look to them for the 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 19S 
 
 provision and utilization of public parks and playing 
 fields, little and large? May we not look to them for 
 worthy pageants and public festivals? We may, if we 
 look to ourselves for these things after the fashion of 
 a democracy. 
 
 We may indeed rightly expect them to take the lead 
 in the high art of social education — ^the stimulation of 
 common action and community consciousness. If they 
 are well administered they may make no less a contri- 
 bution to our common life than is now being made by 
 those responsible for formal education. They will be 
 dealing with equally significant activities of the human 
 spirit, and may guide it to joyous releases by the unify- 
 ing power of organized recreation. They may, if they 
 will, lead the way to the new city state, to the new day 
 of free cities, free with a new freedom, outshining those 
 of ancient Greece — to the commonwealth of the future 
 in which the uses of leisure shall be no less effective 
 than the uses of labor in the service of the common 
 good. 
 
 Suggestions for Thought and Discussion 
 
 1. How shall we meet the objection that a city department 
 of recreation costs the taxpayers more money? Is it justifiable 
 even if it does? Where could money be saved by a thorough 
 recreation program? 
 
 2. What administrative problems would have to be solved in 
 "our town"? 
 
 3. What organization is now doing the Urgest part of the 
 work properly belonging to a recreation department? 
 
 4. Is there fundamental opposition to the policy of the public 
 provision of recreation? Where does it com? from? 
 
196 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 Play, The Gospel of Play 
 
 See entries on Public Opinion under Proposed Solutions, Sum- 
 mary and Forecast, p. 145. 
 
 Books 
 
 Baker, G. C. "Indoor Games and Socials for Boys." New York 
 
 Association Press, 1912. 7Sc. 
 
 "A collection of over 200 games and suggestions for a variety of 
 'socials,* each planned with a definite object in view." R. S. F. 
 Rec. Bib. 
 
 Bancroft, J. H. "Games for the Playground, Home, School and 
 Gymnasium." Macmillan, 1909. $1.50. 
 
 "For use by playground and gymnasium teachers; also fine col- 
 lection of games for home use. Descriptions of games and rules for 
 playing are clear and practical." R. S. F. Rec Bib. 
 
 Bowen, Mrs. J. T. "Need of Recreation.'' Thirty-seventh an- 
 nual report of the National Conference of Charities and 
 Correction, St. Louis, Mo., 1910. Archer Printing Co., Ft. 
 Wayne, Ind. $2. 
 
 Bradley, J. E. "Work and Play." Pilgrim Press, Boston, 1900. 
 See chapter on play, pp. 51-62. 
 
 A chapter which emphasizes the necessity of amusements and 
 places them in their right proportion. 
 
 Braucher, H. S. "Tendencies and Developments in the Field of 
 Public Recreation." New York, Playground and Recrea- 
 tion Association of America, 191 1. Reprinted from The 
 Playground, July, 1911. SC 
 
 Chesley, A. M. "Social Activities for Men and Boys." New 
 York, Association Press, 1910. $1. 
 
 "An illustrated manual of 300 ways to entertain, suitable for 
 small evening neighborhood gatherings, school entertainments, church 
 socials. Games, circuses, celebrations of holidays, etc. No special 
 equipment required." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 197 
 
 Qeaver, T. R. "Winter Sport Book." Macmillan, 1913. $1.50. 
 Descriptive, interpretative, illustrated. 
 
 Collier, John. "Leisure Time, the Last Problem of Conserva- 
 tion." Playground, June, 1912. Reprinted by the Play- 
 ground and Recreation Association of America, i Madison 
 Ave., New York City. loc. 
 
 A valuable statement of the problem. 
 
 Curtis, H. S. "Play and Recreation for the Open Country." 
 Ginn, 1914. $1.16. 
 
 Many fresh suggestions are included. 
 
 Dier, J. C, ed. "Book of Winter Sports." Macmillan, 1913. 
 $1.50. 
 
 A valuable compilation of many articles on the leading winter 
 sports. 
 
 Dudley, Gertrude. "Athletic Games in the Education of 
 Women." Holt, 1909. $1.25. 
 
 "This book fills a real need in presenting fully and satisfactorily 
 the value of athletic games in women's social education and train- 
 ing for citizenship.*' A. L. A. Booklist. 
 
 Groos, Karl. "The Play of Man." Appleton, 1908. $1.50. 
 
 A technical work on the psychology and philosophy of play. 
 
 Hunt, E. R. "Play of Today." Lane, 1913. $1.50. 
 
 Studies in play. 
 
 Israels, Mrs. B. L. "Recreation in Rural Communities." Pro- 
 ceedings, Conference of Charities and Correction, 191 1, pp. 
 103-107. 
 
 The need made clear. 
 
 Johnson, C. E. "Education by Plays and Games." Ginn, 1907. 
 goc. 
 
 A compact manual dealing with children's games but also sugges- 
 tive for grown-ups. 
 
 Lee, Joseph. "Play as an Antidote to Civilization." New York, 
 Playground and Recreation Association of America, igii. 
 
 IOC. 
 
igS POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Lyman, Edna. "Story Telling— What to Tell and How to Tell 
 It." McClurg, 1910. 7SC. 
 
 "Of interest to grown-ups as well as children. Also contains very 
 complete list of books for story tellers." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 McKenzie, R. T. "Exercise in Education and Medicine." Saun- 
 ders, Philadelphia, 1909. $3.50. 
 A comprehensive treatment of physical education amply illustrated. 
 
 Perry, C. A. "Unused Recreational Resources of the Average 
 Community." Russell Sage Foundation. 5c. 
 
 Suggests many ways in which communities may have organized 
 recreation at a small cost. 
 
 "Playground and Recreation Association of America." Course 
 in play for grade teachers. New York, published by the 
 Association, isc 
 
 Suggestive for school teachers who are called upon to direct the 
 play time of their pupils. 
 
 Suffolk and Berkshire, H. C. M. P. H. and Others. "Encyclo- 
 pedia of Sports and Games." New edition v. 4, Lippin- 
 cott. $12. 
 
 The most comprehensive work on the subject. British, but treats 
 American sports. Profusely illustrated. 
 
 Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction. "Plays 
 and Games for Schools." Madison, published by^he state, 
 191 1. 
 
 A booklet issued by the State of Wisconsin for the use of chil- 
 dren in the public schools. 
 
 Periodicals k. 
 
 Addams, Jane. "Public Recreation and Social Morality." Chari- 
 ties and the Commons, Aug. 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 492-494. , 
 
 "Amusement as a Factor in Man's Spiritual Uplift." Current 
 Literature, August, 1909, v. 47, pp. 185-188. 
 
 Pointed presentation of some interesting contrasts in American 
 amusements and occupations. Selections are given from Professor 
 S. M. Patten's "Product and Climax." 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 199 
 
 Braucher, Howard. "Play and Social Progress.'' Annals of the 
 American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 325-333. 
 Reveals an intimate knowledge of people's needs. 
 
 Brown, E. K "Part of Play in Education for Life." Charities 
 and the Commons, May 4, 1907, v. 18, pp. 155-157. 
 
 The need of play in all phases of life. 
 
 Cabot, R. C. "The Soul of Play." The Playground, v. 9, No. 9. 
 2Sc. 
 
 "An inspiring article based on the author's belief that 'through 
 responsibility, recreation and affection, God can make a happy and 
 successful life out of any material and in any environment.' " 
 E. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Davis, Hartley. "The Play and the Public." Outlook, Novem- 
 ber 25, 191 1, V. 99, pp. 767-775- 
 
 Discusses the important relationship of the play to the public. 
 
 Gallaudet, H. D. "A River Vacation and Some Assets." Out- 
 look, May 27, 1911, v. 98, pp. 156-162. 
 
 Goldsbury, P. W. "Recreation Through the Senses." Atlantic 
 Monthly, March, 191 1, v. 107, pp. 411-423. 
 
 Interesting statement of the ability of the different sense organs 
 to give recreation. 
 
 Gulick, L. H. "Popular Recreation and Public Morality." An- 
 nals of the American Academy, July, 1909, v. 34, pp. 33-42. 
 
 Valuable article on the essential relation of popular recreation 
 and public morality, as interdependent factors. 
 
 Hoben, Allen. "Ethical Value of Organized Play." Biblical 
 World, March, 1912, v. 39, pp. 17S-187. 
 Makes clear its importance. 
 
 Johnson, G. E. "Catching Up with Athens." Survey, May i, 
 1909, v. 22, pp. 165-166. 
 Athenian education was based on play as a means of training. 
 
 Lee, Joseph. "Play as a School of the Citizen." Charities and 
 the Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 486-491. 
 
200 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Mallery, O. T. "The Social Significance of Play." Annals of 
 the American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 368-373. 
 
 "Need of Play." North American, January, 1909, v. 189, pp. 
 159-160. 
 
 The busy man needs play every day. 
 
 Pier, A. S. "Work and Play." Atlantic, November, 1904, v. 94, 
 pp. 669-675. 
 A serious paper on tlie proper adjustment of work and play. 
 
 "Play for the People." Independent, February 28, 1907, v. 62, 
 PP- 513-514- 
 
 Effective plea for recognition of play as a potent factor in charac- 
 ter building. 
 
 "Rural Recreation." The Playground, September, 191 1, v. 5, pp. 
 181-216. November, 1912, v. 6, pp. 267-308. 
 Special numbers of The Playground which deal with the subject. 
 
 Scudder, M. T. "Rural Recreation, a Socializing Factor." An- 
 nals of the American Academy, March, 1912, v. 40, pp. 
 175-190- 
 
 Many suggestions are given. 
 
 The Drama League and Similar Organizations — 
 The Movement for Amateur Dramatics 
 
 Books 
 
 Davis, M. M., Jr. "The Theaters," in "The Exploitation of 
 Pleasure," 191 1, pp. 50-58. 
 
 Valuable constructive suggestions; see similar reports listed under 
 The Problem, I and II. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 "Municipal Theater and Concert Hall." American City, May, 
 191 1. 
 
 Best, Mrs. A. S. "The Drama League of America, 1914." 
 Drama, February, 1914, No. 13, pp. 135-150. 
 Summary of its work and success. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 201 
 
 "Bulletin of the Catholic Theater Movement." The Bulletin, 
 published monthly, 120 W. 60th St., New York City. 
 
 Sets forth the purposes of this movement and gives to members de- 
 sired information. 
 
 Burton, Richard. "The Theater and the People." The Drama, 
 May, 1912, pp. 169-190. 
 A particularly able and comprehensive article. 
 
 Collier, John. "Cheap Amusements." Charities and the Com- 
 mons, April II, igo8, v. 20, pp. 73-76. 
 
 Gives results of an investigation of cheap amusements on Man- 
 hattan Island, and instructive argument. 
 
 Creel, G. "Little Country Theater." Collier's, May 2, 1914, v. 53, 
 p. 22. 
 
 A suggestive idea for country towns. 
 
 Dickinson, T. H. "The Case of American Drama." The Drama, 
 November, 191 1, pp. 162-177. 
 The spirit of the amateur must recreate American drama. 
 
 Eaton, W. P. "Real Foes of Serious Drama." American Mag- 
 azine, October, 191 1, v. 72, pp. 691-700. 
 A plea for the support of serious drama by serious people. 
 
 "Elevation of the Stage." Atlantic, May, 1907, v. 99, pp. 721-723. 
 
 Necessary to elevate human nature in order to raise the arts which 
 serve it. 
 
 Firkins, O. W. "Literature and the Stage.'' Atlantic, April, 1912, 
 v. 109, pp. 477-483. 
 
 Leonard, W. E. "The Wisconsin Dramatic Society." The 
 Drama, May, 1912, pp. 222-237. 
 
 An expression of the movement for amateur dramatics. 
 
 Lovett, R. M. "The Season of the Chicago Theater Society." 
 The Drama, May, 1912, pp. 238-259. 
 A record of interesting experiences. 
 
 Moses, M. J. "Regeneration of the Theater." Forum, May, 
 191 1, v. 45, pp. 584-588. 
 
 Interesting discussions of present-day conditions in the theater 
 with special reference to the trust. 
 
2Q2 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "New Phase in College Theatricals." Literary Digest, January 
 17, 1914, V. 48, p. 109. 
 A project to build a college theater. 
 
 "Outlook of the Drama in America." Review of Reviews, Jan- 
 uary, 1912, V. 45, pp. 103-104. 
 
 Optimistic comment by Prof. William Lyon Phelps. 
 
 "The New Drama." Poet Lore, Spring number, 1912, v. 23, pp. 
 145-160. 
 
 A suggestive resume of constructive efforts for improvement of 
 dramatic conditions. 
 
 Smith, J. H. "The Melodrama." Atlantic, March, 1907, v. 99, 
 pp. 320-328. 
 Holds that it has a large legitimate place. 
 
 Squire, Frances. "The Stage and Democracy." Twentieth Cen- 
 tury, March, 1912, v. S, pp. 57-63. 
 
 "The drama that is coming — the drama of an adolescent democ- 
 racy." 
 
 Stead, W. T. "Salvation of the Stage." World Today, Novem- 
 ber, 1906, V. II, pp. 1151-1154. 
 
 Deplores the general condition of the theater but expresses hope 
 for its regeneration. 
 
 "White List for Plays." Literary Digest, February 28, 1914, v. 
 48, p. 434- 
 The Catholic theater movement. 
 
 Winter, William. "Shadows of the Stage." Harper's Weekly, 
 
 September 24, 1910, to April 22, 191 1, v. 54 and 55. 
 
 A series of fearless articles by a leading dramatic critic. 
 
 Endowed and Civic Theaters 
 
 Books 
 
 Mackaye, Percy. "Civic Theater in Relation to the Redemption 
 of Leisure." Kennerley, 1913. $1.25. 
 A comprehensive plan well set forth. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 203 
 
 Mackaye, P. W. "The Playhouse and the Play." Macmillan, 
 1909. $1.25. 
 
 Emphasizes the influence of the theater, the need for enlightened 
 public opinion, and advocates the establishment of civic theaters. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Ames, Winthrop. "The New Theater." Collier's, October 23, 
 
 1909, V. 44, P- 17- 
 
 Plans for the first season outlined with illustrations. 
 
 Barker, H. G. "The Theater ; the Next Phase." Forum, August, 
 
 1910, V. 44, pp. 159-170- 
 
 A plea for municipal theaters. 
 
 Ford, L. J. "Plea for the Free Theater." Munsey's, October, 
 1902, V. 28, pp. 148-152. 
 
 Tells why attempts to establish such a theater have been failures 
 — good service that might be done. 
 
 Herts, A. M. "Children's Educational Theater." Atlantic, De- 
 cember, 1907, V. 100, pp. 798-806. 
 
 Tells the power for good of this enterprise. 
 
 Israels, B. L. "Another Aspect of the Children's Theater." 
 Charities and the Commons, January 4, 1908, v. 11, pp. 
 1310-1311. 
 
 Questions whether the children's theater is really doing all that 
 was hoped for it. 
 
 Mackaye, P. W. "The Civic Theater." Drama, February, 191 1, 
 pp. 98-115. 
 
 Mathews, Brander. "Question of the Theater." North Ameri- 
 can Review, March, 1902, v. 174, pp. 39S-406. 
 
 Scholarly article discussing the establishment of an endowed thea- 
 ter in America. 
 
 "Municipal Theater: An Interesting Experiment in City Life." 
 Outlook, EJecember 21, 1912, v. 102, pp. 852-854. 
 At Northampton, Mass. 
 
 "New Theater." American Magazine, March, 1910, v. 69, pp. 
 696-704. 
 
204 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Pierce, L. F. "First Municipal Theater in America." World 
 Today, June, 1905, v. 8, pp. 664-665. 
 
 Endowed theater given to the town of Red Wing, Minn., by a 
 generous citizen. 
 
 Russell, Isaac. "A Pioneer Municipal Theater and Its Lessons.'' 
 Craftsman, March, 191 1, v. 19, pp. 563-568. 
 
 Account of a Kansas experiment. 
 
 Smith, C. S. "Theater for the People and the Public Schools." 
 Charities and the Commons, February 4, 1905, v. 13, pp. 
 425-429. 
 
 Result of Shakespearian plays given in Cooper Union, New York 
 City, showing the need of a permanent place for such presentations. 
 
 Stuart, D. C. "Endowed Theater and the University.'' North 
 American Review, November, 191 1, v. 194, pp. 760-764. 
 
 An interesting plea for an endowed university theater. 
 
 "To Re-organize Children's Theater." Charities and the Com- 
 mons, June 6, 1908, V. 20, pp. 307-308. 
 
 Editorial on the change in the management of the children's thea- 
 ter, pointing out its value. 
 
 Social Settlements, Churches, Christian Associa- 
 tions, Social and Recreation Centers 
 
 Books 
 
 Addams, Jane. "Twenty Years at Hull House." Macmillan, 
 1910. $2.50. 
 
 Coifin, C. and C. H. "Dancing and Dancers of Today." Janu- 
 ary, 1913- $4- 
 A full treatment of the modern revival of dancing as an art. 
 
 Crawford, Caroline. "Folk Dances and Games." Barnes, 1908. 
 $1.50. 
 
 Davis, M. M., Jr. "Use of Public School Buildings," in "The Ex- 
 ploitation of Pleasure," 1911, pp. 47-48. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 20S 
 
 Flitch, J. E. C. "Modern Dancing and Dancers." Lippincott, 
 1913. $37S- 
 An elaborate presentation. 
 
 Grice, Mrs. M. V. "Home and School United in Widening Cir- 
 cles of Inspiration and Service." Sower, Philadelphia, 1909. 
 60c. 
 
 Gulick, L. H. "Folk Dancing." Russell Sage Foundation, N. Y. 
 
 IOC 
 
 Gulick, L. H. "Healthful Art of Dancing." 1910. 
 
 ''This study treats of the origin, development and philosophy of 
 the ancient art of folk-dancing, with special reference to its value 
 and adaptability to American life as a physiological, educational and 
 social factor. Includes an appendix giving a classified list of folk- 
 dances suitable for various classes and occasions." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 King, I. "School As a Center of the Social Life of the Com- 
 munity." Bibliography (in his "Social Aspects of Edu- 
 cation"), pp. 65-97. 
 Admirable review of the subject. 
 
 Lee, Joseph. "Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy." Mac- 
 millan, 1906. $1. 
 
 Compact statements on playgrounds, baths, and gymnasiums, out- 
 ings, etc 
 
 "National Society for the Study of Education." Tenth year- 
 book: part I, The City School as a Community Center; 
 part 2, The Rural School as a Community Center; ed. by 
 S. C. Parker, University of Chicago, 191 1. 75c. each. 
 
 Articles by social center workers. Each part contains a bibliogra- 
 phy on city and rural schools as social centers. 
 
 Perry, C. A. "Wider Use of the School Plant." N. Y. Chari- 
 ties Publication Committee, 1910. $1.25. 
 
 "Rochester Social Center and Civic Oubs; a Story of the First 
 Two Years." Rochester League of Civic Qubs, 1909. 40c. 
 
 Pamphlet presenting all sides of the social center movement of 
 Rochester, N. Y., during the two years from 1907 to 1909. 
 
2o6 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Smith, C. S. "Working with the People." Wessels, 1904. soc. 
 See chapters on Other Departments, pp. 34-4S; A People's 
 Club, pp. 79-103; A People's Hall, pp. 104-117. 
 
 Describes the means provided by the People's Institute of New 
 York toward civic betterment. 
 
 Stern, R. B. "Neighborhood Entertainments." Sturgis, 1910. 
 7SC. 
 
 This volume of the Young Farmer's Practical Library gives sug- 
 gestions for increasing social pleasures in rural communities. 
 
 Urlin, E. L. "Dancing, Ancient and Modern." Appleton, 1912. 
 $1.50. 
 
 Dances of many nations. 
 
 Ward, E. J. "Social Centers." Appleton, 1913. $1.50. 
 
 Vigorously advocates the use of public school buildings as social 
 and civic centers. 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow. "The Social Center." Bulletin of the Uni- 
 versity Extension Division, University of Wisconsin, Madi- 
 son, Wis. Mailed on request without charge to citizens of 
 the state. Outside of state, sc. 
 
 An address delivered by Hon. Woodrow Wilson, Governor of 
 New Jersey, before the First National Conference on Civic and 
 Social Center Development, at Madison, Wis., October 25, 1911, 
 
 Wisconsin University — Extension Division. Addresses Deliv- 
 ered Before the First National Conference on Civic and 
 Social Center Development, at Madison, Wis., October 25, 
 191 1. Madison, published by the university, sc. each. 
 
 Wisconsin University — Extension Division. Introductory State- 
 ment of Bureau of Civic and Social Center Development. 
 Madison, published by the university, May, 191 1. sc. 
 
 Contains a bibliography and a suggested neighborhood civic club 
 constitution. 
 
 Woods, R. A. and Kennedy, A. J., editors. "Handbook of Set- 
 tlements." N. Y. Charities Publication Committee, 1911. 
 Russell Sage Foundation publications. $1.50. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 207 
 
 "The date of foundation, the kind of neighborhood, the number 
 of residents, the activities and the authorized literature of each of 
 the 413 settlements listed are given. Intended to continue the 
 work of the Bibliography of Settlements, published by the College 
 Settlements Association, up to 1905. Classed bibliography." A. L. A, 
 Booklist. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Burns, A. T. "Chicago Commons, 1894-1911." Survey, July 22, 
 1911, V. 26, pp. 597-598. 
 
 A brief resume of the important work which has been done by the 
 Chicago Commons; 
 
 "Country School a Social Center.'' Survey, August 20, 1910. 
 Brief account of neijghhi^rhood civic club, Greece, N, Y, 
 
 Curtis, H. S. "Neighborhood Center." American City, July-Au- 
 gust, 1912, pp. 14-17, 133-137. 
 
 Presents different types of centers. 
 
 Curtis, H. S. "Rural Social Center." American Journal of So- 
 ciology. July, 1913, V. 19, pp. 79-90- 
 A general presentation. 
 
 Ellis, Havelock. "Philosophy of Dancing." Atlantic, February, 
 1914. V. 113, pp. 197-207. 
 
 Dancing a fundamental art. 
 
 Gale, Zona. "Adventure of Being Human." Outlook, January 
 27, 1912, V. 100, pp. 171-172. 
 The social center idea. 
 
 Gulick, L. H. and Smith, H. J. "Dancing as a Part of Educa- 
 tion." World's Work, October, 1907, v. 14, pp. 9445-9452. 
 
 Definite instruction in dancing given to New York public school 
 girls, in place of other forms of gymnastics. 
 
 Hall, G. S. "Play and Dancing for Adolescents." Independent, 
 February 14, 1907, v. 62, pp. 355-358- 
 
 Strong statement of the value of play and dancing. 
 
 Israels, B. L. "Diverting a Pastime." Leslie's, July 27, 191 1, 
 pp. 99-100. 
 
 How we are to protect youth yet satisfy the natural demand for 
 entertainment. 
 
2o8 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Jerome, Mrs. A. H. "The Playground as a Social Center." An- 
 nals of the American Academy. March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 
 129-133- 
 
 Laughlin, J. L. "Aims and Methods of Social Settlements." 
 Scribner's, September, 1909, v. 46, pp. 341-349. 
 A descriptive and interpretative article upon the subject. 
 
 Leonard, Oscar. "Branch Libraries as Social Centers." Survey, 
 March 18, 191 1. 
 
 Marsh, B. C. "Unused Assets of Our Public Recreation Facili- 
 ties." Annals of the American Academy, March, 1910, v. 
 35. pp. 382-385. 
 
 McDowell, M. E. "Field Houses of Chicago and Their Possibili- 
 ties." Charities and the Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, 
 pp. 535-538. 
 
 Mayer, M. J. "Our Public Schools as Social Centers." Review 
 of Reviews, August, 191 1, v. 48, pp. 201-208. 
 
 Illustrated description of school centers. 
 
 Richard, L. S. "School Centers as 'Melting Pots.' " New Bos- 
 ton, April, 191 1. 
 
 Riis, J. A. "Unique and Remarkable Work Among the Poor." 
 Century, April, 1910, v. 79, pp. 850-863. 
 
 Shows what the People's Institute is doing for the poor of New 
 York City. 
 
 Riis, J. A. "What Settlements Stand For." Outlook, May 9, 
 1908, V. 89, pp. 69-72. 
 
 A statement of purpose by a pioneer settlement worker, 
 
 Robbins, J. E. "The Settlement and the Public School." Out- 
 look, August 6, 1910, V. 95, pp. 785-787. 
 
 A brief statement of the relationship between these two important 
 institutions. 
 
 "Rural Recreation Number." The Playground, September, 1911, 
 V. 5, No. 6. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 2og 
 
 "A Settlement on Three Hundred a Year." Survey, July 24, 
 
 1909, V. 22, pp. 573-574- 
 
 Effective work being done by a settlement on a small amount of 
 money. 
 
 "Social Life in the Country." World's Work, April, 1914, pp. 
 614-615. 
 Uses of a village hall. 
 
 Stoddart, B. D. "Recreative Centers of Los Angeles, Cal." An- 
 nals of the American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 210- 
 219. 
 
 Stoddart, B. D. "City Neighbors at Play." Survey, July 2, 1910. 
 Description of Chicago's Park Recreation Center work. 
 
 "Social Centers in Columbus Schools." Survey, February 12, 
 
 1910, V. 23, pp. 696-697. 
 
 Work following the lines laid down in Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow. "Need of Citizenship Organization." Amer- 
 ican City, November, 191 1, pp. 265-268. 
 
 A lucid analysis of the civic and social center movement. How 
 it is helping to solve the fundamental problem of modern society. 
 
 Public Parks, Playgrounds, the Recreation Move- 
 ment 
 
 Books 
 
 "American Park Systems." Report of the Philadelphia Allied 
 Organizations. Philadelphia, 1905. 
 
 A concise presentation of the parks of the chief American cities 
 with maps. 
 
 Angell, Emmett. "Play." 1910. See chapters on Public Play- 
 grounds, pp. 19-26; Equipment of the Playground, pp. 27- 
 , 46. 
 
 Games for the kindergarten, playground and school. 
 
210 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Bancroft, J. H. "Games for the Playground, Home, School and 
 Gymnasium." 1909. 
 
 "Contains <i most varied collection of games, American and for- 
 eign, which are well described and thoroughly indexed under their 
 uses; e. f., games for playgrounds, gymnasiums, summer camps, 
 children's parties, seashore, etc." A. L, A. Booklist. 
 
 Bliss, W. D. P. "New Encyclopedia of Social Reform." 1908. 
 See articles on Parks, pp. 867-868; Playgrounds, p. 898. 
 
 Braucher, H. S. "Social Worker and Playground Association 
 of America," in "National Conference of Charities and 
 Correction," pp. 219-222. 
 
 Hanger, G. W. W. "Public Baths in the United States." In 
 U. S. Labor Department Bulletin, September, 19CX4, No. S4. 
 pp. 1245-1367. $1. 
 
 "Exhaustive report giving accounts of municipal baths of every 
 description in zi cities; also typical non-municipal baths; covers their 
 history, construction, equipment, cost, administration, etc. Details 
 of the construction of special bathing appliances; tables of statistics; 
 37 plates showing buildings and plans." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Hanmer, L. F. "First Steps in Organizing Playgrounds." New 
 York Charities Publication Committee, 1908. Paper, loc. 
 Russell Sage Foundation publication. 
 A useful pamphlet for cities agitating the subject. 
 
 Hanmer, L. F. "Health and Playgrounds," in "National Con- 
 ference of Charities and Correction," 1910, pp. 153-156. 
 
 Leland, Arthur, and Leland, L. H., editors. "Playground Tech- 
 nique and Playcraft." Springfield, Mass., F. A. Bassette 
 Co., 1909. $2.50. 
 
 A popular text-book of playground philosophy, architecture, con- 
 struction and equipment. 
 
 Mero, E. B., editor. "American Playgrounds." Boston Amer- 
 ican Gymnasia Co., 1908. $1.50. 
 
 "Organization, equipment and management of playgrounds, with 
 games and exercises for children and adults ... a useful compila- 
 tion published to promote the establishment of playgrounds." A. L. 
 A. Booklist. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 211 
 
 "Playground and Recreation Association of America." Normal 
 course in play for professional directors. New York, pub- 
 lished by the Association, zoc. 
 
 Riis, J. A. "Battle with the Slum." Macmillan, 1902. $2. See 
 index under Parks and Playgrounds. 
 
 Personal account of what was done through parks -and play- 
 grounds to relieve bad conditions in New York's tenement districts. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Curtis, H. S. "Need of a Comprehensive Playground Plan." 
 American City, December, 191 1, v. 5, pp. 338-340. 
 Leaders in every city should make comprehensive plans. 
 
 Farwell, Arthur. "New York's Municipal Music." Two years 
 advance. Review of Reviews, October, 191 1, pp. 451-458. 
 
 Hanmer, L. F. "Business of Play." Charities and the Com- 
 mons, July 4, igo8, V. 20, pp. 458-462. 
 
 Significance of playground centers in America. 
 
 Harmon, W. E. "Compulsory Playgrounds." Survey, February 
 18, 191 1, V. 25, pp. 822-823. 
 A timely suggestion. 
 
 Harmon, W. E. "The Commercial Value of Playgrounds." 
 Survey, December 11, 1909, v. 23, pp. 3S9-361. 
 
 Harris, G. W. "Playground City." Review of Reviews, No- 
 vember 5, 1905, V. 32, pp. 574-580. 
 
 Public importance of playground. 
 
 Kenard, Beulah. "Pittsburgh's Playgrounds." Survey, May 11, 
 1909, V. 22, p. 184. 
 
 Illustrated account of playgrounds and recreation centers. 
 
 Lee, Joseph. "Boston's Playground System.'' New England 
 Magazine, January, 1903, v. 27, n. s. pp. 521-536. 
 Illustrated account of the playground movement in Boston. 
 
212 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Lee, Joseph. "Play and Congestion." Charities and the Com- 
 mons, April 4, 1908, V. 20, pp. 43-48. 
 
 Suggestive in its bearing on the general questions. 
 
 Lee, Joseph. "System of Public Playgrounds." Chaufauquan, 
 June, 1906, V. 43, PP. 352-359- 
 
 Logically developed points on the requirements of a system of 
 public playgrounds. 
 
 McNutt, G. L. "Chicago's Ten Million Dollar Experiment in 
 Social Redemption." Independent, September 15, 1904, v. 
 57, pp. 612-617. 
 
 An account of Chicago's provision of better recreational facilities 
 through her system of parks. 
 
 Mero, E. B. "How Public Gymnasiums and Baths Help to Make 
 Good Citizens." American City, October, 1909. 
 
 O'Brien, E. C. "Recreation Piers." Municipal Affairs, Septem- 
 ber, 1897, V. I, pp. 509-514- 
 
 Shows the good results of New York's recreation pier movement. 
 
 "Parks and Recreation Facilities in the United States." Annals 
 of the American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 217-322. 
 A symposium on typical parks, national, state, county and city, by 
 leading experts. 
 
 "Playground Creed of the City Playground League of New 
 York." American City, November, 191 1, v. 5, p. 269. 
 
 Poole, Ernest. "Chicago's Public Playgrounds." Outlook, De- 
 cember 7, 1907, V. 87, pp. 775-781. 
 Chicago's public park system is wielding a great influence. 
 
 "Public Recreation Facilities." Annals of the American Acade- 
 my, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 217-448. 
 
 An important series of papers setting forth the typical national, 
 state, county and city parks, and the social significance of parks and 
 playgrounds. 
 
 Riis, J. A. "Island Playgrounds of the Future." Charities and 
 the Commons, September S, 1903, v. 11, pp. 205-207. 
 
 A description of the use to which the islands in East River will 
 some day be put to provide playgrounds for the people of the 
 crowded quarters of New York. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 213 
 
 "Social Significance of Parks and Playgrounds." Annals of 
 American Academy, March, 1910, v. 33, pp. 323-448. 
 
 The Playground. Playground and Recreation Association of 
 America, I Madison Ave., New York City. (Monthly.) 
 $2 a year. 
 
 The illustrated magazine of the national recreation movement. In- 
 dispensable to students of the problem. Should be used for constant 
 reference. 
 
 "The Year Book." The Playground. January, 1914, v. 7, No. 10. 
 Summary of outstanding facts in the recreation movement during 
 1913. Published yearly in January, 
 
 Veiller, Lawrence. "Social Value of Playgrounds in Crowded 
 Districts." Charities and the Commons. August 3, 1907, 
 V. 18, pp. 507-510. 
 
 Holiday Celebrations, Community Festivals, Field 
 Days, Fairs and Pageants 
 
 Books 
 
 "Arbor Day." The Arbor Day Annuals published by the states 
 of Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, 
 Ohio and Wisconsin are especially valuable. These are 
 published by the state departments of education. 
 
 Bates, E. W. "Pageants and Pageantry." Ginn, 1912. $1.25. 
 
 "Designed for the use of schools and colleges. All pageants are 
 so divided that they may be given as a whole or as individual epi- 
 sodes. No pains have been spared to make each episode historically 
 accurate, spirited and artistic. Six chapters on staging, costuming, 
 organizing, soiu-ces and writing of amateur pageants and plays." 
 R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Chubb, Percival, and Others. "Festivals and Plays in Schools 
 and Ellsewhere." Harper, 1912. $2, 
 
 "Prepared by Festivals Committee of the Ethical Culture School 
 of New York City, who are leaders in American development of 
 festivals, plays and allied arts. Contains specimen programs and 
 general bibliography. Illustrated." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
214 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 Dykeman, P. W. "Awakening Festival Spirit in America." Na- 
 tional Education Association, 1912, pp. 1023-1030. 
 
 An admirable review of the movement. 
 
 Hanmer, L. F. "How the Fourth Was Celebrated in rpii." 
 N. Y. Russell Sage Foundation, 1912. lOc. 
 
 "For the use of committees preparing programs for the next 
 Fourth of July celebration the best features of all the celebrations 
 of 191 1 have been put together for publication. Typical ordinances 
 and state laws included. Illustrated." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Hazeltine, M. E., editor. "Anniversaries and Holidays.'' Madi- 
 son, Wisconsin Free Library Commission, 1909. 250. 
 
 Langdon, W. C. "The Pageant in America." New York, Wil- 
 son, 1912. $r. 
 
 "Study of the development of pageantry, and suggestions for 
 American pageants based on the author's experience as Master of 
 the Pageant of Thetford, Vt., 1911, and of St. Johnsbury, Vt., 1912." 
 R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Lincoln, J. E. C. "Festival Book." Barnes, 1912. $1.50. 
 
 "Material conveniently arranged. Contains music for dances, dia- 
 grams of the figures, sketches of costumes, working drawings of 
 stage properties and photographs of groups of dancers." R. S. F. 
 Rec, Bib. 
 
 MacKay, C. D. A. "Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young 
 People." Holt, 1912. $1.35. 
 
 "One-act plays for young people suitable for schools, summer 
 camps, boys' clubs, historic festivals, social settlements and play- 
 grounds. Full directions for simple costumes, dances and music." 
 R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Needham, M. M. "Folk Festivals." New York, Huebsch, 1912. 
 $1.25. 
 
 Their growth and how to give them. 
 
 "Our Holidays, Their Meaning and Spirit." Century, 1905. 650. 
 Historical stories retold from St. Nicholas. 
 
 Hallowe'en, Election Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, 
 Lincoln's Birthday, St. Valentine's Day. Sketches, stories and verses 
 explaining or illustrating observances of the holidays. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 21S 
 
 Scudder, M. T. "The Field Day and Play Picnic for Country 
 Children." New York Charities Publication Committee, 
 1907. IOC. 
 Compact and suggestive. An excellent handbook. 
 
 Wisconsin — State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Ar- 
 bor and Bird Day Annual. Madison. Published by the 
 state. 
 
 ''Prepared for use m the schools of Wisconsin. Issue for 191Z 
 contains valuable suggestions on the subject of fire prevention and 
 program for celebration of Fire Protection Day which has been 
 added to Arbor and Bird Day in that state." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 "A Greek Pageant in Tennessee." Current Opinion, September, 
 1913, V. ss, pp. 144-175. 
 
 The Nashville pageant. 
 
 Adams, S. H. "Milady in Motley." Collier's, March 15, 1913, v. 
 SO, pp. 8-9. 
 
 Impressions of a visitor at the New Orleans Mardi Gras. 
 
 Bjorkman, F. M. "A Nation Learning to Play." World's Work, 
 September, 1909, v. 18, pp. 12038-12045. 
 
 "Coimtry Fair as an Exhibition Center." Craftsman, Septem- 
 ber, 1911, V. 20, pp. 581-588. 
 
 The right type of country fair. 
 
 Emmons, Myra. "Pageantry for Children." Outlook, July 22, 
 191 1, V. 98, pp. 659-664. 
 
 Certain historical pageants. 
 
 "Festivals and Pageants." The Playground, February, 191 1, v. 
 4, No. II. 25c. 
 
 Gale, Zona. "Robin Hood in Jones Street." Outlook, June 26, 
 1909, V. 92. 
 
 "Young folks of Greenwich House, settlement in lower New York, 
 hold a mid-May festival, or Merry Masque, with May pole, dances 
 and Robin Hood masque." R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 
 
2i6 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "Greatest Show on Earth.'' Survey, September 17, 1912, v. 28, 
 PP- 731-73Z- 
 
 A South Park, Chicago, circus. 
 
 "Growth and Pleasure of Pageants." World's Work, Novem- 
 ber, 1910, V. 21, pp. 13596-13597. 
 
 Hofer, M. R. "Folk Game and Festival." Charities and the 
 Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 556-562. 
 
 Hooke, T. "Portola Festival : San Francisco." Overland, De- 
 cember 13, V. 62, pp. 525-532- 
 
 James, G. W. "Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, New Year's, 
 1912." Out West, November, 191 1, v. 2, pp. 259-261. 
 
 Rock, F. J. "Mardi Gras Days and the Mardi Gras City." Over- 
 land, March, 1907, n. s., v. 49, pp. 199-204. 
 Relates the chief characteristics of the New Orleans Carnival. 
 
 "Lights Reminiscent: Spirit of the Portola Carnival in San 
 Francisco." Overland, December, 1909, n. s., v. 54, pp. 
 600-605. 
 
 Langdon, W. C. "Philadelphia Historical Pageant." Survey, 
 November 23, 1912, v. 29, pp. 215-218. 
 
 Langdon, W. C. "The New York Conference on Pageantry." 
 The Drama, May, 1914, No. 14, pp. 307-315. 
 
 Lloyd-Jones, Richard. "The Significance of State Fairs." Col- 
 lier's, October i, 1910, v. 46, pp. 16-17. 
 
 The work done by the state Harvest Festivals to advance indus* 
 trial welfare. 
 
 Lord, Katherine. "To Give a Pageant in a Small Town." La- 
 die^ Home Journal, February, 1913, v. y>, p. 24. 
 
 MacKay, Hazel. "Outdoor Plays and Pageants." Independent, 
 June 2, 1910, V. 68, pp. 1227-1234. 
 A sketch of the movement in America. 
 
 MacKay, Hazel. "The Peterborough Pageant." The Drama, 
 February, 1911, v. i, pp. 136-147. 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC OPINION 217 
 
 MacKaye, Percy. "American Pageants and Their Promise." 
 Scribner's, July, 1909, v. 46, pp. 28-34. 
 
 MacKaye, Percy. "The New Fourth of July." Century, July, 
 1910. 
 
 Gives valuable suggestions on the production of pageants. 
 
 Needham, M. M. "Festa in America." Outlook, October 28, 
 
 191 1, V. gg, pp. 523-531. 
 
 Significant points about festivals. 
 
 "New Orleans Mardi Gras." Outlook, March 28, 1908, v. 88, pp. 
 679-680. 
 
 Interpretation of the Mardi Gras. 
 
 "Pageant of Old Deerfield." Outlook, October 4, 1913, v. 105, 
 pp. 277-279. 
 
 Palmer, L. E. "From Cave Life to City Life.'' Survey, Decem- 
 ber 3, 1910, V. 25, pp. 388-392. 
 A greater Boston pageant. 
 
 Porter, E. C. "Pageant of Progress." Outlook, November 23, 
 
 1912, V. 102, pp. 653-659. 
 
 A Mount Holyoke college pageant. 
 
 Riis, Jacob. "Rescuing Our National Festivals." Craftsman, 
 February, 1913, v. 23, pp. 496-500. 
 
 Community Christmas trees and other festivals. 
 
 "Spectator. Pageant at Thetford." Outlook, September 30, 
 191 1, V. 99, pp. 289-291. 
 
 Interprets the significance of a country town pageant led by a 
 minister. 
 
 Stanley, R. A. "A County Fair Uplift." Country Life, August, 
 
 1913, V. 24, p. 52. 
 
 A New York county fair is revolutionized. 
 
 Scudder, Myron. "Organized Play in the Country." Charities 
 and the Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 547-556. 
 
 Taylor, G. R. "The Chicago Play Festival." Charities and the 
 Commons, July 4, 1908, v. 20, pp. 539-548. 
 
2i8 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 "The World in Chicago." Survey, July 19, 1913, v. 30, pp. 52^ 
 532. 
 
 A missionary pageant in Chicago. 
 
 Wade, H. T. "What the Pageant Does for Local History." 
 Review of Reviews, September, 1913, v. 48, pp. 328-333. 
 Local pride and social improvement. 
 
 Wiggin, K. D. "How We Attracted Two Thousand People to a 
 County Fair." Ladies^ Home Journal, July, 1912, v. 29, 
 P- IS- 
 
 Wright, W. H. "Mission Pageant at San Gabriel." Bookman, 
 July, 1912, V. 3S, pp. 489-496. 
 A successful California pageant. 
 
 City Departments of Recreation 
 
 See Recreation Surveys listed under I, The Amusement Sit- 
 uation in General. 
 
 Periodicals 
 
 Addams, Jane. "Recreation as a Public Function in Urban 
 Communities." American Journal of Sociology, March, 
 
 1912, V. 17, pp. 61S-619. 
 
 The city must provide for recreational needs. 
 
 Braucher, H. S. "How to Aid the Cause of Public Recreation." 
 American City, April, 1913, v. 8, pp. 367-371. 
 Things for citizens to do, a community program. 
 
 "Self-Government in Public Recreation." Survey, August 23, 
 
 1913. V. 30, p. 638. 
 
 A significant movement. 
 
PART III 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY ACTION 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY 
 ACTION 
 
 I. THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL) 
 
 The first duty of any group of citizens who desire to 
 improve conditions in their own community is to learn 
 the facts of the amusement situation as it exists in their 
 midst. Wise action can only proceed on a definite basis 
 of fact. 
 
 Getting reliable facts may mean: 
 
 1. A recreation survey similar to those listed in the 
 bibliography. If this is done thoroughly by an expert, 
 the report should embrace not only an accurate state- 
 ment of conditions, but also the outline of a recreation 
 program in a series of comprehensive suggestions. There 
 should be full correspondence in regard to local prob- 
 lems with the Playground and Recreation Association 
 of America, i Madison Ave., New York City, or with 
 the Recreation Department of the Russell Sage Founda- 
 tion, 130 East 22d St;, New York City. 
 
 2. Communities which are unable to undertake a sur- 
 vey covering all forms of recreation may well undertake 
 an investigation covering some single phase of the prob- 
 lem — perhaps the one in which the worst evils seem to 
 
222 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 exist. It may be limited as closely as may seem desirable, 
 either to a single type of institutions, e. g., pool halls, or 
 to a single institution such as a burlesque theater. An 
 amusement park might well be taken as showing a com- 
 plex of problems in one place. This is, of course, a less 
 comprehensive method than that of the general survey, 
 and likewise less expensive. It should be looked upon as 
 a beginning only. No generalizations covering the whole 
 amusement situation can be made from it, yet valuable 
 public interest and action may be set in motion by it. 
 Careful work should be done by reliable persons in get- 
 ting the facts so that there may be a body of accurate in- 
 formation on the basis of which future action may be 
 taken. This information should be of such a character 
 as to be usable for evidence in court procedure. 
 
 The following suggestions for restrictive and construc- 
 tive action are only a few among the many that might be 
 made. They are set down as illustrative only of what 
 is being done and may be done by groups of people acting 
 from many and varied points of view : 
 
 Restrictive Action 
 
 Restrictive action has its sources of power in the laws 
 of the state, the ordinances of the city, the executive 
 regulations of oificials, or the public action of groups of 
 citizens. The essential requirement for this type of ac- 
 tion, therefore, in addition to that cited above, is a knowl- 
 edge of laws, ordinances and regulations, as operative 
 in relation to amusement enterprises. With a knowledge 
 of conditions, and a knowledge of laws and ordinances in 
 force, a group of citizens is prepared for such restrictive 
 action as it may decide upon deliberation to take. 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY ACTION 223 
 
 Restrictive action may be of several kinds : 
 
 1. An appeal in the name of the group may be made 
 to the mayor, the chief of police, or other official, to en- 
 force the law, on the basis of facts laid before them. 
 
 2. An appeal may be made to the district or city 
 attorney to prosecute the offending parties on behalf of 
 the state or city. 
 
 3. Pressure may be brought upon public officials to 
 do their full duty by public presentation of the evils 
 to which the community is exposed in violation of law. 
 This may be done in mass meetings, where public speak- 
 ing and the use of literature are the chief factors. Po- 
 litical opposition to the reelection of officials who re- 
 fuse to enforce the laws and political support of candi- 
 dates pledging themselves for such enforcement are fre- 
 quently effective. 
 
 4. The effort to secure the passage of more adequate 
 .laws or ordinances involves ordinarily the public pres- 
 entation of the proposed legislation, in order that pub- 
 lic support may be gained ; the introduction of well-drawn 
 bills, under friendly auspices, into the legislative body, 
 their favorable report by the committee to which they 
 are assigned; final favorable passage and signature by 
 the governor or mayor. 
 
 5. There is a valuable form of restrictive action by 
 which it is frequently possible to secure a desired re- 
 sult in a particular instance. That is, for a group of 
 citizens — the more influential the better — to take up di- 
 rectly with the management of the offending enterprise 
 the complaints which they desire to make, and seek to 
 enlist the cooperation of the management in remedying 
 conditions. A surprising degree of cooperation can 
 sometimes be secured. Where cooperation is not readily 
 
224 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 forthcoming, it is well to remember that commercial man- 
 agement is always dependent on public favor. Any pub- 
 lic opinion which has power enough to make itself felt 
 through the pocketbook receives attention. 
 
 Constructive Action 
 
 The procedure in constructive action is a less direct 
 attack upon specific evils. It is rather an attempt to 
 provide in wholesome surroundings for the normal ex- 
 pression of a pleasure which has been abused or per- 
 verted by commercial or vicious influences. This in- 
 volves an acquaintance with various forms of construc- 
 tive action which have been taken elsewhere or which 
 may be supposed to aid in producing better conditions.' 
 Our study has sketched some of the efforts now directed 
 to these ends. All of them are capable of local adapta- 
 tion and development. Specific suggestions are made in 
 the following pages. A comprehensive program covering 
 various phases of eflfort may well be made. The closest 
 possible cooperation should be maintained between those 
 who naturally work restrictively and those who prefer 
 to work constructively. Frequently they will be the same 
 group of persons working by the two methods for a 
 single end. 
 
 The beginning of constructive action in any com- 
 munity lies in a full appreciation of the value of play. 
 This is the basic fact upon which to build a recreation 
 program. The people must be led to believe in play, 
 to believe that "our town" must have better organized, 
 better supervised play. Especially must it have more 
 play. To preach the gospel of wholesome play in lec- 
 tures and public discussions, in the press, and by ex- 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY ACTION 223 
 
 ample, may be the first duty of any group of interested 
 citizens. Make it vigorous and attractive. In villages 
 and country districts lethargy and the lack of leadership 
 are the main factors in the problem. To foster every 
 sort of wholesome private recreation under high grade 
 leadership, to work out a play program, to quicken clean 
 athletic sports and field days, a town festival — these will 
 make for health and happiness, for friendliness and com- 
 munity loyalty in "our town" as well as elsewhere. The 
 play program will have many elements and rely upon 
 many cooperating groups of citizens, but it ought as far 
 as possible to be in the hands of young people and have 
 their enthusiastic approval and participation. It ought 
 to be a democratic expression of their interests in build- 
 ing community loyalty. 
 
 2. THE DRAMATIC GROUP 
 
 Restrictive Action 
 
 1. Cooperation with the theater management may be 
 secured by a group of citizens, and an effort made to 
 eliminate the offensive play or plays. 
 
 2. An appeal may be made to the mayor or chief of 
 police to enforce the law. 
 
 3. An appeal may be made to the district attorney to 
 bring suit. The end sought in this action is usually the 
 revocation of the license and the punishment of the re- 
 sponsible persons. One difficulty involved in taking di- 
 rect action against a particular theatrical production is 
 that publicity follows, and attracts a certain type of 
 public, so that audiences often increase and little or noth- 
 ing is accomplished. Action covering more than one 
 production is essential. 
 
226 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 4. An effort may be made to secure the appointment 
 of one or more censors, who shall have power to pass 
 on productions before they are put before the public. 
 In motion pictures a local censorship board may be es- 
 tablished by joint action of the various managers, the 
 city government and interested citizens. 
 
 5. Public support may be enlisted for the passing of 
 such measures as that eliminating vaudeville from mo- 
 tion picture shows, young children from participation in 
 theatrical productions, and similar reforms. 
 
 Constructive Action 
 
 1. The production of the best plays may be fostered 
 by the drama league or similar plan, and dramatic taste 
 be cultivated by lectures and discussions. 
 
 2. Amateur theatricals may be developed through 
 dramatic reading circles and the acting of original plays 
 or those by the best dramatists. 
 
 3. Interest in an endowed theater for amateurs may be 
 quickened. 
 
 4. The educational uses of motion pictures may be 
 magnified, and their use extended to the schools and 
 parks. 
 
 3. THE SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP 
 
 Restrictive Action 
 
 I. Cooperation may be secured by a group of citi- 
 zens with the management of a public dance hall, cafe 
 with amusement features, or other institution of this 
 group to preserve better order, eliminate the sale of 
 liquor to minors or in places where it is forbidden by 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY ACTION 227 
 
 law, the prevention of immoral dancing, gambling and 
 soliciting by immoral women or men, and similar re- 
 forms. 
 
 2. An appeal may be made to the mayor, chief of 
 police, or other official to enforce the law or city ordi- 
 nances in respect to evils arising in places of this type. 
 
 3. An appeal may be made to the district or city at- 
 torney to bring suit. 
 
 Constructive Action 
 
 1. Support may be given to restaurants and cafes 
 which do not offer unwholesome amusement features. 
 
 2. Full support may be given to all such institutions 
 as social settlements, churches. Christian Associations, 
 lodges and social clubs, which maintain a high-grade so- 
 cial life of their own. 
 
 3. Selective social life upon high levels and in good 
 surroundings may be fostered among all groups of young 
 people. 
 
 4. The use of public halls may be rendered unneces- 
 sary by the provision and group use of social centers 
 and other facilities. 
 
 4. THE ATHLETIC GROUP 
 
 Restrictive Action 
 
 1. The cooperation of captains, officials and members 
 of teams may be secured by a group of citizens in the 
 elimination of rough and unfair play and all use of pro- 
 fessionals in amateur games. 
 
 2. The cooperation of spectators may be secured in 
 
228 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 the elimination of discourtesies to visiting teams and 
 similar forms of conduct. 
 
 3. City and state officials may be invoked to enforce 
 the laws against gambling and prize-fighting. Public 
 pressure may be brought to bear upon them as already 
 suggested. 
 
 Constructive Action 
 
 1. Amateur athletics of all kinds under wise super- 
 vision may be organized among the young people of the 
 community. 
 
 2. The full use of public parks and playing fields, 
 gymnasiums and bathing beaches, and the like, may be 
 fostered by making them easily accessible to all who 
 would use them. 
 
 3. Enthusiasm for all forms of outdoor sports may 
 be developed by volunteer or professional play leaders. 
 
 4. Cooperation may be offered in securing the high- 
 est grade men for officials at games. 
 
 5. SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 
 
 Restrictive Action 
 
 1. The cooperation of the owners and managers of 
 amusement parks may be secured by fully acquainting 
 them with existing evils. The restriction of evil prac- 
 tices may thus be secured. 
 
 2. An appeal may be made to city or county officials to 
 enforce the law against those responsible for drunk- 
 enness, gambling and vice. 
 
 3. An appeal may be made to the city or district at- 
 torney to bring suit against the management and seek 
 the closing of the enterprise. 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY ACTION 229 
 
 Constructive Action 
 
 1. The larger provision and social use of public parks, 
 playgrounds, and playing fields may be fostered. 
 
 2. The full support and commendation of the well- 
 run commercial enterprise may add to its power in com- 
 petition with loosely conducted resorts. 
 
 3. The utilization of sites of natural beauty may be 
 made possible at public expense and their use made 
 popular. 
 
 6. SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 
 
 Restrictive Action 
 
 1. The cooperation of those promoting amusement 
 events may be secured by a group of citizens and evil 
 features obviated by careful provision made in advance. 
 
 2. The police and other city officials may be fore- 
 warned. 
 
 3. Detectives may be employed to secure evidence 
 for later use in prosecutions. 
 
 Constructive Action 
 
 1. The community may be educated to a full appre- 
 ciation of the field day, pageant, sane Fourth, and sim- 
 ilar celebrations. 
 
 2. A group of citizens may undertake small celebra- 
 tions and work up to the preparation of a festival 
 pageant. 
 
 3. Leaders in country districts may attain large re- 
 sults by arranging a field day. An "Old Home Week" 
 helps community spirit. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 I. THE DISCUSSION GROUP MEETING AND 
 THE GROUP LEADER 
 
 Whatever the type of discussion group or class in 
 which this study is used, the leader will be an important 
 factor, as he will be responsible for conducting the meet- 
 ings. No two leaders will conduct them in exactly the 
 same way, for groups differ and meetings naturally vary. 
 Sometimes the presentation of a topic takes the bulk of 
 the hour. Sometimes a speaker from outside the group 
 is introduced. Sometimes the entire hour is devoted to 
 discussion. A general plan, however, is important and 
 the following has been found to work in experience : 
 
 The leader assigns the different topics or sub-topics 
 in order as shown in the outline to members of the group 
 or to outside speakers. This should be done at least a 
 month in advance of the presentation. He singles out 
 for assignment the subjects for which particular members 
 seem to care, and they will often volimteer. He takes 
 a vote of the group or uses his own judgment as to the 
 amount of time to be spent on each subject. The book 
 should be in the hands of all members of the group. 
 The member who prepares himself to speak upon a topic 
 thus has at hand selected references upon his topic with 
 annotations describing the material or commenting upon 
 it. He is thus spared all unnecessary labor and needs 
 
 231 
 
232 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 to spend only a few hours in preparation. The other 
 members of the group are also able to prepare for the 
 discussion easily, in accordance with their personal in- 
 terests and in the time at their disposal. 
 
 The first meeting of the group is opened by the leader 
 with a general statement of the problem, followed by an 
 outline of the plan of procedure. After the first meet- 
 ing he opens with a brief review, recalls impartially the 
 points previously made, and leads up to the topic of the 
 hour. The topic as prepared is then presented. Experi- 
 ence shows that the time should ordinarily be limited 
 to about twenty-five or thirty minutes, and one topic 
 given at each session. A half hour is thus reserved for 
 discussion. In some cases briefer reports might be made, 
 in other cases two meetings may be necessary for one 
 topic. The discussion is usually more satisfactory if 
 allowed the last half hour unbroken. The discussion is 
 an extremely important part of each meeting and will 
 be longest remembered. Speakers from the floor may 
 well be limited to three or five minutes each and not al- 
 lowed to speak a second time if anyone who has not 
 spoken desires to speak. The person who presents the 
 topic can stimulate the discussion by asking for questions 
 and by taking a decided point of view upon the matter in 
 hand. This point of view may be at variance with that 
 of all the articles listed and with that of the author, as ex- 
 pressed in the general statement of each topic in this 
 study. That will help to foster discussion.^ 
 
 It naturally falls to the leader to summarize at the end 
 of the hour the points made and to anticipate the next 
 
 ] The author's purpose in revealing his own point of view on some 
 -subjects has been, to stimulate discussion rather than to dogmatize, and he 
 will be glad to receive by letter through Association Press, correction on 
 matters of fact, additional information bearing on amusements or frank 
 statements of difference of opinion. 
 
APPENDIX 233 
 
 topic. When proposed solutions are taken up, addresses 
 by specialists or men of experience in public life are de- 
 sirable. When the discussion is finished, the leader will 
 add greatly to its permanent value if he is able to state 
 in a brief and cogent summary the points brought out by 
 the chief speaker and those participating from the floor. 
 He himself should prepare at least one topic on each 
 problem. 
 
 The success of the group lies largely in the hands of 
 the leader. He is the moving force. A 'vital interest on 
 his part in the social movement is indispensable, but he 
 need be in no sense an authority. He is a leader, not a 
 teacher, and seeks only to direct the open search for the 
 facts and the best methods of solution. If he is able 
 to suppress side issues without offense or delay and to 
 focus attention upon fundamentals, he will secure coher- 
 ence and progress in the meetings. The wider his read- 
 ing and the closer his personal knowledge of the problem 
 under discussion, the more pungent and concrete will be 
 his comment. If he be a man of forethought he will an- 
 ticipate the most likely points of discussion in each meet- 
 ing, be prepared to raise them by well-aimed questions, 
 and also to handle them. If he have the grace of tact 
 and of fairness, he will be able to hold in pleasant rela- 
 tions in the same group persons of almost opposite views. 
 There are in any town people who will engage in such a 
 group either as speakers or working members upon a 
 broad platform of free speech, mutual respect for differ- 
 ing opinions and an honest effort to get at the truth, 
 who would not come together under any other circum- 
 stances. The leader will be surprised to find how many 
 potential speakers there are in his own town and neigh- 
 boring towns if he will persistently seek them out. So- 
 
234 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 cial workers in the cities are usually willing to address 
 such a group without remuneration above expenses of 
 travel and entertainment. 
 
 2. A SUGGESTED ORDER FOR THE USE OF 
 THIS STUDY BY DISCUSSION GROUPS 
 
 Note carefully that the method of the study, as 
 planned, is to take up first the outstanding facts of pub- 
 lic amusements, frankly studying the evils involved in 
 order that they may be recognized as constituting a wide- 
 spread, varied, and yet unified social problem. The large 
 percentage of good in most of these forms of amuse- 
 ment is taken for granted throughout, and should not 
 be forgotten. Aggravated phases receive especial atten- 
 tion because we are trying to get at the problem of popu- 
 lar amusements. We pass from the consideration of the 
 problem to the solution of the problem, beginning with 
 the need of public awakening. Public opinion as regis- 
 tered in restrictive action is next considered, and then 
 constructive efforts to solve the problem. Definite sug- 
 gestions for community action, both restrictive and con- 
 structive, are then given. 
 
 No rigid outline for the assignment of topics for dis- 
 cussion is made because of the varying degrees of thor- 
 oughness with which different groups will study and 
 the varied number of discussions which they will devote 
 to it. The briefest possible treatment of the whole sub- 
 ject in a discussion group would seem to be in sixteen 
 meetings as follows: (Numerals below refer to topics 
 listed in the Contents.) 
 
 First meeting. Chapter I ; 2nd, Chapter II ; 3rd, Chap- 
 ter III; 4th, Chapter IV; Sth, Chapter V; 6th, Chapter 
 
APPENDIX 23S 
 
 VI; 7th, Chapter VII; 8th, Chapter VIII, phases 1-3 in- 
 clusive; 9th, Chapter VIII, 4-6; loth. Chapter IX, phase 
 1 ; nth. Chapter IX, 2; 12th, Chapter IX, 3; 13th, Chap- 
 ter IX, 4; 14th, Chapter IX, 5; 15th, Chapter IX, 6; i6th 
 meeting. Chapter X. 
 
 Experience proves, however, that only a cursory view 
 of the subject can be gained in this number of meetings, 
 and a considerably longer time should be devoted if pos- 
 sible. Special attention can then be given to subjects 
 which elicit the special interest of the group. It is pos- 
 sible, of course, to take up certain sections of the prob- 
 lem, omitting others. 
 
 An alternative method of study is available for those 
 who desire to consider each phase of the problem before 
 taking up another phase, as The Dramatic, under each of 
 the four headings, as follows: i. The Problem, 2. Re- 
 strictive Action, 3. Constructive Action, 4. Local Action. 
 Those who use this method should develop their outline 
 in accordance with the desires of their own group. Cross 
 references will be found in the suggestions for group 
 discussion under each topic to other pages where the 
 same topic is treated. Still further material upon each 
 topic will be found in "Christianity and Amusements." 
 
 The advantage of this method is to have the consid- 
 eration of dramatic facts, for example, immediately fol- 
 lowed by dramatic solutions. The corresponding disad- 
 vantage is a loss in that sense of the unity of the problem 
 as a whole which is gained by the other method. Far 
 more satisfactory results will be obtained by most groups, 
 especially those doing thorough and comprehensive work, 
 if the first method is followed. 
 
23l6 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 3. FURTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR THE USE OF 
 THIS STUDY 
 
 The use of this study is in no way confined to "Com- 
 munity Interest Groups." 
 
 1. Civic clubs, settlement clubs, social betterment 
 leagues, women's clubs, social center clubs, men's clubs 
 in churches, business men's associations. Christian Asso- 
 ciation classes, or similar groups may find it available 
 as an outline for constructive study. It may be used 
 as a guide for investigation of local conditions and the 
 development of a community program 'of recreation. 
 
 2. A survey course of instruction upon American So- 
 cial Problems, adaptable to institutions of higher learn- 
 ing, can be based upon the series of studies of which 
 this book forms a part. 
 
 3. It may be used as a guide to systematic personal 
 reading and investigation. 
 
 4. College and high school debaters will find special 
 subjects for debate and specific references available upon 
 different phases of each topic. 
 
 The full use of this study depends upon access to some, 
 at least, of the books and periodicals listed. Any pub- 
 He library should be able to furnish a portion of the ma- 
 terial desired. All members of discussion clubs using 
 this study should frequent the public library and make 
 their wants known to the librarian. An efficient librarian 
 always welcomes the opportunity to be of use to such 
 groups and to arrange the material in accessible form. A 
 library board usually buys the books for which there is 
 most demand. A simple and effective plan is for each 
 member of the discussion club to buy a book or provide 
 
APPENDIX 237 
 
 magazine articles on the subject and thus establish a cir- 
 culating library. All groups interested in the Christian 
 contribution to the solution of this problem are referred 
 to the author's companion volume, "Christianity and 
 Amusements," Association Press, 1915, 50c. net. 
 
 4. QUESTIONS FOR DEBATERS 
 
 1. Resolved that the evils arising in connection with 
 prevalent amusements in America are due more largely 
 to commercial exploitation of the play spirit than to 
 living and working conditions in our cities. 
 
 2. Resolved that dramatic censors should be appointed 
 by the mayors of all cities and given police power to 
 stop immoral shows. 
 
 3. Resolved that vaudeville has "done more to cor- 
 rupt, vitiate and degrade public taste in matters relat- 
 ing to the stage than all other influences put together." 
 
 4. Resolved that motion pictures as now being shown 
 in America have a highly educational and moral effect. 
 
 5. Resolved that burlesque shows as ordinarily put 
 on in America are so demoralizing that they should be 
 prohibited by law. 
 
 6. Resolved that endowed theaters are the greatest 
 dramatic need in America today. 
 
 7. Resolved that the serious drama as now presented 
 in America is an elevating moral influence. 
 
 8. Resolved that "there is no such thing per se as 
 immoral subject matter for drama." 
 
 9. Resolved that football as now played in American 
 colleges is physically dangerous, interferes with study, 
 and ought to be abolished by faculty action. 
 
 10. Resolved that play is no less important than work. 
 
238 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS 
 
 11. Resolved that all social reforms can be carried 
 out by constructive social work without the aid of direct 
 efforts to suppress and stamp out evil. 
 
 12. Resolved that the wider use of school buildings 
 is more important than all restrictive legislation in regard 
 to amusements. 
 
 13. Resolved that there should be an official board of 
 censorship of motion pictures created by the national 
 government. 
 
 5. VOCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES 
 
 It should be clearly recognized that those who actually 
 conduct amusement enterprises with a high sense of their 
 public duty and a scrupulous regard for the moral char- 
 acter of their enterprises may make a large contribution 
 to the solution of the problem. There is also a large and 
 increasing demand for well trained young men and 
 women to take up the pursuit of such vocations as the 
 following, all of which contribute directly to the improve- 
 ment of recreational life. Many opportunities in other 
 professions, such as settlement work teaching and the 
 ministry, which contribute less directly to the solution 
 of the problem, are already well known. 
 
 "Of the positions open, the first in importance is the recreation 
 secretary, whose work involves the organization and direction of 
 the entire recreation activities of a town or city. In relative im- 
 portance, this position is similar to that of the superintendent of 
 schools. It requires strong executive ability. Within the last 
 year, eleven cities have engaged such a worker, and at the pres- 
 ent time as many more have the matter under serious considera- 
 tion. The salaries paid for this position at the present time range 
 fror" !ti,200 to $S>ooo. Other positions are those (i) of recrea- 
 tion supervisor — a worker who has charge of a number of play- 
 grounds in the summer and if the position is an all-the-year one. 
 
APPENDIX 239 
 
 of recreation centers in the winter. The salaries being paid run 
 from $1,000 to $2,000 per year. (2) Recreation director, or gen- 
 eral manager of a single playground or recreation center, with 
 assistants working under him: from $70 a month to $1,800 per 
 year is being paid for one working in this capacity. (3) Play 
 leader or recreation assistant having charge of play activities of 
 children, teaching games, industrial classes, etc. Salaries range 
 from $50 per month up to $1,000 per year." ' 
 
 The directorship of physical training and recreation 
 in a large number of schools and colleges is also open 
 to qualified men and women. 
 
 Special opportunities for women include directors of 
 physical education and athletics, teachers of dramatics, 
 folk dancing, manual training and industrial work, story- 
 tellers, and leaders in pageantry and other special activi- 
 ties. These comprise the third group. 
 
 Courses of instruction for vocations in recreation work 
 are now being offered by more than fifty educational in- 
 stitutions throughout the country. 
 
 Further information regarding openings in recreation 
 work may be secured by adressing the Playground and 
 Recreation Association of America, i Madison Avenue, 
 New York City. 
 
 ^A special statement from the Playground and Recreation Association,