Abstract
When workers and unions first began to demand paid holidays in the early twentieth century, supporters claimed it as a right. By the 1960s, annual summer holidays were an institution and planning for the excitement of the big holiday a year-round activity. Films, television, magazines, and newspapers offered ideas for the ‘perfect week’, the clothes to pack and the sights to see (Dawson, 2011: 178). Summer holidays were more than simply time away from work, they were big business as advertisements used images that moved emotions and encouraged consumers to dream and hopefully, purchase. By 1990, John Urry claimed holidays were so much a part of our lives that we were living in what he termed, ‘a culture of tourism’ (Urry, 1990). This chapter traces the transformation of holiday ideology and assesses the emotional impact of holidays on family life and social groups as well as considering the significance of the increasing reliance on technology as an essential component of leisure.
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© 2015 Sandra Trudgen Dawson
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Dawson, S.T. (2015). The Big Holiday, Work, and the British Family, 1930-Present. In: Wassmann, C. (eds) Therapy and Emotions in Film and Television. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137546821_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137546821_2
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