History Teacher Notes The Literacy Key

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HOMEPAGE    HISTORY    GEOGRAPHY    R.E.

Victorian Entertainment

1. 1837 - 1901 saw greatest upsurge in leisure pursuits.

2. Improved technology meant books, newspapers and musical instruments were cheaper and therefore more accessible.

3. Working hours were reduced and certain holidays were established.

4. Victorian workers had more money to spend and more free time to spend it in.

5. Improvements in transport meant that people could travel to events.

6. Music halls became very popular in Victorian times, although the upper classes thought they were rough.

7. If the Victorian audiences did not like the acts, they would boo or throw fruit at them.

8. Pubs were popular with poorer Victorians, but they were rowdy places.

9. Drunkenness was considered to be a social evil in Victorian society because of the violence and neglect it caused.

10. Rat catching, a popular blood sport in cities, took place in local taverns and attracted rougher, more bloodthirsty people.

11. Brass bands appeared in 1830 and increased to 20,000 in number by the end of the Victorian times.

12. Brass band musicians were often factory workers, so bands became more popular as workers had more free time.

13. Victorians enjoyed listening to music and many learned to play musical instruments.

14. Evenings at home often included singing songs around the piano.

15. There was a great boating craze on the River Thames at the end of the Victorian period.

16. Bathing pools were popular with the boys from the East End as they had no baths at home.

17. Pastimes for Victorian ladies included needlework, embroidery, pressing flowers, reading, painting and music.

18. Board games were a popular entertainment for Victorian families.

19. They played games such as, chess, draughts and backgammon.

20. Spinners were used instead of dice as dice were associated with gambling.

21. Often Victorian families would spend their evenings reading stories and poems to each other around the fireside.

22. Due to cheap rail fares, Victorians could enjoy days out at seaside resorts.

23. Resorts such as Blackpool, Morecambe and Scarborough, became popular

24. There was a range of entertainment such as donkey rides, Punch and Judy, pleasure gardens and funfairs.

25. Alternatively Victorian holiday-makers could go for a stroll down the piers and promenades.