Did the entertainment business struggle during the Great Depression?

Answer 1

The music industry was almost destroyed by the Great Depression. But the popular music business was able to quickly rebound and became the second most popular form of entertainment during the Depression behind the movies. The most popular dances, also of the 1920s, were the Foxtrot, waltz and tango, the Charleston, and Lindy Hop. Dance Marathons became very popular. Sales of records collapsed in 1932 mainly due to the hillbilly and black blues singers whose audiences made up the largest group that purchased records, but were the hardest hit by the Depression economically. The music revival began with the invention of the 78-rpm record which only cost 35 cents and the jukebox, which would play songs for a nickel. The big bands provided cheap entertainment. For 50 cents or less, the young jitter buggers could dance for hours at clubs listening to the music of Benny Goodman, Harry James, and other big band leaders. The big band appearances were musically and economically successful. Harry James once drew 8,000 dancers in a single night and 35,000 in a week at the Palladium Ballroom in Hollywood, California. The radio, which broadcast big band "gigs" were as cheap as $10 and became depression-era Americans' favorite form of home entertainment.

Baseball was the reigning king of sports in America in the 20s and 30s. But it suffered like the rest of the economy. Attendance dropped from 17 million in 1929, to 11 million in 1933. Babe Ruth negotiated a salary of $80,000 in 1930 but saw it cut in half three years later. The Cincinnati Reds declared bankruptcy. Most of the 16 teams went into receivership. Players saw their wages cut by 25 percent while a typical American worker saw his salary cut in half. During the 1930s, sports became both mass entertainment and recreation. Soccer, swimming, athletics, boating, and camping became inexpensive, popular sports. Boxing was also very popular as a spectator sport.