In antebellum America (1840–1860), recreational and social amusements tended to differ according to region, ethnicity, class, and gender. Rural communities frequently combined socializing with work such as quilting bees or barn raisings. Get-togethers were largely informal, with all who attended actively participating. In the cities, however, class defined leisure pursuits. The middle class frequented theaters, ice cream parlors, and restaurants. Home amusements, such as parlor games, dinner parties, and holiday celebrations, were also popular. The custom of calling and receiving visitors, once reserved for the upper class, had become a favorite social activity of middle-class women. The working class could also be found in theaters, but drinking in saloons was the most common form of socializing for working men. In the streets of working-class neighborhoods, children played, women visited, men smoked and drank, fire companies staged races, and militia and ethnic groups paraded...