Amusing the Millions

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So in summary, this book do not only describes us the history of the myth of Coney Island, but it rather shows us the major changes which happened in the social norms of the people. Furthermore, it also describes us how the industry has changed in this past years. Without the major technological innovations Coney Island could never have been build so quickly an imaginary world, which was a hideaway from the humdrum world in the cities.

“…, Coney Island exerted a special fascination.”[3] for the people of the progressivism. Around the turn to the 20th century a new political ideology flourished. The progressivism had special interest at Coney Island, because there they could see the need for change. A lot changed through the influence of the progressivism. First of all the governments were newly build. On the municipal level they started only to trust in experts, rather than people who “just” took a chance. On the state and federal level they decided that the government should regulate more over the big businesses like the railroads. Furthermore the 16th and 17th amendment to the Constitution were created. They regulated the graduate income tax and the direct election of Senators. On the social level there were also major changes. The food industry and the industry for consumer goods for women rose dramatically. Products like canned food, washing machines, floor sweepers and other were more popular as the reality of women’s work and expectations had changed in these years. Now the things which showed your personality were leisure and consumer culture. So that was also the reason why the amusement industry grew. It was socially highly recognized to go to movies, go to sport events or to do sports yourself, as golf, bicycling or to play tennis.

However another important aspect in this area was also to be aware of everything and to have an oversight of this. Many regulations were created in this period. An example is the food industry, where much stricter inspection and regulations were created to ensure a minimal quality of products.

In my opinion the progressivism brought many good things. However, to close this essay, I think that this political culture was a big step towards the basic idea of Abraham Lincoln: A government of, by and for the people. With that we start again at the beginning of this topic.

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