What did people do for fun before the invention of TV/radio?
I need things that made people interact and such.
They played games and cards, they read, they talked to each other, they played music and sang, they did handiwork like knitting, sewing, quilting and wood carving. Outdoors they gardened, took walks, rode horses, hunted, fished, visited friends, had picnics, had socials
They read books and learned history and talked to each other.
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Kids used to like, spin this hula-hoop-like thing with a stick.
Adults would simply read the newspaper.
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In the 1940’s if we were not picking cotton or hauling hay, we played outside.
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They read books. They socialized by attending dances, fairs and went to church. In fact, electronic broadcasting might have evolved out of something called a "medicine show". This was an American phenomenon which occurred mostly during the 19th century. Traveling patent medicine salesmen staged theatrical events and between acts offered their formulations for sale. Often the medicine was just river water in a bottle with a fancy label. However, the soup can label is perhaps America’s greatest invention. The theatrics inherent in medicine shows eventually evolved into burlesque after the civil war and although the salesmanship was gone, the format remained the same. Television then re-invented the medicine show – a series of theatrical presentations interrupted with commercial advertisements. Sadly perhaps, TV has made America a rather insular, ignorant society.
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The reluctant American
They played games and cards, they read, they talked to each other, they played music and sang, they did handiwork like knitting, sewing, quilting and wood carving. Outdoors they gardened, took walks, rode horses, hunted, fished, visited friends, had picnics, had socials
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The fact that you need to ask this question makes me very sad as to how far we’ve come as a society.
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