Dance Hall Days: Intimacy and Leisure Among Working-Class Immigrants in the United States

Contents

C O N T E N T S Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 ONE “Marriages Were a Little Different Then”: Marriages upon Short Acquaintance, and Immigrant, Working-Class Life 13 TWO The Era of Large Ballrooms and Famous Bands: The Rise of Commercial Leisure and the Making of a Peer Culture 51 THREE “The Girls Here Are Like Crazy”: Working-Class Women’s Heterosocial Leisure and Homosocial Fun 82 FOUR “That’s Alright, I Have My Gang Here”: Working-Class Male Culture and the Struggle over Gender, Identity, and Dance 115 FIVE “And You Know the Old Saying about Familiarity Breeding Contempt”: Working-Class Male Culture, Social Clubs, and Heterosocial Leisure 157 SIX “When It Comes to My Marrying, Boy, There Will Be a Lot of Strings Pulled by My Parents”: Familial Conflict, Commercial Leisure, and Weddings 198| vii | Conclusion 234 Notes 239 Bibliography 279 Index 289 About the Author 293 All illustrations appear as a group following p. 102. Contents| viii | ...