Entertainment of the late 1800s & early 1900s

By: Kelly Binning and Sabrina Orth

Live Performances

• Vaudeville• Included: Song/Dance, Comedy, and a

chorus line of female performers.

• Barnum & Bailey Circus• Yearly circus that came by train.

Vaudeville

• Became more popular after “Sergeant's Great Vaudeville Company” was formed in 1871

• Benjamin Franklin Keith was the “father” of American Vaudeville• Developed the idea of a

“Continuous Vaudeville”• Many acts that

performed for 12 hours straight!

• Was originally for the enjoyment of the middle-class

•http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html

Barnum and Bailey Circus

• Phineas Taylor Barnum began life as a showman when he developed “Barnum’s American Museum”

• Included: “General Tom Thumb”, the Fiji Mermaid, Chang and Eng Bunker (Siamese Twins), and Anna Swan (the Giantess.)

• Eventually, this formed into the “Barnum and Bailey Circus.”

• His closest friend at the time was James Bailey, whom he went into business with.

• Bailey took over after P.T. Barnum died.

• After Bailey died, the Ringling Brothers took it over.

•http://www.jugglenow.com/circus-history.html

Music and Dance

• Scott Joplin • Pianist

• Ragtime Music• Became very popular during this time

period• The Cakewalk

• Accompanied Ragtime and Dixieland music

Scott Joplin

• When he was young, he had his first access to a piano at the house where his mother worked

• He was discovered by Julius Weiss who taught him further

• His first two publications were “Please Say You Will” and “A Picture of Her Face”

• In 1899, he developed his most famous rag, “Maple Leaf Rag”

• He was also skilled in playing the violin and cornet

• He died April 1st, 1917 due to tertiary syphilis

http://www.scottjoplin.org/biography.htm

Ragtime Music

• 4 main types:• “Classic” instrumental

rag• March-tempo piece for a

piano or band• Ragtime Songs

• Weren’t particularly “ragged” compared to most

• Syncopated Waltzes• Played in a ¾ time

signature• “Ragging” an existing

piece• Taking a well-known

melody and “jazzing” it up with syncopation

• Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” set off a ragtime craze

• Ragtime music and composers had a great impact on American Jazz that came later on• Influenced jazz musician,

“Jelly Roll” Morton• Influenced the development

of Dixieland music• Eventually, Ragtime died

out until the 1940s • A group of people began a

Ragtime Revival which didn’t catch on until the 1970s

•http://cnx.org/content/m10878/latest/

The Cakewalk

• The first (and probably most popular) dance that included African, European, and American traditions

• Originated as a dance competition between slaves on plantations

• Some moves can be related to the Irish Jig

• It influenced later dances:• The Charleston• The Lindy Hop• A group dance called the

“Big Apple”

•http://www.swingvirginia.com/reading/LindyHopOrigins-Thomas.html

Early Stars

• Sarah Burnhardt• Actress

• Lillie Langtry• Actress

• Jenny Lind• Singer

• Charlie Chaplin• Actor

• George L. Fox• Comedian

Sarah Burnhardt

• French actress born October 22, 1845• At the age of 13, she entered the

Conservatoire• She won prizes for acting in a

tragedy and comedy• Her first successes

• Cordelia in the French version of “King Lear”

• The queen in Victor Hugo’s “Ruy Blas”

• Zanetto in François Coppée's “Le Passant”

• In 1880-1881 she toured:• Denmark• Russia• America

• By 1896, she’d played 112 parts (38 that she’d created herself)

• In 1899, she played the part of Hamlet in the French version of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” with much success

•http://www.theatrehistory.com/french/bernhardt001.html

Lillie Langtry

• British Actress born October 13, 1853

• Before her acting career, she was well known for her beauty She appeared in London’s Haymarket and Lyceum theatres

• Her American debut was in the Park Theater, New York

• When she returned to England she was in:

• The ‘Degenerates’• ‘Belladonna’• ‘As you Like it’• ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’

• Her autobiography was published in 1925

• “The Days I Knew”

•http://www.hurstmereclose.freeserve.co.uk/html/lillie_langtry.html

Jenny Lind

• 1821 • Born in Stockholm, Sweden

• Age 10• She sang on the Stockholm

stage• At age 23

• She sang at festivals in Queen Victoria’s honor

• In 1847• First real concert

• P.T. Barnum realized her talent and advertised her shows

• Tickets sold easily in New York• She traveled to Paris where she

studied with Spanish vocal director, Manuel Garcia

• She died in 1887

•http://www.essortment.com/all/jennylind_rtiv.htm

Charlie Chaplin

• Born April 16th, 1889 in Walworth, England

• First stage appearance• Age 5, singing a song in the place of

his sick mother• Age 8

• Toured with the musical, “The Eight Lancaster Lads”

• Ages 17-24• In Fred Karno’s English Vaudeville

troupe• Toured in New York

• First movie• “Making a Living” (1914)

• After 1915, he wrote, directed, produced, scored, and starred in all his movies

• Won an Academy Award for “The Circus” (1928)

• Won an Oscar in 1929• 1975

• Knighted by the Queen of England

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000122/bio

George L. Fox

• Known as the “American Grimaldi”• (Grimaldi helped develop the

character of the Clown)• He introduced Grimaldi’s style

of “violent slapstick and topical satire” to America

• He gave over 1,000 performances on Broadway

• In 1867, he created his “Humpty Dumpty” production

• Ironically, he died of poisoning from the lead-based white clown makeup he wore

•http://www.clown-ministry.com/index_1.php/articles/george_fox_the_american_grimaldi_famous_white_face_clown/

The Silver Screen

• Made with• Silk or a synthetic fiber

• Tightly woven together and embedded with silver

• Used with low-power projectors• Downfalls

• Poor light distributors • Very narrow viewing angles• Hot-spotting (One part of the projection

“over saturates” the center, leaving the edges of the picture dark)

http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/silver-screen/

The First Movie

• The Great Train Robbery• Created in 1903• Directed by: Edwin S. Porter• Written by: Scott Marble• Runtime: 11 minutes• Summary: “The clerk at the

train station is assaulted and left tied by four men, then they rob the train threatening the operator. (They) take all the money and shoot a passenger when trying to run away. A little girl discovers the clerk tied and gives notice to the sheriff, who at once goes along with his men hunting the bandits.” –Michel Rudoy

• Starring: Justus D. Barnes and Gilbert M. Anderson

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000439/

Sports

• Baseball• Ice Hockey

• Founded

• Equestrian Sports

Baseball

• 1845• Alexander Cartwright published

a set of baseball rules. They were widely accepted

• 1869• Cincinnati Red Stockings were

the first salaried team• 1871

• National Association of Professional Baseball Players formed

• 1876• First major league (National

League) formed• 1884

• Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first African American major leaguer

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/jr1860s.html

Ice Hockey

• First played• Windsor, Nova Scotia, Kingston,

Ontario, Montreal, or Quebec• 1877

• First set of rules published in the Montreal Gazette

• 1888• The Amateur Hockey Association

of Canada formed• 1894

• First official hockey rink is opened in Baltimore, MA

• 1895• First international series matches

played by US colleges• 1900

• Goal net is first used• 1904

• International Hockey League formed

http://proicehockey.about.com/od/history/a/history_timelin.htm

Equestrian Sports

• 1820s• Montreal Foxhunt

established• 1840

• First steeplechase race held in Montreal

• 1900• First modern Olympic

events held in Paris• Show jumping, Long

jump, High jump• 1912

• Dressage and 3-day eventing introduced in Stockholm

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002633

The End

References• http://www.swingvirginia.com/reading/LindyHopOrigins-Thomas.html• http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html• http://www.jugglenow.com/circus-history.html• http://www.scottjoplin.org/biography.htm• http://cnx.org/content/m10878/latest/• http://www.clown-ministry.com/index_1.php/articles/george_fox_the_american_g

rimaldi_famous_white_face_clown/• http://www.theatrehistory.com/french/bernhardt001.html• http://www.hurstmereclose.freeserve.co.uk/html/lillie_langtry.html• http://www.essortment.com/all/jennylind_rtiv.htm• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000122/bio• http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/silver-screen/• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000439/• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/jr1860s.html• http://proicehockey.about.com/od/history/a/history_timelin.htm• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?

PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002633