The 1940s Leisure Activities: Age Differences

1. The 1940sLeisure Activities:Age Differences By Teddy Koerner

2. Summary • The 1940s were difficult times • Family members didn’t get much time with each other • Adults were always working, Teens were always out and about, and Children were always being supervised • People didn’t get all that much spare time in general, but when they did, it was enjoyed. • Spare time was found and used despite all the complications and work to be done.

3. *Did you know that children were affected by the war as much as adults were? They grew up in a war supportive environment and were bred hearing about how soldiers were killed in battle and all. Children • Young kids after school would usually be watched by a sibling or an adult. Even under supervision, they still had fun playing old fashioned games like Blow-Ball, Clothespins, Battle of the Oranges, and listening to radio. • If nobody was at their own house, Children would spend their time at day care until their parents got home from work, or their siblings picked them up. • Playing cards were popular in this era, and also many well known board games came out like Monopoly, Scrabble, Sorry, and Chutes and Ladders. • Also in this era, Tonka Trucks and Silly Putty made their first appearances.

4. Pre-Teens *Did you know that the first time Little League Baseball made an appearance was in 1939 in Pennsylvania? Now, 70 years later, it’s a worldwide child activity!! • Pre-Teens would do most of the same leisure activities done by Children. • Pre-Teens would also play sports like Baseball. • Kids would also go to movies and participate in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts • Radio stations were also made just for Pre-Teens like Adventure shows and comedy skits

5. Teenagers *Did you know that “teenagers” wasn’t a real word up until 1938 when scientists came up with it. • Teens would always be out of the house doing things with their friends. • Dances were popular, along with drive-in movies, ice cream parlors, dates, and the radio. • Movies like Citizen Kane and Casablanca were made in this era along with many others. These are still the most acclaimed movies in history.

6. Adults • Adults outside of work would attend plays, go to movies, visit museums, and listen to radio. • Radio, as you can see, was a very important device for citizens in the 1940s. • The radio would bring them news, entertainment, music, and war updates.

7. Work Cited •          Big Band Music - Bandleader Biographies and Links. 2007. SwingMusic.net. December 8, 2010 http://www.swingmusic.net/Big_Band_Playlist.html •          Feinstein, Steven. The 1940s. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers Inc, 2006. Print. •          Hakim, Joy. War, Peace, and All That Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print. •          History of Children’s Games and Toys. 2010. The People History. December 7, 2010 <www.thepeoplehistory.com/toys.html> •          Hyde, Brenda. Old Fashioned Kid’s Games. 2010. Main Street Mom. December 7, 2010. <www.mainstreetmom.com/fun_old_games.htm> •          Lindenmeyer, Kriste. "children, 1929–1945." American History Online, Facts on File, Inc. 2010 <http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHVIII053&SingleRecord=True> •          "List of U.S. radio programs." Wikipedia. 2010. December 8 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page • Schneider, Carl J., and Dorothy Schneider. "Civilian Daily Life: 1940–June 1945." American History Online, Facts on File, Inc. 2003. December 7, 2010 <http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EHWWIIEssay04&SingleRecord=True> • Simon, Ronald G. "recreation, 1929–1945." American History Online, Facts on File, Inc. 2010. December 7, 2010 <http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
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