Highly acclaimed when it was first published in 1924, this work fired the opening salvo in a campaign for serious recognition of the importance of popular culture. Seldes, a journalist, editor, and cultural critic, looks at slapstick, comic strips, musical comedy, popular songs, and vaudeville, and

Intelligent, engaging discussions of slapstick, comic strips, vaudeville, and other elements of popular culture and their relationship to such traditional art forms as opera, ballet, drama, and classical music. Tributes to Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, and a host of other celebrities. 28 illustrations.