What was life like in Britain in the late 1920s and early 1930s? ?
As in America, attitudes towards sex loosened somewhat in the 1920s. It was not unusual for young women to go around with young men unchaperoned, and to engage in light sexual activity ‘heavy petting’ as it was known. However, sex outside marriage was still considered a bad thing, and contraception was viewed with suspicion. Marie Stopes was prosecuted for obscenity when sh epublished her book ‘Married Love’, which described contraceptive methods. Most people were still regular churchgoers, even people who did not have religious beliefs would go to church if they wanted to be thought respectable (my grandfather for instance had no religion, but he went to church anyway, because as a schoolmaster it was expected of him). The cinema was extremely popular, and American films were hugely influential, the British film industry was very minor compared to America, and American films were widely shown here. Jazz music became enormously popular. As in America, listening to the radio became extr
