2011•Unpublished venueRequires access
After Midnight
Peter C. Baldwin
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Abstract
This chapter examines after midnight recreation in American cities during the 1800s. It discusses the observation that amusements after midnight often led poverty, sickness, and sin, and describes some of the most popular after midnight activities which included dancing, drinking, whoring, and gambling. This chapter also explains that the people who haunted urban public spaces after midnight were said to be those who scoffed at the decency of the sunlit world, including the decadent rich, the irresponsible poor, and the criminal underworld.