Figure 1.--Here we see part of the procession as part of the 46th Gynastics Congress around 1910. The gymnasts wear white shirts and pants, mostly long pants, but we also see knee pants and black long stockings. Notice that the boys do not have short sleeve shirs, but have rooled up their sleeves. Not only are the gymnasts uniforms ineresting, but also the clothes the spectators are wearing.

Sports have a long history. But for most of history were the province of elites. This began to change (19th century). The rise of the middle class was important in the development of sports as well as the increasing prosperity of the working class. Britain and France were espilly important in he developmnt of modern sports. The modern popularity of sports began to devlop in the 20th century, espcially after mid-century. Urbanization and public education. Prfessonal teams began to appear after mid-century, but it would not until the 20th century that sports became a major activity and a big time aspect of culture. What was very imporant in the 19th century was gymnastics. There were gymnastic clubs. We note Montreal had an annual Gymnastics Congress. Gynastics is what many schools focused on in the 19th century and not the team games that now dominate modern sports. The big developments were in the United States, but Canada usually followed American developments.

Created: 9:09 AM 10/20/2010
Last updated: 9:09 AM 10/20/2010