the streets of Paris. Then the aristocrats took up these songs
and gave entertainments at their country seats. To these
entertainments they gave the name of "vaux-de-ville," the last
syllable being changed to honor Bassel's native town [1] And
gradually the x was dropped and the word has remained through the
years as it is to-day.

[1] Another version relates that these songs were sung on the Pont
Neuf in Paris, where stands the Hotel de Ville, or City Hall, and
thus the generic name acquired the different termination.

As the form of entertainment advanced, the word vaudeville expanded
in meaning. It came to comprise not only a collection of songs,
but also acrobatic feats and other exhibitions. Having no dramatic
sequence whatever, these unrelated acts when shown together achieved
recognition as a distinct form of theatrical entertainment. As
"vaudeville"--or "variety"--this form of entertainment became known
and loved in every country of the world.

Vaudeville was introduced into this country before 1820, but it
did not become a common form of entertainment until shortly before
the Civil War when the word 'variety' was at once adopted and
became familiar as something peculiarly applicable to the troubled
times. The new and always cheerful entertainment found the reward
of its optimism in a wide popularity. But as those days of war
were the days of men, vaudeville made its appeal to men only. And
then the war-clouds passed away and the show business had to
reestablish itself, precisely as every other commercial pursuit
had to readjust itself to changed conditions.