Women and Leisure Activities in the Interwar Period
‘Leisure’ as a subject of historical interest is perhaps underappreciated. It can all too easy to be wrapped up in what people did for work, who they married, and what they believed in relation to politics or religion. When we are researching our ancestry, we often want to know whether they made a major contribution in some area. For young women, a lot changed between the First and Second World Wars. This blog explores the 2005 article from Selina Todd on how young women spent their time during this era.
Young Women of the Interwar Period
Selina Todd wrote a very dense article on this subject, so condensing it for a blog format will be tricky. I will try my best, however, to focus on the key information.
Where the Young Women Worked
Firstly, Todd states that young women were more than 45% of the workforce during the period between the two World Wars. She explains that ‘personal service’ (e.g. working as a maid) was the most common type of employment. However, many worked in the textile or textile goods industries too. 1 For those who have not read my article on Irish migration during the nineteenth century, it is mentioned in there that many Irish women of Dundee worked in the textile industries. This shows that the industries that women gravitated towards did not always change much between these two points in history.
She further expands on this key industry by explaining that in areas where male income needed to be supplemented, women were far more likely to work as well. She gives the example of Blackburn where 79% of boys and girls were working in 1931. Todd contrasts this with areas that had more lucrative forms of work for men that did not require an additional income, and women therefore could focus their attention on domestic duties. 2
The Increase of Leisure
Todd goes through how increased leisure was linked to the industrialised jobs. Those who stayed at homes to look after invalid relatives or worked in domestic roles did not have a lifestyle that enabled them to have free time. 3 After the First World War, working hours were reduced, and by the 1930s, there was the increasing benefit of paid holidays. This culminated in particular with the 1938 Holidays with Pay Act. 4
The types of leisure varied and expanded as the years went on. Todd highlighted the growing commercial market aimed at young working-class women. Magazines after the First World War became very popular. She notes that by the late 1930s, these young women would purchase cosmetic goods and accessories, dance hall visits and cinema trips, and so on. 5 Older women, due to their domestic duties, did not have the time to use this disposable income. 6 However, for many working-class girls, they could not always afford to pay for these things either. Clothes and cinema trips were, after all, costly, and it meant that many people only socialised with those of the same class status as them. 7 Despite the marketing, these products were not very attainable for many of them.
Parental Encouragement
Finally, the experience of increased leisure was often encouraged by the parents themselves, especially the mothers. They had to deal with a lot more hardship and austerity, so this is hardly surprising. Todd discusses this by saying that in a survey asking how households in Bolton economise for hardship, reducing their children’s spending money was not a priority.8 She further explains for areas such as the coalfields of the north-east of England, female companionship was valuable. Mothers therefore were quite keen to keep their daughters around and encourage them to settle down later than they did. 9
What does this mean for your ancestry?
This topic is a more unusual approach to looking at ancestry, but if we look closely, there are a number of important details to keep in mind. I mentioned the textile industry at the start of my article, and this seems to be a very crucial industry to investigate. Even more so for personal service, have a look at large estates to see whether your female ancestors lived there instead. More broadly, the type of leisure these young women engaged in is, in a way, unhelpful for ancestry. Luxury goods or experiences are transient, and unlikely to yield any documentation. Other social groups such as sport societies and even political unions usually come with more historical information to draw from. The value of articles from Selina Todd is that it fills in the gaps of what your family members did despite the absence of evidence.
You can, however, gain some insight into the living patterns of these women. If they did get married later, their surnames would remain unchanged. Keeping track of them throughout their life will therefore be a little easier. Furthermore, if they were staying at home for longer, you will know to keep within the same location even when searching for marriage certificates.
Here are some websites to help you find your ancestry:
https://www.thegenealogist.com
Source: Selina Todd, ‘Young Women, Work, and Leisure in Interwar England’. The Historical Journal, 48 (2005): 789-809.