The Henry Ford Era

And then, in the first part of the 20th century, came a decadence in American dancing like nothing ever seen before. Quadrilles died, contras died, people two-stepped their waltz and forgot their polka. The schottische lived on at high-school hops as a rather rowdy thing called a "barn dance". The true square dance, amalgamated variety, all but disappeared. In rural communities, in farming areas where there were active granges, square dances were still held; but the callers, who were remembering what their daddies had done, and remembering rather inaccurately, had a more and more limited repertory. They forgot how to prompt, also, and caught themselves calling with the action instead of ahead of it. The music became more and more forlorn, the caller less understandable. Style was lost - the lift and lightness of Kentucky; the prideful bounce of New Hampshire.

In the couple dance field, people tried desperately to do something about the situation, with some alarming results; but scarcely anyone seemed interested in picking up the square dance out of the gutter where it was literally sinking into oblivion. And, alas-in some areas, it had acquired a reputation that it has never quite lived down with nice people. Still -in some serene little corners, like New Hampshire and bits of Texas, the light burned on without too much flickering.

Mr. Henry Ford used to vacation at Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts. There he became interested in the dance program conducted by a dancing master named Benjamin Lovett, an outstanding research man. The program included the gavotte, mazurkas, the Schottische, the minuet, the Virginia Reel, and other squares and rounds. Mr. Ford tried to hire Mr. Lovett, who declined, pointing out that he had a firm contract with the Inn. This posed no problem for multi-millionaire Ford, who simply bought the Inn and Mr. Lovetts contract and took Mr. Lovett back to Detroit with him. In the Detroit area, Mr. Ford established a broad program for teaching squares and rounds, including radio broadcasts and programs for schools. Mr. and Mrs. Ford built a fine dance hall with a teakwood floor and crystal chandeliers in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, and named it Lovett Hall. It is still in use.

Henry Ford era - 1920's (© CHD)
Audio Clip

In 1926 the Fords and Mr. Lovett published a book which provided inspiration and material for many people who had wanted such a reference. On the cover of this edition of their book, it says:

"GOOD MORNING
After a Sleep of Twenty-Five Years,
Old Fashioned Dancing is being revived
by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford."

Here was a public service of inestimable value. Read the Table of Contents of the third edition of "Good Morning" (1931). Everything is here, beautifully described, and the music scored: 4 quadrilles and the Five-part Singing Quadrille, the Standard Lancers, 13 singing squares, 3 circle mixers, 6 contras, 11 rounds, including a minuet, a waltz-minuet and a gavotte. It is a superb collection, chosen with great attention to quality. The only thing that was missing was the great "western" square dance, with its single-visitor figures, its do-si-do chorus and its wonderful patter call.

This little book was an inspiration to many people who had desperately wanted this material. They pounced on it. One of the people who pounced was a young Colorado school superintendent named Lloyd Shaw.