Politicking and Emergent Media: US Presidential Elections of the 1890s

by Charles Musser

Overview

Presidential campaigns of the twenty-first century were not the first to mobilize an array of new media forms in efforts to gain electoral victory. In Politicking and Emergent Media, distinguished historian Charles Musser looks at four US presidential campaigns during the long 1890s (1888–1900) as Republicans and Democrats deployed a variety of media forms to promote their candidates and platforms. New York—the crucial swing state as well as the home of Wall Street, Tammany Hall, and prominent media industries—became the site of intense struggle as candidates argued over trade issues, currency standards, and a new overseas empire. If the city’s leading daily newspapers were mostly Democratic as the decade began, Republicans eagerly exploited alternative media opportunities. Using the stereopticon (a modernized magic lantern), they developed the first campaign documentaries. Soon they were exploiting motion pictures, the phonograph, and telephone in surprising and often successful ways. Brimming with rich historical details, Musser’s remarkable tale reveals the political forces driving the emergence of modern media.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520292734
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Charles Musser is Professor of American Studies and Film and Media Studies at Yale University. He is the author of The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen to 1907 and producer of the documentary Errol Morris: A Lightning Sketch.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 The Stereopticon, The Tariff Illustrated, and the 1892, Election 23

Political Oratory, Partisan Pageantry, and the Public Sphere 26

Judge Wheeler, The Tariff Illustrated, and the 1888 Presidential Election 33

A Tale of Two Screens: The Democratic Party's Use of the Stereopticon in 1888 37

The Stereopticon and the 1892 Election 41

Watching the Election Returns 49

2 The Stereopticon: Platform or New Media Form? 52

A Lexicon of the Screen 56

From Magic Lantern to Stereopticon: A Brief History 62

The Stereopticon and Presidential Politics, 1872-1884 75

3 Cinema, McKinley at Home, and the 1896 Election 80

The Nation's Media Formation 85

The Stereopticon and Illustrated Lecture in the 1896 Campaign 88

The American Mutoscope Company and the McKinley Campaign 91

Campaign-Related Films at the Edison Manufacturing Company 105

Phonograph/Telephone/Bicycle 109

A Celebration of Novelty and Tradition, Spectacle and Power 121

Watching the Election Returns 123

An Assessment 130

4 Cinema as a Media Form 132

When Did Cinema Become Cinema? 133

Politicking and the Media After the 1896 Presidential Campaign 145

The Illustrated Lecture, Imperialism, and the Elections of 1898 and 1900 154

5 Coda 170

Electoral Politics and the Media 171

From Early Cinema to Media Archaeology? 180

Appendix: Referenced Documents 191

Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Newspapers 215

Notes 217

Bibliography 249

Index 259

Editorial Reviews

"Informative... straight-forward, impressively researched, and full of original insight." 

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