Music and Dancing
Men and women enjoyed Saltair’s features and events at a time when gender dynamics and customs were rapidly changing. In the 1910s, Americans recognized that the youth preferred “to date" rather than engage in traditional Victorian courtship practices. A distinct youth culture emerged at this time, which added a generational divide to a society experiencing such rapid social and cultural change. Concerned parents and reformers worried about what their teens might do in a darkened theater, train car, or amusement park ride (such as Saltair’s “Ye Olde Mill," which later became known as the “Tunnel of Love”). Fun house features with moving platforms inevitably caused men and women to tumble into each other, and nothing pushed a couple together closer than the latest dance crazes.
Beginning in 1910, young dancers rejected the steps favored by their parents, such as the hesitation waltz. Known as “Animal Dances”, the Turkey Trot, Grizzly Bear, and Bunny Hug originated in San Francisco and quickly gained popularity in cities across the country. Saltair was no exception, as couples leaned on each other, whirling around the dance floor with fast-paced, bouncy steps.
"More people in Salt Lake will be dancing the new modern steps than in any western city"
- William Woodward
Dance Instructor at Saltair, 1914
Perhaps in an effort to discourage Animal Dances, William Woodward taught free dance lessons at Saltair every Saturday afternoon. In 1914 he boasted that “more people in Salt Lake will be dancing the new modern steps than in any western city,” although the “modern steps” were rather traditional. (The Deseret Evening News, June 24, 1914). Furthermore, Salt Lake County determined in 1920 and 1921 that “any indecent or immodest dance, or any dance which is characterized by any indecent or immodest motion of the body” was unlawful.
