Dancing and The Great Depression? Sounds as though they wouldn’t be connected, but they are very linked together. Dance marathons got their start as contests in the 1920’s but later merged into a necessary event during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. How could that be? When a dark shadow was cast upon the fun of marathons put on for awards, money, and notoriety, young folks turned to dance to earn money just to live when jobs and careers were no longer available.

In 1929 the Jazz Age died. Stock markets crashed, the rich became poor, and the poor became even poorer. More than 25% of Americans were jobless. The Roaring Twenties were no longer overflowing with alcohol, dancing, and money. Reality had set in that life had changed.

Prior to the Great Depression, dance marathons were booming everywhere. They began with one woman, Alma Cummings. She danced for twenty-seven straight hours with six different partners! From there, a fun and frenzied spectator sport spread all throughout major college towns around the United States.

Sadly, there came a time when couples turned to marathon dancing just to earn enough money to feed their children. The dance producers would get enough sponsors that, at times, the prize could be as high as $500. Unfortunately, there were those who were scammers. They would get crowds of young couples as spectators to pay as much as $.25 to watch the dancers, and then they would skip town never paying the winners.

Couples who danced did so risking their health. The dancers would be exhausted, hurt with shin splints, blisters, swollen legs, and in pain. Still, they persevered in order to win the cash prizes. Cots would be set up in the auditoriums where nurses would look after those dancers that became ill during dancing. This can be understood as the events could be days or even weeks longs. Rest periods were given, but rarely were they long enough to recover fully.

It got to the point that towns started to prohibit dance marathons. And then….World War II happened. Men went to war, women got jobs, and the fad diminished…..to some degree. Rules were changed according to the Health Board, roller derbies began, and before you knew it….fun runs, walkathons, and all kinds of marathons popped up. This time with rules.

Let us remember the dance marathons of The Great Depression which fed our poor and housed many young families. Could I have done it? Maybe… maybe not. However, I have much respect for those that did. On that note…. Could/would you have entered a dance marathon? Were you familiar with the dance marathons of the 1930’s? Until then…have a satisfying Saturday, be safe, and I love you.