The tendency of German immigrants to settle in close proximity to each other encouraged the continuation of familiar lifestyles. Significant problems of assimilation and adjustment were more easily solved when at least some behavioral patterns of everyday life could be retained, such as, shopping at a German baker or butcher, and enjoying a beer in a German tavern or beer garden. Likewise, if a German worked together with Yankees and other immigrants, he much preferred to spend his free time with his fellow countrymen. This resulted in enterprising German-language organizations that encompassed all aspects of life, extending from the singing society to the gymnastics club and all the way to the mutual aid society [early forms of mutual health and funeral insurance]. In colonial times already, especially in harbor cities such as Philadelphia and New York, well to-do Germans founded charitable institutions to better assist newcomers. In the middle of the nineteenth century, when the first wave of anti-immigrant Nativism hit, there was a lot of discussion, even among German-Americans themselves, concerning the positive and negative effects of the innumerable immigrant organizations that were operating at full tilt. Were they aiding or hindering integration? A well-articulated contribution to the debate was offered in 1857 by Atlantis, the top 1848er journal: