Hobbies: Leisure and the Culture of Work in America

Steven M. Gelber

"Gelber has uncovered an astonishing array of writings—advice literature, popular magazines, newspaper articles—on hobiies. . . . Gelber takes an unusal and little studied topic—the history of hobbies—and shows us its depth, its breadth and its importance. This is a fine book, one that reminds us that the study of leisure is also the study of work, gender, and culture." — Cindy S. Aron, American Historical Review

"Based upon thorough research in the prescriptive literature as well as in the actual practice of hobbies in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America, Gelber's book exposes the uneasy relief enjoyed by the leisure-time hobbyist seeking to escape the clock-bound disciplines and diminishing psychological rewards of work in a corporate capitalist economy." — Woody Register, University of the South

"Explains why hobbies emerged in nineteenth century American as desirable activity, in the face, nonetheless, of the dominant work ethic centered in industrial capitalism. Using detailed analyses of collecting and handicrafts, Gelber illustrates the variable reception of these two hobbies from then to the present. Hobbies is a beautifully written and eminently readable contribution to the study of serious leisure." — Robert Stebbins, University of Calgary; author ofThe Barbershop Singer

Related Subjects

• Popular Culture

About the Author

Stephen Gelber is professor of history and chair of the History Department at Santa Clara University. He is the author of Black Men and Businessmen: The Growing Awareness of a Social Responsibility and Saving the Earth: The History of a Middle-Class Millenarian Movement.

top of page