Popular Culture In Nelson's Cheap Amusements

Whether you are a railroad worker in the tunnels, or a young folk in New York, music and popular culture shaped the work experience in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Scott Nelson, the author of “Steel Drivin’ Man”, and Kathy Peiss, the author of “Cheap Amusements”, found ways to show the effects of the new called popular culture harmoniously, while dealing with completely different worlds in America. The stories of young women and their choice in leisure, and the legend of John Henry both give a great insight into the way of America in the end of the nineteenth century and the beginnings to the twentieth century. Most people have heard of the legend of John Henry. John Henry was a black laborer who laid track and drilled steel, driving it within the tunnels of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. He was said to drill and hammer all day long. As he hammered, he sang a tune in the rhythm of his work. This idea of John Henry was …show more content…
Nelson infers, “Above all, they seems like exhortations to slow down” (Nelson 31). By reading the lyrics, Nelson concluded that the songs were mainly focused around avoiding death. Workers used the John Henry songs to keep a pace as they worked. This way, they didn’t work too fast or too slow. By incorporating this music, they kept to the steady pace, which was crucial. If someone went too fast, their life could possibly be threatened. Nelson also came to the conclusion that as the men worked, they created accidental harmonies as they sang, since they were all over the scale, singing different tunes. The working songs were very important to the people of this time period. Without these songs, they wouldn’t have a strict way to keep their pace, and to keep their lives