Fatherhood, masculinity, and the good life during Canada's baby boom, 1945-1965

Journal of Family History

Volumn 24, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 351-373

  Rutherdale, Robert ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0033164460     PISSN: 03631990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/036319909902400307     Document Type: Article

References (84)

1. As Doug Owram states in his study of the baby boom in Canada, "The decentralized medium of television perfectly matched the growing suburban needs of families with young children." See Doug Owram, Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby Boom in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 89. For a comprehensive study of the impact of television on popular culture in Canada, see Paul Rutherford, When Television Was Young: Primetime Canada, 1952-1967 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On stereotypical portraits of the postwar suburb, see Joanne Meyerowitz, "Introduction: Women and Gender in Postwar America" in Not June Cleaver: Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945-1960, ed. Joanne Meyerowitz (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994). Meyerowitz also cites several simplistic portraits of women and family life in recent college textbooks.
2. As Doug Owram states in his study of the baby boom in Canada, "The decentralized medium of television perfectly matched the growing suburban needs of families with young children." See Doug Owram, Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby Boom in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 89. For a comprehensive study of the impact of television on popular culture in Canada, see Paul Rutherford, When Television Was Young: Primetime Canada, 1952-1967 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On stereotypical portraits of the postwar suburb, see Joanne Meyerowitz, "Introduction: Women and Gender in Postwar America" in Not June Cleaver: Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945-1960, ed. Joanne Meyerowitz (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994). Meyerowitz also cites several simplistic portraits of women and family life in recent college textbooks.
3. As Doug Owram states in his study of the baby boom in Canada, "The decentralized medium of television perfectly matched the growing suburban needs of families with young children." See Doug Owram, Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby Boom in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 89. For a comprehensive study of the impact of television on popular culture in Canada, see Paul Rutherford, When Television Was Young: Primetime Canada, 1952-1967 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On stereotypical portraits of the postwar suburb, see Joanne Meyerowitz, "Introduction: Women and Gender in Postwar America" in Not June Cleaver: Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945-1960, ed. Joanne Meyerowitz (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994). Meyerowitz also cites several simplistic portraits of women and family life in recent college textbooks.
4. For an extended discussion of masculine domesticity, see Ralph LaRossa, The Modernization of Fatherhood: A Social and Political History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997), especially 31-34. LaRossa draws distinctions between masculine domesticity and domestic masculinity, more than a matter of semantics as he sees it. Like Margaret Marsh, LaRossa sees domestic masculinity as "doing domestic activities in a masculine way." To illustrate, he points to doing child care and housework in a manly or virile manner. Fathers taking their sons hunting for the sake of instilling the masculine virtues of aggressiveness, competitiveness, and dominion over nature would be exhibiting masculine domesticity. So would fathers who did housework the macho way, or the military way, or the corporate capitalist way, since all of these imply either a manly disposition or a manly world. This, LaRossa argues, should be separated from domestic masculinity, since "domesticating someone who is masculine is something else." It is, but I might add, a caveat. Boundaries between masculine domesticity and domestic masculinity may be drawn for a particular context but may shift across time. Fathers may do certain things around their families that they see as appropriate for a man, such as reading their children to sleep, that their fathers would not have done. Casting masculine domesticity and domestic masculinity as separate strands for fathers, in other words, tends to essentialize masculinity in fatherhood rather than see it as historically plural and variable.
5. Margaret Marsh, "Suburban Men and Masculine Domesticity, 1870-1915," American Quarterly 40 (June 1988): 165-86, and "From Separation to Togetherness: The Social Construction of Domestic Space in American Suburbs, 1840-1915," Journal of American History 76 (September 1989): 506-27.
6. Margaret Marsh, "Suburban Men and Masculine Domesticity, 1870-1915," American Quarterly 40 (June 1988): 165-86, and "From Separation to Togetherness: The Social Construction of Domestic Space in American Suburbs, 1840-1915," Journal of American History 76 (September 1989): 506-27.
7. Marsh, "Suburban Men and Masculine Domesticity," 166.
8. Robert L. Griswold, Fatherhood in America: A History (New York: Basic Books, 1993), especially chap. 5.
9. On demographic change, modernization, and local family/community formation during the baby boom era in Prince George, see Robert Rutherdale, "Approaches to Community Formation and the Family in the Provincial North," BC Studies, 104 (winter 1994): 103-260. By 1961, for instance, nearly 80 percent of the city's family dwellings had been built since the end of the Second World War. Figures for the province (51.5 percent) and country (44.2 percent), while much lower, reflect significant corresponding jumps in housing starts (p. 124).
10. On the agricultural industry in the area, which embraced in this period Matsqui, Sumas, and Abbotsford, see John Warnock, "Agriculture and Food Industry," in After Bennett: A New Politics for British Columbia, ed. Warren Magnusson et al. (Vancouver: New Star Books, 1986), and David Demeritt, "Visions of Agriculture in British Columbia," BC Studies 108 (winter 1995-96): 29-59.
11. On the agricultural industry in the area, which embraced in this period Matsqui, Sumas, and Abbotsford, see John Warnock, "Agriculture and Food Industry," in After Bennett: A New Politics for British Columbia, ed. Warren Magnusson et al. (Vancouver: New Star Books, 1986), and David Demeritt, "Visions of Agriculture in British Columbia," BC Studies 108 (winter 1995-96): 29-59.
12. Census of Canada, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1971), 112, Table 2, Population of Census Subdivisions, 1921-1971, 92-702. Figures combine Abbotsford, Matsqui, and Sumas.
13. Census of Canada, vol. 2 (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1971), 112, Table 2, Population of Census Subdivisions, 1921-1971, 92-702. Figures combine Abbotsford, Matsqui, and Sumas.
14. Owram, Born at the Right Time, 12.
15. On the federal government's role in promoting household improvement prior to 1940, see Margaret Hobbs and Ruth Roach Pierson, "'A kitchen that wastes no steps . . . 'Gender, Class and the Home Improvement Plan, 1936-40," Histoire Sociale/Social History 21 (May 1988): 9-37. For the post-World War II period, see Veronica Strong-Boag," "Their Side of the Story': Women's Voices from Ontario Suburbs, 1945-1965," and Joan Sangster, "Doing Two Jobs: The Wage-Earning Mother, 1945-1970," in A Diversity of Women: Ontario, 1945-1980, ed. Joy Parr (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995): 46-74 and 98-134, respectively. On women and appliance shopping, see Joy Parr, "Shopping for a Good Stove: A Parable about Gender, Design and the Market," also in A Diversity of Women.
16. On the federal government's role in promoting household improvement prior to 1940, see Margaret Hobbs and Ruth Roach Pierson, "'A kitchen that wastes no steps . . . 'Gender, Class and the Home Improvement Plan, 1936-40," Histoire Sociale/Social History 21 (May 1988): 9-37. For the post-World War II period, see Veronica Strong-Boag," "Their Side of the Story': Women's Voices from Ontario Suburbs, 1945-1965," and Joan Sangster, "Doing Two Jobs: The Wage-Earning Mother, 1945-1970," in A Diversity of Women: Ontario, 1945-1980, ed. Joy Parr (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995): 46-74 and 98-134, respectively. On women and appliance shopping, see Joy Parr, "Shopping for a Good Stove: A Parable about Gender, Design and the Market," also in A Diversity of Women.
17. On the federal government's role in promoting household improvement prior to 1940, see Margaret Hobbs and Ruth Roach Pierson, "'A kitchen that wastes no steps . . . 'Gender, Class and the Home Improvement Plan, 1936-40," Histoire Sociale/Social History 21 (May 1988): 9-37. For the post-World War II period, see Veronica Strong-Boag," "Their Side of the Story': Women's Voices from Ontario Suburbs, 1945-1965," and Joan Sangster, "Doing Two Jobs: The Wage-Earning Mother, 1945-1970," in A Diversity of Women: Ontario, 1945-1980, ed. Joy Parr (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995): 46-74 and 98-134, respectively. On women and appliance shopping, see Joy Parr, "Shopping for a Good Stove: A Parable about Gender, Design and the Market," also in A Diversity of Women.
18. On the federal government's role in promoting household improvement prior to 1940, see Margaret Hobbs and Ruth Roach Pierson, "'A kitchen that wastes no steps . . . 'Gender, Class and the Home Improvement Plan, 1936-40," Histoire Sociale/Social History 21 (May 1988): 9-37. For the post-World War II period, see Veronica Strong-Boag," "Their Side of the Story': Women's Voices from Ontario Suburbs, 1945-1965," and Joan Sangster, "Doing Two Jobs: The Wage-Earning Mother, 1945-1970," in A Diversity of Women: Ontario, 1945-1980, ed. Joy Parr (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995): 46-74 and 98-134, respectively. On women and appliance shopping, see Joy Parr, "Shopping for a Good Stove: A Parable about Gender, Design and the Market," also in A Diversity of Women.
19. On the federal government's role in promoting household improvement prior to 1940, see Margaret Hobbs and Ruth Roach Pierson, "'A kitchen that wastes no steps . . . 'Gender, Class and the Home Improvement Plan, 1936-40," Histoire Sociale/Social History 21 (May 1988): 9-37. For the post-World War II period, see Veronica Strong-Boag," "Their Side of the Story': Women's Voices from Ontario Suburbs, 1945-1965," and Joan Sangster, "Doing Two Jobs: The Wage-Earning Mother, 1945-1970," in A Diversity of Women: Ontario, 1945-1980, ed. Joy Parr (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995): 46-74 and 98-134, respectively. On women and appliance shopping, see Joy Parr, "Shopping for a Good Stove: A Parable about Gender, Design and the Market," also in A Diversity of Women.
20. Veronica Strong-Boag, "Home Dreams: Women and the Suburban Experiment in Canada, 1945-60," Canadian Historical Review 72 (1991): 471-504, and "Canada's Wage-Earning Wives and the Construction of the Middle Class, 1945-60," Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études Canadiennes 29 (1994): 5-25.
21. Veronica Strong-Boag, "Home Dreams: Women and the Suburban Experiment in Canada, 1945-60," Canadian Historical Review 72 (1991): 471-504, and "Canada's Wage-Earning Wives and the Construction of the Middle Class, 1945-60," Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études Canadiennes 29 (1994): 5-25.
22. Owram, Born at the Right Time, 85-86.
23. Griswold, Fatherhood in America, 2.
24. Fred Bodsworth, "The Best Way to Take a Holiday," Maclean's, June 11, 1955, 34.
25. A diverse field, advertising continues to attract new research. T. J. Jackson Lear's Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America (New York: Basic Books, 1994) provides a comprehensive and useful survey.
26. Elizabeth Tonkin, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 67. For perceptive commentaries on the multifaceted nature of authoring in oral history, see Michael Frisch, A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). See also Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), and Luisa Passerini, "Mythbiography in Oral History," in The Myths We Live By, ed. Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson (London: Routledge, 1990), 52-53. Recent studies of subjectivity in oral reconstructions of the past abound. In addition to some excellent examples in Samuel and Thompson, and poignant discussion of its many aspects in Tonkin, see Ronald J. Grele, ed., International Annual of Oral History, 1990: Subjectivity and Multiculturalism in Oral History (New York: Greenwood, 1992). For a recent application set in British Colombia, see Alexander Freund and Laura Quilici, "Exploring Myths in Women's Narratives: Italian and German Immigrant Women in Vancouver, 1947-1961" BC Studies, 105/106 (spring 1995): 159-82.
27. Elizabeth Tonkin, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 67. For perceptive commentaries on the multifaceted nature of authoring in oral history, see Michael Frisch, A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). See also Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), and Luisa Passerini, "Mythbiography in Oral History," in The Myths We Live By, ed. Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson (London: Routledge, 1990), 52-53. Recent studies of subjectivity in oral reconstructions of the past abound. In addition to some excellent examples in Samuel and Thompson, and poignant discussion of its many aspects in Tonkin, see Ronald J. Grele, ed., International Annual of Oral History, 1990: Subjectivity and Multiculturalism in Oral History (New York: Greenwood, 1992). For a recent application set in British Colombia, see Alexander Freund and Laura Quilici, "Exploring Myths in Women's Narratives: Italian and German Immigrant Women in Vancouver, 1947-1961" BC Studies, 105/106 (spring 1995): 159-82.
28. Elizabeth Tonkin, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 67. For perceptive commentaries on the multifaceted nature of authoring in oral history, see Michael Frisch, A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). See also Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), and Luisa Passerini, "Mythbiography in Oral History," in The Myths We Live By, ed. Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson (London: Routledge, 1990), 52-53. Recent studies of subjectivity in oral reconstructions of the past abound. In addition to some excellent examples in Samuel and Thompson, and poignant discussion of its many aspects in Tonkin, see Ronald J. Grele, ed., International Annual of Oral History, 1990: Subjectivity and Multiculturalism in Oral History (New York: Greenwood, 1992). For a recent application set in British Colombia, see Alexander Freund and Laura Quilici, "Exploring Myths in Women's Narratives: Italian and German Immigrant Women in Vancouver, 1947-1961" BC Studies, 105/106 (spring 1995): 159-82.
29. Elizabeth Tonkin, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 67. For perceptive commentaries on the multifaceted nature of authoring in oral history, see Michael Frisch, A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). See also Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), and Luisa Passerini, "Mythbiography in Oral History," in The Myths We Live By, ed. Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson (London: Routledge, 1990), 52-53. Recent studies of subjectivity in oral reconstructions of the past abound. In addition to some excellent examples in Samuel and Thompson, and poignant discussion of its many aspects in Tonkin, see Ronald J. Grele, ed., International Annual of Oral History, 1990: Subjectivity and Multiculturalism in Oral History (New York: Greenwood, 1992). For a recent application set in British Colombia, see Alexander Freund and Laura Quilici, "Exploring Myths in Women's Narratives: Italian and German Immigrant Women in Vancouver, 1947-1961" BC Studies, 105/106 (spring 1995): 159-82.
30. Elizabeth Tonkin, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 67. For perceptive commentaries on the multifaceted nature of authoring in oral history, see Michael Frisch, A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). See also Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), and Luisa Passerini, "Mythbiography in Oral History," in The Myths We Live By, ed. Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson (London: Routledge, 1990), 52-53. Recent studies of subjectivity in oral reconstructions of the past abound. In addition to some excellent examples in Samuel and Thompson, and poignant discussion of its many aspects in Tonkin, see Ronald J. Grele, ed., International Annual of Oral History, 1990: Subjectivity and Multiculturalism in Oral History (New York: Greenwood, 1992). For a recent application set in British Colombia, see Alexander Freund and Laura Quilici, "Exploring Myths in Women's Narratives: Italian and German Immigrant Women in Vancouver, 1947-1961" BC Studies, 105/106 (spring 1995): 159-82.
31. Elizabeth Tonkin, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 67. For perceptive commentaries on the multifaceted nature of authoring in oral history, see Michael Frisch, A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). See also Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), and Luisa Passerini, "Mythbiography in Oral History," in The Myths We Live By, ed. Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson (London: Routledge, 1990), 52-53. Recent studies of subjectivity in oral reconstructions of the past abound. In addition to some excellent examples in Samuel and Thompson, and poignant discussion of its many aspects in Tonkin, see Ronald J. Grele, ed., International Annual of Oral History, 1990: Subjectivity and Multiculturalism in Oral History (New York: Greenwood, 1992). For a recent application set in British Colombia, see Alexander Freund and Laura Quilici, "Exploring Myths in Women's Narratives: Italian and German Immigrant Women in Vancouver, 1947-1961" BC Studies, 105/106 (spring 1995): 159-82.
32. Although the age range of this sample spans just over a generation, all reared offspring who were infants, adolescents, or young adults during the mid-1940s to the end of 1960s. This variety permitted consideration of historical change during an extended period of comparatively high fertility and economic growth. Of the thirty-four men interviewed, five were professionals, fourteen were managerial, and fifteen were laborers or in semiskilled positions during their paid working careers. While all had children who grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s, the oldest was born in 1909 and the youngest in 1943.
33. This approach proved most natural in establishing a coherent flow between informants and myself. As well as establishing a useful biographical context, many developed self-portraits that connected aspects of their lives by the end of the interviews that might otherwise have seemed scattered or without foundation. Martine Burgos and J. P. Roos offer useful analysis of this tendency in "Life Stories, Narrativity, and the Search for the Self," Life Stories/Récits de vie 5 (1989): 27-38.
34. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
35. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
36. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
37. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
38. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
39. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
40. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
41. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
42. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
43. Canadian historians are beginning to turn their attention to family and gender studies situated in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to recent work by Veronica Strong-Boag, cited above, see Joy Parr, The Gender of Breadwinners: Women, Men and Change in Two Industrial Towns, 1880-1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). On the experience of men, work, and family life, see Mark Rosenfeld," 'She Was a Hard Life' : Work, Family, Community and Politics in the Railway Ward of Barrie, Ontario 1900-1960" (Ph.D. thesis, York University, 1990). In addition to Robert L. Griswold's work, also cited above, recent studies in the United States include Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988). An extensive sociological literature on American fathers and family life is also available. See, for example, Mirra Komarovsky, Blue Collar Marriage (New York: Random House, 1962); Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City : Anchor, 1983); Scott Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Kathleen Gerson, No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitment to Family and Work (New York: Basic Books, 1993). See also Thomas Dunk, It's a Man's World: Male Working-Class Culture in Northwestern Ontario (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991) for an anthropologist's interpretation of male culture in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While conceptual approaches to family and gender now constitute a diverse and growing literature, R. W. Connell's Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987) and Masculinities (Cambridge: Polity, 1995) provide useful theoretical overviews.
44. Samuel and Thompson, The Myths We Live By, 2.
45. Interview 32, March 12, 1997 (all informants are identified by pseudonyms).
46. Interview 26, March 5, 1997.
47. Interview 25, March 4, 1997.
48. Interview 31, March 11, 1997.
49. Maclean's, April 30, 1955, 38.
50. Interview 22, February 26, 1997.
51. Joseph N. Bell. "WeTravel with Our Kids - And Like It," Maclean's, August 3, 1957, 25.
52. Interview 27, March 5, 1997.
53. Interview 29, March 6, 1997.
54. Interview 30, March 11, 1997.
55. Interview 31, March 11, 1997.
56. Interview 29, March 11, 1997.
57. Owram, Born at the Right Time, 152.
58. Owram, Born at the Right Time, 152.
59. Shirley Mair, "Form Chart on Hobbies: Who's Out in Front in the National Scramble to Find a Newer and Better One," Maclean's, January 27, 1962, 19-31.
60. On scouting and organized leisure, see Owram, Born at the Right Time, 100-101.
61. Interview 23, March 3, 1997.
62. Interview 5 (pt. 2), March 28, 1995.
63. Maclean's, April 2, 1955, 84.
64. Ibid., May 19, 1962, 49.
65. Ibid., February 2, 1957, front cover.
66. Interview 25, March 4, 1997.
67. Interview 27, March 5, 1997.
68. Interview 25, March 4, 1997.
69. Interview 26, March 5, 1997,
70. For a critical examination of the arrival of television in Canada, see Paul Rutherford, When Television Was Young: Primetime Canada, 1952-1967 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990).
71. In her work on cultural perception and gender, Sandra Lipsitz Bem has developed an approach to the production of meaning that can be useful when interpreting interview transcripts. Self-awareness and awareness of others, formed and expressed through language, are constituted in gendered terms. In particular, Ben considers masculine consciousness as the product of gendered perception, a cultural lens that distorts, reconfigures, or even omits the presence of women in male-dominated societies. This pattern of thought, or androcentrism, has long dominated men's perceptions of who they are, how they act, and how the world of their experience has evolved. How androcentric perspectives shaped the language, concerns, topics, and assumptions of each life story proved significant in this study, whether fathers discussed parenting, breadwinning, leisure, or consumption. See Sandra Lipsitz Bem, The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).
72. Interview 8, March 22, 1995.
73. Interview 3, March 6, 1995.
74. Interview 4 (pt. 1), March 9, 1995.
75. Interview 4 (pt. 2), March 15, 1995.
76. Interview 7, March 22, 1995.
77. Interview 26, March 5, 1997.
78. Ibid.
79. Interview 27, March 5, 1997.
80. Interview 30, March 11, 1997.
81. Interview 31, March 11, 1997.
82. Interview 26, March 5, 1997.
83. Vivien Kimber, "What Happened When We Threw Out Our TV Set," Maclean's, March 30, 1957, 17-62.
84. Robert Thomas Allen, "But I DON'T WANT the New Leisure," Ibid., November 27, 1957, 27-64.