Arts and Entertainment in St. Andrews
A peep into the history of arts and entertainment in St. Andrews over the centuries gives an excellent into the life of the town at street level, as opposed to the more known life of the town during the heated summer term, when the village was thronged with tourists. These events include not only dinners, dances, concerts and lectures, but visits by travelling photographers, phonogaphic symphonies during the early days of the grammaphone, displays of artistic views, riverboat and train excursions into the heartland or to nearby towns such as Saint John and Campbobello Island. It is interesting to see how entertainment evolved over the years, as it kept pace with scientific development. The reader will see also that although in the days before cars St. Andrews might have seemed rather isolated--which it was--there was still a steady stream of entertainments provided by itinerant merchants. It was not so unusual for the town to find itself on the circuit of travelling dramatic shows, freak shows, magicians, mesmerists, and circus troupes. The town, in short, enjoyed a lively artistic life all through the nineteenth century.