Context: Arts & Entertainment

BOOKS
Books from the early 1900's were Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Jack London's The Call of the Wild, and Edith Wharton's The Fruit of the Tree.

Books that made the bestseller's list from 1900 - 1914 included To Have and To Hold by Mary Johnston, The Crisis by Winston Churchill, The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke, Sandy by Alice Hegan Rice, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter.

ENTERTAINMENT

Sources of entertainment between 1900 and 1914 seem limited compared to today.

• Baseball
• Barbershop quartets were one of the favorite types of music, "Sweet Adeline" was one of the most popular songs of the decade
• Nickelodeons were a favorite among men, where one could pay a nickel to see short moving pictures which were often racy.
• Radios and hand cranked victrolas became popular during this period
• Broadway musicals were very successful 
• Ballroom dancing, Vaudeville, and ragtime also became popular during this time period

MUSIC

In the 1900s sheet music became easier to print, bringing the cost gradually from $2.00 down to about $.25 as buying the music became more popular. Ragtime became a favorite with the popularity of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." At the same time, jazz became popular in the red light district of New Orleans. At the same time, phonographs and gramophones were beginning to appear in homes across the US. Since electric recording hadn't yet replaced acoustic recording, the musicians had to record their music straight into the recording horn.

SONGS

• "In My Merry Oldsmobile"
• "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine"
• "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home"
• "The Darktown Strutters Ball," which shows racial prejudices of this time

FILM MAKING

The 1900's marked the beginning of the new century for movie production. In the 1900's there was a lack of creativity in movie production. The movies consisted of the same themes...people being watched through a keyhole, a man kissing a pretty woman only to wake up in bed next to his wife, and children doctoring a kitten. in the 1900's French films were the best to watch. France was the leading country in movie making, due to quality, and scenery. In 1906 animation was born, but did not grow until 1914 when technology was better. The first motion picture that was made was 15 minutes long. Movies such as "Stop Thief!", and "Fire!" were popular the 1900's. Books were being made into movies, and films. For instance Harriett Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". Ferdinand Zecca made many films in the 1900's, such as "Puss in boots", "Joan of Arc", and "Cinderella." Also in 1914 Hollywood was born, and many movie directors went to the west to produce movies due to the scenery...

ON SCREENS AND IN THEATERS

1903- "The Gay Shoe Clerk"
- A kiss on film
- shows an ankle
- flaunts Victorian Period
- "The Great Train Robbery"
- most commercially successful of the pre-Griffith era.
- realism on film
1905- Nickelodian (nickel theater) opens in Pittsburgh
1908- National Board of Censorship formed to establish uniform guidelines for stste and local sensors
1909- Motion Picture Patents Company pools patent on motion picture equipment and attempts to freeze out competitors


Jerome Kern- Between 1904 and 1909 had over 50 shows being performed including: "The Great White Way", "Fascinating Flora", "The Orchid", and "The Earl and the Girl"


Irvin Berlin- Shows included "The Boys and Betty", "The Girl and the Whiz", "The Jolly Bachelors", and "Ziegfield Follies".