Burlesque and the city

Scrutinizes the elaborate relationship between the developing industrial city & the community saloon & burlesque theater in the late 19th & early 20th centuries. Both provided a special type of entertainment that functioned as vital communal institutions in the city for traditional middle- & upper-class patrons as well as for newly arrived Southern & Central European immigrants & agrarian migrants. Establishment of the saloon & burlesque reflected & promoted the vast changes occurring in social mores & urban relationships. Offering a format of ethnic comedy, risque language, & female nudity standing in direct conflict with the values & practices of Victorian culture, the saloon & burlesque were viewed as threats to social fabric. Yet, opposition to them was a consequence of an antiurban animus deeply rooted in US thought. Nonetheless, their extensive reach & duration significantly expanded the boundaries of comedy throughout the 20th century. 10 References. Adapted from the source document.