Entertainment~ A Get Away Now and Then

Today there are many forms of entertainment; music, dances, parties, sports, and others. Without entertainment people would go insane. It was the same during the Great Depression, people yearned for something to focus on besides their pain and hunger. The first radio was created in 1927 but did not become very popular until 1930. Radio dramas, news updates, and music were played during this time. 'Talking pictures' were especially popular, some movies had around 90 million viewers. The film makers made $732 million in 1930! Country, Cajun, and Jazz were the most played types of music.

Jule said," These here dances done funny things. Our people got nothing, but jes' because they can ast their frien's to come here to the dance, sets 'em up an' makes 'em proud. An' the folks respects 'em 'count of these here dances. I ast him myself, an' he come. Says we got the only decent dance in the county, where a man can take his girls an' his wife," showing how everyone looked forward to dances to get their mind off their troubles. "Now the girls' hair lost the careful combing. Now perspiration stood out on the foreheads of the boy. Now the experts showed the tricky inter-steps. and the old people on the edge of the floor took up the rhythm, patted their hands softly, and tapped their feet; and they smiled gently and then caught one another's eyes and nodded." Steinbeck captures how important entertainment is and how much everyone enjoys it, in this paragraph. The younger community members dance while the older ones simply tap their feet to the beat. Either way everyone was and still is involved with entertainment to get away from the problems of life just for a little while.

http://pricers.wikispaces.com/1930's+Entertainment
http://star-spangledheart.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html
http://www.fmschools.org/webpages/2websites/index.cfm?subpage=24687