For Fun And Profit

During the nineteenth century, leisure industries emerged to provide recreation and entertainment to Americans of all classes. By the 1920s, commercialized leisure was big business and today most Americans' leisure activities are based upon some purchased commodity (e.g. theater tickets, sports and stereo equipment). Entertainment has become a multi-billion dollar industry. The essays collected here explore the transformation this wrought in leisure and analyze its effects on class relations in American society. Author note: Richard Butsch is Professor of Sociology at Rider College in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.