POPULAR FICTION
As literacy rates rose, scholars debated the
role of literature in society. Some felt that literature should uplift
America’s literary tastes, which tended toward crime tales and
Western adventures.
Most people preferred to read light fiction. Such books sold
for a mere ten cents, hence their name, “dime novels.” Dime
novels typically told glorified adventure tales of the West and
featured heroes like Edward Wheeler’s Deadwood Dick. Wheeler
published his first Deadwood Dick novel in 1877 and in less
than a decade produced over 30 more.
Some readers wanted a more realistic portrayal of
American life. Successful writers of the era included Sarah
Orne Jewett, Theodore Dreiser, Stephen Crane, Jack London,
and Willa Cather. Most portrayed characters less polished
than the upper-class men and women of Henry James’s and
Edith Wharton’s novels. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the novelist and
humorist better known as Mark Twain, inspired a host of other young authors
when he declared his independence of “literature and all that bosh.” Yet, some of
his books have become classics of American literature. The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, for example, remains famed for its rendering of life along the
Mississippi River.
Although art galleries and libraries attempted to raise cultural standards,
many Americans had scant interest in high culture—and others did not have
access to it. African Americans, for example, were excluded from visiting many
museums and other white-controlled cultural institutions.
New Ways to Sell Goods
Along with enjoying new leisure activities, Americans also changed the way they
shopped. Americans at the turn of the 20th century witnessed the beginnings of
the shopping center, the development of department and chain stores, and the
birth of modern advertising.
URBAN SHOPPING
Growing city populations made promising targets for enter-
prising merchants. The nation’s earliest form of a shopping center opened in
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1890. The glass-topped arcade contained four levels of jewel-
ry, leather goods, and stationery shops. The arcade also provided band music on
Sundays so that Cleveland residents could spend their Sunday afternoons
strolling through the elegant environment and gazing at the window displays.
Retail shopping districts formed where public transportation could easily
bring shoppers from outlying areas. To anchor these retail shopping districts,
ambitious merchants started something quite new, the modern department store.
THE DEPARTMENT STORE
Marshall Field of Chicago first brought the depart-
ment store concept to America. While working as a store clerk, Field found that
paying close attention to women customers could increase sales considerably. In
1865, Field opened his own store, featuring several floors of specialized depart-
ments. Field’s motto was “Give the lady what she wants.” Field also pioneered the
bargain basement, selling bargain goods that were “less expensive but reliable.”
THE CHAIN STORE
Department stores prided themselves on offering a variety
of personal services. New chain stores—retail stores offering the same merchan-
dise under the same ownership—sold goods for less by buying in quantity and
limiting personal service. In the 1870s, F. W. Woolworth found that if he offered
an item at a very low price, “the consumer would purchase it on the spur of the
502 C
HAPTER 16
▼
Highly popular
dime novels often
featured
adventure stories.
D
D. Possible
Answer
America’s grow-
ing literacy rate
and cheaper
prices for books
and other print-
ed materials,
due to new
technologies.
Vocabulary
consumer: a
person who
purchases goods
or services for
direct use or
ownership
MAIN IDEA
MAIN IDEA
D
Analyzing
Causes
What factors
contributed to the
popularity of dime
novels?
