leisure and travel

• little leisure time in 1920s/30s

  only benefit of middle classes

  most worked long hours, some struggled with unemployment and had little spare money for leisure

  great depression worsened economic situation, increased number of vagrancy, poverty which prevented access to leisure

  1938
• Main forms of leisure 1917 -45

  Movie theatres, spectator sports, eating out, illegal speakeasies, growth 1920s onwards

  Rural areas less well served for leisure facilities

  Popularity of films by 1930s expansion of film industry and cinemas

  Growing car ownership led to increased popularity of national parks

  Paperback books
• Spectator sports

  American football and construction of rose bowl stadium 1922 held 57,000 spectators

  Boxing and baseball incredibly popular

  Baseball Yankees 1.2 million spectators 1920
• Radio good for spectator sports?

  Sold sports and sports sold radios

  Jack Dempsey/Gene Tuney boxing match 1926 sale of 90,000 radios in one store

  Ford Motor Company sponsored baseball on radio
• Main sports stars

  Babe Ruth = Baseball

  Gene Tunney/ Jack Dempsey = Boxing
• How did second world war change leisure time?

  Sports stars off to fight

  Restrictions on spectator sports to save energy/oil/electric for war effort

  AAGPBL created 1943 and lasted until 1954
• How did leisure industry change 1945 - 1980

  1950s to 60s higher wages/affluence, labour saving devices/focus on family led to increased leisure. 1/6 of income spent on leisure.

  Very poor has little chance of leisure but had books/radio

  Disneyland 1955

  Bowling alleys, golf clubs, tennis courts etc in suburban areas

  Shopping malls 1956 Minneapolis

  1980s home computers for more affluent
• 1945 - 1980 who were new audiences for new spectator sports


  New football and baseball stadiums

  Games televised which led to drop in attendance

  Television increased leisure for poor

  Sports encouraged family days to increase, 300-400 million baseball spectators from 1970s to 1980s
• USA becoming a car ownership culture

  New jobs to support industry - steel, rubber, glass, leather

  Led to increase in wages and more spending

  Growth of petrol stations - 121,000 in 1929 vs 216,000 in 1969, more mechanics, dealerships and car washes

  Growth of roads, interstate highway act 1956 (41,000 miles)

  Greater mobility: diners, drive ins, hotels grow

  Growth of domestic tourism industry, creating jobs throughout the country.

  PROBLEMS:

  The poor without cars isolated/cut off

  Decline in rail/bus networksependency on oil

  Dependency on oil
• Impact of increased air travel 1917-1980

  1920s and 1930s: Mainly for mail, post, dangerous and noisy, 1925 Kelly Act created air mail routes

  Slowly increased and popular
• key acts and facts 1917 - 1940

  1920 first international flight between Florida and Cuba

  1933 first presidential airplane

  1938 first civil aeronautics act to regulate pricing and routes
• How did air travel change post WWII?

  Creation of jet engine, Boeing 707 transforms air travel, 180 passengers, still upper middle class

  1969 Boeing 747 jumbo jet, brings pieces down but still expensive
• who benefitted from changes in air travel?

  mainly middle class professionals and wealthy

  gradual increase in foreign travel
• Impacts of deregulation

  Consumers benefitted from cheaper prices but routes cut, smaller airports in rural areas closed, 1978 airline deregulation act

  growth of low cost airlines