Snapshot of Lane County in the 1910's

Local Influences

• 1910 Electric street car runs to Springfield and College Hill (as far as 29th)
• 1910 Population of Eugene 9009; creates housing shortage
• 1912 Eugene became “dry” town – folks forced to go outside of Eugene City limits to drink alcohol
• 1914 The Eugene chapter receives its charter from the American Federation of Musicians on Dec 16
• A woman who played the piano was considered more marriageable

 
National Influences

• 1910 The arrival of new immigrants pushed the U.S. population from 62,979,766 in 1890 to 92,228,496 in 1910. The huge growth drove musical instrument sales to new heights between 1890 and 1909. Higher wages led to a growing middle class who pursued music and other cultural refinements to enhance their social status
• 1911 Popular songwriter Irving Berlin completes “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” his first hit; culmination of ragtime craze
• 1912 Composer band leader, “father of the blues,” William Christopher Handy publishes “Memphis Blues”, helps inaugurate new style based on rural black folk music
• 1914 - 1918 World War I affects wholesalers in two ways: musical instruments were taxed at 8% to help the war effort, and the loss of German suppliers led some distributors to import violins from Japan for the first time. Coal and wood shortages during World War I had a profound effect on the piano industry, forcing manufacturers to cut production in half. But, as one manufacturer noted: “The strife of war has greatly enhanced the appreciation of music, creating a robust trade.”