Before people had hundreds of channels, if they wanted to watch surgery or gawk at celebrity babies, they had to actually leave the house. Here are some of the ways people entertained themselves in the pre-TV era.
1. Attending Public Dissections
Thanks to advances in science and the relaxing of church and government laws, the dissection of human corpses came back into vogue in the 1300s. At first these dissections were performed in small rooms or houses for the benefit of a handful for medical students. Then, almost overnight, a bored and apparently pretty morbid public started clamoring to attend them as well.
Specially designed “anatomy theatres” were purpose-built in many of the major European cities; most could seat well over 1,000 people. Tickets were sold to the public and the prices often varied based on how “interesting” that particular corpse was. The most expensive tickets sold in Hanover were 24 Groschen to see a woman who died while pregnant. The audiences were so excited about what they were watching that as early as 1502 a surgeon recommended having guards present at each dissection to “restrain the public as it enters.”
While most etchings from the period show only men at the viewings, women attended as well. In 1748, the crowds to see cadavers dissected at the theatre in Dresden, Germany were so large that they started having “ladies only” viewings, during which the women were invited to touch the corpses.
In many countries, these viewings only happened three or four times a year due to a lack of available bodies. In Bologna, Italy, dissections became fancy events, with women wearing their best clothes to the viewing, and balls or festivals followed in the evening.
Then in England in 1751, Parliament passed the Murder Act, allowing for all executed criminals to be publicly dissected. The increase in the number of public dissections did not diminish their popularity, and thousands of people continued to attend them each year until they were finally outlawed in the 1800s.
2. Watching People Inflate Balloons
Starting as early as the preparations for the first-ever hot air balloon flight in 1783, watching balloon ascents was incredibly popular, drawing some of the biggest crowds ever seen in Europe. Even the filling of the first balloon, which took numerous days, drew such huge crowds that they were in danger of interfering with the process, and the balloon had to be secretly moved the day before the flight. Benjamin Franklin, then the American Ambassador to the court of Louis XVI, was among the thousands of people who witnessed the first unmanned flight in Paris on August 27th. When the balloon came down in a village a few miles away, the locals were so terrified that they attacked it with pitchforks and rocks, destroying it.
The Montgolfier brothers sent the first living creatures (a goat, a duck, and a rooster) up in a balloon at Versailles in front of an enormous crowd that included the King and Marie Antoinette. The first ascents with humans drew upwards of 400,000 people, or “practically all the inhabitants of Paris,” with many of them paying large sums to be in special “VIP sections” close to the balloon.
The first hot air balloon flight in England was orchestrated by a man named Vincenzo Lunardi and drew a crowd of 200,000 people, including the Prince of Wales. One woman in the crowd was so astonished at the sight of the balloon that she supposedly died of fright and Lunardi was tried for her murder; he was eventually acquitted. George Washington was part of the crowd that viewed the first ballooning attempt in America in 1793.
Despite the overwhelming public interest in ballooning, it, like everything always will, had some detractors. Among their biggest fears were that women’s “honor and virtue would be in continual peril if access could be got by balloons at all hours to [their bedroom windows.]”
3. Riding Escalators
Image credit: Brooklyn Museum
The first escalators completely blew people’s minds. Nothing remotely similar had ever been seen before. Jesse W. Reno patented his idea for an “Endless Conveyor or Elevator” (later called the “inclined elevator”) in 1892, and by 1896 the first working example had been installed…as a ride at the popular Coney Island amusement park.
It differed from modern elevators in that you sat on slats rather than stood on stairs, but the general principle was the same. The belt moved the riders up about two stories at a 25 degree incline. It was only displayed at the park for two weeks, but in that short time an astonishing 75,000 people rode it.
The same prototype was moved to the Brooklyn Bridge for a month-long trial period. It remained popular there, and in 1900 was shipped to Europe and displayed at the Paris Exposition Universelle, where it won first prize. Shortly thereafter, the Otis Company bought Reno’s patent and started producing escalators for businesses.
The novelty and excitement of riding an escalator was such that in 1897, the first department store in New York City to install one, Frederick Loeser, actually included it in its advertisements, promising customers that they could reach the second floor in a mere 26 seconds!
But while these escalators were very popular, they all had something in common: They only went up. It took the public and businesses almost three decades to accept that the far more frightening down escalators were safe to use.
4. Taking Pictures of Themselves
While there were different versions of photo booths starting in the late 1800s, they didn’t produce great pictures. The beginning of the modern photo booth is usually traced to one man, a Russian immigrant named Anatolo Josepho. He trained as a photographer in Europe and after a spell in Hollywood learning the mechanics of cameras, he moved to New York City. There he managed to borrow the astonishing sum of $11,000 to make his first photo booth. It produced clear pictures and could run completely on its own. He opened a studio on Broadway in 1925, put the photo booth inside, and sat back to watch the money roll in.
For 25 cents, customers were led to the box by a “white-gloved attendant,” who would then direct them to “look to the right, look to the left, look at the camera.” Then after about ten minutes, the booth spit out eight photos and the customers went away happy. They probably told all their friends to check it out — and check it out they did. Soon, the line to the studio was stretching around the block, and up to 7,500 people a day used the machine. According to the April 1927 issue of TIME, more than 280,000 people visited the photo booth in the first six months alone, including the Governor of New York and at least one Senator.
Within a year, Josepho was astonishingly wealthy and dating a famous silent film actress. Then a consortium of investors offered to buy his patent for $1 million. He accepted the deal, and immediately put half of that money into a trust for various charities. He invested the other half in several inventions.
Imitation photo booth studios popped up around the US and Europe, and even the Great Depression didn’t diminish people’s desire to look at pictures of themselves. One shop owner in NYC was so busy he managed to keep his entire extended family employed for the entire Depression.
5. Staring at Quintuplets
At the time of the Dionne Quintuplets’ birth in 1934, in Ontario, Canada, no one even knew conceiving five babies at once was possible. Not only was it possible, but babies Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie, and Marie thrived despite being delivered two months premature. Their existence was so astonishing that newspapers paid huge sums for photos of them. A year later their father signed a lucrative contract to display the girls at the 1935 Chicago World’s Fair.
The Canadian government stepped in, claiming that their parents were obviously not fit to raise the quints if they were willing to exploit them like that. The Canadian parliament quickly passed a bill making the girls wards of the state. The quints were placed in a hospital/nursery directly across the street from their parents, where the Canadian and Ontario government proceeded to exploit the girls themselves, to an astonishing degree.
© Bettmann/CORBIS
In less than a decade, 3 million people, sometimes upwards of 3,000 a day, passed through “Quintland,” as the compound the girls were held in became known. This was at a time when the entire population of Canada was only around 11 million. Visitors viewed the quints playing, eating, and sleeping through special one-way windows. The quints were by far the most popular tourist attraction in Canada, drawing more visitors than Niagara Falls. It is estimated that the girls’ popularity directly contributed half a billion dollars to the Ontario economy in just nine years. Celebrities flocked to see them as well, including Amelia Earhart, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Mae West, and the future Queen Elizabeth II.
And in case any particularly sharp readers are saying to themselves, “Surely televisions have been commercially available since the late 1920s,” don’t worry. Canada didn’t start broadcasts until 1952, nine years after Quintland closed. By that time, the girls had been returned to their family.
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That thing about the quints is crazy… no way would I let anyone exploit my babies like that!
And the ‘escalator up only’ article suddenly makes some older escalators I’ve seen make sense.
posted by Heather on 1-23-2012 at 4:15 pm
Sounds more like the government found a good moneymaker and wanted in on it instead of allowing the parents to use their judgement on it (and potentially have the family receiving the benefit of it instead of the gov’t). That’s an appalling level of hypocrisy.
posted by army_wife on 1-23-2012 at 4:24 pm
Really fun and interesting article. I love the escalator part. Up only is great!
posted by Linda D on 1-23-2012 at 4:33 pm
Wonderful list! A twist to the first item is that the practice actually continued in a more limited fashion, restricted to medical students and medical professionals (and any guests they might choose to bring) and involved patients who were alive at the start of the process, and hopefully also at the end. After all, there is a reason some English-speaking companies still call it an “operating theater”. In the old days, that’s exactly what it was. Patients who could not afford to have a doctor brought to their home would receive care at a hospital instead, and if they required surgery, part of the price would be allowing dozens or even hundreds of young medical students to watch.
posted by Calli Arcale on 1-23-2012 at 4:51 pm
I’ve been to a balloon launching (Derby week in Louisville, KY). It is beautiful, although you do have to be there around 5:30 AM.
posted by With an E on 1-23-2012 at 4:59 pm
Waiting for public dissections to make a big comeback!
Great job, Kathy! Always a joy reading your work!
posted by Daniel Osborne on 1-23-2012 at 5:00 pm
And there was a movie about the Dionnes. Can’t remember the name–had about 7-8 twin and triplet girls playing the quints.
posted by With an E on 1-23-2012 at 5:00 pm
There was a movie made about the Dionne quints when I was a kid. I wonder if it’s still available somewhere?
posted by tango november whisky on 1-23-2012 at 5:01 pm
Rode an escalator just the other day. Still a classic!
posted by Tim on 1-23-2012 at 5:10 pm
After reading this, I made the connection that the Simpsons “Eight Misbehavin’” was based off of the Dionnes. Pretty cool if I do say so myself
posted by Tony Pinedo on 1-23-2012 at 5:18 pm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108859/
Million Dollar Babies
posted by With an E on 1-23-2012 at 5:59 pm
Two others I always found interesting is that people would watch military battles and have picnics in cemeteries.
posted by Ben on 1-23-2012 at 6:27 pm
Here in St. Louis we have something every summer called the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. The night before the race they do something called the Glow. We go to the park after sunset and the balloon conductors fire off the burners (I think thats what they’re called) and the balloons glow there in the middle of this dark park. It’s beautiful so, I can imagine how exciting that was for those people.
http://www.greatforestparkballoonrace.com/photos2010.html
posted by Jessica on 1-23-2012 at 7:52 pm
You can still partake in the Dionne Quints fever, if you want. I drive past the homestead (complete with 5 baby buggies on the front porch) every time we visit my in-laws. It’s a museum now. I think two of the girls are still alive. Unsurprisingly, though, they live somewhere in Montreal and nowhere near North Bay and the family homestead. I wonder if they get any of the proceeds from the tourist trap…
posted by Irhie on 1-23-2012 at 8:25 pm
So basically the only thing tv changed is that we view this stuff remotely instead of in person, because this is all the same things that are on tv!
posted by Jes on 1-23-2012 at 8:28 pm
I agree with Jes…nothing’s changed.
And I like everyone being “appalled” by the “exploitation” of the quints… Hello! Kate + 8? The Duggers?
posted by Tindy on 1-23-2012 at 9:00 pm
Wow, nobody brought mummy unwraps?
posted by Bitumen on 1-23-2012 at 9:49 pm
laughing at Jes’s comment. Same stuff better technology! Except for the riding the escalator, unless there’s a Wii game or Xnex for that. I did tightrope walk and hula hoop when I had Wii though so their might be.
posted by Melissa 'Ziggy' Cook on 1-23-2012 at 10:31 pm
HA! I totally had the same Simpsons revelation :)
posted by Cheryl on 1-23-2012 at 11:22 pm
I think the most interesting thing about 1, 3, and 5 is that these are activities that are still enjoyed today. People still watch operations on Discovery channel. Anyone that has Facebook can see that people still enjoy taking pictures of themselves. And people are still fascinated by siblings that are born on the same day. (Jon and Kate plus 8)
posted by Anthony Davis on 1-24-2012 at 9:58 am
I meant 4 not 3.
posted by Anthony Davis on 1-24-2012 at 9:58 am
Without television, why didn’t they just surf the web? ;-)
posted by BoogerFree on 1-24-2012 at 10:36 am
I totally agree with Tindy. What the Gosselins and Duggars are doing now is no different than what happened to the Dionne quints. It’s sick and twisted on any level and at any time.
posted by Grimly Fiendish on 1-24-2012 at 11:58 am
“Come, hither Frankfort, did you see me poking that dead bloke with a stick, moments ago? It was jolly good fun Frankfort; you must try it.”
posted by Jov on 1-24-2012 at 12:25 pm
The story of the Dionne Quints is really sad. Sexual abuse…suicide.. it is really no different than the Gosselins and I wonder what will happen to those kids…
posted by Kelly on 1-24-2012 at 3:19 pm
The Dionne Quints are considered a tragedy now. What’s more, the girls never saw any of that money themselves! The government kept it all, and they spent most of their lives in poverty.
It was only sometime in the late 90s that the government bowed to public pressure and awarded them a few million each. By then, of course, they were elderly and two of them had passed away…it’s a terrible story.
posted by ChristieLea on 1-24-2012 at 4:45 pm
People were really enraptured by the quintuplets. These days, people are more absorbed by ladies with octuplets. I wonder what will rivet our grandchildren.
posted by David @ Bar Whiz on 1-24-2012 at 9:26 pm
Wait a minute. The Chicago World’s Fair was in 1933 and held over to 1934.
posted by J on 1-26-2012 at 12:12 pm
I think the issue with the quints is that the government basically stole them from their parents to exploit them. From what I read, the family seemed to be a stable and loving family of farmers. What was there to suggest that the girls would have been in danger – was there a history of family abuse, alcoholism, or anything else to suggest that these kids were in some sort of danger? The government stepping in and taking the kids and then ruining their lives is a huge issue and I can’t imagine why anyone would ever be okay with that.
While we may parallel this to today’s Duggar and Gosselin families they really aren’t the same. In these cases the families have decided to allow their lives to be filmed and viewed from a distance. The kids are with their parents in (hopefully) loving and nurturing homes. The cameras can be shut off and shut out – they aren’t on display in a room with a one way window and millions of people passing by. Their privacy may be compromised a bit because they are now recognizable to outsiders, but they aren’t taken captive by the government and put on display like animals in a zoo. Would we also consider all the mommy bloggers out there who post pictures and videos and every detail of their children’s lives to be doing the same thing as the Canadian government did to these babies? These moms are opening their child’s lives to thousands and thousands of strangers to see and gawk at them. In some cases these moms are making loads of money doing this.
The parents could have been taken over by greed messed these girls’ lives up just as bad, but we will never know because the government stepped in and guaranteed it would happen.
posted by Sam on 1-27-2012 at 3:17 pm
Also, if they family was so unfit to be parents to the quints, why weren’t they also deemed unfit to care for their previous five children and the three that came after the girls?
This is such a weird case to me. I’d like to read a bit more about it. I just can’t imagine having this happen to me.
posted by Sam on 1-27-2012 at 3:20 pm
When x-ray machines were first invented in the late 1800s, they were marketed as entertainment. People could go into shoe stores and x-ray their feet to make sure they got a perfectly fitting shoe. Of course, this all stopped once people realized the dangers of x-rays.
posted by Brian on 1-31-2012 at 12:53 pm
awwwwwww the babies are adorable <3 but the disection is… GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant belive my teacher showed us this
posted by McKenna on 1-31-2012 at 6:36 pm
Public anatomical lessons were not “en vogue” in the 1300s, it was forbidden by the Catholic Church. Only after the 1600s this became popular.
posted by Alette on 2-6-2012 at 7:44 am
There’s a great video of people in Iraq having a high old time going up the down escalator (on purpose). Many sources have now labeled it as the *first* escalator in Iraq, but I don’t think that’s true–it’s just the first one these people have encountered.
I work at a university library in Louisiana and our elevator is often thrilling for little kids because they’ve never seen one before–there are others in town but they’re in office buildings. I don’t think there is an escalator anywhere in town!
posted by finette on 2-15-2012 at 11:33 am