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Working-Class Leisure in the Immigrant City
Activities
The Streets, the Saloon, and the Boxing Match
Boxing
The Rise of Professional Sports
Baseball
Other Sports
Vaudeville, Amusement Parks, and Dance Halls
Ragtime
Scott Joplin
In colonial time leisure wasn’t an issue because ministers said that “idleness” led to wickedness
With time some leisure appeared, but still hostility was present, and not until after the Civil War, with an increase of immigrants new patterns of leisure appeared
The working class danced, went to saloons, pool halls, walked the streets, visited amusement parks
Some activities were for both genders, while other attracted only one of the sexes
Young working women were in social clubs & dance halls
City streets were full of fun, with musicians and peddlers
Saloons accompanied most men in the streets, defining group identity and becoming immigrant political centers
Rougher saloons had prostitution and crime
Bare-knuckles prizefighting became an entertaining activity, with the very poor fighting it out
Amateur boxing also gained support of the elite
Rules with the use of gloves, no wrestling holds, and 3-minute rounds came from England and the sport was becoming professional
The 1st baseball team, New York Knickerbockers, were formed in 1845, with the sport originating from an old English game “rounders”
Other teams were organized too, Cincinnati Red Stockings, and others in the National League, which was organized in 1869
Baseball was attracting all class audience, but especially the working class