Research Catalog

Title

Waltz the hall : the American play party / Alan L. Spurgeon.

Author

Spurgeon, Alan L.

Publication

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2005], ©2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

vii, 238 pages : music; 25 cm.

Summary

"The play party was a popular form of American folk entertainment that included songs, dances, and sometimes games. Though based upon European and English antecedents, play parties were truly an American phenomenon, first mentioned in print in 1837. The last play parties were performed in the 1950s. Though documented in rural and frontier areas throughout the United States, they seem to have been most popular and lasted the longest in the rural South and Midwest. "Skip to My Lou" and "Pig in a Parlor" are still sung today but without the movements and games." "This is the first book since the 1930s to study this important and little-remembered phenomenon of American folk culture. The author interviewed a large number of older Americans, both black and white, who performed play parties as young adults. A songbook of ninety musical examples and lyrics completes the picture of this vanished tradition."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

American made music series

Uniform Title

American made music series.

Subjects

• Singing games
• Play-party
• Folk songs, English > United States > History and criticism
• Games with music > History and criticism

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 224-229) and indexes.

Contents

Pt. 1. The American play party -- An overview of the traditional play party gathering -- Play parties in the African American community -- The play party songs and their movements -- The prohibition against dancing -- Origins of the play party -- Previous research on play parties -- The demise of the play party -- Pt. 2. The songs.

ISBN

1578067421 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

2004019790

OCLC

• ocm56334273
• SCSB-5163520

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries