In the years 1937-1945, Greenbelt, Maryland was in its infancy. This town was a combination of innovative planning and unique design. The inhabitants (who had to apply to live in Greenbelt) were atypical. Unlike most towns, the majority of Greenbelt residents were of a similar age. The average resident was 29 years old and because of the town's youth there were few older established residents. Many men in Greenbelt would commute to Washington DC and work in the government sector. The women were required to remain at home and care for the house and children. Various religions were practiced in Greenbelt as the residents were approximately sixty percent Protestant, thirty percent Catholic and ten percent Jewish (4).

These simple facts about early Greenbelt, Maryland can tell us a good deal about whether or not reading was a popular leisure time activity; and if so, what types of books were being read. Many Greenbelt men had government jobs. They must have been literate and more than likely, they were well educated. Literate well educated people would have been likely to have been appreciative of quality literature. One can assume that these Greenbelt residents would engage in correspondence with friends and associates near and far. Such correspondence may have been for business as well. However, it would be important that letters and notes were free of spelling errors. This necessitated the owning or using of a dictionary. In the Greenbelt Museum, there is an aged dictionary resting on a desk, where writing letters would likely have taken place (4).

Sixty percent of the people in early Greenbelt were of the Protestant faith. In Protestant homes, one would likely find two or three copies of the Holy Bible, most likely the King James edition. There would also be a few prayer books or study guides to the Bible. Not attending church was rare in Greenbelt and by all accounts, people took their religion seriously. In the thirty percent of homes in Greenbelt that were Catholic, it is unlikely that a Bible would be found. The Catholic church still performed the mass in Latin and the Bible was considered a kind of secret special document. However, there may have been prayer books or copies of missels to aid in studying the faith. In the Jewish households, the last ten percent, there would have been a copy of the Torah. Obviously, the King James Bible or a similar version would not have been found there (4).

The residents of Greenbelt were by no means wealthy. Radios wer expensive and catching movies at the cinema was not that cheap. This made reading a more popular choice as a way to pass idle time. A good deal of leisure time was available to Greenbelt residents and a bulk of it was spent reading. Unlike today, where parents are constantly shuttling their children to and fro, everything in Greenbelt was centrally located and within walking distance for most children.

But what books did Greenbelt residents read in their free time and from where did they get them? The income of the average Greenbelt family was not very high and they could not afford to spend a lot of money on books. One way people received books was trading with relatives or friends. When someone finished a book he or she would pass it on to a relative or friend who had yet to read it. In this way, one book would be read by many people, but it would only have been purchased once.

The Greenbelt library also provided a means for people to read and enjoy works of literature. The Greenbelt Library opened on June 10th, 1939. It cost approximately $4,500 to start up, of which the town put up 1/3 while the rest came from a grant from the Farm Security Administration. The library books had been catalogued by a group of W.P.A. workers in Baltimore (5). It contained both children's books and books for adults and was frequented by many people. The Library must have been popular for in February of 1940, there were more fines imposed by the library (for overdue books) than by the police department for civil infractions (6).

At this time (c. 1940), paperback books (such as the one pictured below) had recently become mass marketed with the advent of companies such as Penguin Books and Pocket Books. Paperbacks cost about twenty-five cents (compared with six or seven dollars today), but if a hardcover book was available for free (through trading or from the library), paperbacks would not bebought (4).

The mass marketing and the resulting increase in reader accessibility made it possible for the citizens of Greenbelt to enjoy books on a wide range of topics. The Classics were popular as were detective stories and mysteries. It seemed that back then, people were more partial to quality literature than today where the majority of bestsellers are nothing but mind candy. In fact, the books that were Pulitzer Prize winners during 1937-1948 were also some of the most popular. At the Greenbelt Museum, there are several books on display that are supposed to represent the literature of the time. Among them are:

It Can't Happen Here -- Sinclair Lewis
Old Jules -- Mari Sande
No More Gas -- Nordhoff and Hall
Over The Ocean To Paris -- F.W. Dixon
Cutez Emerald Mystery -- H. Lath

Ralph On the Midnight Flyer
Heidi Grows Up
Your Own Story
Growing Up and Liking It