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Rating: 
Summary: early American gender relations
Review: This is a simple, rather charming study of a bygone era. It is interesting largely because it takes readers into a relatively recent time & society with which most of us are unacquainted. McBee examined the workers' relationships with their parents, living conditions, longings, intense friendships, romances & marriages, & numbingly boring jobs, & carefully researched the importance of class, generation, gender, & community in the formation of American character. Commercial recreation was just coming into existence at the time, & it is fascinating to observe the differences between the heterosocial relationships of adolescents of the early twentieth century & those of today. The former amused themselves not only in dance halls & amusement parks, but at picnics, religious festivals, & men's social clubs, a far cry from the ubiquitous discos & rock concerts of our day. The book is not particularly well written, & there is a great deal of repetition. Nevertheless, unlike many works of its ilk, it is easy to read, & always interesting. In addition, it is a historical & social record which could be useful to students of American gender relations for many years to come.
Rating:
Summary: early American gender relations
Review: This is a simple, rather charming study of a bygone era. It is interesting largely because it takes readers into a relatively recent time & society with which most of us are unacquainted. McBee examined the workers' relationships with their parents, living conditions, longings, intense friendships, romances & marriages, & numbingly boring jobs, & carefully researched the importance of class, generation, gender, & community in the formation of American character. Commercial recreation was just coming into existence at the time, & it is fascinating to observe the differences between the heterosocial relationships of adolescents of the early twentieth century & those of today. The former amused themselves not only in dance halls & amusement parks, but at picnics, religious festivals, & men's social clubs, a far cry from the ubiquitous discos & rock concerts of our day. The book is not particularly well written, & there is a great deal of repetition. Nevertheless, unlike many works of its ilk, it is easy to read, & always interesting. In addition, it is a historical & social record which could be useful to students of American gender relations for many years to come.
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