How has the way people spend their free time changed over the last 100 years?

Answer 1

Probably the biggest change in leisure time in the last century has been the emergence of the automobile and airplane and the ability to 'travel' whenever and where ever desired. In the West, the automobile gave ordinary people the ability to see the world that they normally would not have been able to do. Travel, especially intercontinental travel, was something only the upper class was able to afford, usually. But by the mid-1920's in America, and later in Europe and other industrialized countries, a family could hop in the old Model T and motor on over to whatever part of their world they wanted to see - the "auto vacation" became a stable of the summer, and travel to things like National Parks, seashores, and other 'tourist destinations' became more and more common. And once the large passenger plane arrived, the idea of travelling from, say, the US to Europe or the Orient became far more affordable for many people. Cultures and communication intermingled like never before.