--- title: The American Summer Vacation: A Brief History of the Phenomenon description: There was no such thing as summer 200 years ago canonical: https://time.com/3993975/summer-history/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-20T18:00:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:04.799Z article:section: History og:title: The American Summer Vacation: A Brief History of the Phenomenon og:description: "There was no such thing as summer 200 years ago" og:url: https://time.com/3993975/summer-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ab23914c6c227aa/69885ed65f570f56cfb1cdf7/newport.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bailey's Beach. ca. 1940, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, Bailey's Beach, Newport, R.I. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The American Summer Vacation: A Brief History of the Phenomenon twitter:description: "There was no such thing as summer 200 years ago" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ab23914c6c227aa/69885ed65f570f56cfb1cdf7/newport.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Brief History of Summer Vacation > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Jackson Murphy / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## Jackson Murphy / History News Network Aug 20, 2015 6:00 PM UTC  ca. 1940, Newport, R.I., postcard ca. 1940, Newport, R.I., postcard Universal Images Group / Getty Images by [Jackson Murphy / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## Jackson Murphy / History News Network Aug 20, 2015 6:00 PM UTC  History News Network _This post is in partnership with the_ [_History News Network_](http://historynewsnetwork.org/)_, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. The article below was originally published at_ [_HNN._](http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/156369) There was no such thing as summer 200 years ago. Of course there were the months—June, July, and August—but they merely indicated a hot season of the calendar year. The summer we know and love—the one that features vacations to the beach, 4th of July weekends that turn into 4th of July weeks, and the all but recent invention of casual Fridays or even summer Fridays—is a democratization of leisure that grew out of capitalist forces in the 20th century. The first vestiges of summer began in the decades before the American Civil War when only the wealthiest class of antebellum elites vacationed in resort towns like Newport, Rhode Island and Saratoga, New York. By 1869 the New York _Times_ noticed a growing sentiment among working professionals in its description of the “sadly overdriven” businessman: “From one year’s end to another he lives, for the most part, in a breathless hurry…If any folk in the wide world have need of a summer refreshment, it is we.” Nineteenth century print culture in conjunction with a rising tourist industry prompted many to perceive summer as “a season of rest—rest from all care.” Periodical articles and tourist guides promoted an enticing escape to summer resorts such as Martha’s Vineyard, “a maritime Eden where one may shut out the whole world and be content.” Summer was no longer just a hot time of year for Americans to endure, but instead an opportunity for rest, relaxation, and recreation that they could enjoy. In August of 1891, social scientist Edward Hungerford investigated the cultural gravitation toward recreation and leisure, seeking answers as to why Americans felt a need to take time off work for summer rest: “The magnitude of such a movement as this justifies the assumption that the social influence exerted by it are worthy of serious consideration.” By the turn of the 20th century, summertime became further embedded in American popular culture as advertisers, musicians, and authors used the season as a way of telling stories, often with themes of nostalgia and romance. Summer inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald as the perfect setting to embellish the mysterious decadence of the parties in _The Great Gatsby_. In the advertising industry, Kodak attracted customers with a campaign that solidified their cameras as essential tools for telling “the story of a Summer vacation.” While Gatsby and Kodak certainly reflected the lavish and extreme versions of summer, the rise of unionization combined with overcrowded cities led urban planners to begin developing leisure activities for the working class. Atlantic City became a day of respite for Philadelphia workers and their families, who spent a day on the Jersey shore and its newly constructed boardwalks before returning home sticky and sandy on the train for the city of brotherly love. Meanwhile, in New York City, Coney Island and Jones Beach became popular spots for workers in the city, who benefited from changes won by labor unions for “8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for what we will.” Yet even when summer trips to the beach began making waves through American culture, many working-class black people traveled to the nation’s growing beach resorts as employees rather than as guests. The _Chicago Defender_, a leading African-American newspaper, reported the number of black men and women traveling as wait-staff, cooks, and hotel butlers and porters. Clifford Miller’s summers were neither enjoyable nor relaxing. Miller endured long hours and low pay waiting tables at a popular resort on the New Jersey coast during the first decades of the 1900s. He recalled the crammed living quarters, insufficient food, and prohibitions from enjoying hotel beaches during the day. “Every third day I worked, as a rule, from six in the morning until eleven o’clock at night, often later,” he remembered. “During the day I seldom had any time for my own. I wonder if the colored waiters will ever have only eight hours of work every day.” Although the middle classes of the 20th century enjoyed the previously aristocratic privilege of escaping to a refreshing summer haven, their vacations created work, often low-paid and seasonal, for others. This history reveals summer to be more than just a few hot months of the calendar year, but a cultural phenomenon that sticks with us today through the interplay of capitalism and leisure. _Jackson Murphy is a graduate of the Class of 2014 at Connecticut College. This piece grew out of his year-long research for his honors thesis titled “A Cultural History of the American Summer.”_ ### Vacation’s End: Classic Photos of Late-Summer Cape Cod  Caption from LIFE. "Michael Foster, 4, and his friend Marcia Perry, 5, spend the summer among the sand dunes of Cape Cod, at Contuit." Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Digging clams, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Young boys outside a sandwich shop, Cape Cod, summer 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Reading comics, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer ice cream on the screened-in porch, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Summer vacation, Cape Cod, 1946. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images   Caption from LIFE. Driven by the soft southwest wind, the four Fosters sail on Cotuit Bay in the family's knockabout, "The Sea Dog." Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Mike sight-sees around Cape on the back deck of the family convertible but falls asleep after first few minutes' ride Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Mike likes to get up before daybreak and bring in the milk. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Mike, who is fascinated by all the babies in the neighborhood, gawks at the little boy who lives in the cottage next door. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Mike and Karl while away long hours fishing in a fresh-water brook. When lucky, they catch a few small herring. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Given a good head start, Karl manages to beat both his parents in a swimming race in Cotuit Bay. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Mike beats Marcia Perry, his best girl, in a race down a lane. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. On the porch, with boys off playing, the Fosters get some time to themselves. Bill Foster was down weekends and for a two-week vacation. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Mike and Karl Foster run to the top of the hill each morning with Fluffy, their dog, to get the paper. Cornell Capa—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Quiet evenings in the cottage are spent around the fire, which is needed in chill Cape air. Karl sits on floor, reading about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn attending their own funeral. Mike has stopped painting, which he does well, long enough to listen in on his parents' conversation. 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