Despite the persistent complaints Americans make about not having enough free time, the twentieth century ushered in an unprecedented age of leisure. Economic developments, like the decreased work week, increased wages, and increased productivity brought more free time to workers, and the changing attitudes toward leisure are a reflection of the greater role that free time plays in American life. The shift in attitudes are subtle and sweeping, their significance barely noticed by most. The free time that allows for "the newfound delight of young fathers in their babies," wrote Margaret Mead in 1957, represented "another intrinsically rewarding pattern which no large civilization has ever permitted." The observation is at once a measure of the unprecedented role of leisure in everyday life, and how much Americans take their free time for granted.

Twentieth-century America's preoccupation with leisure time represents an enormous change from the attitudes held by...