During the 30s, People escaped the realities of life through entertainment.
Flicks, Fads, and Fun
By: Carol Sevitt
THEY WERE DEPRESSING
TIMES.
More than a quarter of
all Canadians were out of work,
and many of those that did have
jobs had to endure pay cuts.
Very few people could afford the
luxuries we consider
commonplace today, such as
fashionable clothes, trips and
cars. Many people seeking
romance or adventure could
only fantasize. The films, radio
shows and magazines of the day
fed into those fantasies,
providing a brief escape from
reality.
The big band sound
from the United States was
popular, and “old blue eyes”,
Frank Sinatra, had the girls
swooning and screaming. Some
of the songs being sung in those
days reflected the hard times,
having such titles as “I Can’t
Give you Anything But Love” and
“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”.
In the 1930s, Contract
Bridge became the rage, and a
popular evening pastime.
Miniature Golf was a new game
and many unprofitable
properties were converted into
miniature golf courses.
Monopoly was being played by
many people; it was a way of
speculating and selling without
spending any real money, which
most people didn’t have
anyway. Roller Skating, Chain
Letters and Yo-Yos were other
popular fads.
While the Marx Brothers’
films were making millions
laugh in movie houses, off the
screen people were telling each
other “Knock-Knock” jokes and
“Mae West” jokes. The
economic difficulties also
influenced the humour of the
times. One joke which appeared
in the Toronto Globe was:
“This country needs the
courage to spend its cash,” states a
business economist.
“All right mister, if you’ll
put up the cash, we’ll put up the
courage.”
HURRAY FOR
HOLLYWOOD
Nearly all films that
Canadians saw in the 1930s
were produced in Hollywood,
where 600 films a year were
being churned out. Since there
was no film industry in Canada,
talented Canadians who wanted
to act were drawn to
Hollywood. People such as
Deanna Durbin, Mary Pickford,
Norma Shearer, Fay Wray and
Raymond Massey were Canadians
who became big international
stars.
Very few of the films
dealt with the Depression,
unemployment or hunger.
Films were a refuge from harsh
conditions outside. For a few
hours you could forget your
worries. For the 25 cent price of
a ticket, you could enter the
dazzling world of the stars and
experience a romance or
adventure with them.
All the women were
glamourous and beautiful, the
men handsome and gallant.
Great epics like “Gone with the
Wind”, lavish musicals and Walt
Disney animated full-length
features were popular box office
attractions. Mickey Mouse, who
had been created in 1928, was
coming into his own.
And nobody will forget
little Shirley Temple. She was the
child star of the decade. Her
little girl charm and golden locks
endeared her to millions of
sentimental movie-goers. Many
parents named their daughters
Shirley after her and did their
hair up in ringlets. If you could
afford it, you could even buy a
Shirley Temple Doll.
Films influenced many
people, and when Marlene
Dietrich appeared wearing pants,
they quickly became fashionable
with women. However, movies
also reflected society, and the
strict moral code of the decade
was portrayed. Crime didn’t
pay, nice girls didn’t engage in
pre-marital sex, and true love
conquered all.
CENTRE OF HOMELIFE
In the 1930s, the radio
was the gathering spot in the
house. Since television
broadcasting did not come until
some years later, families relied
on radio for home
entertainment. Without being
able to see what the different
characters or personalities
looked like, people had to use
their imaginations much more
than we do today.
Popular radio programs
were The Jack Benny Show, The
Lone Ranger, Inner Sanctum,
Orson Wells’ Mercury Theater,
Amos and Andy, and The
Goldbergs. Housewives listened
to afternoon soap operas.
Sometimes they reflected the
hardships of the Depression, and
if so, the villains were portrayed
as heartless big businessmen
exploiting their workers.
In addition to “soaps”,
radio brought real life drama
into the homes of millions of
Canadians. King Edward VIII
broadcast his abdication in 1936,
announcing his intention to
marry the woman he loved,
Wallis Simpson, an American
divorcee. It became the love
story of the decade.
Since the Canadian
airwaves were being inundated
with American radio shows, the
federal government decided
something had to be done.
Thus, the Canadian Radio
Broadcasting Commission started
in 1933 to counteract the
American influence. Three
years later the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
was on the air. Despite the
CBC’s best efforts, American
programs were still more
popular.
Two successful CBC
shows were The Happy Gang, a
light hearted musical show
which continued for 20 years,
and Hockey Night in Canada
which made Foster Hewitt a
legend.
Because of the strong
influence filtering through the
United States via magazines,
radio and films, life in Canada
began to grow similar to life
south of the border. There was
not much concern about this in
the 1930s. It was not until the
1960s that this became an
important political issue.
ALL THAT’S FIT TO PRINT
Like Radio programs
and films, magazines didn’t
dwell on the events of the
Depression. If you didn’t know
that people everywhere were
struggling to make a living, you
would never have guessed it by
reading the popular magazines.
Popular Canadian
magazines were National Home
Monthly, Chatelaine, Maclean’s
and Liberty, but they had trouble
competing with the American
products. Reader’s Digest, Time,
Fortune, and Life were the biggest
sellers.
As the magazines saw it,
their function was to amuse and
reassure people. Perhaps they
felt no one would buy
magazines filled with horror
stories about real life events.
Instead, beautiful cover girls
enticed people to buy the
product.
Since this was before the
age of women’s liberation,
women’s magazines such as
Ladies’ Home Journal, McCall’s
and Pictorial Review discussed
mainly babies, cooking, happy
home life, and looking after
hubby. Sexual matters were not
discussed. A 1930s woman
would be astounded to see a
copy of today’s Ms. Magazine
or Cosmopolitan.
The Pulps, taking their
name from the cheap brownish
paper on which they were
printed, were also popular
reading material. They
contained sensational stories of
wild adventure or conquest, and
were often carried by
unemployed men roaming the
country in search of work. They
had lots of time to read, and The
Pulps provided them with the
thrills lacking in their own lives.
The newspapers, of
course printed stories about the
Depression. However they did
not dwell on harsh conditions
because people became tired of
reading sad news. Instead,
newspapers gave a great deal of
space to detailed human interest
stories.
The birth of the Dionne
Quintuplets to a poor Ontario
family in 1934 attracted worldwide attention and was reported
in the papers for years. In those
days, multiple births were
extremely rare, and the fact that
all five girls survived was
extraordinary.
Since the Dionne’s
already had several children and
were very poor, the Ontario
government stepped in and
made the Quints wards of the
state. A special residence was
built for them and they were
turned into a side-show. They
became a major tourist
attraction and millions of
visitors came to see the “shows”
through a special one-way
screen. The Quints were used to
advertise many products and
even starred in films. Eventually
the parents entered into a court
case and won back control of
their children.
Another human interest
story that made headlines
throughout the 1930s was the
“Stork Derby”. Charles Vance
Millar, an eccentric Toronto
lawyer, left a peculiar will after
his death in 1926. Most of his
money went to the Toronto
woman who could produce the
most children within the next
ten years. Hundreds of women
competed, and at the end there
was a four-way tie. Each
woman had produced nine
children, and each received
$165,000.
of all ages played the game in
community clubs or on vacant
lots which had been flooded and
frozen. Boxing was another
important sport, and radio
brought the fights into the
nation’s living rooms. Joe Louis
was the greatest of his time.
Although the Depression
was a difficult time for most
Canadians, people still
remember with fondness the
stars they watched, shows they
listened to and games they
played which brought some joy
into their drab lives.
SPORTS
Baseball was the rage
during the Depression,
especially the Prairies. Farming
was disastrous because of the
droughts; dust storms,
grasshoppers and Russian
thistle, and people had a lot of
time on their hands. Most
towns had several baseball
leagues and teams in each
league. Tournaments were
important events and people
travelled great distances to
participate.
Hockey became very
popular, but people weren’t
merely spectators; men and boys
Comprehension Questions:
1. Why were movies and radio so important to people
during the Depression?
2. List some of the actors, singers, etc., who were
popular at the time.
3. Name some songs, movies and radio show titles of
the period.
4. Why did few Hollywood films actually deal with the
depression?
5. Why was the CBC formed in 1933?