In spite of, or perhaps because of the Depression between the Wars, popular entertainment flourished. The cinema (along with the pub and the dance hall) was one of the most popular entertainments. The warm, plush new cinemas supplied much-needed glamour and they were cheap. In the 1930s about 80 per cent of the young unemployed are estimated to have gone to a cinema more than once a week.

Dance halls rivalled the cinema in popularity. The Hammersmith Palais de Danse opened in London in 1919, featuring American ‘jazz’ and dance bands. By the 1930s dancing was a national pastime and the BBC radio popularised British band leaders like Jack Payne and Henry Hall. American dance music, particularly that of Glen Miller, became tremendously popular during World War II (1939-45).

Although the Music Halls were not as popular as in their Victorian heyday, variety acts toured provincial theatres and performed end-of-pier shows in the summer and pantomime in the winter. They also provided material for the radio and the cinema. Touring circuses and fun fairs took their shows to small towns and villages. Local entertainment flourished, from village fetes and cricket matches, to large urban events like the famous annual Durham Miners’ Gala.