A showboat , or show boat , was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States , especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the river frontiers. This special type of riverboat was designed to carry passengers rather than cargo, and they had to be pushed by a small pusher or towboat attached to it. Showboats were rarely steam-powered because the steam engine had to be placed right in the auditorium for logistical reasons, therefore making it difficult to have a large theater.
26-477: Edgard may refer to the following: Edgard, Louisiana Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs , Belgian comic book creator and writer Edgard Lévy , French Jewish Resistance fighter Edgard Varèse , French composer See also [ edit ] Eadgar (disambiguation) Edgar (disambiguation) Edgardo Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
52-481: A favorite event of many townspeople was the arrival of the showboat , which would dock at Caire's Landing. They never knew when the next boat would arrive. When it did and sounded its calliope , the instrument could be heard as far away as Wallace . Modern vessels still pass by on the river. Edgard is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River and has an elevation of 13 feet (4.0 m). According to
78-466: A steamboat in order to tour down the river once again the following year. In 1836, the family was able to afford a new, fully equipped steam engine with a stage. In 1837, it was renamed Steamboat Theatre . Many other showboats followed the Floating Theater onto the rivers in the following years, and some of them began to do other performances besides theater. One popular showboat during this period
104-544: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Edgard, Louisiana Edgard is a census-designated place (CDP) in, and the parish seat of, St. John the Baptist Parish , Louisiana , United States. The population was 2,637 at the 2000 census and 1,948 in 2020. It is part of the New Orleans – Metairie – Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area . Edgard
130-473: Is likely to get this sort of attention when, as a result, the contestant doing it encounters a problem in the still-in-progress competition. In boxing, showboating often takes the form of taunting, dropping one's gloves and daring an opponent to throw a punch, or engaging in other risky behaviors while the match is ongoing. Boxers well known for showboating style include Muhammad Ali , Sugar Ray Leonard , Roy Jones Jr. , and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Anderson Silva
156-719: Is part of the German Coast of Louisiana. One of the parish's first communities and a social haunt of the privateer Jean Lafitte , Edgard has been the parish seat since 1848. Originally named St. John the Baptist for the Catholic church at its heart, Edgard was renamed in 1850 for its postmaster, Edgar Perret. Edgard's first St. John the Baptist Catholic Church (1772) was destroyed by the Poché Crévasse in 1821. Another church
182-788: The Majestic , which is docked on the Ohio River in Downtown Cincinnati . Until 2013, she served as a venue for regular performances. In 1914, circus actors James Adams and his wife launched the James Adams Floating Theatre , a showboat that would tour the Chesapeake Bay and bring theatre to audiences in Maryland , Virginia , and North Carolina . In the process of writing her 1926 novel Show Boat , Edna Ferber stayed on board
208-629: The New Sensation , New Era , Water Queen , and the Princess . New inventions such as the steamer tow and the steam calliope greatly increased both territory and audiences, and Stephen Foster’s songs added charm to their simple programs. With the improvement of roads, the rise of the automobile, motion pictures, and the maturation of the river culture, the popularity of showboats again began to decline. In order to combat this development, they grew in size and became more colorful and elaborately designed in
234-535: The United States Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 17.9 square miles (46 km ), of which 15.5 square miles (40 km ) is land and 2.3 square miles (6.0 km ) (13.09%) is water. As of the 2020 United States census , there were 1,948 people, 571 households, and 348 families residing in the CDP. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,637 people, 857 households, and 695 families residing in
260-651: The 1900s. The Golden Rod seated 1,400 persons; the Cotton Blossom , the Sunny South , and the New Showboat were floating theatre palaces. With the burlesquing of these programs throughout the 1930s to attract sophisticated audiences, showboats ceased to perform their original function. The last showboat to travel the rivers in authentic pattern was the Golden Rod in 1943. The glory days of showboats are recalled by
286-555: The American Theatrical Commonwealth Company, climbed aboard and traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, stopping to perform whenever they could. It is not clear whether they ever performed on the boat, or just used the boat as a means of travel. If they did, in fact, perform on the boat (as is probable), then Ludlow's Noah's Ark would have been the first showboat. British-born actor William Chapman, Sr. created
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#1732869676611312-419: The CDP. The population density was 169.7 inhabitants per square mile (65.5/km ). There were 905 housing units at an average density of 58.2 units per square mile (22.5 units/km ). The racial makeup of the CDP was 4.59% White , 94.84% African American , 0.04% Pacific Islander , 0.27% from other races , and 0.27% from two or more races. The cultural groups for Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.15% of
338-541: The James Adams Floating Theatre to gather research material on the showboat, a disappearing American pastime. This novel served as the inspiration for the award-winning Kern and Hammerstein Broadway hit, Show Boat (1927). Since the box-office success of MGM 's 1951 motion picture version of the musical Show Boat , in which the boat was inaccurately redesigned as a deluxe, self-propelled steamboat ,
364-401: The average family size was 3.51. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 29.4% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP
390-549: The community. Showboat During the American frontier era, populations of potential audiences were widely scattered about the area that is now the United States. Actors traveled to America from England, and theatre venues as well as touring companies were developed. Noah Ludlow , an early pioneer in travelling theater, purchased a keelboat in 1816 for $ 200 and named it Noah's Ark . Ludlow and 11 associates, together known as
416-543: The finish of the Snowboard Cross final at the 2006 Winter Olympics , costing her a first-place finish and a gold medal (she got a silver medal instead); Usain Bolt pumping his chest before winning the 100m final at 2008 Summer Olympics , likely adding one or more tenths of a second to his world record time of 9.69 seconds; and Mario Balotelli missing a shot on (soccer) goal when he unnecessarily tried it backheel. Showboating
442-473: The first deliberately-planned showboat, named the Floating Theater in Pittsburgh in 1831. He and his family of nine, along with two other people, lived on this boat and performed plays with added music and dance at stops along the waterways. The price of admission was anywhere from a peck of fresh vegetables to 50 cents a person. After reaching New Orleans, they got rid of the boat and went back to Pittsburgh in
468-418: The image of a showboat as a large twin-stacked vessel with a huge paddle wheel at the rear has taken hold in popular culture. Two earlier film versions of Show Boat and most stage productions feature a historically accurate vessel, and Edna Ferber's novel on which the musical is based gives a description of the Cotton Blossom that accurately reflects the design of a nineteenth-century showboat. Based on
494-567: The past week's games. Examples of showboating include Leon Lett 's grocery-bag-carrying of a recovered football (which was then swatted out of his hand before the goal line) in Super Bowl XXVII ; Bill Shoemaker 's standing in the saddle before the finish line of the 1957 Kentucky Derby , costing him the win (some sources say he merely misjudged the finish line, with the jockey ahead of him not standing up then); Lindsey Jacobellis ' grab of her snowboard which caused her to crash right before
520-406: The population. There were 857 households, out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% were married couples living together, 30.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.9% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.08 and
546-455: The supposedly gaudy look of showboats, the term "showboat" became slang for someone who wants ostentatious behavior to be seen at all costs. This term is particularly applied in sports, where a showboat (or sometimes "showboater") will do something flashy before (or even instead of) actually achieving his or her goal. The word is also used as a verb. British television show Soccer AM has a section named "Showboat", dedicated to flashy tricks from
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#1732869676611572-437: The title Edgard . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edgard&oldid=1194086332 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with given-name-holder lists French masculine given names Masculine given names Hidden categories: Short description
598-535: The town's folk worked in the sugar houses, in the fields, or in support of the sugar industry. Many families leased land from the Caires and Graugnards on Columbia Plantation, cultivating their own produce to sell. In 1899, the Mississippi River presented excitement when in the late winter, ice could be seen floating downstream. The ice flows jammed the river, interrupting ship traffic for several days. In early Edgard,
624-472: Was $ 24,865, and the median income for a family was $ 29,706. Males had a median income of $ 31,029 versus $ 22,688 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $ 10,635. About 25.9% of families and 29.5% of the population were below the poverty line , including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 34.5% of those age 65 or over. St. John the Baptist Parish School Board operates public schools in
650-533: Was soon erected. In 1918 fire gutted the building. Parishioners gave generously to replace the church and, by the time the new church opened its doors, all debts had been paid. The economic history of Edgard included a sawmill operated by Severin Tassin, a brick factory begun in 1878, and numerous sugar plantations that operated in the century between 1794 and 1894. By 1899, more than fifty family-owned sugar houses ( sugar mills ) were still operating. The majority of
676-613: Was the Floating Circus Palace of Gilbert R. Spalding and Charles J. Rogers, built in 1851, that featured large-scale equestrian spectacles. By the middle of the nineteenth century, showboats could seat up to 3,400 and regularly featured wax museums and equestrian shows. Showboats disappeared entirely with the onset of the American Civil War , but began again in 1878. Upon their revival, they tended to focus on melodrama and vaudeville . Major boats of this period included
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