Getting away from it all: family cottaging in postwar Ontario

Abstract

This dissertation examines the social practice of family cottaging in Ontario during the quarter century that followed the Second World War. More specifically, it assesses the social and environmental implications of the postwar cottaging boom, which transformed the custom of "getting away from it all" from an elite activity into a form of mass tourism. Paying particular attention to the district of Muskoka, the study highlights the connections between changes in cottaging and broader historical developments. The work draws upon a range of primary sources, including government documents, popular periodicals, local newspapers, cottagers' association records, and personal interviews with postwar cottagers. While the summer cottage occupies a central position on the Ontario cultural landscape, it has received little consideration from historians. The dissertation therefore begins with an overview of the intellectual and historical factors that had established cottaging as an iconic aspect of Ontario society by the time of the Second World War. Next, the focus shifts to the postwar cottaging boom by exploring who the cottagers were, why they found cottaging appealing, and how they were able to realize their dreams of cottage ownership. The study then proceeds to a thematic analysis of postwar cottage life. After situating summer cottaging in relation to postwar consumer culture and family life, the discussion investigates cottagers' interactions with local residents, public officials, and the natural environment. Over all, the dissertation portrays postwar cottaging as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that was characterized by contradictions. On the one hand, cottaging generated personal enjoyment, family and community bonds, and economic growth; on the other hand, it perpetuated social inequalities pertaining to region, gender, social class, and ethnicity. Moreover, cottage life bespoke profound societal ambivalence over issues such as consumer culture, the natural environment, and Canadians' relationship with Americans. These ambiguities only underscored the extent to which postwar cottaging reflected the wider social context of the day. Though family cottaging was not "typical" in any numerical sense, it was the consummate postwar Canadian recreational activity in that it embodied the promises, the possibilities, and also the problems that lay at the heart of postwar Canadian society.