Gay Nineties facts for kids
The Gay Nineties is a fun, old-fashioned name for the 1890s in the United States. It's a term that makes people think of a happy and carefree time. In the United Kingdom, the same period was sometimes called the Naughty Nineties. This was because of some new art styles and social changes happening there.
Even though it's called the "Gay Nineties," meaning "happy nineties," this decade also had some tough times. A big economic crisis, called the Panic of 1893, caused a widespread economic slowdown in the U.S. This lasted for several years, until 1896.
What Does "Gay Nineties" Mean?
The term Gay Nineties started being used in the 1920s in the United States. It's thought that an artist named Richard V. Culter created it. He drew a series of pictures for Life magazine called "the Gay Nineties." Later, he published a book of drawings with the same name.
The word gay in this old term means feeling very happy and cheerful. It has nothing to do with homosexuality in this historical context.
Life and Culture in the 1890s
Writers like Edith Wharton and Booth Tarkington wrote books about the fancy lives of rich, old families. By the 1920s, people looked back at the 1890s with a feeling of nostalgia. They remembered it as a time when many wealthy people didn't have to pay income tax. This meant they had a lot of money to enjoy.
Big businesses like railroads were growing fast. Industrialists in the Northern United States seemed to be doing very well. They were becoming very powerful in places like South America and the Caribbean.
The Nineties in Movies and Music
The 1890s became a popular theme for entertainment years later. In the 1930s, there was a radio show called "The Gay Nineties." It was hosted by Joe Howard, who wrote many popular songs from the 1890s. There was also a New York cafe called "Bill's Gay Nineties" that had an 1890s theme.
From the 1920s to the 1960s, filmmakers loved to make movies set in the 1890s. Some famous examples include The Naughty Nineties, She Done Him Wrong, Belle of the Nineties, The Strawberry Blonde, My Gal Sal, and The Nifty Nineties (a Mickey Mouse cartoon). Other films like By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Hello, Dolly!, and Heaven Can Wait also showed this nostalgic interest.
A song called "The Gay Nineties" by Roger Edens was featured in the 1940 film Strike up the Band. This movie starred Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. The song made fun of old-fashioned melodramas from that time.
