Parking Cars in America, 1910-1945
Parking Cars in America, 1910-1945

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0786491086

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With its decentralized urban areas, pollution, and mostly inadequate public transit systems, America pays a heavy price for its dependency on cars. This volume explores one of the more pressing aspects of the problem--storage--from 1910 to the end of World War II, contrasting the reality and perception of car parking as found in the pages of the popular newspapers and magazines. From early bans on street parking to street widening efforts to the introduction of parking lots, garages, and parking meters, the book chronicles attempts to accommodate the ever-increasing number of cars. By failing to effect any meaningful regulations along the way, this work shows, Americans slowly ceded authority and dominance to the automobile, to the detriment of present-day society.

Chewing Gum in America, 1850-1920
Chewing Gum in America, 1850-1920

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-01-28

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1476619816

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Americans began chewing gum long before 1850, scraping resin from spruce trees, removing any bits of bark or insects and chewing the finished product. Commercially-made gum was of limited availability and came in three types--tree resin, pretroleum-based paraffin and chicle-based--the latter, a natural latex, ultimately eclipsing its rivals by 1920. Once considered a women-only bad habit, chewing gum grew in popularity and was soon indulged in by all segments of society. The gum industry tried vigorously to export the habit, but it proved uniquely American and would not stick abroad. This book examines the chewing gum industry in the United States from 1850 to 1920, the rise and spread of gum chewing and the reactions--nearly all negative--to the habit from editorial writers, reformers, religious figures, employers and the courts. The age-old problem of what to do with chewed gum--some saved it in lockets around their neck; some shared it with friends--is also covered.

Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance in America, 1862-1920
Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance in America, 1862-1920

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-09-06

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1476617406

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Following the 2013 revelations of Edward Snowden, Americans have come to realize that many of us may be under surveillance at any time. It all started 150 years ago on the battlefields of the Civil War, where each side tapped the other's telegraph lines. It continued in 1895, when the New York Police Department began to tap telephone lines. It was 20 years before it was public knowledge, and by then the NYPD was so busy tapping they had a separate room set aside for the purpose. Wiretapping really took off in 1910, when the dictograph--the first ready-to-use bug that anyone could operate--arrived, making it easier still to engage in electronic surveillance. Politicians bugged other politicians, corporations bugged labor unions, stockbrokers bugged other stockbrokers, and the police bugged everybody. And we were well on our way to the future that George Orwell envisioned, the world Edward Snowden revealed: Big Brother had arrived.

Owning the Street
Owning the Street

Author: Amelia Thorpe

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2020-12-15

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0262539780

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How local, specific, and personal understandings about belonging, ownership, and agency intersect with law to shape the city. In Owning the Street, Amelia Thorpe examines everyday experiences of and feelings about property and belonging in contemporary cities. She grounds her account in an empirical study of PARK(ing) Day, an annual event that reclaims street space from cars. A popular and highly recognizable example of DIY Urbanism, PARK(ing) Day has attracted considerable media attention, but has not yet been the subject of close scholarly examination. Focusing on the event's trajectories in San Francisco, Sydney, and Montreal, Thorpe addresses this gap, making use of extensive interview data, field work, and careful reflection to explore these tiny, temporary, and often transformative interventions.

"Masquerading in Male Attire"

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2018-04-30

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1476673616

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Historically, American women have dressed as men for a number of reasons: to enter the military, to travel freely, to commit a criminal act, to marry other women--most often however to secure employment. During the 1800s and early 1900s, most jobs were barred to women, and those that were available to both sexes paid women far less. This book profiles both women who passed as men and were caught--even arrested--and those who successfully masqueraded for years. Whatever the motive, all took part in a common rebellion against an economic and social system that openly discriminated against them.

The Hatpin Menace
The Hatpin Menace

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-03-01

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 1476662150

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Between 1887 and 1920, the humble hatpin went from an unremarkable item in every woman's wardrobe, to a fashion necessity, to a dangerous weapon (it was said). Big hair and big hats of the era meant big hatpins, and their weaponized use sparked controversy. There were "good" uses of hatpins, such as fending off an attacker in the street. There were also "bad" uses, such as when a woman being arrested tried to stab a police officer. But seriously: All those protruding pins seemed to threaten people everywhere in the public sphere. It did not sit well with the patriarchy, who responded with hysterical crusades and often ludicrous legislation aimed at curbing the hatpin and disarming American women.

Beware the Masher
Beware the Masher

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-02-26

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0786479272

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This book examines the history of sexual harassment in America's public places, such as on the streets and on public transit vehicles, in the period 1880 to 1930. Such behavior was referred to then as mashing with the harasser most commonly being called a masher. It began around 1880 as a response to the women's movement as females in America increased their efforts to gain more freedom of movement and greater independence. Women going out and about on their own, or only with other women, threatened male dominance and control of society. One response by men was to turn to the sexual harassment of those women when they were alone in public places. This book looks at the extent of the problem, editorial opinions on the subject, the tendency to blame the victim, and the responses of women in the streets to the harassment. As well, the actions and reactions of the courts and the actions and reactions of the police are studied. Much of the sexual harassment of this period took place in the daytime hours, in busy areas of cities.

Policewomen
Policewomen

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-02-24

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0786477059

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Women in policing have seen three phases of acceptance. Beginning in about 1880, they were admitted as police matrons with extremely limited duties. Next they were accepted as policewomen around 1910-1916, when that title was officially bestowed on them. Finally came assignment of females as general duty officers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Not coincidentally, an active women's movement was the driving force behind all three phases. As women in policing went from matrons to regular officers, they faced harassment and discrimination that only worsened as they neared equality. Many still face it today. This book examines the history of policewomen from 1880 to 2012--particularly in the U.S.--and tells the story of their gradual recognition by the professional establishment of male officers.

Bike Battles
Bike Battles

Author: James Longhurst

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2015-04-15

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 0295805994

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Americans have been riding bikes for more than a century now. So why are most American cities still so ill-prepared to handle cyclists? James Longhurst, a historian and avid cyclist, tackles that question by tracing the contentious debates between American bike riders, motorists, and pedestrians over the shared road. Bike Battles explores the different ways that Americans have thought about the bicycle through popular songs, merit badge pamphlets, advertising, films, newspapers and sitcoms. Those associations shaped the actions of government and the courts when they intervened in bike policy through lawsuits, traffic control, road building, taxation, rationing, import tariffs, safety education and bike lanes from the 1870s to the 1970s. Today, cycling in American urban centers remains a challenge as city planners, political pundits, and residents continue to argue over bike lanes, bike-share programs, law enforcement, sustainability, and public safety. Combining fascinating new research from a wide range of sources with a true passion for the topic, Longhurst shows us that these battles are nothing new; in fact they’re simply a continuation of the original battle over who is - and isn’t - welcome on our roads. Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNleJ0tDvqg

The Electric Car in America, 1890-1922
The Electric Car in America, 1890-1922

Author: Kerry Segrave

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2019-03-28

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1476634963

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The electric vehicle seemed poised in 1900 to be a leader in automotive production. Clean, odorless, noiseless and mechanically simple, electrics rarely broke down and were easy to operate. An electric car could be started instantly from the driver's seat; no other machine could claim that advantage. But then it all went wrong. As this history details, the hope and confidence of 1900 collapsed and just two decades later electric cars were effectively dead. They had remained expensive even as gasoline cars saw dramatic price reductions, and the storage battery was an endless source of problems. An increasingly frantic public relations campaign of lies and deceptive advertising could not turn the tide.