City of Pittsburgh 1930s

South Park PA: View of the second slide and people having fun at the South Park Swimming pool. The philosophy of recreation in the '20s and '30s was different than it is today. The differences between the haves and the have-nots of society were understood differently, and the county parks were called "the people's country clubs," bringing to poorer people the same recreation that the wealthy paid for at private clubs: golf, tennis, swimming, picnicking. The parks offered common folk...
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South Park PA: View of the second slide and people having fun at the South Park Swimming pool. The philosophy of recreation in the '20s and '30s was different than it is today. The differences between the haves and the have-nots of society were understood differently, and the county parks were called "the people's country clubs," bringing to poorer people the same recreation that the wealthy paid for at private clubs: golf, tennis, swimming, picnicking. The parks offered common folk the chance to escape to rural campgrounds, day camps, and "retreats." Certain modern recreational concepts had not yet arrived: people didn't "swim," they "bathed"; hence, a large South Park pool was only four feet deep at its deepest point.
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