Mining cultures
Subtitle: men, women, and leisure in Butte, 1914-41
By: Mary Murphy.
Series: Women in American history
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Urbana
Language: eng
Number of pages: 279
Subjects: Copper mines and mining -- Montana -- Butte -- History.; Cities and towns -- Montana -- Growth -- Case studies.; Butte (Mont.) -- History.; Butte (Mont.) -- Social life and customs.
Description: Probing behind the "wide-open city" moniker Butte has worn so well, Mining Cultures shows how the western city evolved from a male-dominated mining enclave to a community in which men and women participated on a more equal basis as leisure patterns changed and consumer culture grew.

Mary Murphy's engagingly written book is the first serious look at how women worked and spent their leisure time in a city dominated by men's work - mining. In bringing Butte to life, she draws on church weeklies, high school yearbooks, holiday rituals, movie plots, and news of local fashion, in addition to the more customary court cases, newspapers, and interviews.

Her lively chronicle of the growth of consumer culture in Butte is richly illustrated. It will interest those in western and women's history, leisure and consumerism studies, and labor and immigration history, as well as general readers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-268) and index.
Table of contents: title: Copper metropolis; title: Habits of drink; title: Manners and morals; title: Born miners; title: Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters; title: Imagination's spur : station KGIR; title: Depression blues and New Deal rhythms.