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America of the Gay Nineties was on the go. A medium of entertainment that catered to the public's scheduling, rather than forcing the public to attend at specified times, was perfect for the times. Although his more prestigious theaters went to a two-a-day schedule when the upper classes began attending, the continuous performance was ultimately the hallmark of all vaudeville.

Keith's other innovations included quality entertainment, better treatment of performers, and a strictly family atmosphere. Coarseness was censored from all acts with a police-like rigidity. Keith took special care to keep his theaters clean and well maintained. He placed female attendants in prominent positions in the lobby to draw in women who would not otherwise bring themselves or their children into ill-reputed variety halls. To the usual variety bill he added short dramatic plays, silent movies, operettas and lectures.

Keith's success spread throughout the East. He opened one theater after another, some costing as much as a million dollars. His Boston theater alone catered to 25,000 people a week. His Boston-New YorkPhiladelphia-Providence circuit entertained over five million people a year. His continuous performance system could shuffle 12,000 people through one theater on a single holiday.

He paid such attractive salaries to his contract performers that many legitimate actors crossed over into vaudeville, at least during their off-seasons. Some took the money reluctantly, as if soiling themselves, while others (notably Ethel Barrymore) enjoyed the money and the experience, forsaking the legitimate stage for long vaudeville tours. Despite charging less admission than theaters and paying performers more, all of vaudeville reportedly made $30-million in 1906.

Keith spread his empire all the way to the Mississippi River, where the Orpheum circuit took over. Far from being rivals, these two conglomerates divided the country in half in the best tradition of American trusts. By monopolizing the industry, they called all the shots. Although performers were handsomely paid, virtually all of them had to book their acts through Keith agencies. Thus, although $10-million was going out to the performers, five percent found its way back home to Keith.

In all this, the Keith-Orpheum interlocking directorate, the ownership of theaters in every major population center, control of performers, the unprecedented amount of money involved, the lavish, opulent theaters of stadium-size, and the vast popularity of vaudeville, we have another modern American parallel - the professional sports industry. Although Keith pedaled a "soft" product, his aggressive financial wizardry was in keeping with the times of burgeoning American industry.

Keith's vaudeville dynamo ran on finely-tuned gears. The bill itself, whether consisting of seven, eight or nine acts, followed a precise formula. It opened and closed with a "dumb" act - jugglers, acrobats, wire walkers, magicians or animal acts. These acts used no speech in their performance and would therefore not be bothered by people entering and leaving during the continuous show. Also, these were visual acts, requiring the audience's full attention, thereby helping to quiet the house.

A song and dance duo always followed in second place. The third act - "the three spot" - was usually a full stage production or "flash act" such as an all-girl dance revue. Either this stage production or a jazz band would close the bill for the intermission. If there was no intermission, the band would precede a musical soloist. Then there might follow another large dance act. Next to closing was the premier spot for an entertainer, usually a comedy single to leave 'em laughing. This permitted the audience to walk out during the juggler's silent closing act.

Just as the bill was scientifically formulated, each new theater was constructed with an eye to acoustics, lighting and audience psychology.

Edward Albee, who succeeded as head of the Keith-Orpheum conglomerate upon Keith's death in 1914, claimed that theaters were designed to be "suave, cheerful and restful;" that lamps were concealed in alcoves to avoid "eye strain, cross rays and glare;" that seating was designed with a view to the laws of optics; and that' 'the pitch of the aisles, the height and angle of stairs," ventilation and the comfort of "retiring rooms" were all carefully considered.

The content of acts was also tightly monitored. Certain topics and words, such as liar, slob, son-of-a-gun, devil, sucker and damn, were forbidden. Tight censorship and an unerring aim for material acceptable to middle-class family audiences drew the only real criticism of vaudeville. One writer called vaudeville fare "bilge water in champagne glasses."