Purpose built ‘picture houses’ had begun to appear in 1910 and by 1914 most towns had one, but after the First World War a new wave of bigger and more luxurious cinemas started to appear, where for a few pennies people could escape for an afternoon or evening to a more glamorous world. People could now listen to live plays, music and comedy in their own homes. Public broadcasting began in 1922, and in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s radio ownership boomed. The 1920s and 1930s saw the rise of a new entertainment medium – radio. Shorter skirts and dropped waists came into fashion and beading became popular on evening dresses. Corsets went out, giving a more comfortable and relaxed look. Women’s dress reflected greater confidence and also the lighter mood in the country.
But a wider range of occupations started to become available to women.Įmployees at the Co-operative Wholesale Society’s printing works in Pelaw. This didn’t lead to an immediate overhaul of the workplace – the Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act 1919 meant that most women workers in engineering firms had to give up their jobs again, for instance. Many had worked in environments they would never have dreamed of. Remember that name, we’ll be coming back to her later.įor many ordinary women, war had brought great change – the Parliament website reports that in 1914, 24% of employed people were women but by 1918 this had risen to 37 per cent. A few years later she would become MP for Jarrow.
This led to the north east seeing its first female MP step onto the stage: the Right Hon Ellen Wilkinson, who took Middlesbrough East for Labour in 1924. Secondly, women also gained the right to be elected into Parliament for the first time. Firstly, women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification gained the vote (it wasn’t until 1928 that all women over 21 would be able to vote).
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