If the past could ever meet the future, it would have happened at the turn of the twentieth century as it dawned on streets made of cobblestones and filled with an assortment of pedestrians, horse-drawn wagons, and bicycles. A few automobiles, or "horseless carriages," owned by the very wealthy, caused traffic to stop as townsfolk pointed or stared at these contraptions, which, some thought, were surely a passing fancy.
Settled Frontiers
Echoes of the past were especially visible in the frontier lands. Much of this territory had been claimed by settlers under government giveaway programs such as the Homestead Act of 1862, which had offered land on the frontier at little or no cost. During the last half of the nineteenth century, settlement became so widespread that the frontier was nearly gone. The American Indians’ way of life disappeared with the slaughter by white settlers of the buffalo herds that had been their source of livelihood. Many Indians were herded onto reservations, often under the careful eyes of government soldiers, while farmers now occupied what had been Indian land.
Settlement of the United States had reached the Pacific coast by 1850, but, except in a few cities like San Francisco and Seattle, conditions almost everywhere on the frontier remained primitive, even after the turn of the century. Ranching and mining provided the main sources of employment and income. Miners slept under the stars or in tents, and whole tent cities had been formed. By 1900, these had been replaced by small wooden buildings with false fronts to make them look tall and imposing.
News traveled slowly, and when winter came to the mountains and prairies, settlers were frequently cut off by the heavy snows. Disputes were still sometimes settled with the gun, and there were few comforts. Home furnishings were usually handmade and simple. People who settled in the West in 1900 had few conveniences and lacked basic necessities. Only the very wealthy were able to send for furniture, wallpaper, and tableware.
Developing Cities
Across the Midwest, one- and two-story buildings lined the simple main streets. In some of the larger cities, like Chicago, St. Louis, and New York, three- and four-story brick buildings stood alongside textile mills and factories.
In some ways, conditions in the big cities were better than those in rural areas. People could rely on the mail and sometimes the telegraph for communication. City dwellers could purchase necessities such as practical cotton fabrics, pantaloons, Levis, and cloth diapers at the local dry goods store. Luxury items, such as cherry-wood tables and cupboards, rich silk dresses, and fine china, were only available in America’s cities. By 1881, Marshall Field had developed the first department store in Chicago, introducing new merchandising techniques, including displaying prices on goods and accepting returns. His motto was "Give the lady what she wants."
City families could easily find entertainment by 1900. Orchestral concerts and vaudeville shows were popular weekend pastimes. Although large cities had libraries, in small cities they were only now beginning to appear.
More and more small towns were growing into cities as factories were built, and streams of men and women flocked there from the rural areas, joining the millions of foreign immigrants who came in search of employment and a better life. The American Dream motivated each soul, and many newcomers imagined opening their own shops or manufacturing plants. They dreamed of a good life filled with fortune, of making a comfortable place for themselves and their families.
Unfortunately, economic conditions at the time did not allow many people to fulfill those dreams. All that most could do was follow the progress of people such as John Pierpont Morgan and Marshall Field, and the Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Carnegie families, who were busy carving out fortunes in the railway, retailing, steel, oil, and other growing industries.
By 1900, the number of millionaires was over three thousand, compared to fewer than three hundred in 1850. First generation immigrants and hard-working young men found their fortunes in the railroads, steel mills, oil fields, mines, textile manufacturing plants, and department stores. Some became famous from simple inventions, then built businesses around them.
Studebaker, Haynes, and Olds had begun making custom cars, and Henry Ford soon entered the business, too. In every city across the land, mechanical geniuses and eccentric inventors were designing and redesigning their own versions of the horseless carriage. Meanwhile, wireless radio operators were attempting to send signals across air waves, and the silent motion picture had been invented. It seemed a good time to capture a dream.
