Let’s remember when a 900-hour dance marathon closed in Bellingham, on this day in 1935 (August 26)
Dance marathons are cruel and exploitative by killjoys who would prefer not to watch people compete for cash and/or prizes for dancing for a literal month, but they were quite popular during the Great Depression. They even continued after being outlawed in certain jurisdictions.
According to HistoryLink’s Paula Becker:
On August 26, 1935, a dance marathon/walkathon closes in Bellingham after 900 hours (about 37 days). The contest takes place despite a 1931 Bellingham City Council Ordinance prohibiting such contests within Bellingham city limits. Dance marathons are human endurance contests in which couples dance almost non-stop for hundreds of hours (as long as a month or two), competing for prize money.
Dance marathons (also called walkathons) arose during the 1920s and remained both popular and profitable throughout the 1930s. Twenty-five cents bought a ringside seat for unlimited hours in which to watch exhausted dancers compete to outlast one another and win prize money. Despite their appeal to some segments of the public, the events aroused great protest from churches, women’s groups, and police officers. Movie theater owners, whose profits diminished when a dance marathon siphoned off their audiences, also objected to the marathons. The events existed outside the realm of polite society, often censured and frequently banned.
The 1935 Bellingham marathon took place at the State Street Auditorium, as had a 1931 marathon that prompted the City Council ban.
Read the whole thing here:
