Holiday Camps in Twentieth-Century Britain: Packaging Pleasure

Hardback

Main Details

Title Holiday Camps in Twentieth-Century Britain: Packaging Pleasure
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Sandra Dawson
SeriesStudies in Popular Culture
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:264
Dimensions(mm): Height 234,Width 156
Category/GenreSport and leisure industries
ISBN/Barcode 9780719080715
ClassificationsDewey:306.4812509410904
Audience
General
Illustrations Illustrations, black & white

Publishing Details

Publisher Manchester University Press
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publication Date 1 February 2011
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This book is the story of two holiday camp chains established in the 1930s that provided thousands with packaged pleasure. Warner and Butlin's commercial camps emerged at the intersection of cultural shifts that politicised working-class leisure and consumption. Entertainment fostered in the post-war camps provided a forum for popular pleasure that reinforced the idea of a 'national' culture grown from the common experience of war. Butlin and Warner, the big commercial chains of the 50s and 60s, are enmeshed in our social and cultural history. Dawson uncovers the significance of the holiday camps to the political, economic, social, and cultural history of twentieth-century Britain, drawing on an impressive variety of sources, from government documents to trade journals, advertising, photographs, oral histories, literature, films and songs. This unique volume will be of interest to academics and specialists of British social history, popular culture and tourism studies whilst remaining accessible to enthusiasts. -- .

Author Biography

Sandra Dawson is an Instructor in History and Women's Studies at Northern Illinois University -- .

Reviews

'This is an excellent book that examines the history of holiday camps and paid holidays.' Brad Beaven, English Historical Review, vol 128, no 530, February 2013 -- .