Entertainment and Music of the 1930's

Music and entertainment were very important to people during the Great Depression. Music was the only free entertainment that the people had to keep their spirits up. There were times when people were on the edge of insanity and just had to get away from the world at least for a little while. For some folks, music was a way to let out all the frustration they had stored up. They needed money but when they sold everything, they would keep their instruments. " The fiddle squeaks and the guitar bongs. Mouth organ man is red in the face. Texas boy and Cherokee girl, pantin' like dogs an' a-beatin' the groun'. Ol' folks stan' a-pattin' their hands'. Smilin' a little, tappin' their feet." Page 329
The entertainment of the time included movies, television, dances, telling stories, and games like monopoly. The movies and television could only be seen by those who could afford it. This was a very small percent of Americans during that time. The people could barley afford to eat but they would still sometimes take a show over a piece of meat just to feel normal again. "And perhaps a man balanced twenty cents between food and pleasure, and he went to a movie in Marysville or Tulare, in Ceres Mountain View. And he came back to the ditch camp with his memory corwded. And he told how it was." Page 326




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSq8mnDH_1o

http://www.countrymusictube.com/tradcountry.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111064/30entertain.htm