Lisa's Nostalgia Cafe--The 1910s Lifestyle


Activities & Trends Hallowe'en In olden times, November first was known as All Hallow's Day. In some cultures, it was a time to celebrate the end of summer, while in other cultures it was a time to remember the dearly departed. October 31st was known as All Hallow's Eve, or Hallowe'en. On this night, the spirits of the dead were said to walk the earth. People dressed in scary costumes to ward off the spirits. In the 1910s, Halloween was strictly a fun holiday for young people. Some activities were still rather spooky, especially the fortunetellers and parlor games that were a part of every Halloween party. Other activities included bobbing for apples, building a bonfire and partaking of donuts, apples, popcorn and a cider keg. At college, young men dressed in simple costumes such as scarecrows and tramps. Trick-or-treating wasn't common yet, but playing pranks certainly was! The outhouse was the subject of most pranks. In the morning, it might be tipped over, or it might be halfway down the street blocking the door of the local drugstore! Soaping windows, removing fence gates and lifting buggies onto the schoolhouse roof were also common. History Of Mother's Day	-----	These Halloween postcards illustrate two passions of the 1910s....Halloween parlor games and sending holiday postcards. The goal of Halloween parlor games was to predict romance. After you recited a spell or performed a certain action, your "true love" would be revealed to you. One game involved peeling an apple, making sure that the peel remained in one piece. When done, the player threw the peel over her shoulder, and when it hit the ground the shape that was formed would reveal the initial of her true love's name. Mirrors were a big part of Halloween folklore. In many games the image of your true love would supposedly be revealed in a mirror. other holidays Mother's Day was first celebrated in a West Virginia church in 1907. It was observed by every state in 1911 and became an official national holiday in 1914. The first Father's Day was celebrated in 1910. Although it wasn't a national holiday yet, its observance spread throughout the country during this decade. Click here to see more holiday stuff!
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A young man's New Year's resolutions for 1917 cut down cigar bill one-half spend less on clothes from the tailor cultivate friends who pay their own way woo and wed a good, noble woman take water instead of wine shake dimes in my pocket instead of dice write at least once a week to Mother cut out costly dinners at restaurants --1917 small town newspaper Now is the time to place your order for lighting that Christmas tree with some of my small electric lights. See R.G. Turner at Tripp's Studio or phone 156-M-3. --1911 newspaper ad		Notice I hereby forbid anyone selling or giving cigars, cigarettes or tobacco in any form to my son, Kenneth Smith HIRAM SMITH --1916 small town newspaper
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		postcards The first postcards were mailed in Austria in 1869. During the 1870s, many European countries issued official government mailing cards depicting national landmarks and heads of state. Some countries also authorized the use of private mailing cards. The United States introduced mailing cards in 1873, but postal regulations prohibited the use of illustrations. This changed in 1893 when the post office began to permit picture postcards. In the 1900s, several factors came together to create a postcard craze. Before 1907, regulations required that the front of the card contain both the message and illustration. When this regulation was reversed in 1907, the message and address could share space on the back, leaving the front free for larger and more elaborate pictures. Also in the 1900s, improved photographic methods made the photo postcard popular. The postcard craze lasted until the 1920s. Printed and embossed holiday postcards were astonishingly beautiful. Some holiday postcards used photographs of models posing in holiday scenes. Many people had their private photos made into postcards. There were numerous places that performed this service, and people who developed their own pictures could buy photo processing paper with postcard backs. Most holiday postcards were printed in Germany. When World War I broke out, Americans had a distaste for all things German, and this helped bring about the end of the postcard craze.
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Kewpies Rose O'Neill created the Kewpie in 1909. These exceedingly cute little creatures first appeared in magazine drawings and poems. The name "kewpie" comes from the word "cupid." The first Kewpie books were published in 1910. Before too long there were Kewpie Kutouts (paper dolls), Whiting's Kewpie Papers (note paper for children), Kewpie comic strips, Kewpie postcards and every other type of collectible imaginable. The Kewpie Doll was introduced in 1913. All About Kewpies Kewpie Postcards Beyond Nancy Drew: Literature For Girls The Stratemeyer Syndicate Pollyanna Baum's Oz Books Read Dime Novels Online Dime Novel Collection Playing marbles, 1915 dime novels Dime novels were full-length adventure stories published in softcover format. Like magazines or comic books, they belonged to a series, and each series released a new story on a weekly or monthly basis. When they were introduced in the 1860s, dime novels featured wild west stories written for adults. By the 1910s, they were aimed at a younger audience, and the topics had expanded to include tales of mystery, hard work, athletics, intrigue, thrift and virtue. Wild west stories were still popular, only now they glorified a way of life that no longer existed.		books for kids The book series was extremely popular in the 1910s. Many were published by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which created a formula for each series and hired authors to write the stories under pen names. Automobiles, airplanes, wireless, baseball, camping, movies....the fads of the day all made their way into children's books. In 1911, Tom Swift And His Wireless Message, Or The Castaways Of Earthquake Island was the first Stratemeyer book with a wireless theme. The Motor Boys and Motor Maids series featured stories of children having adventures with their cars. The first Oz book, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, was written by L. Frank Baum and was published in 1900. Baum wrote 13 additional Oz books before his death in 1919. Stratemeyer series The Rover Boys The Bobbsey Twins The Motor Boys Tom Swift Pioneer Boys Outdoor Chums Motion Picture Comrades Air Service Boys Baseball Joe The Boys Of The Wireless Ruth Fielding non-Stratemeyer series Raggedy Ann Stories The Ocean Wireless Boys The Campfire Girls The Motor Maids The Motor Girls Oz series Polly series The Kewpies other books Pollyanna dime novels Nick Carter Library Buffalo Bill Stories Pluck & Luck Jesse James Stories Tip Top Weekly (Frank Merriwell) Brave & Bold Weekly Work & Win (Fred Fearnot) Might & Main Nick Carter Weekly All Around Weekly Diamond Dick Jr. Old Sleuth Weekly Wild West Weekly
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at school Public education entered a period of transition in the 1910s. Our society was coming to regard education as a neccessity rather than a luxury, and some changes were being made. more kindergartens The first privately-owned and charity-supported kindergartens were established in the 1850s. In the 1870s, some public school systems began to include kindergartens in their curriculum. By 1898, there were 4,000 public kindergartens in America. In the 1910s, the National Congress Of Mothers & Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) campaigned for the adoption of kindergarten by all public school systems. nutrition for all At the turn of the century, 34 percent of city children left for school with little or no breakfast. Most likely an equal number of children couldn't afford a proper lunch. In 1894, the Boston school system was the first to serve free or low-priced lunches to children. By 1912, there were similar programs in 40 cities. The PTA was instrumental in setting up many of these "penny kitchens." junior high In the 1900s, educators began to regard adolescence as a separate stage in life. In the 1910s, this new idea resulted in the division of some schools into grammar schools and junior high schools. curriculum & facilities The McGuffey Readers were still being used to teach children to read, as they had been since the 1830s. In 1915, some states began to adopt a standardized curriculum. In urban schools the use of playground equipment was catching on. The first educational films were also used during this decade. At the high school level, students were being guided into academic and vocational "tracks." Classes in ethics, health, family life and job skills were also being added to the lineup.	-----	the consolidation question Traditionally, each town and rural one-room school had its own school district. In my county this resulted in nearly 150 separate school districts. Now and then, the question of whether or not to consolidate came up: should we combine the rural and town schools into larger districts? "The one-room school will doubtless be with us always. The tendency towards consolidated schools can not increase too fast." This 1912 quote summarized the way many people felt about consolidation. In 1917, after much debate, my county voted not to consolidate. compulsory education A compulsory education law requires that students attend school until a certain age. Only 42 states had a compulsory education law in 1914, and the Bureau of Education mounted a campaign to get the remaining six states to adopt similar laws. They were successful, and by 1918 all 48 states had a compulsory education law. Depending on the state, the legal dropout age ranged from 12 to 18, with 16 being the most common. The rules were very complicated....in most states, a student could leave school before the compulsory age if he had reached the minimum exemption age, or if he had a valid work permit and had attained the minimum level of education. In some states, students who quit school in order to work were required to attend part-time day schools from four to eight hours per week.
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dances & balls Dances were extremely popular during the 1910s. During the cold winter months, hardly a weekend went by that didn't include a dance sponsored by a fraternal organization or local pleasure club. In the summer you could usually find a dance every night of the week, especially if there were summer resorts nearby.		Click here to see more dances and balls!
For the well-to-do, the social season included plenty of elegant balls. Wealthy people enjoyed holding balls in their homes. Charity, holiday and debutante balls were held in the finest hotel in town. Ladies wore beautiful gowns and above-the-elbow white gloves. Their hairstyles consisted of upswept creations held in place with ribbons, beads, headbands and feathers. Spectators gathered outside to watch the guests arrive, hoping to catch a glimpse of the beautiful fashions, carriages and automobiles. Ladies carried dance cards listing the dances that would be played that evening, followed by blank lines. Men reserved dances with the ladies by writing their names on the blank lines. In the 1910s, this type of glamorous social function was approaching the end of its popularity. In the 1920s, it would be replaced by informal dances and nightclubs.


this section is divided into 2 parts:	-----	-----
Activities & Trends Hobbies, attitudes, recreation, everyday life		Products, Technology & Careers Consumer products, automobiles, common jobs, phonographs, wireless


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