The Leisure Industry In Britain, 1818–39

Abstract

Economic and social historians have shown that leisure underwent a process of commercialisation in the late nineteenth century. Although there are clear signs of commercial activity in the leisure field at this time, it is the claim of this article that important developments had to wait until the inter-war years. The article examines the leisure industry of the 1920s and 1930s, and provides an empirical analysis of the industry's growth record. It is shown that the expansion of the commercialised product rested on buoyant demand and elastic supply conditions, particularly an increase in factor inputs and productivity gains.