The Pursuit of Leisure

Researching family history is a never-ending puzzle. If you are lucky you can follow your ancestors’ path through life, see where they lived, who they married, what offspring they had and what occupation they pursued. All this can give you clues about their lives and circumstances. You may wonder how they got into their trade. Was it the only thing that was available to them, a result of aptitude or maybe even a vocation? Sometimes there is even a subtle familiarity to their occupation, something you also have an aptitude for. If you are really lucky, you may find out what pursuits they followed in their leisure, an even bigger clue to their character. 

For all but a fortunate few leisure was in short supply in the days when there was no separation between home and work and later, when the industrial revolution ushered in a time of 12-hour work days six days a week.   Towards the end of the 19^th century this began to change. Work hours lessened and the cost of living went down. People had more money and more time to spend it. 

Perhaps many also felt the need to spend the energy that remained at the end of the work week as there was an increased interest in sport; both spectator sports like horse racing and boxing and participant sports like football, tennis and bathing at the seaside. Of course, not everyone felt that active but they still had the time to spend.

The entertainment industry grew to meet that need with Nickelodeons starting to open up at the beginning of the 20^th century. It was a short step from there to silent films, then talkies. People were out and about taking in the scene whether they were participants in events or spectators being entertained. Were our ancestors active or passive in their leisure pursuits? 

Sources:

Crowley, David and Paul Heyer. Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society. Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, 2007

Fang, Irving. A History of Mass Communication: Six Information Revolutions. Focal Press, Boston, 1997

Goodman, Ruth. How to Be a Victorian. Viking, Penguin Group, London, 2013