In Gunther Barth's City People, his analysis of popular culture on how it was formulated and shaped is based on the modern city scape which created a culture that accommodated the diverse population with a common urban identity. This urban culture not only provided a common ground for the masses but it was also capable to be a fertile ground to burgeon forth individualistic dreams and aspirations. The city culture in America was quite a sharp contrast to the regimented social structure in Europe. There were no limitations as to what an individual aspired to be, there were no traditions to be enforced, there were no titles or predestined positions in the social order to be inherited, everybody had a chance to make him/herself somebody in this egalitarian society. Barth explains although there were many factors contributing to this social phenomenon of popular culture, there are five concentrations where popular culture was greatly affected. These five factors involved divided space, the metropolitan press, the department store, the ball park, and the vaudeville house.

In the city it was difficult for many to preserve private space. Rising land values limited many from attaining private homes. Thus apartments began to gain popularity. These semi-cramped crevices in the city were mandatory adjustments that people made. Before the turn of the twentieth century many were assimilated to this vertical living space. The metropolitan press provided a means of communication which united the fragmented inhabitants of divided space. Stories gave people a sense of direction and advertisement provided information for available work and leisure. The papers also liberated women from domestic chores to the outside world. Advertisements of department stores attracted many women to venture out of their homes into downtown where these stores were situated. The department store not only broadened women's role in society but it transformed the businessmen atmosphere of downtown into a fashion strip of displaying one's elegance.

The need to release tension from work led to the introduction of spectator sports. Thus the ball park became a place where people from all walks of life congregated, there was a unique bond which was wholly American because it expressed American attitudes through immigrants. This privilege of watching this sport was an essential stepping stone not only in urban leisure but it qualified citizenship into the modern city. Another medium of releasing the daily pressures of life were through the Vaudeville houses which expressed some of the bonds fostered by the metropolitan press, the department store, and the ball park. Variety shows attracted men, women, and children. The shows addressed everyday problems, commented on the struggle for success, and the relation between the sexes. Through humor, ethnic and racial issues were freely parodied. Lipsitz mentioned that these new commercial theaters needed no special occasions or no association with ritualized activities. It provided a new niche for the working-class. Overall the vaudeville show proved to be an outlet to ease tensions among minority groups by its uniqueness, its maverick stance of breaking away from the norm victorian traditions. It created an audience which interacted togther with a unified language and sign-system.

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