The Glow of the Spotlight: My Journey with Rebecca

About Rebecca’s Time

Talks about Rebecca’s experience growing up in New York in 1914. Topics include:

• New York City was home to many immigrants, just like it is today
  • Immigrant neighborhoods were densely populated
  • Life in the city was exciting and noisy, but also unsafe
• Apartment buildings were crowded
  • Most didn’t have indoor bathrooms, and people washed themselves in the kitchen where they also prepared food
  • Illnesses spread quickly
• Today, doctors vaccinate children to protect them from diseases, but in Rebecca’s day, the best way to limit the spread of diseases was to quarantine the sick
  • Placards were nailed to doors to prevent healthy people from entering and sick people from leaving
• Immigrants often found work in factories,w here they worked long hours under difficult conditions for little pay
  • Factories hired children to work because they could be paid even less
  • When city inspectors came to check on factories, they’d tell the children to hide
• Immigrants still found ways to enjoy themselves, such as watching movies and shows
  • Vaudeville was the most popular form of entertainment
  • A vaudeville show combined a circus with a variety of shows
• Times Square had many elegant vaudeville theaters
  • It was called “The Great White Way,” after the bright marquees and electric lights
  • Stars such as Fanny Brice, Fred Astaire, and the Marx Brothers first gained fame on Broadway
  • The rise of movies eventually brought about the end of vaudeville