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What was
vaudeville,
anyway?

Our understanding of history is riddled with myths and misconceptions, and the study of early 20th-century popular culture is no different. The TV history buff will note that many early 1950s stars like Milton Berle and Bob Hope were known to have "started out in vaudeville" in some dim theatrical past. Although Berle and Hope became TV icons, they do not fully define the 1880-1930 vaudeville genre. Vaudeville was much more than the stereotypical comic desperate for a laugh.

When taking a fresh look back, vaudeville was a simple concept: a respectable general audience variety show consisting of a dozen "acts" --- a meritocracy of singers, dancers, acrobats, lecturers --- unconnected by plot. Yet it grew into a dominant form of leisure, a coast-to-coast industry that flourished for 50 years, 1880-1930. Today it is difficult to fathom just how enormous the institution of vaudeville was on the cultural landscape of the early 20th century. At its peak there were over 2000 Vaudeville theatres in the U.S., plus 2000 other venues, with up to 50,000 performers --- plus thousands in related businesses. Large cities had numerous well-appointed theatres, while rural folk got their vaudeville at a Grange hall or showboat. For better or worse, the genre had a broadly homogenizing effect on the nations's popular culture tastes and attitudes.

Why study vaudeville? If the idea of vaudeville is so distorted, if the old acts are so out of fashion, and if the vaudevillians are long-gone, if even serious scholars mistakenly conflate vaudeville with demeaning minstrelsy and lowbrow burlesque, then why bother to introduce vaudeville as a topic of study?

The rationale? Once the vaudeville "industry" is accurately defined in the context of its time, it becomes evident that the topic serves as an illuminating prism through which the issues facing American society in the late 19th- and early 20th century come into view: race, gender, class, immigration, big business, technology, transportation, communication, population shift, and urbanization. Further, the influence of vaudeville is still with us today in popular culture, music, and entertainment. When taking a broad view, the study of vaudeville serves to illustrate the intertwined relationship of the arts, sciences, and commerce throughout the grand parade of human history.

Excerpted from The Curator's Primer on American Vaudeville by R. W. Bacon (2009).

Vaudeville, Variety, & Circus History

From our 21st-century perspective, it is understandably difficult to fathom how prominent vaudeville, variety, and circus entertainment were on the cultural landscape just a short century ago. All titles in this category, although each has its own focus, have relevant and illuminating content that help the reader place vaudeville in historical and cultural perspective.

Click on any book title below and you'll go to a page with a more detailed description of the book, a preview of selected pages, and a link to purchase and pay via PayPal.

Click on any title below for more information,
and to read the contents and introduction.


The Juggler's Trilogy
of Timeless Techniques:
All Three Rare Books
of Arcane Early-20th-Century
Juggling Artistry in One Volume
Compiled with Context & Commentary
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2021)
6x9 softcover; 320 pages;
175 diagrams & illustrations.
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-7-8
LOC: 2020951882

$30.00 (US) includes
USPS media mail shipping in the U.S.
(Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

OR! ... ORDER BOTH the Trilogy and Anthology for $55.00. Save five bucks! (See the separate "Buy Now" button below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


The Juggler's Anthology
of Venerable Veracities:
Practical Instruction, Applied Physics, & Insightful Observations
from Early Published Works
on the Juggler's Craft
Compiled with Context & Commentary
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2021)
6x9 softcover, 320 pages;
150 diagrams & illustrations.
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-5-4
LOC: 2020951886

$30.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.
(Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

OR! ... ORDER BOTH the Trilogy and Anthology for $55.00. Save five bucks! (See the separate "Buy Now" button below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Other titles with vaudeville, variety, and circus history-related content:


The Juggler's Alphabet Book:
The ABCs of Inspiration,
Encouragement, History, and Fun
for Literate Jugglers of All Ages
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2019)
6x9 softcover, 64 pages;
78 photos, 47 illustrations,
bibliography, & sources.
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-6-1
LOC: 2019904856

$14.00 (US) includes
USPS media mail shipping
in the U.S.
(Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Vintage from Vinyl: Early Recordings
of the Goodtime Ragtime
Vaudeville Revival (Book & CD set),
Presenting a Panorama
of Musical Americana,
a Collection of Music and Song
from the Ragtime, Jazz,
& Vaudeville Years
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2017)
6x9 softcover, 192 pages; includes music CD
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-0-9
LOC: 2016920942

$25.00 (US) includes
USPS media mail shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below, or on the
full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Chauncey Richmond
& "The Old Buckbee":
The Story of a Banjo,
its Maker, and Its Player
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2018)
6x9 softcover, 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-3-0
LOC: 2018905457

$22.00 (US) includes
USPS media mail shipping
in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the
full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Relevant titles in progress:

- The Curator's Guide to American Vaudeville 1880-1930, by R.W. Bacon.

- The Juggler's Gallery of Vaudevillian Antecedents: The Famous and Forgotten Jugglers of American Vaudeville 1880-1930, by R.W. Bacon.