Leisure Aspect of the Everyday Life of Factory Workers in Yelysavethrad at the Turn of the 19th–20th centuries

Abstract

The article highlights the development of the leisure aspect of the everyday life of factory workers in Yelysavethrad at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, characterizes its forms, qualitative content and specifics. It has been established that the leisure culture of Yelysavethrad workers in the late nineteenth century was dominated by destructive activities and habits typical of the working communities of industrial cities of the Naddniprianshchyna. With the intensification of industrial production at the turn of the century and the attention drawn to the situation of the working community during the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905–1907, the germs of recreational infrastructure began to appear in the city, creating an alternative for workers in the form of constructive, life-affirming forms of recreation — reading periodicals and literature, visiting the circus, enjoying theatre, football, etc. To a large extent, this trend was influenced by the owners of enterprises and their administration, rather than by representatives of the city government. The expansion of enterprises and production teams and their increased economic prosperity in the early twentieth century made it possible to invest in improving the socio-economic and cultural level of the working community. The cultural and leisure sphere was best organised at the largest enterprise in the city, the R. and T. Elworthy’s Plant of Agricultural Machinery. In 1905, the owner created the «People’s House» at the enterprise, which served as a hall for public performances and theatrical performances of the local drama group, dances; there was a bowling alley and a factory library. The company had an amateur orchestra, a cycling club and its own football team. In addition to this, the author has made an attempt to create a periodisation of the development of workers’ leisure in Yelysavethrad, based on the chronology of the quantitative and qualitative expansion of its main elements.