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Story
November 18, 1934
Mcallen Daily Monitor
Mcallen, Brownsville, Harlingen, Hidalgo County, Cameron County, Texas
What is this article about?
A nostalgic piece lamenting the loss of excitement on election nights in the city, from past hoodlum brawls and bonfires to current quiet apathy, blamed on the New Deal softening urban dwellers. Times Square remained ordinary last week.
Clipping
OCR Quality
100%
Excellent
Full Text
Too Polite
The "old fight" is gone from the town. There was a time when Election night really meant something to red-blooded dwellers of the tenements. Gangs of hoodlums used to roam the streets in battle array, setting up huge bonfires in the gutters, robbing stores and cellars for supplies of wood, and battling with all comers simply for the fun of it. Tipplers would celebrate with gay parties, conventional decorum was abandoned in favor of rowdy liberty, and only retired grandmothers were safe out in the open after dark.
Now all that is a thing of the past. Last week the boys in the barrooms were quiet even unto apathy. Times Square was no gayer than on an ordinary Saturday night. The polling places had no brawls of any kind, and the cops went home disgusted after a day of sitting in armchairs. Even the liquor places, with half a dozen exceptions, obeyed the law and stayed closed.
The new deal may be good for the nation, but it's turned the city into a tribe of softies.
The "old fight" is gone from the town. There was a time when Election night really meant something to red-blooded dwellers of the tenements. Gangs of hoodlums used to roam the streets in battle array, setting up huge bonfires in the gutters, robbing stores and cellars for supplies of wood, and battling with all comers simply for the fun of it. Tipplers would celebrate with gay parties, conventional decorum was abandoned in favor of rowdy liberty, and only retired grandmothers were safe out in the open after dark.
Now all that is a thing of the past. Last week the boys in the barrooms were quiet even unto apathy. Times Square was no gayer than on an ordinary Saturday night. The polling places had no brawls of any kind, and the cops went home disgusted after a day of sitting in armchairs. Even the liquor places, with half a dozen exceptions, obeyed the law and stayed closed.
The new deal may be good for the nation, but it's turned the city into a tribe of softies.
What sub-type of article is it?
Historical Event
Curiosity
What themes does it cover?
Social Manners
What keywords are associated?
Election Night
Rowdy Celebrations
Social Change
New Deal
Urban Apathy
Where did it happen?
Times Square, The City
Story Details
Location
Times Square, The City
Event Date
Last Week
Story Details
Contrast between past rowdy election nights with bonfires, brawls, and parties, and the current apathetic, orderly election with no disturbances, attributed to the New Deal turning the city into softies.