Stamp Collecting
With the Help of President Roosevelt and less income to spend on leisure due to the depression, collecting stamps became very popular in the 30's.
Board Games
The game of Monopoly was introduced in 1935 by Parker Brothers. This sparked a rage for board games. More than twenty thousand Monopoly board games were sold within the first week of release.
Gambling
The big depression of the 1930's caused an increase in gambling. People unable to make a decent living looked towards any means to add to their income. In this decade alone 15 states legalized horse racing.
Mandatory Hats
Wearing a hat was a must for all well dressed men.
The Zip
Many people started using zips for the first time due to the fact that it was less expensive than the previously used buttons.
Drive-in Cinema
Started in June of 33', by Richard Hollingshed. It was an immediate success; he went on to establish a drive in movie theater franchise throughout the United States. Starting with 100 cinemas to 2200 cinemas all in a 12-year period.
Monopoly
Created in 1934 by Charles B Darrow. Although some say it was created many years earlier by Lizzie J. Magie. Her version was called The Landlords. Basically the same exact game, just Darrow added a lot to the idea and many say he improved the game. When Darrow brought the game to Parker Brothers, they later sent him a later saying they rejected the idea for having too many fundamental errors. However, Darrow was selling the game to all of his friends and decided to have a printer make him up 5,000 copies of the game. He then sold them to a store in Philadelphia… Parker Brother rethought the idea and in 1935, Parker Brothers introduced the game of Monopoly and 20 thousand sets were sold in one week.
Betty Boop
Americas first cartoon flapper icon. The first appearance of Betty Boop was in the 6th Talkartoon starring Bimbo, entitled "Dizzy Dishes" (1930.) Grim Natwick was the first animator to draw Betty, who had not yet been officially named. He took inspiration for Betty's spit curls from a song sheet of Helen Kane, commonly called the "Boop Oop a Doop Girl". Betty started out being designed as a human-like dog, only her black button nose and floppy ears hinting at her canine nature. These ears later became her round earrings, in part due to the fact that the Fleischer animators had a tendency to change animating styles and features of characters from cartoon to cartoon, and sometimes within the same cartoon. (In "Bum Bandit"-1931- Betty's nose changes from black to white and then back again in the same cartoon.) Her high baby voice, like her spit curls, were in imitation of singer Helen Kane. Her first starring role was in "Betty Coed" (1931), which also marked the first time the name Betty was connected with the character. In "Any Rags" (1932), Betty became completely human, and her ears permanently became earrings. As for her famous garter, Betty started out with two, then early drawings showing her still with ears show the garter on her right leg. When she became a regular, however, and her features were officially set, the garter moved to her left leg, and stayed there.
Miniature Golf
In the early 1900's, miniature golf was actually the short game of regulation golf. The name quite frequently used in the early years was "Garden Golf" and it was played with a putter on real grass. In the 1920's & 30's, "rails" or "bumpers" started to appear, confining the ball within a boundary. The playing surface was changed to hard-pressed cottonseed hulls, which created a smoother putting surface. The game of minigolf was extremely popular among movie stars and celebrities, which helped spawn new links all across the nation. During the 1930's, there were approximately 30,000 links throughout the country with over 150 rooftop courses in New York City alone. The American population was hooked on miniature golf, as not only a leisure time game, but also a sport that any gender, any age could excel without any handicap or without being a well-conditioned athlete.
Zoot Suits
The zoot suit was a refusal: a sub cultural gesture that refused to concede to the manners of subservience. By the late 1930s, the term "zoot" was in common circulation within urban jazz culture. Zoot meant something worn or performed in an extravagant style, and since many young blacks wore suits with outrageously padded shoulders and trousers that were fiercely tapered at the ankles, the term zoot-suit passed into everyday usage. In the sub-cultural world of Harlem's nightlife, the language of rhyming slang succinctly described the zoot-suit's unmistakable style: 'a killer-diller coat with a drape shape, real-pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell.
Car Ornaments
Little metal design that were attached to the boot of your car.
Stickball
A game similar to baseball, but played by kids in the streets.Was popular in big cities.
Wing Tipped Shoes
Popular shoes during the swinging era. Shoes usually had a dark colored trim/wing tip.
