The Changing Quality of Life - Topic 4.3 Flashcards
Changes in leisure and travel and the impact of increased leisure time
What was the impact for increased leisure time?
Baseball
1917-1941
With a bit more money in people’s pockets and a little bit more free time, it meant that more people could go and watch sports games, mainly baseball. Even before 1917, cigarette manufacturers were producing cigarette cards of famous baseball teams for fans to collect (sales tactics). As more people had more leisure time, the number of people spectating these sports for all kinds of sports. The Rose Bowl Stadium was built in 1922 for an audience of 57,000. It was then enlarged in 1928 to hold 76,000. Baseball began to be organised into major and minor leagues. The Yankees were the most popular team mainly because of their star player Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth’s salary quadrupled over a decade while with the Yankees and was an example that people could be successful through sports like movies.
Black Americans were not allowed to play in white baseball teams until the 1940s. They had their own leagues e.g. Leland Giants in Chicago. In 1920, the Texan black American baseball star Rube Foster, set up the National Negro Baseball League; the first professional baseball league for black Americans.
What was the impact of increased leisure time?
Holidaying and radio coverage
1917-1941
Growing car ownership and better road systems meant that people could live life to the fullest and freely. National Parks were made to provide hiking and camping places, giving a safe ‘back to nature’ experience. There was a growing number of amusement parks as well as kiddie parks becoming increasingly popular. Radio grew rapidly especially with radioed spectator sports and the book industry became cheap and increasingly popular.
Radio coverage sold sport and vice versa. Boxers such as Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney were famous because of cheap boxing gyms and popularity with spectator sports over radio. The baseball league sold the rights to broadcast its games to the Ford Motor Company for $10,000, but some teams began to refuse to allow local radio stations to broadcast their matches, thinking people would stay home and just listen instead of watching and paying the price of the ticket. St Louis stopped broadcasting and their ticket sales did go up, but they were also playing better too.
How did WWII impact the availability of leisure and travel?
The Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938 made the max amount of hours worked per week at 40, introduced a minimum wage and overtime rules, giving more structure to workers’ lives outside of work, which meant more leisure.
WWII meant there were significant restrictions on leisure time and night-time games. Baseball and national football games kept on playing to keep morale high as long as their players joined the military if they were called up. Many players actually volunteered and while the quality of games did suffer during the war, the games were kept and morale-boosting. The All American Girls Professional Baseball League played between 1943 to 1954 with games drawing audiences of about 1,600 on average as men were away at war. Once the men returned, the women’s teams ceased.
How did the changing conditions of work and pay impact leisure time?
1950-1968
In the 1950s and 1960s, paid holidays and wage regulation boosted leisure time and spending power for most working Americans. Labour-saving devices cut down on housework, making more leisure time and changes in manufacturing made goods cheaper; wages go further. On average, Americans spent ⅙ of their income on leisure, either leisure products such as TVs or leisure pursuits such as tickets to the cinema or baseball games.
Many people were still not part of the consumer culture, with the very poor and the homeless having the smallest chance of pursuing leisure, but poorer working families could listen to sport on the radio or even buy cheap tickets to sports events or movies, however seldom. The growth of relatively cheap fast food chains meant that those with less money could go out to eat too.
How did the car-owning culture impact leisure and travel?
Industrial effects, Associated supplies & Roads
1917-1980
Industrial effects:
- Car factories expanded and employed more people
- Factories also began producing spare parts. Increased production from companies who produced the raw materials for the car production
- The need for workers pushed wages up and car prices down. Therefore, demand increased as they became better value
Associated supplies:
- Cars required petrol to run and mechanics to fix them
- 1929, there were 121,500 filling stations making $1,800 million on petrol that year. 1967, there were 216,000 filling stations making $22,709 million on petrol that year.
- Car mechanics’ workshops and car dealerships sprang up along the roads.
Roads:
- Roads improved and expanded
- In 1917, the US had 2,925,000 miles of road. By 1980, 3,860,000 miles of road
How did the car-owning culture impact leisure and travel?
Mobility & Tourism
1917-1980
Mobility:
- People could travel more widely with growing car ownership and new roads. Diners and motels began opening on the road sides
- In 1958, there were about 56,000 motels, which made $850 million a year
- National travel was possible before with trains but trains didn’t take people to exactly where they wanted to go. Cars helped people travel further, faster and cheaper
- Travelling salesman increased and allowed manufactures to reach more customers and make door-to-door deliveries
Tourism:
- The car was vital to the development of the tourism industry. Americans could make trips to major cities, attractions and national parks e.g. Disneyland
- Following this was the growth of hotels, motels and restaurant chains. People began to look for their favourite chain of motels and diners
How did the car-owning culture impact leisure and travel?
Entertainment
1917-1980
- In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a growing number of drive-in restaurant chains and fast food chains. Drive-ins catered to families as they didn’t have to dress up like they did for a traditional restaurant.
- There were often play areas to cater for children. Drive-in movie theatres also became popular. By 1954; 3,800 drive-ins made 16% of all cinema box office receipts. Drive-in movie theatres did well eventhough the industry was losing out to television. Weekly cinema attendance fell from 40 million in 1960 to 19.7 million in 1980. Drive-ins mostly thrived in places that were warm like California.
What were the problems of the car-owning culture?
1917-1980
- As cars got cheaper, the poorest Americans who could not afford even the cheapest cars, were the ones who suffered. Life for someone without a car got increasingly difficult as the non-car transport infrastructure shrank.
- Getting somewhere rural, even on trains could be time consuming and difficult. The car was significantly cheaper than the train and more convenient.
- Buses carried people to more places. Bigger companies e.g. Greyhound Buses carried millions of passengers every year. Buses however, were overcrowded and slow and filled with non-drivers or those who could not afford a car. This increased the divide between the poorest Americans (many non-white) and the rest.
- By the 1970s, cities had too many cars. Driving was much slower, pollution was rising and so were the protests against it. The fuel crises of the 1970s led to fuel rationing, rising prices, long queues and fights at pumps. Prices never went back down to their old levels. This meant that the poorest car owners were pushed out and had to go back to public transport.
What was the impact of early air travel on the leisure industry?
1917-1941
- Plane Safety was not a big factor – many cabins were under pressured so they banned flying higher than 10,000 feet as it caused health risks like fainting
- Smoking was allowed – causing fires and accidents so many did not want to fly until after the war
- In 1928, there were only 0.1 million passengers, however by 1955 there were 62.3 million
- People began to travel more regularly due to the use of the 1925 Kelly Act where there were national routes for mail delivery by plane, passengers could use these at a low cost. This caused a rise in the number of air routes and passengers. Mobility around the whole of America was easier, however this was limited to those who could afford it
How did the deregulation of the aviation industry impact travel?
1970-1980
The 1975 Airline Deregulation Act ran down the Civil Aeronautics Board, therefore ending federal government control over various airlines, making it a commercial business through control of pricing and routes served. Competition already existed previously however only through the form of services given on flight and member perks. Deregulation allowed for airlines being able to lower prices and cut their services, suiting their company needs as necessary. By the 1970s, many aeroplanes were flying half full so that they could offer more flights per day. New, ‘low-cost’ airlines were set up, adding extra pressure to competition with already existing airlines, further reducing the prices of tickets after the 1980s. Some of the benefits felt by the 1980 Election were used by Reagan as an example of how removing governments controls could be beneficial.
How did technological advances impact air travel post-WWII?
1945-1970
After WWII, the jet engine had been invented. This added with a new radar system allowed pilots to fly longer and they could fly through bad weather conditions. Money gained from the Cold War allowed the government to invest more in flying due to competition with the Soviets. The overall speed and passenger limit increased as well. However, there were disadvantages with this increased technology as there was a increase in collisions and safety hazards. The federal Aviation Administration was set up in 1958, this was to reduce the hazards and manage the needs of airlines and set up air traffic control centres.
There was a huge increase in air traffic and falling prices allowed middle class professionals to fly consistently. Air travel was, originally, mainly for the wealthy. Planes allowed for jobs abroad and jobs further away from home and tourism increased for the US, both domestic and abroad. Americans usually explored the rest of America instead of traveling internationally for holidays however. In 1970, 5.26 million Americans went abroad. There was 2.288 million international visitors. In 1980, 8.163 million Americans went abroad with a total of 8.2 million international visitors.
