Menus for Movieland () von Richard Abel

At the turn of the past century, the main function of a newspaper was to offer “menus” by which readers could make sense of modern life and imagine how to order their daily lives. Among those menus in the mid-1910s were several that mediated the interests of movie manufacturers, distributors, exhibitors, and the rapidly expanding audience of fans. This writing about the movies arguably played a crucial role in the emergence of American popular film culture, negotiating among national, regional, and local interests to shape fans’ ephemeral experience of moviegoing, their repeated encounters with the fantasy worlds of “movieland,” and their attractions to certain stories and stars. Moreover, many of these weekend pages, daily columns, and film reviews were written and consumed by women, including one teenage girl who compiled a rare surviving set of scrapbooks. Based on extensive original researchMenus for Movieland substantially revises what moviegoing meant in the transition to what we now think of as Hollywood.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

PROLOGUE
Document: "Tomorrow’s Sunday Tribune"

INTRODUCTION: THE NEWSPAPER, A CULTURAL PARTNER OF THE MOVIES
Document: "Best Film Ad Medium"

1. THE INDUSTRY GOES TO TOWN (AND COUNTRY)
ENTR’ACTE: LOCAL AND REGIONAL NEWSREELS
Document: "Right Off the Reel!"

2. "NEWSPAPERS MAKE PICTURE-GOERS"
ENTR’ACTE: NEWSPAPER MOVIE CONTESTS
Document: "The Movies"

3. "IN MOVIE LAND, WITH THE FILM STARS"
ENTR’ACTE: CARTOONS AND COMIC STRIPS
Document: "Close Ups Are Very Important"

4. "FILM GIRLS" AND THEIR FANS IN FRONT OF THE SCREEN
Document: Kitty Kelly ad

ENTR’ACTE: MOTION PICTURE WEEKLIES
Document: "Today’s Best Moving Picture Story"
5. EDNA VERCOE’S "ROMANCE WITH THE MOVIES"
AFTERWORD

Appendix: U. S. Newspapers
Newspaper Abbreviations
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index