Banjo

Entertainment 1860-1920

If the day's labors didn't exhaust members of a farm family, there were many forms of entertainment both at home and in town to appeal to young and old alike. At home, a parent might read aloud from the latest dime novel; someone might entertain with music, a puppet show; or a new set of stereo cards might prompt families to get a 3D view of exotic places or humorous tableaus--scenes of a grown up sliding down a stairway handrail, for instance, or of a maid balancing an apple on her upturned nose behind elegant diners. But families often traveled to neighboring farms for barn dances, sometimes with a full band of musicians in attendance, often with a single fiddler, even in some communities with only vocal accompaniment provided by singing onlookers, and no instruments at all. Many other forms of entertainment drew farm families to town. Circuses were wildly popular, as were musical performances in church socials. Visiting lecturers' topics varied widely from travel logs with magic lantern slides to serious issues of the day or comedy and dramatic readings, all attracting large audiences from miles around. Equally popular was live theater with performances ranging from Shakespeare, to opera, to vaudeville. Some examples of those are abolitionist and advocate for Native Americans Wendell Phillips, or noted newspaper editor, reformer and politician Horace Greeley and activist and suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Some stage performances include Merchant of Venice and a vaudeville show, "The Ladies' Battle." 

Kalamazoo Direct to You - Highlights
  1. Checker Cab
  2. Smelting Pot
  3. Gibson Guitars
  4. Homer Stryker and his Revolutionary Bed
  5. Upjohn's Pills
  6. A. M. Todd
  7. People of the Three Fires
  8. The General Store
  9. New Settlers to Kalamazoo: The Importance of the General Store
  10. Something for Everyone at the General Store
  11. The Finer Things in Life: Saving for the General Store
  12. Hub of Information: The General Store
  13. 1848 General Store Ledger
  14. Farm Life 1860-1940
  15. Entertainment 1860-1920
  16. "Wash Day"
  17. Food Preparation 1870-1930
  18. Squirrel Tailed Pumper
  19. The Kalamazoo Mall
  20. Victor Gruen: The Man with a Plan
  21. Dreams We Shared
  22. The 1980 Kalamazoo Tornado
  23. Lincoln's Speech
  24. Mystery of the Mummy