Amusing the Millions

„Amusing the Millions“

When I started to read this book at the beginning of the second week, I could not see why this topic is relevant for our class. However, two weeks later after finishing the book and with the knowledge of the things learned in class, I get it now.

But before, I want to give a short summary of the content of the book.  John F. Kasson writes about the social changes happening from the 1870s till World War I. He talks about the influences urban projects such as the Central Park and the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago had in changing the social minds of the people. The top of this mountain is Coney Island and the amusement park history there. Kasson focuses on this, to show the impact it had on all people and the changes that occur in the people’s social norms. So by telling especially the historical facts about the amusement parks at Coney Island, he also provides an insight into the social life of the common folk. There is much to say about this topic, however my task is not to tell the story of Coney Island, but to demonstrate how the phenomenon of Coney Island shows us the transformation of the American culture during the turn of the twentieth century and to tell what and why it changed.

In the late 19th century the “Victorian” way of live was the common one. The ideals for men of this lifestyle were to have self-control over yourself which included your vital body fluids and your sexual passion. Moreover, industry and steady work war also high goals. For women the “Victorian” ideals were modesty in dress (no skin was shown, so men do not have too much stimuli for their sexual passions), child nurture and that women should stay at home and provide a “haven” for the men from work, the competition, politics and the ruthlessness of industry and business. Success was important and Victorians believed that if they have self-control and work hard they will be successful and it was so. However in the period around the turn to the 20th century changed a lot. Due to the political and economic circumstances happening in the 1870s people did not anymore had faith in work, economy or their government. Abraham Lincoln’s idea of the government of, by and for the people was gone. People in the government were corrupted and influenced by the “Captains of Industry”. They could almost do whatever they wanted because they had enough influences in the government. In this time period not longer men who worked hard were successful; rather the speculators had success and build their wealth. This exactly was the opposite of the ideals of the “Victorian” ideology. People were desperate and unsatisfied. The main ideology then was the individualism. Everyone was looking out for themselves and how to get the best for your own. Especially with the movement to the West this ideology got bigger. The West was seen as a place where you can either have a “boom” or a “bust”. This area was especially successful because of the technological innovations and the building of the railroads.

However this system had his bad sides. On one hand it brought wealth to one group of the people; on the other it caused a double-digit unemployment rate. A lot of people lost their homes. They were called “tramps”. However it took not long till a response to these actions rose up.  Not only were several strikes throughout this period, but also a lot of groups were build. One of them was the “People’s Party”. They ideology is comparable to socialism, but it was called the populism. They cared about the normal folk. They wanted people who you could trust sitting in the government. Also the government and therefore the people should own industry sections such as the railroad, telegraph, telephones and they wanted a direct democracy.

Even though, the populist were beaten, their ideology and ideas were not. They were the basis for the next step in the reformation of the United States.

In such unpleasant times the people needed a place where they could still have their amusement and here comes the case of Coney Island into the game. Coney Island first was just a beach to relax, but when the amusement parks opened there it got a place where the folk could go and forget about all problems around them. It was a hideaway. The amusement park created a world of myths and just simple amusement. And as the parks got bigger and better accessible through better public transports more and more people came here. It was especially the place to be for young people. The social norms were new constructed. People wanted to be amused and the amusement industry grew fast in this years. New music styles got popular; the movie industry was build and grew and amusement parks were created. People needed a place where they could go and be in a world where they could forget about the daily life struggles they had in the cities. Coney Island created a imaginary world with all kinds of attractions, from simple games like the “Human Whirlpool”, over rollercoaster to a whole scenarios of past events. As the immigration got bigger, also different cultures came to the United States. Some of them were pretty exotic in the eyes of the American citizens. There were build whole attractions about some freaks of nature, which could do unbelievable things. Kasson also writes that “Besides freaks of nature, Coney Island further mocked the humdrum character of the larger society by presenting freaks of culture”^[1] like belly dancers and exotic animals. This imaginary world created a world where the social norms where newly defined. For example, there was a major shift in the sexual morals from the “Victorian” lifestyle. Numerous rides in the parks where created either to lift the skirts of women or show their legs or to give opportunities for cuddling and petting. So people got sexually more explicit. John F. Kasson described it as “… the sexual freedom the resort afforded”^[2].

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