History – Life, Work & Leisure Between the Wars (1918-1939)

COURSE OVERVIEW

We study how life changed after the First World War -; high living for the wealthy declined with lack of servants, but cultural life took on a particular aspect reflected in architecture, design, fashion, music, literature, cinema and distinctive style of Art Deco.

There was a decline in high living after the First World War as the supply of servants dramatically dropped. Further changes altered everyday life and perceptions, especially how women viewed their role, although little was being done to change their status even though they had contributed so greatly to the war effort and workforce. Wives had been liberated during wartime when they had to work and look after home and family alone, but did life return to the usual role-play once their husbands returned? Pioneers, such as Marie Stopes with her birth control methods aimed at freeing women from the continual cycle of child-bearing, while others, such as pilot Amy Johnson, took on exciting challenges.

Various events had an impact on people’;s lives, including the launch of Penguin paperbacks in 1935, and Gollancz’;s Left Book Club in 1937, which enabled the working-class to purchase books cheaply, thus opening up a whole new world to them, as did cinema-going which reached its height of popularity in the 1930′;s and influenced the way people lived, including how they dressed and spoke. It was also educational and informative, as well as an escape from the drudgery of everyday life.

Illustrated with books, slides, video

N.B. History courses may contain outdated attitudes, cultural depictions and language which cause offence today. They have to be viewed from an historic perspective. When discussing the content these views are not those of the tutor.

Tutor Sarah Tobias. This course runs on a Mondays 16:00-18:00.