  Write two well prepared sentences explaining how the late 19 th Century was a Gilded Age.  Be sure to explain what Gilded means and how this description applies to America during the time period. Opening Assignment

  As the industrialization of America brought more people into the urban working classes and the working day was regulated at around 8 hours by 1900 Americans began searching for leisure activities.  Amusement parks like Cooney Island in southern Brooklyn drew daredevils to the rollercoaster.  The worlds first Ferris Wheel in Chicago at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition also drew huge crowds. Chapter 8 Sect. 4: The Dawn of Mass Culture

  Early bicycles had a huge front wheel and were very difficult to maneuver.  In 1885 the new “safety bicycle” with a low frame and air filled tires made riding enjoyable and common.  The bicycle also helped move women out of the home more regularly and required new attire to cycle.  The women’s rights leader Susan B. Anthony said; “the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world”. The Bicycle becomes popular in the late 19 th century

 Two types of Bicycles

  How did the bicycle allow women more freedom? Question

  How did the bicycle allow women more freedom?  Change to women’s attire.  Allowed easier movement outside of the home.  Created self reliance.  Offered more freedom and an opportunity to escape the old custom of chaperones. Question

  Baseball became the US pass time during the late 1800’s and by the 1890’s had standard diamond size, official rules, and published schedules.  Mark Twain called baseball “the very symbol… and visible expression of the drive and push and rush and struggle of the raging, tearing, booming 19 th century”. Spectator Sports

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  In addition to baseball, boxing was extremely popular.  Boxing results would be transmitted over the telegraph prior to the radio becoming popular and crowds would gather in hotel lobbies to listen to the results read.  A popular collegiate sport by the name of football was gathering large followings in college towns. Spectator Sports

  Increasing numbers of Americans attended school and learned to read allowing the spread of mass circulating newspapers for as cheap as one cent.  Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian immigrant, bought the New York World newspaper and helped bring about the large Sunday edition paper. He included comics, sports coverage and women’s news in the Sunday edition.  Pulitzer’s paper emphasized “sin, sex and sensation” in an effort to sell as many papers as possible regardless of whether it was the truth or not. Mass Culture

  As literacy rates rose in the US fiction writing and the popularity of cheap fiction novels also increased.  Samuel Langhorne Clemens or as you know him MARK TWAIN inspired a host of young writers especially when he declared his independence from “literature and all that bosh”. Popular Fiction

  Along with new leisure activities Americans began to change the way they shopped.  The US’s first shopping center opened in 1890 in Cleveland, Ohio.  Marshall Field first introduced the Department Store to the US in 1865 with specialized departments.  Field’s motto was “give the lady what she wants”. Consumer Culture

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 Marshall Field’s Department Store, Chicago Illinois

  Chain stores, or retail stores offering the same merchandise under one owner, offered goods for less by buying large quantities and limiting personal service.  Along with stores mail order catalogs became popular as the US Postal Service began to offer Rural Free Delivery of packages delivered directly to homes. Consumer Culture

  One year the Sears Roebuck Company was reported to have sold more than 100,000 bicycles to the American consumer. Building a retail empire on the motto "The Customer is always right!" and the 100% Guaranteed Satisfaction return policy, Sears Roebuck developed uncompromising trust with the public. Sears Roebuck & Co.

 The Sears Crosstown Building, Midtown Memphis

 Sears Crosstown Building circa 1927

  Along with more print media and higher literacy rate the US also experienced an explosion of advertising.  Expenditures for advertising in 1865 were under $10 million, but by 1900 had increased to $95 million.  Advertisers came up with ingenious methods to push their products, like signs for products on the sides of barns, houses, billboards or rocks along railroad tracks. Consumer Culture

  Answer the following questions on a piece of paper. Write at least 3 complete sentences. 1.Which of the topics from today’s lesson have taken root in American culture and are still common today? 1.Which topics are still around but have taken on a different forms? 1.What aspects of our culture today in 2015 do you predict will be around in 100 years? Ticket out the door