Maps the amusements, spectacles, and social ambitions of Gilded Age America

On the Town in the Gilded Age tracks the expansion of entertainment venues and delectable edibles that lured Americans into public spaces where good times waited just for them. While the decades following the Civil War to WWI are best known for industrial growth and urban expansion, the era also offered rewarding diversions for a rising population eager for leisure and amusement as an entitlement of American life. Gilded Age America awoke to a new world of entertainment and tempting fare from formal dinners to streetside vendors’ carts. Coast-to-coast and from all walks of life, “on the town” excursions took place throughout the seasons for those enjoying ample free time as for those wedging a few hours from workdays in or outside the household. The yacht and the roller coaster mark the era’s polarity and its parallels. For the elite, being out “on the town” could mean an exquisite supper in a restaurant after an evening at the theater or opera, while middle and working class Americans frequented sporting events, promenades, and theme parks throughout the country.

Cecelia Tichi provides a cultural history that explores cultural expectations, compensations, and the public scrutiny playing their role through the era, with the establishment of etiquette guides, Progressive organizations, and the growing public relations field. Drawing upon memoirs, novels, travel guides, recipes, fine art, and graphic illustrations, On the Town in the Gilded Age showcases the expanding entertainment scene, spectacles, and socio-economic class distinctions present throughout the Gilded Age.