ABSTRACT
Shortly after the establishment of the first taxi-dance halls in ChicagoI the more discerning proprietors recognized that a big problem confronting the institution was its relationship to the larger public outside which-though only imperfectly conceived-was nevertheless acknowledged to be all important. Thus arose the second stage in the natural history of the taxi-dance hall, the period of institutional consciousness. During this time considerable effort was expended in trying to give to the taxi-dance hall at least a specious respectability by emphasizing the claim that it was in reality, as well as in name, a dancing school.
