The taxi-dance hall : a sociological study in commercialized recreation and city life / by Paul G. Cressey ...

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cressey, Paul Goalby.

Series:

University of Chicago sociological series.

University of Chicago sociological series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Music-halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.)--Illinois--Chicago.

Music-halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.).

Chicago (Ill.)--Social conditions.

Chicago (Ill.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (335 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago, Ill : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

First published in 1932, The Taxi-Dance Hall is Paul Goalby Cressey's fascinating study of Chicago's urban nightlife-as seen through the eyes of the patrons, owners, and dancers-for-hire who frequented the city's notoriously seedy "taxi-dance" halls. Taxi-dance halls, as the introduction notes, were social centers where men could come and pay to dance with "a bevy of pretty, vivacious, and often mercenary" women. Ten cents per dance was the usual fee, with half the proceeds going to the dancer and the other half to the owner of the taxi-hall. Cressey's study includes detailed maps of the taxi-dance districts, illuminating interviews with dancers, patrons, and owners, and vivid analyses of local attempts to reform the taxi-dance hall and its attendees. Cressey's study reveals these halls to be the distinctive urban consequence of tensions between a young, diverse, and economically independent population at odds with the restrictive regulations of Prohibition America. Thick with sexual vice, ethnic clashes, and powerful undercurrents of class, The Taxi-Dance Hall is a landmark example of Chicago sociology, perfect for scholars and history buffs alike.

Contents:

Frontmatter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

I. A Night in the Taxi-Dance Hall

II. The Taxi-Dance Hall as a Type

III. The Taxi-Dance Hall as a Social World

IV. The Family and Social Backgrounds of the Taxi- Dancer

V. The Life-Cycle of the Taxi-Dancer

VI. The Patron: Who He Is; Why He Comes

VII. The Filipino and the Taxi-Dance Hall

VIII. The Origins of the Taxi-Dance Hall

IX. The Taxi-Dance Hall Meets the Public

X. Competition, Conflict, and Specialization among Taxi-Dance Halls

XI. The Location of the Taxi-Dance Hall

XII. Personal Demoralization

XIII. The Taxi-Dance Hall and Social Reform

INDEX

Notes:

Originally published: 1932.

ISBN:

9786611959463

9781281959461

1281959464

9780226120546

0226120546

OCLC:

476229791