1920s Sports And Leisure Essay

Sports and Leisure During Late 1800s Early 1900s

There was a rise in leisure, recreational, and entertainment facilities in the early 21st century. A reduction in working hours and a higher level of income for many people throughout the twentieth century which created a demand for facilities where people could relax, enjoy each other's company and enjoy their hobbies and interests. The strongest start of leisure was in the period between 1894-1915. At this time, the working class saw a decrease in hours that they could work in a day. They wanted to find a new way to relax and have fun. The 1920s would soon become known as the “Golden Age of American Sports” leading into the growth of the sports world today.

After the Civil War, organized

sports started to come about. Initially only the wealthy could participate in most sporting events. Later the opening of public gymnasiums, courts, and fields allowed the working and middle classes to participate. Athletic clubs like the New York Athletic Club were organized, later leading to organizations such as the YMCA which began sports programs.
The industrial revolution led to an increase of leisure period for the middle class. Majority of jobs in the U.S. now were factory jobs and the workers demanded better working hours and greater pay. These shorter hours led to people being able to play sports and do other fun activities. The programs had track and field events and gymnastics, heavily influenced by German athletics. Gymnasiums, which featured exercises using Indian clubs, wooden rings, and dumbbells, were opened in many Eastern cities. New games began to come about in the middle of the 20th century beginning with the new game of baseball.
Baseball was based off English games of rounders and cricket and started as an adult game in New York during the 1840s.

By the 1850s, the sport rapidly spread to many parts of the country as teams were formed from all classes of society. Baseball soon became more organized and it became America's pastime. Baseball was at a strong point during the 1920s. This time period saw the rise of players such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The Sultan of Swat (Babe Ruth) soon became a household name all across the country. Lou Gehrig didn’t start his career until 1923, but he became a fan favorite and was called Iron Man because he played in 2,632 games straight. The two combined for 627 home runs and earned the nickname for the infamous Yankees team in the 1927 as “Murderers Row”. Baseball would soon own the spotlight in all of sports with the crowds nearing capacity every game. The fans of baseball wanted to use their time off from the laborious factory jobs to watch the best baseball players during this era. Even though the 1920s had ended with the beginning of the Great Depression, America’s love for baseball was able to help many people through the rough times by enjoying a baseball game and other new growing sports. The sport of American Football had traces back into the 1830s but was started in 1879 with rules instituted by Walter Camp, player and coach at Yale University. The game was originally based off of Rugby. The phrase touchdown was brought from the score in rugby when you

score you need to touch the ball down.
Along with the rise of people playing sports came with the people watching these sporting games.

Baseball, Football, and Boxing were the frontrunners in attendance at the events. The sport of boxing was originally unliked by many people because of its violent nature, it soon became a large part of the U.S. growth in leisure. The Depression and the New Deal turned the trend toward participant sporting events. Although in the Depression millions were out of work, the average worker had more leisure time because of less people having jobs. The Federal Government put lots of funding into recreation facilities, spending almost $1.5 billion by 1938. State, county and local governments added another $500 million. The WPA built 10,000 tennis courts, 3,026 athletic fields, 2,261 horseshoe courts, 1,817 handball courts, 805 swimming pools, 318 ski trails and 254 golf courses. In 1934 Congress authorized the establishment of fish and game sanctuaries in the national forests for the first

time.
The increase in leisure in the United State was in large part to the fact that people were soon demanding that they would receive better rights for working. These people wanted to have less hours and they would be able to have more time at home with their families. The invention of radios in the early 20th century led to people being able to hear the sporting events from the comfort of their own home. Radios at this time were expensive in today’s money. The average radio cost in the late 1920s was about 75 dollars, which is equivalent to over $1000 in 2018 money. The average worker’s income during the 1920s was between $750-$1500 per year. Just to buy a radio at this time would cost around 10 percent of a workers salary. The working class at this time would be more inclined to attend the various sporting events than to spend most of their hard earned salary on a radio. Sporting tickets at this time were inexpensive. The price for a ticket in the bleachers was only 25 cents and the seats in the grandstand were only 1 dollar. Because the tickets to the baseball games were cheap, Major League Baseball's attendance grew from 3.6 million to over nine million between 1900 and 1920. Baseball truly was America’s Pastime.