The Genesis of Mass Culture : Show Business Live in America, 1840 to 1940

A thorough survey of the origins and development of the major distinct American commercial entertainments that emerged between over the course of the 19th century and into the 20th, including P.T. Barnum_s American Museum, freak show, and circus, as well as blackface minstrelry, Buffalo Bill_s Wild West Show, and vaudeville. Contents......Page 8 The Show Business......Page 12 American Mass Culture......Page 14 Organization......Page 18 1 The American Museum: Barnum's Great Leap Forward......Page 24 America's Greatest Showman......Page 25 Barnum's Early Career......Page 27 The Dime Museum......Page 30 Barnum's American Museum......Page 33 Barnum's Second and Other Museums......Page 39 Barnum and Middle-Class Identity......Page 41 Endnote......Page 45 2 The Freak Show Business: "Step Right Up, Folks"......Page 48 Classification and Presentation of Freaks......Page 49 American Museum Freaks......Page 51 “General” Tom Thumb......Page 55 Dime Museum, Circus, and Carnival Freaks......Page 57 The Freak Show in Context......Page 60 Endnote......Page 65 3 Blackface Minstrelsy: The First All-American Show......Page 68 Forerunners of Minstrelsy......Page 69 The First Minstrel Shows......Page 72 Antebellum Minstrelsy......Page 76 The Politics of Minstrelsy......Page 79 African American Minstrelsy......Page 81 Minstrelsy Diversifies......Page 85 Endnote......Page 89 4 The Americanized Circus: Barnum & Bailey In Excelsis......Page 92 The American Circus under Canvas......Page 93 Emergence of the Railroad Circus......Page 96 Three-Ring Circuses and Parades......Page 98 Barnum's Circuses before Bailey......Page 100 The Barnum & Bailey Circus......Page 104 The American Circus after Barnum......Page 110 Endnote......Page 113 5 Buffalo Bill's Wild West: American Culture Crosses the Atlantic......Page 116 Buffalo Bill as a Transatlantic Phenomenon......Page 117 Bill Cody's Early Life......Page 119 Buffalo Bill's Theatrical Career......Page 121 The Wild West as Show......Page 124 Buffalo Bill's Wild West in London......Page 129 The Wild West and American Identity......Page 134 Endnote......Page 137 6 Vaudeville I: Rise and Decline of an Emergent Mass Culture......Page 140 The Cleanup of Variety......Page 141 The Keith-Albee Vaudeville Circuit......Page 144 Vaudeville Circuit Programs......Page 147 Vaudeville's Ethnic Diversity......Page 149 Vaudeville's Star Female Performers......Page 155 Decline of Vaudeville......Page 158 Endnote......Page 160 7 Vaudeville II: Cultural Exchange, Departure, and Transmutation......Page 162 Music Hall Stars Journey to America......Page 163 Vaudeville Stars Journey to Britain......Page 165 Revue: The Ziegfeld Follies......Page 170 The Disappearance of Vaudeville......Page 172 Vaudeville as Training for the Mass Media......Page 175 Endnote......Page 179 Barnum's Place in Show Business History......Page 182 Forerunners of Mass Culture......Page 185 Endnote......Page 188 Appendix I: P.T. Barnum: Humbug and Reality......Page 190 Representations of Barnum......Page 193 Image and Reality......Page 197 Appendix II: Harry Houdini's Early Career......Page 200 Acknowledgments......Page 206 Notes......Page 208 Bibliography......Page 226 A......Page 238 B......Page 239 C......Page 240 D......Page 242 G......Page 243 H......Page 244 L......Page 245 M......Page 246 N......Page 247 R......Page 248 S......Page 249 T......Page 250 V......Page 251 Y......Page 252 Z......Page 253 In This Lively And Accessible Study, John Springhall Surveys The Major American Commercial And Popular Entertainments Of The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Showing How They Helped To Initiate The Era Of Mass Media. Featured Here Are Such Varied Forms As Blackface Minstrelsy, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, And Vaudeville, As Well As P.t. Barnum's American Museum, Freak Shows, And Circuses. Comprehensive And Engagingly Written, This Book Gives A Definitive Account Of A Key Period In The History Of American Popular Culture.--jacket. The American Museum: Barnum's Great Leap Forward -- The Freak Show Business: Step Right Up, Folks -- Blackface Minstrelsy: The First All-american Show -- The Americanized Circus: Barnum And Bailey In Excelsis -- Buffalo Bill's Wild West: American Culture Crosses The Atlantic -- Vaudeville I: Rise And Decline Of An Emergent Mass Culture -- Vaudeville Ii: Cultural Exchange, Departure, And Transmutation. John Springhall. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [215]-226) And Index.