AMERICA 1900-1910 -- "SUMMER DAYS" (Part 1)

SEIFERT

Posted By: David (email)
Date: 3/11/2004 at 11:59:49

'AMERICA 1900-1910'

"Summer Days"

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^^THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME^^

Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

-- Henry James, as quoted by Edith Wharton

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"There's nothing like the good old summer time," mused the song writer and vaudeville star George "Honey Boy" Evans in l902, during an alfresco luncheon with fellow musicians at Brighton Beach, near New York. Apparently the rest of the nation agreed; Evans' casual remark, given a lilting melody and a set of lyrics, became one of the most popular songs of the decade.

There was no doubt, in fact, that summer was the season people loved best. For children it conjured up images of Fourth of July parades, baseball games, a favorite swimming hole or a romp in a haystack. For their parents, it meant carefree outings in the countryside, excursions to trolley parks, perhaps a trip to one of the decade's "World's Fairs," and, most important of all, a chance to take part in a brand new American institution -- the two-week summer vacation.

With the first warm weather, thousands of Americans began a migration to resort hotels in the mountains or at the seashore. Though accommodations were often cramped, the vacationers' mood was as expansive and carefree as the ocean itself. "Everything goes in summer," was the popular phrase, despite the cautionary advice of a popular etiquette book that "promiscuous intimacies at summer resorts are a great mistake!"

Many summer watering spots were decidedly honky-tonk. "Atlantic City," said Cosmopolitan, "is the eighth wonder of the world. It is overwhelming in its crudeness." Lining its sandy beach was "a lunatic's dream of peep-shows, cigar shops, merry-go-rounds, hotels, bazaars, fortune tellers' booths (and) seven miles of board walk crowded with forty thousand human beings."

For those who could not travel, the same sort of carnival excitement could be found at trolley parks near the edges of almost every large city. Built by street car companies to attract fares, these gaudy establishments, with their Ferris wheels, band concerts, baseball games, vaudeville acts and boating ponds, offered both recreation and relief from the oppressive heat of the city. Half the fun, it seemed, was getting there -- the pleasure of the cooling breeze produced by the speeding trolley car on its way to the park.

But despite its thrills and excitements, the real enjoyments of summer were the simple ones -- the chance to get out of doors, to stroll down a tree-shaded lane and to experience the general feeling that times were good and life in America was indeed worth living.

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In the first decade, America proudly put on five so-called "World's Fairs" or major regional expositions. Vacationers flocked to these gaudy shows, to wander down the midway or marvel at the flamboyant buildings with their wondrous exhibits -- Japanese gardens, American airships and strange new electrical gadgets such as automatic dishwashers.

The most spectacular fair of the decade, the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904, attracted nearly 20 million visitors and inspired a song hit: "Meet Me in St. Louis."

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For a little boy, summer was a magic time of safe adventure, exploring with a small friend the weed-strewn wonders of the oceanside, or daring to clamber in the branches of a tall tree with a larger friend who would never, never let you fall.

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Midsummer weather softened the corporate heart of many an otherwise gruff employer, who sometimes made it a practice to treat his staff to an outing in the countryside. Employees and their families, like these wards of the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company, who rode specially hired trolly cars to Waukesha Beach, Wisconsin, had a full day of picknicking, ball games, potato races - and gallon after gallon of soft drinks and beer.

THE END of This Fabulous Century!

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Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
March 9, 2004