5 Champion Lady Sprinters

        Does society ever change? When looking at the past we tend to see what we want to see, which is normally "a simpler time" or a more moral one. Many people forget to keep in mind that society is still very much the same as it has been for hundreds of years.
        This advertisement from 1892 was published in the Boston Globe. It advertises " 5 Champion Sprinters" which at first seems innocent enough. I admit that I was naive enough to think to myself "How cute, where did the days go when  men would pay money just to watch athletic women run a race?" A split second went by before I realized exactly the type of men were paying for this kind of "entertainment."
        On a closer examination I realized how blunt the advertisement really was. This race featured "Beautiful Ladies" and "Charming Ladies," who appear to be running in their unmentionables. I didn't realize that the "race" was taking place at the "Wonderland and Pleasant Street Musee and Theater." From the picture you can also see what appears to be two men, throwing money onto the stage.
        I admit that I am almost ashamed for posting this. It goes flat against what I want to believe happened in "the good ol' days." A lot of this history is swept under the rug. The fact that "this sort of woman" in the 1890s is wearing more than the average teenager wears today, is another post entirely.
        We should acknowledge the good and the bad in all time periods. I think it is healthy to admire the more moral aspects of the past. We should seek to replicate these. At the same time we need to recognize that the unmoral always exists, sometimes society is more accepting and blunt about it in some decades and secretive about it in others.