Holidays with Pay

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 4th Year

Issue

Issue No.

4

Date Released

1938

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Holidays with Pay
2. 2The Laugh Industry
3. 3One Million Missing

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 3

Summary

The March of Time synopsis: For generations the average British family has made its annual pilgrimage to the sea, seeking relief from the humdrum routine of the work-a-day world. Here the bathing beach, the promenade and pier cater for every pocket and every taste. For those to whom the accustomed working day brings few excitements, there is the stimulation in the thrill of the amusement park. Today holiday resorts of a new kind are springing up in increasing number along the English coastline. Known as "Holiday Camps" many of them are in fact small sea-side townships where the holiday maker, living in his private chalet, can for a modest inclusive sum but not merely board and lodging, but a holiday completely planned to fill every hour of the day. Here, regimented by the camp entertainment staff, he is shepherded through a variety of exercises and entertainments from morning to midnight, when he sings the camp "Good-night" song and does exhausted to bed. But it is not the lot of every Briton to have a week’s relief in the modern holiday camp, or the seaside town. Holidays cost money, and for 60% of British wage-earners who have no paid holidays, a week without work is a week without pay, and would add a prohibitive burden to a budget already barely adequate to cover the cost of food, rent and clothes. For them such leisure as they have must be spent in the streets about their homes, or in the nearest park or open space. On Bank Holidays if money permits they may attempt a more ambitious excursion, perhaps to sample the fun of the fair, its side-shows and crowded mechanical amusements. Many get their only amusement from the eloquence of the soap-box orator. But industry today has come to realize that its workers need greater opportunities for relaxation than these if their efficiency is to be maintained. This year a bill has been introduced into Parliament which brings nearer the day when ever worker will have the right to an annual holiday with pay. Eventually this may become compulsory, but in the meantime the Government is urging employers to take voluntary action to grant paid holidays to those workers who do not at present enjoy them. In consequence this year three million workers are experiencing the thrill of their first paid holidays. But there still remain eight million who must await the slow processes of law-making to obtain at last a real escape from the work-a-day world.

Researcher Comments

This story was made for the British edition and was not shown in the USA.

Keywords

Politics and government; Entertainment and leisure; Employment

Written sources

The March of Time Promotional Material   Lobby Card, Used for synopsis