After an exciting year exploring the 1921 Census, discovering where earlier generations lived and worked, we might now delve deeper and consider what really made our interwar ancestors and relatives tick: what did they do for fun and relaxation? Notwithstanding the severe economic downturn suffered in traditional industrial areas, after World War I in betteroff districts of the north and midlands, much of southern England and parts of Wales, life for many was rosy. New types of job were emerging, housing was becoming affordable, many workers enjoyed more leisure time, the cost of living was low and mass production brought to ordinary people an unprecedented choice of consumer goods, from home appliances to children’s toys. Old, elite pre-war conventions were also crumbling and, with sports and entertainment personalities setting new trends, popular culture increasingly shaped everyday life. As my dad (1916-98) often recalled, people felt they were truly living in a modern age.
Home-making
Many people became first-time property owners between the wars, especially from 1932, when mortgage arrangements grew more favourable. Between 1919 and 1939, almost four million new homes were built, mainly in the midlands and south-east: many were modest terraced and semi-detached houses in the expanding suburbs, affordable for the ‘respectable’ working and lower-middle classes. Possessing their own
