The National Police Gazette and the Making of the Modern American Man, 1879–1906

This book analyzes the National Police Gazette, the racy New York City tabloid that gained an audience among men and boys of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Looking at how images of sex, crime, and sports reflected and shaped masculinities during this watershed era, this book amounts to a story of what it meant to be an American man at the beginning of the American Century. Abstract: This book analyzes the National Police Gazette, the racy New York City tabloid that gained an audience among men and boys of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Looking at how images of sex, crime, and sports reflected and shaped masculinities during this watershed era, this book amounts to a story of what it meant to be an American man at the beginning of the American Century "For generations during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, The National Police Gazette was a leading New York City men's tabloid magazine that celebrated scandal, crime, sex, and sports. It used splashy woodcut illustrations to highlight various aspects of masculinities and challenges to masculinities, gaining large numbers of mostly male readers in taverns, barbershops, and gambling halls. During this period, the Gazette portrayals highlighted, decried, and sensationalized the responses of men and women to the vices of Victorian America. In this volume, the Gazette is examined on a variety of levels, including its use of garish illustrations, its focus on tough guys, its obsession with beautiful women, its racy advertising, and its views on class and race. The tabloid, which circulated nationally and, later, internationally, became known as the "Barbershop Bible" because of its ubiquity in these male-dominated domains Cover 1 The NATIONAL POLICE GAZETTE and the Making of the Modern American Man, 1879–1906 4 Contents 8 List of Tables 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 13 1 Lives of the Felons 28 2 An Illustrated Journal of Sporting and Sensational Events 52 3 This Wicked World 68 4 Masculinities and the Manly Arts 101 5 Fox and Sullivan: The Brawl That Started It All 118 6 The Girl on the Police Gazette 153 7 Patron of Sport: Richard Kyle Fox (1846–1922) 185 Epilogue 204 Notes 210 Bibliography 242 IndexNote: 252 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-15 Lives of the Felons....Pages 17-40 An Illustrated Journal of Sporting and Sensational Events....Pages 41-56 This Wicked World....Pages 57-89 Masculinities and the Manly Arts....Pages 91-107 Fox and Sullivan: The Brawl That Started It All....Pages 109-143 The Girl on the Police Gazette....Pages 145-176 Patron of Sport: Richard Kyle Fox (1846–1922)....Pages 177-195 Epilogue....Pages 197-202 Back Matter....Pages 203-251 Through these outlets and others, The National Police Gazette reflected a generation's views on gender and helped create a culture of manhood that survives even today."--Jacket Guy Reel. Revision Of Thesis (doctoral), Ohio University. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [235]-244) And Index.