The Second Greatest Disappointment: Honeymooning and Tourism at Niagara Falls

Marcia Sweet, former editor of the Queen’s Quarterly, is an
information consultant and freelance editor.

This readable and well-researched scholarly book is much like its
subject, the city of Niagara Falls—a pastiche of disparate
attractions. While it does not successfully interweave the various
themes that it puts forward, it engagingly tells the story of Niagara
Falls’ touristic social history.

The book explores Niagara Falls as a honeymoon destination over more
than a century. Niagara Falls attracted honeymooners because “romance,
sex, and danger were incorporated in the imaginary geographies of
nineteenth-century Niagara Falls visitors.” This early Niagara Falls,
the spectacle of the Falls themselves, the wilderness, the Native
population, and well-to-do visitors are well described. The evolution of
employment opportunities, social mores (democratization, increased
leisure, the blurring of class distinctions), and the treatment of
various ethnic groups are explored at length. The book tracks the
changing makeup of those visiting Niagara Falls through more than a
century, and traces its decline as a tourist destination. Although the
focus on the history of the honeymoon and heterosexuality is at times
distracting, the author provides interesting insights into sexuality and
social customs. A good index, unobtrusive footnotes, and a useful
bibliography are included.

That Niagara Falls has become a tacky place in spite of the efforts of
the Niagara Parks Commission is unarguable. Accounting for the tackiness
is the plethora of disparate attractions. “There’s nothing here but
the view,” said one tourist. If only that were the case.