Welcome back to the Gilded Age, historians! This time, for some fun. Picture yourself strolling along the bustling boardwalk of Coney Island. You are immersed in the sights, sounds, and smells of this thrilling new world of amusement. [Offscreen voice] The transformation of Coney Island into an enormous playground is the marvel of the age. Never before has there been anything quite like it. Every form of entertainment that can appeal to the young or old, rich or poor, has been provided. The people of New York have taken it into their hearts, and it is already one of the glories of the country roundabout. [JaQwan] The Gilded Age was a time of great change, reshaping the American economy and leading many to embrace urban life, finding ways to make it more bearable. But beyond the city streets, a vibrant world of new goods and leisure activities emerged, changing how people spent their free time away from work. Today, historians will turn back the clock to explore mass consumption and leisure culture during the Gilded Age. And by the end of the journey, you might find that the America we're studying is beginning to look a lot like the world you live in today. Your learning objectives are to describe the factors that contributed to the rise of mass consumerism during the Gilded Age, describe the growth of leisure activities, and explain the impact that mass consumerism and leisure had on American society and culture. With industrialization and mass production on the rise, a wider range of affordable products flooded the market, tantalizing shoppers with a dazzling array of goods. Can you remember some things from this unit that have made this all possible? The factory system and new technologies allowed businesses to produce them for lower costs, and better transportation and communication systems made it easier than ever for people to access these new goods by visiting shops or ordering them from a catalog. But what convinced people to buy all of these new products? Enter the world of advertising and marketing. A whole industry emerged to cater to the growing middle class, flush with expendable income and looking for ways to spend it. Clever advertisers developed new techniques to persuade consumers to buy products they didn't really need, appealing to emotions, writing catchy slogans and jingles, or creating attractive packaging to entice customers. Retail stores were quick to adapt, with new outlets emerging to cater to increasing demand. Macy's and Marshall Field's department stores became one-stop shops for customers, offering many goods under one roof. Five and ten cent stores like Woolworth's and McCrory's provided more affordable options for shoppers, and the revolutionary mail order catalogs like Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward allowed people in rural areas to access the same products available in cities, all at competitive prices. Can you imagine flipping through those catalogs and dreaming of the latest fashions and gadgets? Of course you can! That's what Amazon is, right? But wait, there's more! Let's say you want to buy a new sewing machine, a fantastic new time-saving device, but it's just too expensive to pay for all at once. That's where credit and installment plans came in. Credit was a cash advance from a bank; it allowed people to purchase goods or services on the promise of paying it back to the bank later, with interest or a borrowing fee. Now, this made it possible for consumers to make larger purchases than they could afford to pay immediately. Installment plans, or the buy now, pay later system, let people pay stores for their purchases in small, more manageable amounts over time. These kinds of payment plans made expensive items like furniture and appliances more affordable for middle-class Americans during the Gilded Age. Do you think the rise of mass consumerism during the Gilded Age has had a lasting impact on our current society? Explain in your PDF. Now, not all new products were tangible goods; there were also new experiences for sale. The Gilded Age was a time of exciting new leisure activities to fill people's free time. What are some of your favorite leisure activities outside of the home today? You might like some of the same things as people from the Gilded Age. Spectator sports grew very popular, with baseball earning the title of the national pastime. But baseball wasn't the only game in town; boxing, horse racing, and football also attracted huge crowds. And it wasn't just about watching; middle- and upper-class folks loved playing amateur sports like tennis and golf. There was also the thrill of the Coney Island amusement park, which was a hot spot for relaxation and entertainment, offering a range of attractions from roller coasters to games or prizes. They were popular spots for dating as well. Can you picture people in fancy outfits riding Ferris wheels and eating cotton candy? Theatre lovers flocked to vaudeville and magic shows, where they could enjoy comedy acts, music, and dance performances. Cheap tickets made these shows accessible to people from all social classes, unlike the opera. Print expanded, too, with newspapers becoming more affordable and magazines catering to specific interests. This led to investigative journalism and exposing unethical business practices but also comic books and baseball cards. We'll focus more on journalism in a later lesson. These forms of entertainment offered an escape from the stresses of everyday life and allowed Americans to explore new worlds and ideas, the first of many solutions that helped make the strains of life more bearable. This trend of seeking leisure activities hasn't stopped; today, we have streaming audio and video content on tons of platforms, catering to interests like sports, music, movies, and TV. Can you see any similarities between the leisure activities of the Gilded Age and leisure today? Share your thoughts in your PDF! As the Gilded Age progressed, these leisure activities had a major impact on American society and culture, which we'll look at next. Mass consumerism and leisure brought about big changes to Gilded Age society. One major shift was in gender roles. Women were increasingly targeted as consumers. To sell to them, advertisers depicted an ideal woman as one who was fashionable, refined, and skilled in domestic duties. But not all women accepted these expectations. A "new woman" emerged who was educated, independent, and politically engaged. This too led to reforms that we'll explore in a future lesson. Individualism and self-expression also took center stage for all Americans. Technologies like the camera and phonograph allowed people to capture and share sights and sounds, and sports and literature provided avenues for people to express themselves and explore hobbies. But, as with any significant change, there were setbacks. Can you think of a reason from this unit or a previous one that would explain why some people would have a hard time fully participating in leisure culture? Pay for many workers was low; they had little time or money to participate, and society was racially divided, with segregation laws forcing black citizens to form their own leagues to join in on the fun. Some critiqued mass consumerism and leisure as evidence of social inequality and moral decay. Thorstein Veblen, a sociologist and economist of the time, said, [Offscreen voice] "No general increase of the community's wealth can make any approach to satiating this need, the ground of which is the desire of every one to excel every one else in the accumulation of goods." In other words, he believed advertisers created a desire for products, making us obsessed with things instead of focusing on what truly matters for a good life. He called it "conspicuous consumerism" and disapproved. Considering the products and activities available and Veblen's perspective, do you think consumerism has had a positive or negative impact on society today? Let's review! Mass consumerism and leisure activities transformed American society during the Gilded Age, affecting everything from gender roles to the way people spent their free time. These changes continue to shape our modern world and the way we live today. Try to put yourself in the shoes of someone living through the Gilded Age. How do you think you would have responded to the explosion of consumerism and leisure activities? And in what ways does this historical context help you understand your own relationship with consumer culture today? Next time, we'll head to Hawaii and Cuba to investigate the age of imperialism. Until then, historians, remember — shaping the future begins with understanding the past.