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1901: The White Rats Strike
Inspired by the British Water Rats, a loose organisation of Music Hall stars formed in 1889, the White Rats was a union founded by George Fuller Golden in response to attempts by the Association of Vaudeville Managers (AVM) to control the theatrical bookings and wages of performers. One of the White Rats' first acts was to call for a strike by all members against the Vaudeville managers. While the strike was ultimately unsuccessful - any concessions won were all dropped within three months of the strike's end - it did catch the managers unawares and resulted in the temporary closure of a number of theatres. Other theatre managers counteracted the loss of its acts by offering programmes to the public that consisted solely of moving pictures. To their surprise, this tactic proved successful and, while it was only one of many tactics employed by the AVM, it did play a part in breaking the Rats' strike. The strike also served to help exhibition outlets establish and consolidate relationships with theatrical management.
"It is a strange thing that performers are the only class of professional people who are forced to pay for being allowed to work."
Union organiser - New York Dramatic Mirror, 16th February 1901
"Where would the actors be if there were not men of brains, shrewdness and discernment to discover them, to put them forward, and push them to success? The sculptor takes a mass of clay and moulds it into a work of art. Is it the sculptor or the clay that deserves the credit for the accomplishment?"
Vaudeville Manager - New York Dramatic Mirror, 9th March 1901
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