This article explores Offenbach's engagement with blue laws in NYC and at the centennial exposition, indicating social tensions of the era.
When Jacques Offenbach visited the United States in 1876, the country was both celebrating its hundredth anniversary and debating the Sunday question, the role of longstanding Sunday-closing laws in the life of the growing nation. Much to his annoyance, Offenbach was engulfed in the Sunday question during his time in New York City and at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, which had been the focus of fierce arguments over hours of operation on the Sabbath. This article explores Offenbach's experience with the Sunday question and related blue laws and examines events at the Offenbach Garden in Philadelphia during and after his time in the country.
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Timothy Sestrick (2025) studied this question.
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