What did kids do for fun during the Great Depression?

1930s: The greatest form of entertainment for most children was their own imagination! Kids used whatever was laying around to create their own games and toys. Girls made rag dolls and kids played school yard games like tag and jump rope.

How did kids entertain themselves during the Great Depression?

Radio programs, music, dancing and dance marathons, and cinema were popular forms of entertainment during the Great Depression. Many people affected by the economic downturn sought inexpensive ways to pass the time and distract themselves from the challenging circumstances.

What were kids doing during the Great Depression?

Children living in both the city and rural, or countryside, areas had fewer teachers, fewer supplies, and fewer extra classes offered, and many children quit school to work on farms or in factories. The Great Depression was hard in all areas of people's lives, and schools and education were hit especially hard.

What were the hobbies of the Great Depression?

Among the hobbies that emerged: stamp collecting, music making, woodworking and birdwatching. The growth in hobbies during the Great Depression was in large part due to the staggering number of people out of work.

What did families do for fun during the depression?

Often, people chose to spend time at home. Neighbors got together to play cards, and board games such as Scrabble and Monopoly—both introduced during the 1930s—became popular. The radio also provided a free form of entertainment. By the early 1930s, many middle-class families owned a home radio.

Children of the Great Depression

Did kids go to school during the Great Depression?

Many rural schools were already underfunded during the 1920s. During the Depression these schools found it necessary to sometimes cut teachers' salaries, stop purchasing supplies, or to simply close their doors when money ran out. By 1930 over three million children between seven and 17 years of age were out of school.

What did kids play with during the Dust Bowl?

During the Dust Bowl kids were forced to make their own toys, the girls made dolls out of straws or out of whatever they could find, and the boys made things, things out of anything they could find, and the kids who did not want to make toys played jacks all day long.

What were common hobbies in the 1930s?

Among the hobbies that emerged: stamp collecting, music making, woodworking and birdwatching. The growth in hobbies during the Great Depression was in large part due to the staggering number of people out of work.

What were hobbies in the 1930s?

Beginning in the 1920's and accelerating rapidly in the 1930's, discussions of individual hobby activities such as stamp collecting, music making, woodworking, and the like, were often linked under the more inclusive category of"hobbies."1 More exact than "leisure," which had already developed a lengthy scholarly ...

Who got rich during the Great Depression?

Not everyone, however, lost money during the worst economic downturn in American history. Business titans such as William Boeing and Walter Chrysler actually grew their fortunes during the Great Depression.

Did people sell their kids in the Great Depression?

At first I couldn't understand why parents were selling their children versus finding someone that could take care of them, but they were starving. “Even decent, well-meaning people could make poor choices under pressure.”

What was the 1930 Great Depression for kids?

During the 1930s much of the world faced harsh economic conditions. Many people were out of work, hungry, or homeless. This period is called the Great Depression. It started in the United States, but it quickly spread throughout the world.

What was life like for families during the Great Depression?

During the Great Depression, family lives changed drastically. Women worked while men stayed home, and families moved often, trying to find more work. People counted on soup kitchens and bread lines for food, but on a positive note, families did spend more time together.

What did kids do for fun 1920s?

Other childhood pastimes included listening to the wireless, board games such as Ludo and Snakes and Ladders, playing with toy trains (Hornby), toy aeroplanes, dolls and dolls houses. Boys and girls could also join the Cubs, Brownies, Boy or Girl Scouts. Trips to the cinema were very popular.

Why were movies popular during the Depression?

People were able to forget about the despair and hardship of the Depression for precious hours, or even for just a few minutes. The public need for escapism led to the rise of new film genres and the reworking of old ones.

What music was popular during the Great Depression?

The one bright spot in the industry was the rise of big-band jazz, featuring up-tempo dance tunes that kept America entertained through the period. Big-band jazz in the 1930s developed with the significant help of one producer immune to the ravages of the great depression, John Hammond (1910-1987).

What was a popular toy in the 1930s?

1931 Finger Paint

Children in the 1930s did not have a lot of money for fancy toys so relied on their imagination and artistic abilities. In 1931 finger paint was the most popular toy.

What did girls do in the 1930s?

Women's roles in 1930's America were still mostly domestic. They were typically in charge of home management and social duties, while men were usually the breadwinners. However, after the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was passed in 1920, there was a shift in women's roles.

What did girls play in the 1930s?

In the 1930s, toys like dolls and die cast cars were very popular. Boys were bought toy guns. Girls were given dollhouses. Board games were booming.

How did children entertain themselves in the 1930s?

1930s: The greatest form of entertainment for most children was their own imagination! Kids used whatever was laying around to create their own games and toys. Girls made rag dolls and kids played school yard games like tag and jump rope.

What games did people play in 1930?

What was the most popular thing in 1930s?

American culture in the 1930s revolved around the ever increasing need to be frugal and the desire to escape the struggles brought on by the Great Depression. Jazz and swing music became popular, as did movies, board games, and Art Deco.

What sports were popular during the Great Depression?

Depression-Era Diversions

Horse racing, along with baseball, dominated the sports world. Sports were not the only diversions available to Americans struggling to grind out a living.

How many children were abandoned during the Great Depression?

Between 1854 and 1929 there were about two hundred thousand children who were either orphaned or abandoned by families who could no longer care for them. These children needed new families to care for them.

How did people spend their free time during the Great Depression?

In an attempt to escape from this psychological state, it was speculated that people were turning to popular forms of entertainment such as the movies, radio, or reading.