
The Library
Popular gambling and English culture, c.1845 to 1961
Tools
Clapson, Mark (1989) Popular gambling and English culture, c.1845 to 1961. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
![]() |
PDF
WRAP_THESIS_Clapson_1989.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (28Mb) |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b1455452~S9
Abstract
The years 1853 to 1960 constituted a period of prohibition for off-course cash betting on horses. Despite this, and in the face of a vocal anti-gambling lobby, the working-class flutter flourished as the basis of a commercialised betting market. Over this period, gambling changed from the informal wagering between friends and associates which characterised pre-industrial society, to the commercialised forms, supplied by bookmakers and leisure entrepreneurs, in which, ostensibly, the punters were mere passive consumers. By 1939, the three most popular forms of gambling were off-course betting on horses, the football pools, and betting at greyhound tracks. Beyond this was a hinterland of friendly but competitive petty gaming with coins and cards, and on local sports, which remained relatively untouched by commercialisation. A study of popular gambling tells us much about the relationship of the state to working-class recreation, and about the nature of working-class recreation itself. The unifying theme of this thesis is that the predominant forms of betting which had developed by 1960 were a testament to the moderation and self-determination of working-class leisure. Betting had become central to a shared national culture which defined itself only apolitically in class terms, and more in terms of `sportsman' or punter versus `faddist'. Those who berated gambling were un-English. The law was ignored by those who enjoyed, as they saw it, a harmless flutter. The state eventually came round to this viewpoint.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain |
||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Gambling -- England -- History, Book-making (Betting) -- England -- History, Gambling industry -- England -- History, Gambling -- Law and legislation -- England, England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century, England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century | ||||
Official Date: | June 1989 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Social History | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Mason, Tony | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | 309 leaves : charts | ||||
Language: | eng |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
![]() |
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year