Amusing America

"All around the echoing, enveloping sound of splash and laughter and shouts, the close feel of heat and high humidity, the engrossing smell compounded of saltwater, dampness, wet cloth, human bodies and frying hot dogs"--John Allen, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

Suiting Everyone: Sutro Baths

Online exhibition at the San Francisco Public Library: "Amusing America is the story of participatory commercial amusements in American cities—San Francisco in particular—and how they changed the way Americans lived. From the Gilded Age of the 1880s to World War II, amusement parks, world’s fairs, arcades, seaside resorts and dance pavilions brought Americans together from all walks of life to share in new forms of leisure and new social relationships."

Great photos!
http://sfpl4.sfpl.org/news/onlineexhibits/amusing/